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good morning, everyone. here we are! don lemon alongside poppy harlow and kaitlan collins. it is november 1st, and welcome to our very first show. so happy you're waking up with us. >> made it through an hour. >> we did. >> through the first hour and start of the rest of our lives. >> how do you feel? >> good. a really good first hour. not as bad getting up this early as you think is. once you get through the first few minutes. >> day one. >> and check in with me six months from now. >> it is day one. you doing okay? >> i'm great. >> i'm so happy to be with you guys. this is going to be fun. >> none of us ever thought we'd actually sit together and do this together three hours a day. so -- >> it what happened like a week

ago? and here we are. again, you're going to learn a lot more about us. we're going to take you all over the country from minnesota to louisiana to alabama -- >> maybe do a football game this weekend. >> and lsu/alabama football game. stay tuned. big question this morning. it's a serious one. serious ones, i should say. are lawmakers safe in america? urgent new concerns after the plot targeting house speaker nancy pelosi. also second, is russia's invasion in ukraine about to change dramatically as iran escalates involvement. on the ground live from ukraine this hour with clarissa ward. and third, why is liz cheney hitting the trail for a democratic lawmaker? we'll talk to him live. and what is nasa up to today. live pictures now of the world's largest rocket, and it's a little foggy there. barely make it out, but there it is. that rocket set to launch for a

secret, classified mission. first, this morning, disturbing new details into that violent attack on the house speaker nancy pelosi's husband paul pelosi, and what prosecutors are calling a politically motivated plot. according to the fbi, the man accused of beating the 82-year-old with a hammer wanted to hold nancy pelosi hostage and "break her kneecaps." suspect now facing federal assault and attempted kidnapping charges and a laundry list of state charges including attempted murder. the san francisco d.a. describing mr. pelosi's december p desperate attempt to escape. >> mr. pelosi attempted to access the elevator in the home which has a phone. the defendant then blocked mr. pelosi's access to that elevator. it was at some point after that mr. pelosi asked to go to the bathroom, which is where he was able to call 911 from his cell phone.

the defendant realizing that mr. pelosi had called 911 took mr. pelosi downstairs near the front door of the residence. two police officers arrived at the front door two minutes after that 911 call. when that door was opened the defendant was holding his hammer, which mr. pelosi appeared to be attempting to control by holding a portion of that hammer. the defendant then pulled the hammer away from mr. pelosi and violently struck him in the top of his head. >> so joining us now, cnn chief law enmothersment and intelligence analyst john miller. john, good morning to you. thank you for joining. so, listen, prosecutors here really laying out a timeline here and giving details reading into that, what are you seeing here? >> i think we learned three important things yesterday. number one, the suspect was not there just to hit paul pelosi with a hammer. number two, he had an elaborate

plan out of a stephen king n novel, tie up the husband, wait for days possibly for nancy pelosi to show up, break her knees as the prosecutor just laid out and, three, we're going to learn more today, because you're going to have a bail hearing and arraignment and they're going to have to lay out for the judge why it's important not to grant bail. they'll have to put details about all the other violence in the home. >> the fbi's assessment, not just of this attack but of the ten-fold increase we've seen in threats to lawmakers in just the last five years, is that it is lone actors. it's lone actors like this that believe conspiracy theories and act on them, from pizzagate to this. ten-fold war. >> it's the worst kind of case if you're the fbi. or dhs or nypd, because it's not

an organization like an organized crime family where you can dismantle it with a careful case taking out leadership. the last ppr i surveyed shows that after president trump left office qanon followers increased from 14% to 17%. it's not getting smaller. it's getting bigger. one in four americans surveyed in that believed there is a storm coming. 18% of them said they believed violence is possible to get this done. so it's an emorphis organization, and filled with lo lone actors but only alone when acting. rest of the time in this echo chamber online in chat rooms and forums, and the forum with donald the other day talking why didn't he finish the job? who's going to go finish the job? and this was a false flag operation run by democrats to take their guns. >> you've seen those

conspiracies floating around refuted by the facts laid out. i know you've talked to people who are dealing with this investigation. where's their sense whether or not this is domestic terrorism? >> the domestic terrorism piece is defined in law, but if you read the statute he's charged with, and then you look, kaitlan, at the statute that denines doughmeumestic terroris number of charges he's held on. assault, elder abuse, kidnapping. a number of federal charges, a couple yesterday, but i think we're going to see those expand. the domestic terrorism thing is going to be a step as it gives it a new definition. >> before we let you go, john, clearly, all of this is based on lie. people believing lies, co-opted by people who are lying and thusly so, you are getting a violent act, a person could have

