, tonight on 360, with ukraine's president in washington seeking more aid and

many congressional republicans are resisting. president biden announced the u.s. will support ukraine for as long as it can, instead of as long as it takes. also tonight, harrowing testimony from the georgia election worker about what the lies rudy giuliani told about her and her mom did to their lives. that and a warning a judge gave him about continuing to spread misinformation. and later, the newest example of how cnn's exclusive reporting on sexual misconduct in the coast guard is getting results, this time on capitol hill. can good evening, thanks for joining us. we begin tonight with ukraine's war to drive russian forces out at a stalemate, and efforts in washing fund that were apparently at a standstill. tonight, no sign yet that president volodymyr zelenskyy meetings today with biden top lawmakers have done anything to break that logjam. house republicans are still demanding a large-scale concessions on migration from mexico, and before agreeing to any new aid for ukraine. a number of them say they oppose it regardless. over on the senate side, republican leader mitch mcconnell does favor more ukraine funding, said it would be, quote, practically impossible to pass a funding

measure before christmas, even if the two sides reached an agreement. president biden, in the meantime, said he was hopeful about the chances of that happening, and that is just one of several message he was sending today, as you mentioned at the top he also signaled the limits of what washington may be able to deliver, a difference tween what it takes and what it can. he also warned republicans against giving vladimir putin what he calls quote, the greatest christmas gift they could possibly give him. the president reminded that russian media is already gloating about the aid standoff, and how gop opposition benefits them. >> the host of a kremlin run show, literally said, and i quote, well done republicans. that's good for us, and of quote. let me say that again, the host of a kremlin run show said, well done republicans, that's good for us. that's the russian-speaking. if you are being celebrated by russian propagandists, it might be time to rethink what you're

doing. >> well whatever they do or don't do, time is running out. congress breaks the holidays on friday, cnn's mj lee starts off our coverage tonight from the white house. so the president has long said the u.s. is ready to support ukraine, for as long as it takes. was that still his message today, because it didn't sound like? it >> yeah anderson, as long as it takes is the refrain that we have long heard from president biden, when it comes to ukraine. but we heard something a little different from the president tonight. he said the u.s. will continue to supply ukraine with the supplies and the equipment that it needs for as long as we can. this is a really subtle difference, but i think it just goes to capture the immense challenges that the biden administration is now facing, as it tries to continue showing its steadfast support for ukraine, including by approving the supplemental package that includes some 60 billion dollars of additional funding for ukraine. you, know even after president zelenskyy went to capitol hill

personally to try to make this appeal to lawmakers, it didn't seem like he was successful in swaying any of the members who are not convinced that this is the right road to take. i think this is a visit that has, all in all, sort of highlighted the very different place that the u.s. is in, and congress certainly is in, compared to the last time that president zelenskyy came here to the white house a year ago, when he really received a heroes welcome. he was invited to make a speech to the joint session of congress, and really got bipartisan and overwhelming support for the ukrainian cause, anderson. >> it's interesting to hear president biden driving home how closely russia is watching the u.s.. >> that's right. you know, in so many ways, i think president biden's speech was actually aimed squarely at vladimir putin. he said right off the top of his remarks that putin is banking on the u.s. to fail in its efforts to support ukraine, and that we must prove him wrong, is what president biden said. and some of the sound that you

just played was so remarkable, because the president was basically saying that the issues that we are seeing, the fights that we are seeing over this funding for ukraine taking place on capitol hill, this isn't just domestic policy. and political fighting, he said that the kremlin is watching, vladimir putin is watching. he said if you are being celebrated by russian propagandists, it might be time to rethink what you are doing. there was also another message, not just about russia that is watching, but other would-be aggressors. the president saying that this is going to send a big message to what other sort of bad actors might be willing to do, might think they can do in taking, forcibly, land and territories from other democracies. and that is why this is such an existential fight, that we are talking about, according to the president. >> mj lee in the white house, thank you. and today's visit by zelenskyy came in a day that we had no indication, really of the enormous price that russia has paid for invading ukraine, and human lives. it comes from a u.s. intelligence assessment

