by the way, they fight tirelessly for the people in illinois. and durbin busted his neck in this job, too, as well. look, folks, they've worked nonstop to bring good jobs back to belvedere. two people. two people on my team are here who did so much to support the uaw negotiations. our acting secretary of labor, julie sue, where are you, and gene spurlingon. i think sean would tell you they did a hell of a job and thank you to all the state and local leaders here today. but most of all to the members of the uaw, you're a tough, tough, tough as they come. first outfit to ever endorse me was a 29-year-old kid when i was running for the united states senate, my whole career. the fact is, it starts at the top, though, with shawn fain. you've done one hell of a job,

p pal. when i called sean to congratulate him, he said, the credit goes to all of you, all of you out there and it does. it may be true, but it doesn't hurt to have a leader with a backbone like a ramrod. and that's sean. you know he and the entire uaw proved what i always believed. wall street didn't build america, the middle class built america and unions built the middle class! >> yeah! >> tlhat was true in the 20th century and still true today. that's why unions are more popular today than they were in decades. about six weeks ago, i went to bellevue, michigan, to join your brothers and sisters in the picket lines. it brought back a lot of

memories, but what i didn't realize, it was the first time a president ever did that. it was second nature. no, i'm serious, i didn't know that. >> it looks good on you! >> i tell you, i have worn this shirt a lot, man. i have no idea! i've been involved in the uaw longer than you were alive, man! look, that day in michigan, i said the auto strike was about a simple proposition. you guys sacrificed to save the automobile industry from the middle of the -- that's a fact, you did. some of you weren't around, you were too young, i mean it, but the financial crisis was more than a decade ago. and now, the auto companies are doing incredibly well. so auto workers should be doing incredibly well, as well! >> we are going to keep our eye on president biden there many belvedere, illinois. but there is some big news out of the middle east that we need to talk about. israel is formalizing a pattern of pausing its attacks against hamas for hours at a time.

it is described as daily four-hour holds to allow critical humanitarian aid to reach gaza, and also to give palestinian civilians time flee south. but israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu stresses that this is not a cease-fire. he has been very clear about that. he's insisting that there won't be one until hamas releases all sta hostages. i want to bring in cnn's nadia bashir who is in jerusalem with more on what this means for the people of jerusalem. important to note, there have been these pauses actually for days, but this is a process it appears of formalizing them. is that right? >> essentially, yes. but we have heard now from a senior israeli official who has characterized these pauses as tactical localized pauses. we'll focus on specific areas on different days that we are told that this will be essentially given notice to residents in northern gaza, potentially hours

beforehand, telling them whether those areas are safe. and of course, as you mentioned, the key focus here will be aid to allow for humanitarian relief to get into these areas, but crucially, to allow for the evacuation of palestinian civilians from northern gaza southwards. there are, of course, a number of issues with this proposal, as we have seen and as you mentioned, we have seen similar pauses being put in place, but of course, as we know, a number of those key evacuation routes from northern gaza towards the south have been heavily damaged by israeli air strikes over the last four weeks. that means that it is very difficult for civilians to get out by car. many of them are walking on foot, including the elderly, including children. this is not a small distance, so this is a very difficult task, of course, for many. and of course, there are many that simply cannot leave their homes, their communities in northern gaza, despite the continued air strikes. and of course, the situation in northern gaza is dire, to say the least. the majority of gaza's hospitals are now out of service.

and what we have seen is tens of thousands of palestinians flocking to these so-called safe zones, hoping that this will be a sanctuary for them, for their families, amid these continued air strikes. and of course, as we have heard from u.s. officials, we have heard from the u.s. centuries council spokesperson, john kirby, saying that the u.s. has received assurances from israeli officials, that military operations will not be ongoing during these pauses. but of course, israeli has called on citizens to move southwards. and as we have seen, for the last couple of weeks, brianna, those air strikes have continued in central and southern gaza. they have edged closer and closer towards civilian areas. from refugee camps to u.n.-run schools, to hospital facilities, and the concern here is that while these pauses are, of course, being questioned and debated about, this is beginning to look like more of a formal expression of a pause. not necessarily a cease-fire, but a localized pause, as we've heard, from that senior israeli

