You are live in the cnn newsroom. Im jim acosta in washington. Good evening. We begin the hour with a big week ahead for President Biden. He is about to leave for new york to meet with leaders at the United NationsGeneral Assembly this week. He will also sit down with ukrainian president zelenskyy as ukraine seeks more support from its allies in the midst of a challenging counteroffensive against russia. However, bidens focus on the International Stage comes as hes facing a looming Government Shutdown, potentially an Impeachment Inquiry from house repub republicans. Cnns Arlette Saenz is with us. What more do we know about this meeting with president zelenskyy and other World Leaders this week . This is a big week not just for the president of the United States but for the president of ukraine. Reporter yeah, it certainly is. Really any moment now, President Biden will be departing the white house as he is heading to new york for those meetings around the u. N. General assembly. An opportunity for the president to stress the alliances that he has tried to build during his time in office. Officials here say that the marquee moment will be his speech before the u. N. General assembly on tuesday when hell talk about his vision for americas leadership on the world stage. And also stress the need for countries to Work Together to solve some of the worlds biggest problems. He will have a series of meetings with various World Leaders while he is in new york city. That includes a meeting with israeli Prime Minister netanyahu on wednesday. There had been a lot of questions about whether a meeting between the two leaders would, in fact, happen as the administration had expressed some disapproval for his efforts to overhaul the judicial system in israel. But the two will be meeting at unga, not here at the white house. At the end of the week, as the president returns back here to washington on thursday, hes set to meet with ukrainian president zelenskyy here at the white house. They will talk about that counteroffensive thats being waged against russia in ukraine. But it also comes at a delicate moment as the president has been trying to ask congress to provide additional aid to ukraine. But republicans up in the house have expressed opposition to that. They want to have a standalone vote on that instead of including it in his supplemental funding request. But this is all shaping up to be a very big week for the president on the world stage, also as he is trying to make his case for reelection, one of the thing he consistently tries to atout is this Alliance Building he has cultivated during his time in office. He will be in new york city starting this evening all the way through wednesday for those serious of meetings. Arlette, he still has to keep an eye on whats happening wa. The threat of a Government Shutdown is growing. Are there any signs of progress . Reporter so far they havent signaled theyre any closer to getting a spending bill passed by September 30th. Earl yier today, House Speaker mccarthy says he plans on putting a Defense Spending Bill up for a vote in the house after it reached some setbacks within his own caucus. Take a listen to what he had to say earlier today. Unfortunately i had a handful of members last week that literally the republicans stopped the department of appropriations from coming forward. I gave them an opportunity this weekend to try to work through this. And well bring it to the floor, win or lose, and show the American Public whos for the department of defense. Reporter mccarthy also, in that interview, warned republicans against a Government Shutdown, saying that no one wins in the event of a Government Shutdown and that this would be giving a leg up to the administration. There are still a number of issues that need to be worked out both in the house and the senate, especially with republicans since they seem to have different approaches in the two chambers. But right now the country is still barreling towards that September 30th deadline. Biden is also confronting other domestic issues while hes abroad as well. That uaw strike thats still ongoing. Hes dispatching some of his top officials to detroit later this week. Its all a series of domestic issues that the president will still have to focus on as he is in new york for those world leader meetings. The problems dont stay in washington when the president travels outside of the nations capital. Arlette saenz, thank you very much. Joining me now is retired u. S. Army colonel eugene vindman. He just returned from a visit to ukraine. Colonel vindman, great to see you as always. This just crossed our wires in the last several minutes. The nato secretarygeneral warning the war in ukraine will not be over anytime soon. He says we must prepare ourselves for a long war in ukraine. What are your thoughts on that . Well, first, jim, thanks for having me back. I just returned from ukraine, my 13th trip since last year, and frankly ive come to the same conclusion during the course of this trip. I think this is now a long war. The chances that this war would end this year or in the short term are past. I think were looking at, at the earliest, 2024, 2025. And