provided to congress, a source familiar with that assessment telling cnn it says russia now lost 87% of the active duty ground troops that it had prior to the invasion. 87% killed or wounded since the war began. now that said, and it's frankly staggering to even imagine, ukrainian forces are paying a terrible price as well. cnn's anna coren recently spoke with some of them, about how vital western aid has been, and what they fear will happen if it dries up. >> when your hit with the modern weapons, and with the western weapons. of course they are more accurate, and they bring more damage to the enemy. >> i am afraid ukraine will not be able to stand without our partners and allies. so this is the, it's a simple as that. >> if we let ukraine go, if we let putin win, then who will feel themselves safe here? >> i think no one. >> and we are joined now by cnn 's nick paton walsh in ukraine,

near the front lines. so nick, president zelenskyy said that his goal for 2024's to, quote, take away russian superiority and disrupt its offensive operations. what are you actually and seeing and hearing about whether he can do, that without more u.s. aid? >> yeah, without f-16s really, i think it's a very long shot that they can reverse. the problem they face in the last counteroffensive this summer, which is without air superiority, they simply could not conduct the kind of pace of warfare that nato had trained them to do, that nato expected them to pull off. now volodymyr zelenskyy, really, unless something magically pops out of the hat at the end of this week, has laid his card's down, made his trip to washington , met congressional leaders, and not come up with

the money thatat is deeply n ned byby his frontliline troops. we've seen it in the p past day, a real sense of frustration, anger, concern amongst troops. that, really it's got to be tough to continue this defense, let alone try and take back territory, without the billions they've been accustomed to receiving or being announced every other week or so. zelenskyy comes back, to, to a country, i think deeply anxious about the winter ahead. today, we've seen -- in the south. we saw some of that ourselves in the last 48 hours, civilian areas pounded relentlessly day and night, almost like two armies, duking it out inside the town. even though the russians are across the other side of the river. he also comes back to a nation with experience, cel disruption throughout today, likely ukraine security services say, because of a russian cyber attack, that's impacted air raid sirens here, the air raid alert apps that you get on your phone. you can hear in this town, as you turn the street lights off manually. so, a lot of destruction there certainly. and, to, a political climate, increasingly tense. for zelenskyy as well. his defense minister joked about how the chief of staff here, running the counter offensive had indeed been fired --

a joke indeed, but a sign of the tension between the president and the man who runs the military operations here. it's going to be difficult this winter, regardless of whether or not the money certainly comes out of nowhere. we've had some ukrainian officials are suggesting that doctors, first responders, they may not get their salaries as early as january if the u. s. doesn't stump up money essentially this week. as you say, this is exactly what vladimir putin has been waiting for. western resolve, western unity, remarkably coherent for the past nearly two years on this issue. but it's beginning to crumble, beginning to tie up. the existential issue of whether ukraine can defend itself from russia. and remember, a lot of your, a lot of nato allies of the u. s. desperately need ukraine to do the fight for them here. because if russia is successful, it might get closer to nato's border. and so many ukrainians are deeply worried, that they are beginning to see a winter of infrastructure attacks, and vladimir putin on bolden thinking finally, he is out

waited the west. >> nick paton walsh, thank you. more now on the resistance presidents lewinsky is facing from congressional republicans. cnn's manu raju is at the capitol for us tonight. so, what was the response from republicans on congress to the visit? was he able to move the needle at all? >> no, really he wasn't, anderson. even among the staunch supporters of ukraine aid, among the gop, chief among them the senate republican leader mitch mcconnell, still in the same position they were as they headed into this meeting. that there needs to be a deal, over new policies dealing with the u.s. border with mexico, and the influx of migrants coming across the southern border. they want, changes whether it's dealing with asylum reform, or changing how the president grants parole to migrants coming across the, border are putting new physical barriers and the like. a wide range of policies, issues that have badly divided the two parties for years and years and years. but they say that must be dealt with first, before they can greenlight new aid to ukraine,