lost his life because of political lies. that's what he believed. >> yeah. i mean -- it's hard to underestimate the craziness. i can remember more than a year ago showing up at a crime scene in new york city where the acting boss of the gambino crime family was gunned down. it seemed like a standard mob hit and when we got to the bottom of it, our suspect was a qanon guy who said the mob was working with the deep state and pedfire ophile ring to control country. bottomless, irrationality of it and yet it's spreading. >> john miller. appreciate it. thank you. john joining us a lot more on the program. thanks. >> absolutely. all right. speaking of violence, there is a bloody halloween night onic chicago's west side a drive-by with at least 13 shot. among victims, children. ages 3, 11 and 14. a fourth victim hit by a car and injuries range from non-life

threatening to criminal. investigators believe a vigil was taking place on the corner where this attack happened but police are still searching for suspects and trying to figure out what the motive is. >> goodness. every parent's worst nightmare on halloween. exactly one week until election day and big names hitting the trail. today president biden rallies in florida. former president obama in nevada and republican congresswoman liz cheney campaigning with a democrat running for re-election. elissa slotkin in michigan and former vice president mike pence rallying with governor brian kemp in georgia. >> i'm exhausted just listening to you, poppy. >> buckle up, a week ahead! head to philadelphia, jessica dean joins us now in just somewhat of an important state. good morning, jess. >> good morning. >> reporter: yeah! good morning, you guys. we still got a week. a ways to go here and people are crisscrossing the country especially to the commonwealth of pennsylvania. talk about the importance of

that in a moment. balance of congress is hanging in the balance up for grabs. you can imagine democrats and republicans boast out there highest profile surrogates, biggest names racing to the finish line. candidates in key races are making their final pitch to voters. >> thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. >> reporter: and receiving a boost from some big names. >> are you ready to go and vote? [ cheers ] >> reporter: former president barack obama set to stump for democrats in nevada tonight and arizona tomorrow. two states critical to the party's path to retain control of the u.s. senate. those stops after he fired up crowds in georgia, wisconsin and michigan over the weekend, campaigning against republican candidates like herschel walker and senate ron johnson. >> he's a celebrity who wants to be a politician. and we've seen how that goes! he's not the person who's thinking about you and knows you and sees you. >> reporter: meanwhile,

president joe biden heads to florida today where he will rally with senate hopeful val demings and the state's democratic candidate for governor charlie crist. and former vice president mike pence will campaign in georgia with governor brian kemp, a candidate whose drawn the ire of former president donald trump. another republican at odds with trump, congresswoman liz cheney, travels to michigan today to campaign for a democrat, congresswoman elissa slotkin. cheney last week endorsing slotkin who's facing a competitive re-election race. >> right now we are seeing record turnouts. >> reporter: re-election voting surpassing 2018. more than 21 million ballots across 22 states and more than 1.6 million in georgia. and we are here in philadelphia, pennsylvania, independence hall behind me like to call it cradle

of democracy. the commonwealth of pennsylvania a huge state. a lot of focus on this senate race here. an open seat. republican senator pat toomey retiring. democrats, of course, want to pick up the seat hoping to retain control of the senate and republicans hoping to keep this seat. don, you had that in your interview with john fetterman earlier in the show running against mehmet oz. to underscore how important pennsylvania is, in coming days the president, joe biden come back here with former president obama. obama going to pittsburgh, we'll see former president donald trump coming to pennsylvania. all going to be here in this final weekend before the election. >> great interview. >> a couple minutes away. >> thanks again. appreciate it. not just former presidents, president biden also on the campaign trail today ramping up appearances and going to be in florida today. mj lee joins us from the white

house. mj, what are we expecting from president biden today? >> reporter: hey good to see you, kaitlan and congrats to you and the whole team on the launch this morning. look, florida is a state where democrats and president biden and his team believe that the contrast they want to paint between democrats and so-called maga republicans can stick and resonate. case in point, spoke with charlie crist running against ron desantis in the state. when president biden comes to florida today he hopes and expects he'll go after desantis hard on the issue of abortion rights. he said that is going to be very, very helpful for me in my race, because it's a number one issue. ron desantis, this goes to show, sort of a poster child for democrats when it comes to sort of trying to paint republicans as having extremist policies. you talk to any biden adviser, they will say, look, focuseds on the midterms not thinking about 2024 in a serious way, but yes,