official. the concern is that we could still see civilians attempting to see into southern gaza, but of course, still facing air strikes, and of course, military activity on the ground. and of course, as we know, we are seeing aid getting into gaza, but it is a small amount of aid, it certainly isn't as much as is needed. we've heard from u.n. officials telling us that some 1.5 million palestinians inside gaza are now displaced. that is a huge concern. and of course, we are hearing more people fleeing southwards, that number is only growing. but so is the death toll. more than 10,000 people killed, including more than 4,000 children. more than 25,000 palestinians inside gaza has been injured. and the humanitarian situation is deteriorating by the hour. so while these four-hour pauses may provide some respite, there is certainly a lot more to be done. brianna? >> you see all of these children and all of these women using this evacuation route.

it is clearly very needed, as they look for safety, if they can find that moving away from the north. nada bashir live for us in jerusalem, thank you. i want to bring in cnn national security security reporter, natasha bertrand now. she has new reporting about the u.s. being targeted in -- with additional attacks since u.s. forces struck a weapons warehouse, a weapons storage warehouse, an iranian one in syria. what can you tell us about this, natasha? >> so, since last night, when the u.s. conducted an air strike on this ammunitions and weapons facility in eastern syria, an additional four attacks have been launched against u.s. forces in syria and iraq. now, we are told that those resulted in three minor injuries and all of the u.s. troops who were injured have since returned to duty. but what this really emphasizes is the question of whether the air strikes against these iran-backed groups and these iranian targets inside syria are actually working, because the attacks have continued. the u.s. conducted these air

strikes yesterday for the second time in two weeks, against these iran-backed targets. the attacks against the u.s. coalition, the u.s. and coalition bases in iraq and syria have continued. and so the question for the pentagon that they have gotten repeatedly over the last several days is, is is this a sustainable approach for the u.s. to continue these retaliatory strikes, if these iran-backed groups are going to continue attack, regardless. it clearly seems like they are not deterred. but the u.s. saying that they do believe that these limited self-defense strikes against these iran-backed groups are having the desired effect in terms of keeping the conflicts at bay. they say they're very small, conducted with drones and rockets, not resulting in a lot of damage or many casualties. their approach right now is to continue to put military hardware, put troops in the region, create that deterrent effect, and hope that this really does not continue to escalate any further, brianna.

but obviously, questions will be raised as these attacks continue, as they have. >> yeah, and if they can deter them appropriately. nat natasha, thank you for that report, live from the pentagon. boris? >> let's dig deeper now with general wesley clark. he's a senior military analyst and former nato supreme allied commander. general clark, thank you so much for sharing part of your afternoon with us. israel had already been conducting pauses in its military operations over the last several days. walk us through your thinking about why this has become a formalized process that was announced by john kirby from the white house. what kind of impact, do you think, also, that will have on the battlefield? >> well, it's clearly a response to pressure, but it's also common sense. the israeli forces are in there. they've established themselves on the battlefield. they would like to get the civilians out of the way. this has been their objective from the dping, as to persuade the state civilians to leave. so now, they're dealing with

both issues successfully. they're opening a humanitarian corridor, they're going to expand it, so it's specific parts of northern gaza, for a period of time each day, but they're collecting intelligence. obviously, they have the right to self-defense during this period. and they'll continue military operations elsewhere. so, it's a slight movement in the direction of president biden and world opinion, but it also makes military sense. >> general, as far as the meetings happening in qatar, to try and secure the release of hostages held by hamas, how fruitful do you think that they could wind up being? there's talk of potentially a multi-day-cease-fire in exchange for some 10 to 20 hostages. >> it's hard to speculate on

this. if we got 10 to 20 hostages out, that's obviously a good thing. especially if there are u.s. americans that are held. in other words, assist bargaining tactic, a strategy by hamas to drag this out, to seek a cease-fire, so they can restrengthen, reimprove their positions inside hamas and hang on longer and prolong the crisis. so it cuts both ways. it's hard to predict at this point, but i suspect that the israelis will continue to grind forward this military offensive. they consider hamas an existential threat to israel and they're going to continue to push against it. >> general, i do want to ask about the u.s. strike hitting an iranian weapons storage facility in syria. there have been four more attacks on u.s. forces in that country. how significant is that? it seems like every day, with more escalation, it's more possible that the u.s. could get sucked into a broader conflict.