which is why there are real fears, anderson, about the prospects of getting a deal at all. with the divisions that continue to persist on this issue, despite those pleas anderson, republicans said immigration must come first. >> manu raju, thank you. for more on what happens if american aid dries up, we are joined by cnn military analyst and retired army general mark hertling. >> so general hertling, i mean, how serious is this, given the rate at which ammunition is used in this conflict? can you just walk us through what it looks, like if the flow of weapons from the u.s. slows, or is shut off completely? >> yeah, there is a couple of things to talk about, anderson. the first, what your previous reporters have all addressed, and that is, i think i was sitting with you on the 22nd of february in the studio, when i said one of putin's strategic goals was to further divide an already divided united states, and a divided nato. he has so far been unsuccessful in doing this. but i think president biden was absolutely correct.

putin is receiving a gift right now from a strategic perspective. from a tactical perspective, all wars, all battles have inflection points. ukraine is at one of those inflection points right now. they cannot afford any kind of disruption in their logistics supply chain. any kind of delay, in terms of a drawdown authority, more ammunition, more equipment, more support, and even the appearance of less support, as mr. putin is seeing right now, is critically important to ukraine. because they can't keep the fight going. as nick paton walsh said. the other thing that's important is, we are entering a new season. this is the winter fighting season. ukraine has been so far successful operationally on the battlefield. they have gained more ground in their counteroffensive. they certainly haven't gained anything they wanted to but, they have gained some. and what you are seeing now is the potential for them to go into a hasty defense situation, and continue to strike long range russian ammo caches, fuel depots, troop movements, which they can do with our help. if we take away the ammunition,

while at the same time russia is being supplied with drones and artillery from places like iran and north korea, the fight will become uneven. and again, as mj lee said, this is an existential threat for ukraine. they have to have a continuation of logistics in this fight. >> so what can ukrainians do right now to prepare for potential -- will russia be able to go on the offensive? >> well, they've been trying to do that for the last several weeks, in places -- like we've heard a little bit about that. they had not been successful. russia has attempted to maneuver some of their new recruits into areas where they think they can be successful. so far, ukraine has fought back and defended extremely well, in the winter campaign. but they can't do that forever, especially if they are ammunition supplies are

dwindling. europe is continuing to try and bolster the efforts. but truthfully, nato and the united states have learned a big lesson in this fight, that our supply systems have to be more robust than they were at the start of this campaign. and that's a lesson we've all taken away, because of what we saw as a peace dividend in the 1990s with russia, is suddenly exactly the opposite of what russia is doing today. they are executing warfare and other new nato members like romania or the baltics, or croatia, are very concerned about a newly emboldened russia, expanding beyond their territory. and putin has even said that. >> general hertling, i appreciate that. coming up next, rudy giuliani, confronted in court on his election falsehoods. and a warning a judge gave him about repeating them, which he did just yesterday. also, what the former president claiming he is immune from criminal proceedings, someone who is very much part of the story the last time the supreme court was asked to decide that question, john dean. his take on all of that, when we continue.

when we left you last night, rudy giuliani had just doubled down on false allegations on the mother and daughter of 2020 election workers, whose lives he has already upended. false allegations he is already been found liable for in federal court. and that's on day one of the penalty phase of since his civil trial ended. a day to include testimony from one of the women he defend, and a warning from from the judge. cnn's brian todd has more.

>> powerful evidence in the defamation case against former trump attorney rudy giuliani. the jury hearing threatening voice mails sent to two former georgia election workers. >> [bleep] [bleep] [bleep] [bleep] >> i'm gonna -- >> also, powerful testimony from one former election worker, shaye moss, about how giuliani's conspiracy theories devastated her life, after the 2020 election. moss, telling a federal court giuliani, is quote, crazy lies about her and her mother spread everywhere at the time, and lead to threats against her family. quote, i am most scared of my son finding me and or my mom hanging outside of my house on a tree, or having to get the news at school that his mama was killed. moss's testimony came hours after giuliani inexplicably doubled down on the lies he had spread about moss and her mother, ruby freeman, who is also an election worker. >> everything i said about them is true. >> do you regret what you did?