a universe wherein 2024 a biden versus desantis race. could get a little preview what democrats, what president biden, what they see as some of his biggest political vulnerabilities today. >> big issue. what we've seen republicans pushing, economic-driven message, and president biden yesterday had this abruptly scheduled remarks talking about the oil profits. what they're making. this is what he told reporters. >> oil companies, record profits today are not because of doing something new or innovative. the profits are a windfall of war. at a time of war any company receiving historic profits has a responsibility to act beyond narrow self-interests as its executive shareholders. >> issues warnings to these companies. of course, going to need consent of congress to get a lot of this done. but what is the driving factor

behind this messaging from president biden? >> reporter: yeah. the driving factor is gas prices. for a big part of the year as the white house has dealt with high gas prices the president has come back to this issue over and over again. the idea of oil companies, energy companies, making these record profits. the idea just being that it is just not fair. it is not right for these companies to have record profits when people are really suffering from these high prices, but you make a really important point. some of these ideas being thrown about, taxing corporate profits or other sort of punishments for these companies, they're just not realistic right now in congress. given the makeup of congress, but just goes to show this is a lot more political megg messagi and the president trying to talk about an issue he knows is very important for voters and in some ways deflecting blame as well, you can't ignore big profits when americans complaining about

gas prices. the they are going down. >> and people paying for gas, gas prices down about 50 cents. mj lee, thanks for joining us from the white house. you brought up numbers. look at those. bp, big oil company stronger than expected record. not record really big numbers for bp overnight in the quarter raking in $8.2 billion. other big oil companies strong even record-breaking profits look at exxon/mobil. chevron, and shell, $9.5 billion. spoke to the ceo of chevron a few weeks ago and asked exactly about this criticism from the biden administration because, remember, he wrote that open letter to biden and vocally went after the administration for things saying about big oil. what he said about exactly what the president proposed yesterday. here that was. >> let me read to you from senator ron wyden. big oil companies raking in record profits rewarding ceos

and wealthy shareholders massive stock buybacks and using tax codes to pay next to nothing in taxes. can you respond? >> windfall taxes tried before in country and didn't achieve the goal desired. it's pretty basic, that if you want more of something, you tend to not tax it. want less of something, put taxes on it. >> you're saying -- >> if you tax our industry it does not incentivize -- increase taxes on our industry that does not incentivize investment, discourages investment. a simple economic truth. we work around the world and our capital is mobile. a windfall profits tax in one country is likely to move that investment somewhere else. >> remember, guys? well, i wasn't even born yet. kaitlan definitely not born. in 1980 did a windfall profit tax eight years didn't work. may be different this time. >> the idea that congress is going to pass that is really

farfetched i think. >>'s listen, it's a tough argument to sell to the american people. again, when struggling and you're making $18 billion in profit. >> and a lot of share buybacks. billions. not the same as money going to customers. >> speaking of the economy, pocketbook issues, likely playing a major factor in the key pennsylvania senate race between democrat john fetterman and republican mehmet oz. i had a candid conversation with fetterman why he changed his position on fracking and what he wants president biden do to address inflation and i have to note we conducted this interview using closed captioning technology. >> i want to play this moment now from your debate about fracking and then we'll talk about it later. here it is. >> i -- i do support fracking. and -- i don't -- i don't -- i support fracking and i stand, and i do support fracking.

>> so just in context. in 2018 when running for lieutenant governor you said, i don't support fracking at all and i never have. so to be clear, lieutenant governor, do you support fracking now? >> yes. no. the -- all of the -- all of the reservations i had with fracking were all about the environmental concerns, and pennsylvania passed some of the strongest environmental regulations, and that has now, you know, means that -- i've been very supportive of fracking because energy independence is critical, and that gets more and more important, given in light of the ukraine war, to make sure we can't be at, hostage, to a nation like russia. again, it was all about the environmental issues, and, again, after the regulations passed, it's a no-brainer to support fracking and i've been

very strong supporter of fracking. >> listen, but my -- correct me if i'm wrong. research shows that environmental protections, those were put in place in 2016. so what has changed since 2018 when you said that you didn't support it? >> yeah. no. they -- they -- they were all part of that and i also want to point out that in 2017 i was actually very spupportive of fracking drirectly across the street where where i live. i've never taken any money from fracking i believe it's very environmental concerns and also very critical, energy dependens as well and it's part of supporting fracking and now that we are doing it in a more, or in a stronger environmental kinds of regulations. >> so, lieutenant governor, pennsylvania is a state where votes may take days to count,

