first time i connected with kim, she told me that her husband had passed. and that he took care of all of the internet connected devices in the home. i told her, “i'm here to take care of you.” connecting with kim... made me reconnect with my mom. it's very important to keep loved ones close. we know that creating memories with loved ones brings so much joy to your life. a family trip to the team usa training facility. i don't know how to thank you. i'm here to thank you.

breaking news. where is alexei navalny? his team says they have lost all contact with the imprisoned russian leader. he was last known in a penal colony, but now they say his whereabouts is not known. and now, the key election swing states and major warning signs for president biden and also the achilles' heel for donald trump. >> and ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy is headed to capitol hill trying to secure more funding for the fight against the russian invasion, and a new reporting of what he is up against on capitol hill. fredricka whitfield is in for sara today, i'm kate bolduan with john berman, and this is cnn "news central." breaking news. jailed opposition leader alexei

navalny has gone missing from a russian prison. he has been in a penal colony east of moscow, but now the team says that his whereabouts are unknown and he has been missing for six days, the chief international anchor christiane amanpour is joining us. now, his daughter on our air has expressed how concerned she and her supporters have been about his health and conditions, and now that his team says that he has been missing for now six days, are they thinking the worst? >> look, it is really hard to tell what is the motivation, and where is he. all we know is what his team inside of russia have told us, that they have searched and gone to two of the penal colonies, and he is not there. and then the question of why now. some speculate, because he is the most prominent and most articulate and most followed and internationally renowned opposition figure inside of

russia, president putin did not want him around to communicate with the following when he announced that he would seek a fifth term, and he did not want navalny to do his usual quote, unquote spoilers, because he would be out there telling the russian people why putin is antidemocratic, and waging what he would call an illegal war against ukraine and doing what he always does. now, navalny has been in the penal colony for a while. he was sentenced to 11 1/2 years the first time, and now another 19 years and he has been poisoned, and the russians deny it, and the government denies it, but he was known to be poisoned in 2020 with the same nerve agent used to poison two ex-pat russians here in the u.k., former spy and his daughter, and so, his life is very, very precarious, and his safety is very, very precarious. i asked him directly why now

that he was free outside of russia why he wanted to go back to russia given the fact that putin's government wants to sigh hence him, what he said a few years back. >> why do you think that you can silence him? and why do you want to go back? >> well, i don't know if i have such a privilege, but the reason that i want to go back is that i don't want the groups of killers to exist in russia. i don't want putin to be president. i don't want him to be czar of russia, because he is killing people, and he is the reason that the whole country is deg re d redate -- degradating, and we have people living below the poverty line, and the whole system of degradation, and the

system of assassination of people, and he is reason of it. i want to go back to try and change it. >> and so that is his motivation, and he was determined despite the advice from the international community that his life was would be increasingly in danger, but what he laid out, poverty levels, and the difficulties of the democratic fight in russia have been worse with the war against ukraine, and now it is time for putin to say that he is going to be staying in power longer, and maybe he wants navalny out of the way for a few days, but it is difficult to surmise what has been happening to him. he has been on hunger strike, and his health has not been good in the past, and we don't know whether it is a best case scenario that he is out of the public life for a moment or the worst case scenario that he is incredibly sick or worse. >> christiane amanpour, thank you. and of course, everybody is wanting to know, and especially

his attorney and families about his whereabouts. kate? >> president biden is going to be hosting president zelenskyy at the white house and the third time since russia has invaded his country, and he is going to be sounding the alarm as we have been talking about for weeks for congress to approve more aid for ukraine. and the white house is warning and has been warning that the current military aid to ukraine is about to run out. arlette saenz is at the white house. you are also learning more details of how and why this trip came together and came about. and what are you learning? >> well, kate, the white house finalized the details and the plans to have ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy to visit the white house. he was planning to go to

argentina for the inauguration of the president there, and since he is in the same hemisphere, he decided to come the washington at the same time. and they decided to go forward the plan at the time when the $60 billion of funding is remaining in limbo up on capitol hill. he is going to start his day up in congress meeting with lawmakers. there is a briefing with the full senate, and then a one-on-one meeting with the house speaker mike johnson. zelenskyy, and white house official argued to me is the best advocate for his own country, and hoping to make a personal appeal to the lawmakers for this aid, but the personal appeal does not guarantee that the republicans will get on board with passing this additional assistance for ukraine, and some of the republicans have wanted them to outline more in the path forward in ukraine, and then the issue of the border policy, and some republicans are insisting that