>> of course i don't regret it, i told the truth. they were engaged in changing votes. >> there is no proof of that. and the judge in the civil defamation case against giuliani rebuked the former new york mayor, saying his quote, negative, quite defamatory statements about the two women could support another defamation claim. >> rudy giuliani should know that this is not going to help his cause. it is going to deepen the hole he is in. and yet he keeps digging. >> the judge has already ruled in this case that giuliani spread false information about moss and freeman in the wake of the 2020 election. giuliani has conceded that he did make a defamatory statements about them, but he's argued that the statements didn't cause them any damage, even states like the one he made to the georgia state legislature, telling them moss and freeman were corrupting the vote count. >> they surreptitiously were passing around usb ports, as if they were vials of heroin or cocaine. >> moss and freeman are asking

the jury to consider awarding them between 15. 5 million and $43 million, for the reputational harm they suffered from giuliani's statements. and, more for the emotional distress they've endured, which they told the house january 6th committee about. >> i don't want anyone knowing my name. i don't go to the grocery store at all. i haven't been anywhere at all. >> these are public servants, and he's essentially put them out there, and caused them to be targeted by hateful people, by people who are seeking to do them harm. and he has really upended their lives. >> rudy giuliani already owes shaye moss and ruby freeman more than $230,000 for failing to respond to parts of their lawsuit. a few months ago in a court filing, giuliani said he has is essentially broke, because of all of his legal costs. so a judgment against him in this case would put him even further in debt. anderson? >> brian todd, thanks. from several to criminal court,

now there is the fallout from special counsel jack smith's push to get the former presidents claim of immunity in the january 6th case on a fast track to the supreme court. now as we discussed last night, this could be a decision if and when it comes, that ranks among the most consequential ever for the high court, in that the question at the heart of it has never been fully settled. perhaps the closest the court came was in 1974, with the u. s. v. nixon, which compelled then president nixon to turn over those watergate tapes. i want to get some firsthand perspective on that from cnn contributor and watergate whistleblower john dean, former nixon white house counsel. >> john, in terms of potential significance, does any prior supreme court case involving -- u.s. phoenix and compared to the immunity ruling that jack smith is seeking in the trump case? >> no. it is a, it is a pinnacle. >> i mean, in the u.s. the v. nixon, the question was whether the president has executive privilege in a subpoena fight, not necessarily immunity from a criminal trial.

so is there actual precedent from the nixon case that could or should apply to the trump case? >> you know, there is a little bit of language in the, what they call the dicta, the sort of this remarks, that indicates that the court then certainly thought the president had criminal exposure. but it's not really spelled out, it's never been spelled out, or been fully addressed or fully briefed. >> during watergate, woodward and bernstein, they wrote a special prosecutor leon jaworsky's decision to appeal to the supreme court. saying, quote, it was risky, very very risky. suppose the justices said no? suppose it was an angry? no suppose it was very sarcastic reminder to jaworsky that there is a court of repeals for such reason and that no one receives special treatment. not the president, and not an arrogant special prosecutor, and quote. do you see any potential downsides to jackson's the gambit? >> i don't. i think he is one step ahead. i think he's got a stronger case then nixon had for example, with the tapes. and certainly, that trump has in this case, for total

immunity. >> given the dispute over immunity. i mean, to say nothing of the ongoing dispute over judge chutkan's gag order, do you think is any way in which trump 's federal election subversion trial starts on time in early march? >> it's got a shot now. we will see what the high court does, in taking this on, and how long it takes them to deliberate, and in the nixon case, they did it from start to finish, anderson, in 61 days. >> and given the makeup of the court i, mean how do you think they would rule, if they took the case? >> well, that's harder to tell. you know, if conservatives are being true conservatives, they're not going to say that a president, any president, is above the law. so once they take that case on, if they take it on, i think they will, they are going to go the distance and find no immunity for the president. >> john dean, thanks for your time. >> thank you. >> just ahead, as intense fighting in gaza continues,

we've got two breaking news stories on the ground, war there, involving israel's new attempt to go after hamas underground. and also, the fraying relationship between president biden and prime minister netanyahu. new details on both those stories, ahead.