because mail-in ballots can't be processed until election day. are you prepared to wait for an outcome in your race? you're going to be patient and wait for an outcome in your race? >> absolutely. the -- the -- the pennsylvania's elections are secure and absolutely support whatever the outcome is. >> if you do win, what is your top priority in the senate? what would be the first bill of yours that you'd want to get passed, sir? >> yeah. i -- there's a lot of things i think are important, but i'm much more focused just running through the tape over the next eight days. i've been running on things that are always going to come down on the side of working families here in pennsylvania. there's just a lot of great choices, but to me it's about making sure we run through the end of the last eight days. >> understood. an issue that i know is important to everyone. the economy now. the economy is improving.

gas prices are down. gdp is up, but there are still concerns about inflation and the possibility of a recession. as a senator, what would you ask the biden administration to do to improve things for the people of your state, of pennsylvania? >> yeah. no. i just believe that we always have to be very, you know, actively coming back against corporate greed and price gouging, is well true and i always want to keep making more and more in pennsylvania and in america as well, true. and dr. oz for all of his merchandise manufactured in china during this career and i believe those are very critical as a nation we make sure we come down on the side of workers. >> talk about inflation. a big concern for voters. what do you think the biggest cause of inflation is, and should the biden administration be doing more? >> well, i just do. i think that simply is also, talk about the trillions in

massive tax -- tax cuts to the corporate -- tax structure is well true. you know, trillions of dollars have added to the deficit, and now they still want to support those is well true. i think in terms of being very serious about addressing inflation is making sure that those rates are brought back in to align with what they should have been where they're able to bite -- the deficit. >> a couple things to point out here. he did clarify what happened with fracking in the debate, his stance on fracking. we conducted the interview using closed captioning and also reached out to the oz campaign multiple times, and they are welcome to come on before election day and we'd welcome them to come on to take questions as well. also, don't forget. one week from tonight, cnn's special coverage of the midterm elections begin at 4:00 p.m. and go all night. you'll be seeing a lot of us on election night. >> many hours.

many hours. new video this morning. what it shows, border patrol agents firing pepper ball projectiles at a group of venezuelan migrants. trying to push them back into mexico. the acu and texas civil rights groups condemning this access. and extensive reporting rosa, on the border. what can you tell us about this? >> reporter: well, poppy, very early in the investigation. we have a lot of questions, but here's what we do know according to the customs and border protection. they say about noon el paso time yesterday there's a group of venezuelan nationals attempting to enter the united states all while they were protesting on the rio grande in the area near downtown el paso when the situation escalated, according to cbp, one protester allegedly assaulted an agent with a

flagpole and then another protester allegedly threw a rock at an agent injuring that agent. at that point according to customs and border protection, agents used pepper ball guns, used for crowd control, to disperse the crowd and those and others were turned back to mexico. all under investigation by the office of professional responsibility, as you mentioned, civil rights groups here in texas are issues statements, very alarmed by what is video captured, shared on social media indeed showing agents using pepper ball guns on migrants. >> it's also notable. rosa, you know better than anyone. this comes just as the biden administration changed its policy. we talk a lot about title 42. changed this policy as pertains to those venezuelan migrants. can you explain to viewers why that matters so much here? >> reporter: you know, there's a connection, poppy.

you're absolutely right, because the biden administration expanded the trump era pandemic public health order known at title 42, which in essence allows for swift expulsion of migrants to mexico and the biden administration is applying it broadly to venezuelans. since the change in policy at about mid-october, thousands of zell swale venezuelanss have been returned back. across the border from el paso, which all of this went down. >> rosa, thank you for your continued reporting on the border to you and your team. ahead, we take you to ukraine. our colleague clarissa ward is on the ground with new reporting on iran's significant involvement helping russia in the war. >> potentially game-changing. and on the ground, races tightening, one week out before the elections.