>> there's a lot of posturing in the region by islamic forces, and the united states forces are a target. so the fact that we're striking back is from my view an important part of deterrence. my personal view would be that we need to make sure that we maintain escalation dominance in this, so that if they strike us, we strike back harder. there's no question that the united states has a preponderance of power, the ability to strike to take out these forces. understand, we don't want to escalate. but on the other hand, we don't want them to escalate and end up with serious casualties, among our own forces. so we have to apply enough force now to dissuade this posturing and get it stopped. >> it is a delicate plans. general wesley clark, thank you again for the time, sir. >> thank you, boris. >> of course. and still to come this hour, five republican presidential candidates faced off in a raucous debate.

did anyone move the needle? can they actually stand against trump and win? plus, as the new york attorney general's office rests its civil case against the former president, his sons and their company, there's new insight into what their defense will look like. and an ongoing manhunt in new jersey. law enforcement is searching for a man wanted for his role in the january 6th attack on the capitol. yoyou're watchching cnn nenews central. we'l'll be rightht back.

all right. it is deja vu all over again for president biden, facing some serious polling woes, which biden brushed aside earlier today. the president in illinois, live pictures here as we're watching him. he is there meeting with union workers and pitching his economic agenda, dawning a uaw t-shirt. it's a playbook he's leaned on several times. is it going to be enough to give biden's re-election campaign a jolt? cnn's arlette saenz is at the white house tracking this for us. arlette, he is there at a reopened plant. what did we hear -- what are we hearing from the president? >>, yeah, brianna, president biden's speech still ongoing as he is speaking at this plant in belvedere, illinois, a plant that will now reopen after that

tentative contract had been reached between the uaw and stellantis. this is all part of president biden's punish to highlight the impact of unions in this country. that's something you've often heard him talk about on the campaign trail in 2020 and also as president as he's tried to stress that the unions built the middle class here. he has argued for the ability for union members to be able to negotiate higher wages, better terms in their contracts and this is something that the president had really lined into, as turks aw initiated that strike. president biden even heading to a picket line in the state of michigan to rally and support with these union workers. but all of this is part of the president's push to try to convince americans that the u.s. economy is doing well. and that the president's policies are paying off for them. of course, that is a tall order. it is a steep challenge for president biden, at a time when americans' views about the economy still remain sour and americans' views about the

president's handling as his job as president have also been low. a recent cnn poll had found that only 19% believed that the economy was either excellent or good. i actually think that was thea "new york times" poll that had been released earlier in the week. also, the issue of the economy, about 66% of voters say that it will be a top issue for them, heading into next year's election. so the president is trying to convince american voters at this time, when the mood remains sour, that the u.s. economy is doing well for them. of course, another aspect of the president's trip here is that uaw endorsement. that is something that the uaw has withheld so far for president biden, even as a lot of major labor groups have given an endorsement to him. the uaw has not signaled that they are any closer to making a decision on that front, but that is certainly something that president biden will want to earn as well. in addition to the president making this economic pitch, when he's in illinois, at the very

beginning of his remarks, he was also confronted by a protester there, yelling about issuing a -- calling for cease-fires in gaza. it really highlights the passion that there is on that topic, something that the president has been dealing with since the beginning of this conflict, between israel and hamas. he was just at a fund-raiser last week, where another protester had also interrupted him, so these are sentiment that he is hearing out there on the road, as he's not just trying to make this economic pitch to voters, but also balancing, trying to handle this conflict between israel and hamas, and dealing with the impact, the public viewing of his handling of it at this moment. >> all right, arlette, thank you for that report, from the white house. boris? >> let's discuss all the day's political threads with a pair of cnn political commentators there. they're the co-hosts of hot mics from left-to-right, thank you both for being with us. >> thank you, boris. >> we've been here before. president biden giving a speech,

touting a positive economic development. but that economic message that the white house has been delivering, it doesn't seem to be gaining traction with voters, as far as the polls have shown so far. >> well, luckily we're a year out, and there's a lot of time to make the case. and what we've seen actually in focus groups, boris, all across the country, is that when you do a deep dive into biden's agenda, the pieces of the economic agenda are incredibly popular. the $35 insulin cap, for example. the negotiating prescription drugs down with maedicare. and the focusing on making sure that working class, middle class families are the focus of his priorities, building that economic middle class from the bottom up and the middle out as opposed to the top down, which is what republicans all love to do. so there is time to do that. we saw in the past elections that the democrat agenda writ large is incredibly popular with voters across the board. and that it was a resounding, i