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two breaking news stories involving israel's ground operations in gaza. a u.s. official has told cnn that israel has informed the u. s. it has begun flooding some tunnels under gaza with seawater, quote, on a limited basis. during a news conference, president biden said he had heard assertions there are no hostages in the flooded tunnels, but and, these are his words, quote, i don't know that for a fact. also breaking tonight, the rift between the president and israel's prime minister spilled into public view today. biden told democratic donors that israel was losing international support for the war and he also criticized netanyahu's conservative government. meanwhile, netanyahu has said he doesn't agree with biden's vision of a post war gaza. we will have more of that in a moment. we want to begin with the tunnels. and alex marquardt, who is in tel aviv tonight. so what more do we know about this flooding? >> well anderson, this is something that the israelis appear to be trying out. it could be a significant new tactic on what we believe are hundreds of miles of tunnels,

at least according to hamas's claim. the israelis are doing this on a limited basis, we are told. they are doing it in tunnels where they do not believe the hostages are. they are flooding those tunnels with seawater. according to u.s. official speaking to our colleague natasha bertand they are unsure of how successful it is going to be. but it was important enough for president biden to be asked about this earlier today. he said that he had heard the assertions that the tunnels that were being flooded did not have any hostages in them. but, he could not confirm that. he did express his concern for all civilians in gaza. remember anderson, it would not just be destroying the tunnel system, it would not just be destroying the weapons that are down there. of course, it could benefit israel if they were able to flood those tunnels, and kill hamas militants. but there are still quite a few hostages who are there, 135, according to the idf, 116 of whom i, should specify, are still alive. >> and what else are you learning about this divide

between president biden and netanyahu? >> well, it really does appear to be growing, that daylight appears to be growing. the two men made comments today that show that they are increasingly at odds on some very important issues. we heard some of the most pointed comments by biden today about prime minister netanyahu, and his government, and the war in gaza. he said to donors, this was at a campaign event, raising money, that prime minister netanyahu needs to change, but that it is difficult, because of his far-right government. he said that israel is rapidly losing global suort because of what he called the indiscriminate bombing that is taking place. he went on to talk about this government that has all of these far-right ministers, that he says don't want anything remotely approaching a two-state solution. he says that they want retribution against all palestinians. now, the biden administration has said repeatedly they want a two state solution, but we have

seen differences from both israel and the u.s. about who will rule in not just gaza, but in the west bank, following this war. the biden administration has said they want a reformed palestinian authority, israel has said we certainly do not want the palestinian authority to have any kind of control. and netanyahu is right there, seemingly with his far-right members of the government, in that he has not expressed any real support, or any interest in a two state solution, which is very important for the u.s.. >> alex marquardt, thank you. i want to get perspective now from a cnn political and foreign policy analyst barack ravid. so whatever these two different points of, you biden and netanyahu are both the war and how the war will end. so how does this rift go? what is, if netanyahu doesn't want the palestinian authority running gaza, are they still

talking about some, qatar coming in, egyptian forces coming in? i mean, what is the plan? >> good evening anderson. i think that when you read biden's comments from earlier today, and by the way, everyone who is interested in u.s. israel relations, this text is a must. i read it from top to bottom, biden says amazing things there. for example, he tell us about the phone call he had with netanyahu when he tells netanyahu, listen, you have to be more careful with palestinian civilians in gaza, with your air strikes. and netanyahu tells of, what do you want from me, what about the carpet bombing you guys did in world war ii, and the nuclear bomb you threw on japan? and biden says, i told them, this is not the 1940s anymore, we are in a different era. so i think it's very interesting comment, and i think it shows, more than anything, that unlike others in u.s. politics, biden on the one

hand, he sees himself as a very big friend of israel. on the other hand, he does not equate israel with netanyahu or his government. he makes this distinction, and it's a very interesting point. >> at this stage, i mean, what do most israelis think of netanyahu? i mean, given the huge intelligence failure. given he has not accepted any responsibility, whereas other members of his government and military intelligence have. >> well anderson, you see a very interesting thing in the polls. between 75 and 80% of israelis support the war, and the same amount of people say they want netanyahu to go the day the war ends. so they want to destroy hamas, and they want to basically destroy netanyahu politically, which is a very interesting phenomenon that i don't remember in israeli politics. and i think that the day this war ends, or more exactly, the day that the high intensity