we have to plan accordingly. This is a matter of national security, our own selfinterest, and in a longwar scenario, there are a number of things that need to be planned, logistics training, support for the ukrainians. Colonel vindman, zelenskyy is set to speak before the United NationsGeneral Assembly this week before heading to washington as we were just talking about with arlette a few minutes ago. Its a big week for biden, a big week for zelenskyy. What do you expect the ukrainian leader will ask of the president and ask of the congress . What are his big asks right now . Sure. Well, what i hope they discuss is those that are necessary in order to sustain a long war. That includes longrange we weapons. Im also certain that the United States will end up providing those like they have m 1s and f16s. Unfortunately i think it will mean ukraine will have to endure more pain. It will include more materiel. They have an immense need for ammunition as zelenskyy said in the first days of the war. He doesnt need a ride. He needs ammunition. That has held true. And the unwavering support of the United States and the west as a matter of our own selfinterest frankly. Do you expect the white house to sign off on this, on these attackems, on that missile system, and what kind of an impact would it have . We were showing some video. Some of the apocalyptic scenes that ukrainian soldiers are seeing on the ground in ukraine. Its just extraordinary. Is that the kind of Weapons System that could turn the tide, or does it just sustain them in this what could be a long war . Well, theres no one Silver Bullet frankly that will turn the tide of the war. Attackems along with the other systems that we are providing and will continue to provide all together combine to give the ukrainians an advantage. War is won by adaptation and slight advantages. So attackems will certainly help. If we look at the landscape that youre showing now, it is apocalyptic. It looks like a world war i scenario. Thats because artillery heavy artillery is used. Thousands of rounds recordbreaking fired. Every living thing in the landscape is destroyed, and its a grinding war of attrition. The ukrainians have an advantage. Theyre frankly making progress. I anticipate theyll make more progress, but not enough to win this war. There will be no Knockout Punch from either side. And you just visited ukraine as part of your role on the u. S. And u. N. s atrocity crimes advisory group. What are you finding . Are we seeing more evidence are you seeing more evidence of war crimes committed by the russians . I know thats something weve talked about before. Is the case being made, do you think . Sure. So its not a u. N. Program. Actually its taken the place of what would normally be a u. N. Program because the u. N. Is not functional in this particular situation. Russia wields a veto and has prevented any real action from the u. N. But this is a Multinational Program between the u. S. , the uk, and eu. And just recently, i traveled to chernihiv, actually the same day that secretary blinken was there. And i visited the theater that was blown up by a russian cruise missile. Many people died in that theater, and its one of a series of war crimes that ive seen. There are stories or cases of p. O. W. S being executed by senior russian officers in chernihiv, which is significant. A russian battalion commander. There are cases last year, if you recall, chernihiv was almost completely surrounded. Bread lines being shelled. This is one small city amongst dozens of cities, and not even in the Occupied Zone. I think what well see in the Occupied Zone once its liberated will be truly horrific. I mean, the way youre describing how we could be seeing a long war ahead for the ukrainians, i suppose that does mean that at some point, the president zelenskyy, members of congress, folks who want to continue to provide aid to ukraine are going to have to have the conversation about how much assistance, what more assistance should be provided to the ukrainians in the event we get past the u. S. Election next year and there is a shift in the Balance Of Power in washington in a way that is not beneficial to the ukrainians. I think you can catch my drift here. What happens if donald trump gets back into the white house . What happens if republicans take control of both houses of congress and you dont see as much aid going to ukraine . Does the president and members of congress who want to see more aid to ukraine, do they need to head that off at the pass essentially and start taking that into account . Thats a complicated question, jim. But the bottom line is that the u. S. Is not the only Decision Maker here. The ukrainians have agency. If weve seen nothing in the last few weeks, weve seen ukrainians use their own systems, some developed over the course of the last year and change as far as drones, others missiles that theyve had in development for some time, taking out a russian sub in dry dock, a russian large landing ship. A billion dollar air defense system. Actually, two have been destroyed in the last couple of months. So the ukrainians are not going to give up the fight. We are helping them