think, failure, for the maga extremist agenda on tuesday night, and that contrast is also going to be key going into 2024. >> alice? >> well, with all due respect to my dear friend, maria, it's not about making the case on the economy. and this is not a communications message. and as hard as you're going to try for the next year to say that the economy is good, it's not. and people feel that. the president can sit there and say wages are up, wages are down. he can say that bidenomics is working. people are not buying that. the perception by the people in this country on how they are economically and financially is way down. and it's all attributed to biden and his policies on the economy. and you can say whatever you want, but it's the perception meets reality. and that's not how people are feeling. and we're seeing that reflected in the poll numbers. we talked about it being, you know, deja vu all over again with bad poll numbers. this is groundhog day after groundhog day of president biden, not only in a head-to-head matchup with trump, going from him leading to a head-to-head matchup, now we

have in our latest cnn polls, donald trump beating joe biden, based in large part on his handling of the economy. >> in key states. there are polls and then there's what happened on tuesday night. >> that's right. >> and it was a disappointing night for republicans, partly, i would say, even largely on the issue of abortion. i do want to play a clip for you both from last night, the republican debate, seems to be some disagreement among the five republicans on the stage about how to move forward on that issue with voters. let's listen. >> when we're looking at this, there were some states that are going more on the pro-life side. i welcome that. there's some states that are going more on the pro-choice side. i wish that wasn't the case, but the people decided. >> we need a 15-week federal limit, three out of four americans agree with a 15-week limit. >> you've got to do a better job on these referenda. i think of all the stuff that's happened to the pro-life cause, they have been caughted

flat-footed on these referenda. >> three different approaches there. >> nikki haley, leave it up to the states. tim scott, a federal ban or limit, and ron desantis going after, let's say, a pro -- an anti-abortion access groups. alice, how does the party fix that going into 2024? >> all of those people on that stage have fought vigorously for the life issue and protecting the sanctity of life, and quite frankly for overturning roe v. wade now we're in a situation where we have fought to take this out of the hands of unelected justices and put it in the hands of the state. and we're seeing what's happening. every time this issue is in front of the states, people are voting to protect the right or the issue of having an abortion. women's reproductive rights. so now there needs to be a new political calculation from those in the pro-life community. and i think nikki haley has hit the sweet spot. we need to stop demonizing each side. we need stop saying, you're pro-choice, that's bad, i'm

pro-choice, that's good. we need to stop the judging and recognize, this is in the hands of the state, let the people decide, and i think there should be reasonable limits. we need to agree, is a 15-week limit reasonable and rationale? maybe, maybe not. we need to have those conversations. at least she is being honest with people in terms of, we have to pass 60 votes in the senate for something to happen. let's be honest with the american people on how we cannot only protect life, but also take into account there are people that want to protect reproductive rights. >> go ahead. >> if they want to be honest with the american people, what they would say is, the american people are pissed off at a party that wants to take away the freedoms and the rights of women to do what they believe is best for themselves, their families, when and if to have a child. until republicans understand that this is an unalienable right for women and for families in this country, they're going to continue to lose elections. so you know what, bring it on. >> it does appear to be a winning template for democrats.

but going back to what we were discussing before, joe biden's sort of lagging behind in polling, how much of tuesday night has to do with that template, and how much of it has to do with where the country is? could joe biden potentially be having democrats back if they're having so much success? >> i think that in terms of tuesday night, what democrats did in all of the places where they won elections was exactly right. and that is the contrast between the democratic agenda, of giving people more freedoms, more liberties, not less, of making sure that they were giving families the chance to make the choices that they believe were right, in contrast with republicans who were following an extremist maga agenda, that was trying to tell women what to do, trying to take away liberties. and that is a template that really works across the board. because if you look at what desantis and so many other republicans are trying to do in their states, it is exactly that. taking away freedoms, making it harder for communities to thrive