phase of the war ends, which is not very far away from now, we are talking up between 3 to 8 weeks, i think the political game will start moving in this real. and, there will be this snowball effect that most likely will take us to an election in israel in the next six months. >> you still have i mean, these right-wing members of the government of netanyahu. what is their plan, what is it they want? >> i think a person like itamar ben-gvir, the ultranationalist, the leader of the far-right party, jewish power. that by the way, the fact that joe biden, the president of the united states knows him by name, and can explain his worldview, is also something very interesting. but, a lot of analysts in israel think that this guy, itamar ben-gvir, has the most interest in toppling the current government, because he sees netanyahu as very weak right now, and he might be planning that when netanyahu announces that the first phase of the war is over, he might be planning to resign and say you

know, i want it to go on, but netanyahu is the one who stopped this, he is not right-wing enough. so, we should go to election, and everybody who sees themselves as right-wing needs to vote for me, for ben-gvir, and not for netanyahu. >> you reported that israel is likely to reopen a border crossing to southern gaza to allow aid trucks in. what prompted this, and how much aid could potentially get into gaza through this crossing? >> well anderson, what prompted this is pretty strong u.s. pressure, and our colleague jeremy diamond reported earlier today that jake sullivan, the national security adviser, is going to raise this in his meeting in jerusalem later this week. and that he is going to press the israelis, and not long after the story ran, i got a call from a senior israeli official that told me listen, most likely we are going to approve this u.s. request. and the reason for it is obviously that they don't want

to see a humanitarian crisis in gaza. but i think more interesting is that they need u.s. support for the ground operation to continue. and for that to happen, they need to do what the u.s. asked them on humanitarian support for gaza. >> interesting, for ravid, thank you as always. next, testimony on capitol hill from four women about the sexual assault they say they endured at the u.s. coast guard academy, as lawmakers investigate how the economy handles reports of abuse. that, and how some of those lawmakers credit our pamela brown's exclusive reporting here o on 360, foror leading u o this momenent. >>

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and when you do, your gift will have two times the impact. on capitol hill today, the senate hearing sparked by exclusive reporting on this program earlier this year by pamela brown and her team, and how leaders of the u.s. coast guard academy buried findings in a secret investigation, which corroborated evidence that dozens of sexual assaults. two senators said this is one some of the most powerful testimony they ever heard. for women who attend one of economies from late 1970s to today, each sharing how they say leaders failed to protect them. and then, they spoke to pamela brown, who hasn't mentioned, first broke this story. here is her report. >> nothing but the truth, so help you god. >> these four women say they were all sexually assaulted in the coast guard in different areas. >> i was groped several times. sometimes with 30 laughing witnesses. >> over the course of three

days he repeatedly raped me in that room. >> to first class cadets broke down the roommates in my locked door, entered my room, and jumped on to our beds on top of us. >> including a current cadet at the coast guard academy. >> what i thought was an innocent ice cream date on campus, turned into a sexual assault that has haunted me ever since. >> a rare, bipartisan hearing investigating the way the coast guard handles reports of sexual abuse. >> i've been here more than 12 years, and this is probably some of the most powerful, important, and on point testimony i've heard. >> we lelearned abouout the foud ananchor reporort, only bebecaun founund out abouout it, repoporn it. >> cnn f first uncovovered a history y of sexual l assaults n ththe agencieses, that were ignd or mishandled. >> -- in an investigation called

operation fouled anchor. but the results were covered up for years. >> the status quo can older continue. >> the survivor spoke of having their reports of assaults mishandled. >> the same company commander admitted that he didn't start an investigation, because, quote, he figured that it happened on a date. you do have blond hair, and you wear makeup. >> and while current cadet kira grace homestrup says cover-ups are no longer a problem at the coast guard academy, from her experience, there are still damaging missteps. >> and then i got to talk to a chaplain, and when i want to talk to that chaplain, he asked me who assaulted me. and i told him, and he said, oh no, he's such a good guy. >> the women spoke of the pain, and feelings of betrayal that still lingers, some even decades later. >> so this is, in many ways, has been a blessing for me. because i finally have a diagnosis for the things that i thought were just personality quirks, these last 20 years, was actually in fact ptsd. >> last week, the coast guard released the results of an