the aid for israel or ukraine be connected to border policy here in this country. they have been meeting for weeks to try to reach some agreement here, and president biden said that he is open to some changes when it is coming to the border policy, but there is clearly a tough road ahead. the lawmakers are set to depart at the end of the week, and whether they will be able to come together on the border piece, and the white house is appealing that the aid is about to run out, and zelenskyy is going to pass that urgent appeal personally to the president tomorrow. >> and so he we go right to capitol hill, john. >> yes, and arlette was talking about the meetings that they will have up there on capitol hill, and how daunting of a

ta task? >> well, it is extremely daunting, because he has yet to meet with stakeholders who have a path forward on the security piece that arlette was discussing, and perhaps the most important meeting tomorrow is the one he will have with the newly minted house speaker mike johnson and perhaps that is because the meeting is going to be shoring up the aid in the weeks and month ahead, and when they return in january, this is again, a topic of discussion, and it is going to be up to speaker johnson to decide whether or not to put this package on the floor, assuming that any agreement on the border piece happens in the next several weeks, which is a tall order. johnson has many conservatives just like former house speaker kevin mccarthy did who are opposed to more funding for ukraine. simply deciding to put a bill on the floor of the house floor could be decisive or seen by

many on the hard right is something that the speaker should not be doing at all, and so you can expect that zelenskyy's meeting tomorrow with speaker johnson and what he is imploring him to do when he is talking about the importance of the money and all of it is extremely critical. he is going to be meeting with the bipartisan group of senators, but many of them are already supportive of this funding despite the fact that again they are still trying to find that critical perfect middle ground when it is coming to the border security that is very elusive up here on capitol hill. >> lauren fox is on the hill. keep us posted. kate. come up for us, a new look at the state of the 2024 presidential race. how the voters are feeling about a biden/trump matchup in georgia and michigan. and in iowa, how trump is gaining, gaining ground rather than gaining a real challenge as the republicans' field narrows. and rudy giuliani is in court now with the

anti-defamation suit against him, and how much money does he have to pay about the lies he told about the two georgia election workers. and the supreme court has temporarily blocked a woman from getting an abortion, and she says her life is on the line, and what this latest pause from the state of texas could mean for her health. we will be right back.

so, is there enough time or a path for donald trump to overcome his historic polling lead in iowa, and 35 days and 32 points. and this is how much trump leads by, and he is at 51% in the des moines "register" poll, and that is a record lead this close the caucus day. brand-new cnn polling is showing that trump is leading president biden in the hypothetical general re-election matchups in key battleground states michigan and georgia which were crucial for president biden in 2020. joining us is cnn director david chalian, and these are tough, tough poll numbers for president biden? >> yes, these are representing two of the five states that he flipped from red to blue to help deliver the 2020 victory, and donald trump has a lead in both of them. take a look in our georgia results, and you will see that

trump is ahead of biden there 49% to 40%, and 7% unsure, and the lead is even wider for trump in michigan where biden's victory in 2020 was actually wider than it was in georgia, and 50% for trump, and 40% for biden and 10% of the electorate is really not into either one of them at the moment. but this is -- these are a clear warning sign to joe biden that he and his team have a lot of work to do over the next 11 months. >> so one group that is going to be crucial or would be crucial to president biden and almost any democrat is younger voters, and what are these polls saying about the younger voters, david? >> well, so, we are looking at the folks here under 45, and that is what we have defined as younger voters as a larger sloth of the electorate there, and under 45 years old, and this is about sharpness and stamina. is the sharpness and stamina of

joe biden exactly what you are looking for, or the sharpness and stamina of donald trump exactly what you are looking for in the presidential candidate, and look at that, john, 27 of the voters under 45 in georgia say, yes, that is exactly what they are looking for in biden. and 54% of them in a majority say that they do have a sharpness in the stamina, and you see a near identical result in michigan. >> that is a huge number there, and that is a big, big margin between trump and biden there. >> this is a challenge, and a problem that does not go away with time, obviously and age. and so this is a challenge over the next 11 months that it is going to be something that biden has to constantly address, reassure, and convince folks of that he does indeed have the stamina to serve out another term. >> again, tough polls for joe biden, but maybe for president biden, but something of an achilles' heel inside of the numbers for donald trump as well, david.