in this country. the lgbtq community, immigrants, latinos, african-americans. and yes, the poll numbers are not where we want them to be. but i actually think that that's a good thing for democrats to believe and i've always said this, even if you showed me a poll where biden was 20 points ahead, i would say, let's run like we're 20 points behind. because that's the only way we win. and that contrast is what's going to, i think, bring him the winning day in 2024. >> alice, to you, the elephant not in the room last night on the debate stage was donald trump. some of his surrogates, essentially, saying that he's got this in the bag. that carlos gimenez, the representative from south florida arguing that these were just auditions for cabinet positions. does donald trump have it in the bag? is there any chance for the folks we saw last night? >> if the election were held tomorrow, absolutely. i mean, he is by far way ahead of the entire pack all put together. but we still have about 65 days until the iowa caucus. that's time for them to, i

think, time to consolidate behind one trump alternative and bring the party together in unity. not just to take out trmp, but in unity to take out biden and his policies that have led us into two proxy wars and hurt the economy. that's what the republican party needs to do. we will see what happens with trump in court. it appears to solidify his base. but i think there is still time and runway for the party to unify behind someone that is better suited in a general election than donald trump. >> swwe'll see if the polls shi after this debate. maria, alice, thank you. >> thank you, boris. still to come, dronald trump's legal team set to start their defense next week, what their strategy might look like. and just into cnn, federal law enforcement investigating reports of suspicious letters sent to election offices, some of those letters may have been laced with a deadly substance. we'll explain what it is, when we come back.

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this just into cnn, federal law enforcement officials are now investigating suspicious letters, potentially laced with fentanyl sent to election offices. cnn's nick valencia is on this story. bring us up to speed. what do you know? >> hey, there, boris. a source with knowledge of this situation tells me that at least one of the letters was potentially laced with fentanyl. and the department of justice tells us that the fbi and the u.s. postal service is investigating this. and one of the counties' election offices that was targeted is here in fulton county. and fulton county has repeatedly been in the news, drawing the

ire of the former president and it has been so far a punching bag, if you will, for the far-right. election workers here have been harassed, they've been intimidated, and at a press conference a short time ago, talking about this kittactivity here, the secretary of state brad raffensperger called on election officials to denounce this activity as well as political candidates, and went a step further, invoking the death of his late son. raffensperger said this is a dangerous substance that could be deadly. >> some people like to call fentanyl a drug, but it's actually poison. it's very dangerous. we lost our son f5 1/2 years ag due to fentanyl overdose. we know how deadly this stuff is. >> reporter: the reports of these suspicious letters come amid a backdrop of threats towards election officials across the country, not least of

which here in fulton county. and the fulton county commissioner rob pitts says he thinks that this is, in his political upon, a foreshadowing to what fulton county will see in 2024. boris? >> nick valencia, thank you so much for that report. brianna? the new york attorney general's office has rested its case in the civil fraud trial of donald trump and his sons, his adult sons. witness testimony included contentious moments between donald trump and the judge and a highly anticipated appearance by his daughter, ivanka trump, now it's the defense team's turn. joining us now to discuss, we have cnn legal analyst and former federal prosecutor, eliot williams. so the defense taking up their case, that is going to start on monday. what are you expecting? do you think there are any holes that they will be poking in the prosecution's case. anything you saw? vulnerabilities? >> i don't think it's holes or vulnerabilities, but there are three buckets of arguments you're likely to see from them. number one, valuing buildings is inherently subjective, and i think they'll say, who among us hasn't gotten an estimate on a

home and had it be sort of fuzzy. >> but to a degree, right? >> i'm just saying, this is what you say in court. i'm not saying it's going to win. number two, accountants are responsible for some of this. this isn't the fault of the individuals in the trump family or the trump organization, it's the folks that they brought in outside. and finally, and both ivanka trump and the trump father and brothers made this point, it's a victimless crime. they made the argument that banks still wanted to do business with the trumps. they could not possibly have been harmed by this activity. that's a definite loser. even if banks didn't lose money, you still could have broken the law. and it seems -- it's certain the judge has already found fraud. the mere fact that banks still wanted to do business with the trumps doesn't absolve them. >> this is a matter of degree. the fraud has already been determined here. the defense saying they want to file for a motion to mistrial due to the judge's note passing with a clerk. what do you think about this? >> two different things.