internal review, admitting it failed to keep their people safe. >> and, change is necessary. >> but the report doesn't include any punishment of assailants from the past. >> it's insulting, it's patronizing. >> after the hearing, we sat down with three of the survivors. >> i love that they want to help future cadets, and they just left this mass carnage in the wake. >> and what does that look like for you personally, that mass carnage? >> it looks a lot of expensive therapy. it looks like broken relationships, lost family, suicide attempts. >> melissa mccaffrey attempted suicide six years ago. >> the level that this organization pushed me to, and i am beyond lucky to be here today, i am beyond lucky. i frankly do not know how i survived. i flatlined in the ambulance, and i flatlined at the hospital. yet here i am.

>> what do you say to the women, and the men, who have been sexually assaulted, and who haven't told anyone? >> i feel stronger today than i did yesterday. you made me feel weak, and that ain't the case anymore. now i'm stronger. >> pamela, the women who you spoke with today, they are skeptical there is going to be any meaningful change. what is the coast guard saying today, after their testimony? >> well anderson, the coast guard once again apologized to the victims for its failures, and vowed change. saying in a statement given to cnn, we recognize and applaud the tremendous courage of the witnesses who came forward to share their personal stories at today's hearing. their reflections and recommendations, and those of all survivors, are essential to our efforts to continuously improve our prevention and response policy. so anderson, it remains to be seen if this change will happen. of course, we want to stay on

top of it. >> pamela brown, you've just done incredible, incredible work on this for a long long time. thank you. >> thank you, and thanks to the whole team. as you know, it's a team effort, anderson. >> really extraordinary work. just a ahead, thisis is granvive hall at ththe universisity in i, ououtside of c cnn's town n halr ron dedesantis. questitions for vovoters beganan abouout 15 minututes for nowow. wewe're going g to previewew the challenge e for desantntis, less than f five weeks s out from t e atatlanta iowawa caucus, n next.

welcome back.

take a look at the scene at grandview university in des moines, iowa and, about tenants now, florida governor and republican presidential candidate ron desantis will appear with my colleague, jake tapper, for a cnn town hall. governor desantis is going to field questions from iowa voters less than five weeks before the iowa caucuses, finishing well in iowa, it's obviously critical for desantis, who is double digits behind the former president national state polls and now trying to fend off a surging nikki haley. she's got a big endorsement for tomorrow at a rally in new hampshire by that state's republican governor chris sununu. >> there was a sweet older women who has come to a lot of events. and i saw her coming in here, and she said, so are you going to finally endorse nikki haley for president? you bet your (bleep) i am! let's get this thing done. >> we are all in on nikki haley undoubtedly. , and you can feel the energy.

you can feel it! and when you look at her, polymers, when you look at the ground game that nikki has laid, it's been absolutely unbelievable. >> and when i've seen her interact with folks that's what it is. it's that intangible, she gets it. >> it is certainly a big pick up for haley. earlier today, desantis's campaign manager told our dana bash that the expected endorsement was quote, meaningful. joining me now, two cnn political commentators, kate bettingfield, former biden white house communications director and david urban, and longtime campaign adviser to the former president. kate, do you think desantis has an opportunity to surge in the next five weeks? >> i think it is an uphill battle, based on everything we've seen. we've seen that as the republican field has continued to willow, trump has only gained ground in the polls. so, that doesn't suggest as a whole lot of opportunity for somebody else to come in. but, desantis has said time and again that he expects to win iowa, but his expectation is that he's going to win iowa, so he's put a lot of his eggs in