what's that? >> i think that you are right to note this, john. it is about his legal troubles here. we asked if indeed the charges against trump for attempting to overturn the legitimate election results in 2020, if indeed they are proven true, would that disqualify him, and well, look at that, 47% of the voters in georgia say yes, if they are proven true, it is disqualifying, and 14% on top of that said it would cast real doubt about the fitness in office, and a near identical result in michigan, so when you are seeing that only 4 in 10 voters are in the battleground states are saying it is not true, and that is not relative to his fitness for office, that is a clear concern for trump, and that what we have seen in other polls as you will recall that show that the needle does move when voters at least in the early polling a year out consider how they would think

about trump if he were actually convicted in the trials. >> and to let you know, that this is a hypothetical, but it is not a far-fetched hypotheticala and trial scheduled to take place at the beginning of march, and it is absolutely conceivable that he is found guilty in that trial even before the conventions, so we have to wait and see there. i want to circle back to the iowa poll there, david, and talk about the donald trump lead there, and 51% there, and the lead has grown, and one thing that has happened since the last des moines "register" poll that some candidates have dropped out, and get that one-on-one and take him down, and maybe not so much. >> well, not if you are trying to do the math here. i mean, you could add up everything else, and you know, when you are at 51%, you have a majority of the vote, and you are right to note that as the field is shrinking, we are seeing donald trump get stronger, and that is an important reminder, because the voters who say they are not locked in, and though most of

the trump voters say they are, donald trump is still a potential consideration for them. it is not as if he has hit the ceiling. >> again, he is leading among the first-time voters and all of the groups that he needs. to and david chalian is talk his throat dry, and thank you for the personal sacrifice that you have by coming on and putting your body at stake. cnn political director and cnn hero, david chalian. >> i think that he is allergic to us. i feel like he is televisionally allergic to us, and we have broken david chalian. and now, joining us now is the columnist from the "boston globe" jackie kucinich, and i hope that you have not developed that allergy. and let's start in iowa. i have heard david chalian had pointed out this morning that when you are looking at trump's lead in iowa over the republican

field, it is now the largest lead that any republican has held this close to the iowa caucuses. you can never say that someone is inevitable, but taking a look at the number, and what does this say about donald trump? what does this say about ron desantis, and what does it say about nikki haley right now? >> i think that it says a lot of things honestly, and it is that donald trump has a hold on the iowa voters and we have not seen it diminish, and you have nikki haley and ron desantis trying to make the electability argument, and they are more electable, and now you have state and national polls that show that donald trump could defeat president biden, and so that argument is kind of out of the window, and you have not seen desantis or haley making the inroads that they need to. and desantis has had umpteen endorsements, and so has nikki haley, but desantis has had some

of the most high profile people in iowa and it has not made a dent. and we have covered some crazy iowa caucuses in the year, but trump does seem to be on a glide path to winning the iowa caucuses this year. a year out. >> and now, as you are looking at the change over time since october, and you have since then more republicans dropping out of the race, and john and david were talking about it, too, and long time adviser to mike pence, marc short has been hammering me with this, and the counter intuitive take of the direction that the race takes rather than the whole consolidating the field concept doesn't strengthen the alternative to trump, but it makes him seem more inevitable, and is that what we are seeing play out here? >> potentially, and marc short usually knows what he is talking about, and so he is definitely

worth listening to when it is coming to places like iowa particularly. and so, i do think that we are seeing his support, but it is more solidified, and that said, if you are looking at the poll, there are 46% of people who say that they are persuadable, and perhaps not going to vote for trump, and perhaps going for haley or desantis at the last minute, but when you have to pollster herself saying that this is a historic lead that he has in the iowa poll. >> yeah, it is. and it is great to see you, jackie, thank you. >> thank you. >> all right. right now, rudy giuliani is in court as the trial begins to look at how much he has to pay to georgia election workers for lies he told about them after the 2020 election. plus a texas woman who was granted an emergency order to get an abortion, and then had that order blocked is now waiting for another court

decision to terminate her high-risk pregnancy. she is now more than 20 weeks pregnancy with her own health on the line.

(♪♪) (♪♪) (♪♪) get exclusive offers on select new volvo models. contact your volvo retailer to learn more. right now, donald trump's former attorney rudy giuliani is in court as the defamation trial against him begins.

two georgia election workers rudy freeman and her daughter shaye moss say that he ruined their lives after he accused them of tampering with ballots. it is all part of overturning the 2020 loss in the state. giuliani has been found liable for defamation here, and now the jury is set to decide how much he should pay for that. >> so giuliani is there today, and someone who is not in court today, donald trump. trump reversed course and decide not to take the stand in his own civil fraud case. and so, now, he said with this big front that he was going to take the stand in his own defense, and why might he have bailed? >> well, maybe he heeded the advice of counsel, and maybe he doesn't usually do it, but maybe he did here, because the judge

gave the president unfettered rein to talk in the prior testimony, and the former president was able to say, i think that everything that he needed to say during that appearance, and there is really no need legally for him tonothi potential loss? >> right. >> and now, rudy giuliani in court, and potential jury selection, and he has been found guilty, and now a jury decides how much he has to pay, and when you are talking about, that it is important to know how much these former georgia election workers said about the impact of the words of giuliani had on their lives. play this for everybody. >> i have lost my name, and i have lost my reputation. i have lost my sense of security. >> i second-guess everything that i do. it has affect my life in a major