one, they want to file for a directed verdict, which is saying, okay, the prosecution has rested their case, there's no dispute as to the facts in this case that's even worth going to you, your honor. just dismiss the case. they'll lose that outright. that's a loser. the mistrial, you could separately file for a mistrial to say that the case is so unfair that we could not have gotten a fair trial. that the errors that the judge made along the way are so unfair. look, that's a loser too, but you have to raise those motions at trial, so you have the right to do them later on at appeal. you can't raise an argument like that for the first time on appeal, but they're all going to lose. >> they're preserving -- >> look at you, counsel. but, no -- >> you taught me everything i know, eliot. >> they're preserving their arguments on appeal, yes. >> let's bring in cara scannel, she's actually been in court, she's our eyes and ears there. kara, tell us what's been going on and the very latest there. >> reporter: well, briabrianna, judge just ruled that trump's team can call the expert witnesses they wanted to call. the new york attorney general's

office tried to block them, saying that they were trying to do redo the summary judgment order by bring in valuation experts and accounting experts, but i'll go to the accuracy of these financial statements. but the judge said, onwant to be reversed in this case, i don't want a retrial, so he said he would allow the experts to testify, but he said he would exclude anything and stop any testimony that was irrelevant. he is allowing trump's team to call these four expert witnesses that they want to call as part of their defense. now, there was a lot of argument over trump's team wanting this adverse ruling, making their best pitch as to why the attorney general's office didn't prove their case. and as part of that argument, they were saying that the new york attorney general's team never presented any evidence from any witness saying that they wouldn't have still given out these loans on the same terms, had they known that the financial statements were fraudulent as the judge decided or otherwise. and the judge asked the attorney general's lawyer, did you present any evidence of that? and he acknowledged that they actually hadn't. they hadn't called a witness to testify to that, but they did

call one banker who said it in a deposition, but they didn't bring it out at trial. in any rate, the judge has not ruled on that ruling, although he did say, we will proceed as expected on monday, and trump's team is going to be called back to the stand, dronald trump jr. he will be their first witness in the defense. they will go forward and are able to now call these expert witnesses. >> very interesting, kara. if you could stand by for us. eliot, break that down for us. what is so significant here? >> on this question of calling the trumps to testify, they kind of have to. they've already lost on the question of whether there was fraud or whether there wasn't. and it's sort of a hail mary, to put as my witnesses that they think might be favorable as they can on the stand. that's sort of all the defense has. you know, it's in their interest to do that. also, when you call your own witness, you can control their testimony far more than you can if you leave it to the prosecution. so if you notice, the prosecution, the attorney general's office called them the first time, and really drove the things that came out of donald

trump and donald trump jr.'s mouths. a little more latitude here as a defense attorney. again, not necessarily a winning strategy, but it's what you've got. >> what did you think about ivanka trump's testimony, obviously, she was zplichbed and contr controlled. i think that's exactly right. there was a fine line she had to toe in terms of distancing herself from things that she didn't want to be a part of, but also acknowledging that, look, she was an executive of the trump organization up until 2017. and i think it was really hard for her to suggest that she didn't know about these things, when she'd really been a part of the family business all along. so it might have been a credibility issue, but the case isn't going to rise and fall on the success of her testimony. it's really about all the evidence that was presented before that. >> eliot, always great to have you explain this. and i -- i'm able to bust it out later the next time i talk to you. >> love it. just ahead, a new jersey

community is on high alert because the fbi and law enforcement are searching for a man wanted in connection with a january 6th attack on the u.s. capitol. we'll have that ahead.

breaking news into cnn. after months as to speculation as to whether he would run for re-election or higher office, joe manchin has announced he will not seek re-election. >> cnn's manu raju is on the hill. he had been asked, he had been asked, and now he has finally answered. >> and this is a huge moment here in american politics and for the senate at alarm. joe manchin announcing that he will not run for re-election. someone who has been so key with some of the major decisions in the senate over the last several