enormously. Were saving from even more horrific casualties, all oh i think along both sides, the casualties are probably close to a million now. Thats included p. O. W. S and killed in 18 months of war. But the ukrainians are not going to give up this fight. So making them selfsufficient, providing them what is necessary will prevent more casualties and benefit us, frankly, in the long run. When i think about helping the ukrainians, i think about what kind of world do i want to live in . What kind of world do i want my children to live in . Is it a world where might makes right, or is it a world where people and countries follow a rulesbased National Order . So this is very much in our interest. Were interconnected in this world just like Climate Change affects us. So does defending democracy around the world and in ukraine. All right. Colonel vindman, thanks very much for your time. We appreciate it. Thank you, jim. Still ahead, what donald trump has to say about democracy in his first broadcast Network Interview since the january 6th attack. Plus, new polling on a hypothetical trump Biden Rematch and how voters feel about it. And the latest on whether the Big Three Automakers and the uaw are any closer to a deal. Youre live in the cnn nenewsroom. Mm. It sounds like a lot of fun. Okay, were not ready for that. As a team, well get there. It might be a fruit emoji, but that doesnt mean theyre talking about fruit. Oh. Progressive cant save you from becoming your parents, but we can save you money when you bundle home and auto with us. Do you really think we need 47 photos of fun dinner at pams . Yes. No. That first time you take a step back. I made that. With your very own online store. I sold that. And you can manage it all in one pce. I built this. And it was easy, with a partner that puts you first. Godaddy. Subways now slicing their deli meats fresh. 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In his discussion with meet the press, the likely republican nominee for president was asked about the state of democracy here in the u. S. As you think about the possibility of a second term, do you still think that democracy is the most effective form of government . I do. I do, but it has to be a democracy thats fair. This democracy is i dont consider us to have much of a democracy right now. Here to discuss, vanity fairs special correspondent Molly Jong Fast and s. E. Cupp. What do you think of trump saying the u. S. Doesnt have much of a democracy right now . Last time i checked, we do. We do. You know, its in a precarious position thats mostly because of donald trump. And, you know, no one thinks of donald trump as being intro pecktive. But, you know, looking back at all of the ways in which he has tried to demantle democracy, from our checks and balances, separation of powers, you know, freedoms of the press, freedoms to protest, i mean voting access. All the things that make up a democracy, all the most important things anyway, he has tried to undermine. He has tried to puncture. And he wants to do more of it. So its an ironic answer, but i wouldnt have expected much different. Molly, he tried to overturn democracy is what he did. We wouldnt have much of a democracy right now had he succeeded in 2021. But he went on to say during that interview that it was his decision to make the claim that the 2020 election was rigged. He sounded like he was admitting he was the driving force behind the effort to overturn the election results. What did you think of that . You know, the thing about donald trump and trumpism as a whole is that since he has tried to overturn the 2020 election, he does this thing now where he says, well, im the one who likes democracy, and joe biden is the one who doesnt believe in democracy, right . This is the idea, is that everything you have sort of accused him of, which clearly has happened on earth one, is no longer true in trump world. And this is effective with his base. That is why theres a large percentage of this Republican Base that believes the 2020 election was unfair despite the fact that there is mountains and mountains of evidence to prove that donald trump is wrong. And i think that, you know, all of his answers, Donald Trumps answers, can be taken as either lies or projection. So even, you know, i mean im not surprised by anything he says. Im often surprised when it isnt a complete and utter fabrication. Right. S. E. , lets talk about the latest polling in the race for the white house. Still tide in this latest polling from kcbs news and yougov. It shows voters are going 49 for biden, 50 for trump. Its a statistical dead heat. It just seems like the race is frozen right now no matter what poll you look at. What do you make of these numbers . Its shocking, and if i listen, on the right, you know, the fact that other republicans not named trump have not really dared to take him on, on a regular basis, thats fine. Thats obvious. But over on the left, if im democrats, i am seriously asking myself why the incumbent, the sitting president , is polling tied with a former president who tried to overturn the last election, incited an insurrection, was twice impeached, and is now facing 91 criminal ch