way, in every way. all because of lies. >> these were not public figures, but these were regular people, regular election workers and their lives turned upside down, and what should the jury consider now deciding the damages? >> i think that the effect of giuliani's words is going to have a big affect on the damages here, right. i mean, the result, you know, it is one thing to say something, and one thing for rudy giuliani to say something so publicly and to cause such harm to these individuals, and we have had, and mr. giuliani has admitted liability, and we have a default judgment, and this is how much is the jury going to award to what happened to them. >> play giuliani's own words here, and so people can have a

se sense. listen to this. >> look at that woman taking ballot and scurrying around. and nobody else in the room. they look like they are passing out dope and not just ballots. it is quite clear they are stealing votes. quite obviously, and surreptitiously passing around usb ports as if they are vials of heroin or cocaine. it is obvious to anyone who is a criminal investigator or prosecutor, they are engaged in surrepetitious illegal activity that day. >> and again, he is found guilty to have defamed these women, and how uncomfortable for him, and what is he going is the have to go through in that courtroom? >> it is a tough week. he did not want to be in this courtroom before, and he did not show up for pretrial conference and he has tried to avoid the court before, and this is very uncomfortable week sitting through the damages portion of this case. >> the jury will decide based on

what are the determinative factors this week. >> it is really the emotional damage to the workers here, and also, there is a punitive element to it, right. so, the statements were rather unhinged, and really over the edge of what is allowed publicly and in our society. so, i think that the jury may take a more punitive look at the damages that they award here. >> and john and i were looking at this from the jury selection from the outside looking in, eh, but this jury selection is additionally interesting, because it is kind of the first of what is going to be a series of juries facing the question of lies around the election and the fallout from it, and starting with giuliani, and quickly after that, you could be looking at donald trump. what does this kind of jury selection look like then?

>> well, listen, there is a real art to jury selection having done a fair amount of it on my end, and there is a really in some courts, you are allowed a bigger window into what the potential jurors are thinking and what their biases are and some courts don't give you as much information and you have to make limited calls, but this is an art, and a lot more that is going into it than you would think. >> watch that artform play out right now. it is good to see you, sara. thank you for coming in. >> thank you. fred? >> still no answers for the texas woman after a texas supreme court put her emergency abortion on hold. the state's attorney general says that the threat to the woman's health and a fatal fetal diagnosis cannot overcome texas' restrictive abortion ban.

so, this morning the texas supreme court has temporarily blocked what doctors say is a potentially life-saving abortion for kate cox. she is now over 20 weeks pregnant, and the doctors say that she has a fetal condition that will put the fetus at risk and now her own health is at risk. ed lavandera has been following this case. where are things at this moment? >> we are wait for the texas supreme court to issue an emergency ruling, and kate cox

was issued a waiver to have an abortion, but then it was put on pause the next day after the attorney general ken paxton went to the supreme court to ask the supreme court to block that. right now, we are waiting for the supreme court to rule on exactly what is going to be happening here. over the weekend, ken paxton filed another motion before the supreme court arguing that the conditions that kate cox has described that she is under do not rise to the level of the medical exemption here in texas. he writes that a fatal fetal condition or the threat of possibly not being able to have children in the future does not rise to that level even though the exemption here in texas says that women who are in life threatening conditions, and also face a substantial impairment of a major bodily function could meet that medical exemption, but right now, kate cox' attorneys say that the state's position is

extreme and callous. >> she spent all weekend in bed, and think about how you would feel in this situation. that is why it is untenable for patients to come to court and ask for a court authorization for life-saving care, and it is outrageous, and people should be outraged by what is happening in texas right now. >> reporter: and john the lawyer went on the say, would you want ken paxton in the medical room with you when you are having to make decisions with your medical team, and she said, i don't think so. but that is the battle undergoing here in texas, and one of the most significant challenges and cases that we have seen since the supreme court overturned roe v. wade. >> and texas has a near total abortion ban, and any idea when the supreme court will rule on this? >> it is as you can hear kate

cox's attorney feels that way, and all of this is filed in the emergency setting. so we had anticipated that perhaps over the weekend we would have heard something, but right now, we continue to wait, but the presumption is that it would be relatively soon. >> all right. ed lavandera is watching this for us in texas, and thank you so much. fred? >> let's bring in the cnn analyst and criminal attorney joey jackson. all right, joey. what is the texas supreme court going to take into account as it is considering rendering a decision? >> well, this is problematic, and to set the stage, fredricka, huge. the first time since 50 years since the roe v. wade decision that you have an individual to go to court to have an assessment due to the medical condition. and justice delayed could be justice denied, because she is 20 weeks now, and now the court has to make a determination, and they can do a number of things.