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there is new cnn reporting this morning on a major escalation in russia's war on ukraine. an escalation that could change the course of this conflict. cnn is learning that iran is preparing to send 1,000 new weapons to moscow. a move that is getting the west's attention. shipment including ballistic missiles and more attack drones. our chief international correspondent clarissa ward is live in ukraine for us. clarissa, good morning to you. this will, probably will change the trajectory of this war. >> reporter: well, certainly, don. many here are very anxious about the impact of particularly those missiles, and i want to give you a sense what it looks like when

you have a missile strike here in ukraine. this was a residential apartment building. it was hit by a cruise missile just about three weeks ago. three people were killed. another seven people were injured. no clear target here. very hard to understand why on earth you would bomb an area with ordinary people living in a simple apartment building, but that's why potentially the development of these iranian weapons could be very significant indeed. i should say we don't yet have a timeline on when they might arrive here. it's not just missiles. it's drones. you've seen how those drones wreaked havoc in the last month, particularly on civilian infrastructure, and just yesterday, don, more than 50 missiles aimed at ukraine. ukrainian air force, saying they were able to intercept more than 40 of them, which is very significant, but it only take as few, don, to get in, hit their

targets and cripple civilian infrastructure. >> you keep mentioning infrastructure, clarissa. vladimir putin suggested recent shelling on critical infrastructure was, "not all russians could do." what do you think he is implying here? >> reporter: well, i think you always have to take things a little bit in the context of vladimir putin is always trying to play a mind game here. right? trying to intimidate, threaten, trying to deflect from the fact that actually russia suffered pretty humiliating defeats on the battlefield and is facing kind of ap uphill battle when it comes to maintaining control of some of the areas that they have, but there's no question that ukraine is really struggling to keep up with these attacks on the electric plants, on the water pump plants, on the hydroelectric dam. we have rolling blackouts across the country. yesterday hundreds of thousands without power. the children's hospital in zaporizhzhia returning on back

uppower clearly not a sustainable situation and why you see ukrainian officials appealing for more materiels to keep up with the attacks and appealing for more air defense systems to try to stop them from happening in the first place. >> you can see, clarissa, it is just decimated much of ukraine. looks exactly like where clarissa is. our thanks to you. please, be safe. and stumping for a democrat, liz cheney. that is elissa slotkin. she joins us next. and standing by in washington -- wisconsin, i should say. far from washington, but a race following could certainly shape the senate. and twice the choice. sirloin salisbury steak and all-natural salmon. perfect for lunch or dinner. only at ihop. download the app and earn free food with every purchasese.

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for almost 40 years now, i've been voting republican. i don't know that i have ever voted for a democrat. as republicans, there have to be

consequences and we have to make sure that people understand that we're going to vote for those that we can trust and depend on to do the right thing and to uphold their oath. >> that was liz cheney last month calling on republican voters to reject candidates who spread lies about elections, and now in the final days before the midterms, she is not stumping for the republican candidate in michigan's seventh district tom barrett who said he had "a legitimate concern ow the 2020 election was conducted." instead cheney will campaign with his democratic opponent congresswoman elissa slotkin who joins us now. our first question is, did you ask liz cheney to come and campaign with you or did she ask you to see if she could come and campaign. >> and good morning, by the way. >> good morning. good morning. congrats on your new show. no. she came up to me on the floor of the house in our last voting woo eck in september and just

said, you know, look, if there's anything i can do to help just let me know. i said, really? she said, yeah. that began the conversation. so i'm appreciative, because it's, again, just another sort of, you know, point of bravery that i think i really admire about her. >> what do you think makes her an affective sir gsurrogate for you? what makes her an effective surrogate? >> for me, a leaning republican district but i still really believe in people and i really believe even if they don't agree with everything that i believe in, that they want leaders with integrity and they want leaders who demonstrate leadership, and i think liz has done that, and i think she's done that effectively, and, look. i mean, the last time she was doing media in my media market, she was disagreeing with me

vehemently on a point of policy. january of 2020, and, but we agree on one really big thing, and that's that there has to be a democratic system in order for our system to function. so you know, it's pretty important to me. >> i think that's such an important point, because when i heard that this was happening, i thought, wow. they are really at some different ends of the spectrum on so many key issues. on abortion, on obamacare, on immigration. a very conservative voting record. right? but i wonder what you think that says that she'll be with you on the trail tonight, about where you place the importance of upholding democracy really above all else? and you can disagree on really significant policy issues, but come together to uphold democracy? >> yeah. i think -- i mean, look, the history of democrats and republicans is vociferous debate about policy. right? really going back and forth. and that's my dream. right? it's that we're in a system