years, someone who has been the center of all of these fights amid this 50/50 senate in the last congress, 51/49 senate in this congress, announcing he will not run for re-election. something that will have massive implications also in the battle for control of the chamber. this is a state that is very republican. that donald trump dominated in his two attempts at the white ho house. joe manchin is seen as the only to have a shot at holding on to this seat. he would be up against potentially the former governor, the current governor, jim justice, who is running in a primary there, if justice i merges as the candidate, polls have shown that manchin would be running from behind. it would be a difficult path for him to run for re-election. but he has fallen out of step with his party as well, as he has criticized joe biden, as he has not gone as far as many members on the left had been pushing for, but manchin had been thinking about this for some time, debating about

exactly what to do. debating about whether to run as an independent. something that he had considered doing as well. but making clear here that he doesn't plan to run at all. in an announcement video that he just posted on social media, indicating that he would try to travel the country to see if there's a movement about whether or not folks could work together in the middle to figure out there's some sort of common ground between the two parties. what that exactly means is unclear. given the fact that he has toyed with possibly running for president on a third party ticket as an independent, possible that something he has not ruled out for months and months and months, is he suggesting that? he does not address that explicitly, but manchin is 76 years old, has made clear that he's not going to run again. something that a lot of people in the senate had expected, but still, the fact that he has made this decision at this point will have major ramifications for legislating in the senate and for also control of the senate next year, as they battle it out. i asked him about -- there have been rumors about what he will do, just before this announcement video came out. i asked him, when will you make

a decision to run for re-election? he said when the time is right, the time is right, and moments later, he posted that video saying, he's stepping down. guys? >> interesting timing there on that question, manu. before we get into the possibility of him running for president, let's take a step back and pull on a thread that you presented, which is, control of the senate, and what stkd mean for races going into 2024. what are the implications here for democrats, with very tenuous control of that chamber right now? >> look, there are several states in which republicans -- are republican states that donald trump won, west virginia, montana, ohio, all with democratic incumbents. without an incumbent, it is much easier to flip this seat. republicans have been heavily favored to pick up that seat. right now it's a 51-49 senate. just picking up that one seat, it's a 50/50 senate. and you have jon tester, who's running for re-election in montana. sherrod brown of ohio. also with a huge battle on his

hand to win re-election. but republicans plan to contest in states like pennsylvania, also, key to the republican majority. that will be a big battle as well. michigan, we'll see how that plays out. wisconsin, another state. all democratic incumbents sitting in that seat. the challenge for democrats heading into next year and keeping control of the senate is the fact that there just aren't many republican targets. the only real ones are ted cruz in texas and rick scott in florida. two states that are republican states, texas is more strongly a republican state than florida, but florida increasingly gop state. it will be very difficult for democrats to pick off either of those two incumbents. so manchin is gone and let's say all of the incumbents are gone, it's a 50/150 senate. if tester loses or brown loses, that means republicans could be back in the majority again after falling short in the last cycle, have a real serious shot, especially in the aftermath of this manchin announcement, guys. >> huge ramifications,

potentially, for capitol hill, and even potentially a presidential race. >> thank you so much. manu, thank you so much. coming up, conservative critics slamming the vatican after a surprising move to allow some trance trans people and babies of same-sex couples to be baptized. .. .. ..

now to an unexpected ruling from the vatican, opening the door some some cases for catholic baptism for transgender people and babies of same-sex families. cnn is in rome, and barbie, this

obviously would that be happening if he didn't support it, right? >> reporter: that's right. nothing really happens with the pope's stamp of approval. what is interesting is these same questions were brought up in front of same poem in 205, and he said no to all of them, but in each of these cases, transgender adults westbound baptized, witnesses at a we had, godmother or godfather, be able to only to the document if it doesn't cause a scandal or disorienting to the people involved. same thing with babies of same-sex parents, they can be baptized in line with the catholic church. now, this is all on a case-by-case basis, and it

points to pastoral prudence. so churches and dioceses that are conservative, probably this won't happen, but in more liberal dioceses they may be more welcome to this sort of action. boris? >> so, barbie, the ruling says in some cases baptisms will be allowed. what are the new rules specifically? >> yeah. the "in some cases" against is up to the pastoral prudence, and up to the priest. it's a global ruling, not just in the united states, not just here in europe. there will be cases where this is welcomed and will happen on a very regular basis. maybe churches in a community next to one that won't allow it. the rules are very vague. the vatican uploaded this to the website with no fanfare or

context, so i'm sure there will be lots of questions. barbie, thank you so much. ststay with "cnn newews centraral," we're back in just moment.