the first thing they can do is to punt. this is a legislative issue, and there is a medical exemption under the law, but legislature needs to clarify what is medically permissible, and that is not up to us to do says legislature, but the state does meet the standard of emergent medical conditions, and if there an objective view of the doctor that your life is in danger, and it should be permitted to go forward, and the case is if it only applies to her, fredricka, or broadly apply, and the doctors are scared to death of this and moving forward because of the penalties involved. >> her doctor said that she and the fetus are in trouble. that is why this emergency abortion was necessary. so at this point, what is the process, i mean, for the supreme court, and what are all of the things that they will be examining, because, when you are talking about the legislative body, and now talking about

weeks. i mean, this is the decision that she and her attorney are hoping that is going to be taking place in a matter of days. >> it has to, because that is what is of the essence. think about that, and what the court has to do now, fredricka, is to balance the priorities. what the attorney general sued to block this is saying that it is your subjective opinion, doctor, if it is life threatening, and by the way, it is not life threatening enough, because of the fact that she could be in danger or potentially not have children of the future, and as a result of that, it does not meet the standards. on the flipside of that, we hear the argument of her that says, look, this could lead to serious compl complications, and my doctor had a firm basis, and it was not subjective, but objective as to what involves with me, and as a result of the court, you stay out of my life, and let my doctor make the call, but the big news of this, fredricka, you could face life in jail as a

doctor, and face civil penalties and disciplinary penalties. >> and undermining court. >> yes, to what extent do to justices who have not made the examination with this pregnancy impede or interfere with a doctor's determination that we have an issue here that needs to be addressed, because she is having an emergency issue. and should the court be making the decision or the doctor who has evaluated the patient and understands the significance of the medical maladies be making decision? this is the reasoning, and the stakes are high. >> thank you, joey jackson for that explanation. and coming up, the nominations are in for the golden globes, but the search for the host of the awards ceremony is still under way. we have more coming up.

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morning, and barbie, our coworker, we should note, leading the pack with nine nominations, that's the most for any film. elizabeth joins us now. this barbie thing, i think it's taking off. >> i think they are onto something. as we know, barbie, the biggest movie of the year. it made over the worldwide box office and

now that's paying off in a big way with the official kickoff to award season with the golden globes, barbie leading the nominations, oppenheimer, not far behind, that's really the headline this morning but also killers of the flower moon. starring leonardo dicaprio, robert de niro, all three of them, getting nominations this morning. this is going to be a star- studded year. you look down on the list of nominations, it's a lister after a lister. bradley cooper is nominated not just in this category of best motion picture drama but also best director and actor but we have a good mixture as well of a listers, greta lee, some may know her from the morning show, she's also nominated in her category, and i also mentioned lily gladstone from killers of the flower moon, she is going to be one of the big breakout

success stories of this award season. >> this is an award show that will take place whether or not it finds a host which seems to be a problem right now? >> you know, it is a problem, but this is a pretty common problem when it comes to award shows, this is not just golden globes, specific up at i did have some new reporting that the globes did reach out to people like allie wong and chris rock and they declined but even though, to us at home, this may seem like the gig of a lifetime, right, in hollywood, a lot of actors, they think of this as a thankless job. you are doing a lot of preparation in the world of social media, getting immediate feedback, oftentimes very negative. there's also a lot of topics that you have to tackle but they will find a host and the show will go on and i have to tell you, i think this really stands to be the big comeback

of the golden globes. we know there was a big controversy with the hollywood foreign press association and the lack of diversity. will now, that organization has disbanded, there's new ownership, and we have to note that last of the golden globes, they aired on a tuesday, a random, middle of the work week. well this year they are airing on a sunday. they will have the sunday night football lead in. so there's really the opportunity to have a lot of viewers excited and all the sources that i'm talking to in the entertainment industry say that all of the celebrities are very excited to get back on the carpet and they feel like this is a real return to the golden globes. >> tuesday can be a great night for a party. let me just state that, we don't want to stay upset but -- >> john does so much partying on a tuesday. >> thank you for being with us. >> all right, golden globes. this is the one they can drink

at, right? >> yes. >> a little more saucy. >> no one wants to host apparently because they are concerned about negative comments on social media, i have no idea what that is like. >> just like barbie, everything is great! >> thank you for joining us, this is cnn news central. inside politics is up next.

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