the iowa basket. i think tonight, what he needs to try to do is connect with voters on a human level. i think we saw the debate last week, we saw the four candidates go back and forth on attacking each other, and attacking each other's policy positions. so what desantis has an opportunity to do tonight is try to tell his own story, to connect in a way that makes a republican voter say, yeah you know i trust, him and he's something i think i want to see in the white house. >> david, that is the strength of these town halls, theoretically for a candidate. i think it is why they liked doing it, because it is, i mean it's an audience of people who very well want to vote for a republican, probably like desantis, and as kate said, they want to see him as a human being. the des moines register nbc news poll said 51% of likely caucus goers say that trump would be their first choice, desantis far behind, 19%. haley at 16. do you see any scenario which either desantis or haley suddenly surge in the next month? >> listen, it's a -- task for desantis to push that

big rock up a hill. so, -- is a great pollster. last month, the was -- down by 3. he could a state set to get 60%, desantis is up to 19%. i don't think there's any universe that he winds iowa. but i think it's important that he has a very strong second place finish. so, if he finishes in the mid twenties someplace, i think it would be a big victory from, given a lot of momentum going into new hampshire, where he may not fare as well. but, he's got all of his eggs in one basket here in iowa, and he needs to do well tonight, he needs to do well on january 15th. >> and kate, in that same poll, the des moines register nbc news, 51%, excuse me, 73% of likely caucus goers believe that donald trump can beat joe biden, despite his legal problems. what does that tell you? >> well that tells me that these other republican candidates have a huge uphill climb here. i mean, you have a former president who is mired in court, who is charged with trying to subvert our democracy, and the republican base in iowa believes that he can win. so that tells me immediately in the short term, it's going to be a really hard, it's a hard

task for any republican to get traction, because he has this really intense, specific loyalty with republican voters. >> unless they get mired in court -- that only seems to help him. >> they have five weeks to try to overthrow our democratic system. you know broadly, it tells me that the general election in november could be very close, and i think there is a kind of tendency a year out to look at polls and say oh, biden is stumbling, or oh well if trump were convicted he couldn't win. and, that is just not the case. our country is incredibly polarized, the bases are very loyal to their party, and there is a very small sliver of truly persuadable moderate voters, and that's where the election is going to be won or lost. and the fact that donald trump 's legal troubles don't have a republican voters saying, this isn't the guy we want to put forward to try to defeat the sitting president, that means this is going to be a very, very close race.

>> david, desantis touted this endorsement from the iowa governor, kim reynolds. obviously sununu gave the endorsement to nikki haley. trump is way ahead in new hampshire. could the sununu endorsement helped haley enough on the margins, that she pulls off a strong second place showing? >> yeah, i think she will. i mean, you have independents and the democrats, a lot of the vote in that primary there, so i think she will do well. she will have a much stronger show that she's going to have in iowa, and she is hoping that that's going to slingshot her into south carolina with some momentum. but still, as you said anderson, the person at the top of these polls by a long, long, long, long margin, is still donald trump, by double digits. and that's not changing in iowa, that's not going to change in new hampshire, it's not due to change in south carolina. so, a lot of republicans are just shrugging their shoulders and wonder, what's this all about. >> yeah, kate a, there is this other poll, let me get this. the wall street journal poll, the former president narrowly leads president biden in a hypothetical matchup. nikki haley would beat biden 51% to 34%. do you buy that, do you think that's accurate? >> i don't think it's terribly

surprising, given what we've seen about how voters are feeling about a biden trump rematch. we've seen a lot of voters saying they would like another option. what i do think is that were nikki haley somehow to draw an inside straight and become the republican nominee, should be in the barrel, and there will be criticism of her. and so, i think it's, it's not representative of what this matchup would look like, if she actually became the republican nominee, which seems like it's a very long shot. >> the cnn town hall with ron desantis, minutes away. more on desantis's strategy, next.

another look at the cnn town hall with ron desantis, which begins in just a minute. a lot riding on his ability to connect with iowa voters in the time, four weeks and six days until the caucuses. turn out, he says will be key. one more programming note, nikki haley and chris sununu, the new hampshire governor just endorsed her, sit down with interview tomorrow with our dana bash. you can see that noon eastern time, on inside politics. but first, the cnn republican presidential town hall with governor ron desantis starts now. >>