where we're pushing and pulling on each other about the role of government in our lives. that is as american as apple pie and george washington, but if we don't have a democracy, and if each side just said, well, if the other guy wins i don't believe in our system it's going to crumble. right? it's not going to work. while we disagree and i look forward to debating her in the future on issues of policy, on democracy we are in vehement agreement. >> all you. >> listen, i just want to ask you about, you know, liz cheney is probably -- i think democrats probably like her now a lot more than republicans. do you actually think that she could possibly, do you think she could possibly help you, or hurt you, on the campaign trail? because she's sort of toxic for republicans, the republican? >> yeah. i've been asked this before. first of all, i think we have to sort of be honest with ourselves that there are things more

important than any one person winning an election, and my race is going to be a nail biter. known it from the beginning. it always is. i'm comfortable. if the people of my district say i'm not the right person, then so be it. but there has to be something that's more important than just getting re-elected, and i think that leadership, principled leadership in this country is vital if we're going to get through whatever we are going through right now. this period of instability. so i'm willing to take that risk, because i think it's important to highlight people who are brave in a, in an environment where there's so few real leaders standing up. that's number one. number two, we'll have other people speaking today at the event. republicans who are voting for me and have them explain their case, and i think they represent a lot of people in this district. like my dad. right? who is a lifelong republican but feels like the party has just gone off on the wrong track. it's those people i'm speaking to. moderate republicans, independents. people who know that this kind

of toxic anger that people are throwing back and forth in the political realm is not good for our country, and they want leaders who try and rise above that. >> let me follow-up with that, because here's the thing that, the criticism for democrats is that democrats aren't -- they don't have the fight that republicans have. and politics at end of the day is all about winning. if you win, then you get your point across, you get to enact laws, you get legislation. the whole point is to win. people may think, well, you don't have a fight. you're saying, look, you know, they may think you're saying i don't really want to win because of the answer you just gave the american people on this show. >> well, look. i mean, this is going to be my third tough election. i think i've demonstrated more than, frankly, a lot of true blue democrats in places like the east coast or the west coast that not only do i have the fight in me but i actually win in tough races. right? this isn't a primary. this is a general election. we have the house majority now by four or five seats and i'm

one of those seats. i think i've demonstrated a capacity to fight and a capacity to win, but that doesn't mean that i envision a country where we just get as sick and as twisted as some of the things coming out from the other side. i refuse to do that and i refuse to believe that somehow we can't ever, like we're going to split boo red america and blue america in a place like michigan, that doesn't work. in our own families, other oun neighborhoods. i want the republican party to fix themselves. i can't fix them. right? what i can do is win at the ballot box in a week, and that is what i am trying to do, and as someone who's a former cia officer and pension otagon offi three tours in iraq in the military i would put my willingness to fight and my spine than anyone running in these blue, blue states. >> that's how you sell it. a pretty good answer. pretty good answer. >> elissa slotkin thank you so much for joining us on our first show. >> thanks for having me.

this morning in wisconsin the senate race is heating up. republican senator ron johnson and his democratic challenger mandela barnes now speaking to cnn as issues like abortion and crime keep this race very close. our colleague omar jimenez is on the ground in milwaukee with more. you had a chance to talk to both of them and ask them the key questions. what did they say? >> reporter: i did. you can really feel the stakes of this election. hard to believe we are a week out at this point. you can feel it in the air. can't avoid it. $100 million spent on ads since saturday and why the candidates are on respective rvs and bus tours on the hunt for something much more valuable than ads. >> how you doing? >> reporter: it's the time of year when handshakes and cheers -- >> thank you, thank you! [ cheers ] >> reporter: need to become votes in wisconsin.

>> >> you want us to vote for mandela? >> reporter: a hotly contested race between johnson and barnes could determine control of the u.s. senate. >> these people need to be stopped. they need to be defeated! [ cheers ] >> reporter: the sharp rhetoric, a reflection of the elevated stakes. >> senator johnson, you said mandela barnes turned on america. why do you think this race is so close? >> it's wisconsin, first of all. i don't understand it. i don't know why you know, he has such grievances against this country. >> that's what this is all about. our nation's at a precipice right now. >> reporter: barnes on a state-wide rv tour says he's campaigning to help save the country. >> ron johnson is calling you too extreme for wisconsin. what is your reaction? >> ron johnson has been a hypocrite his entire career. we're talking about things that matter. good paying jobs, rebuilding the middle class. the same middle classes that

gave my family opportunity. >> reporter: with tolls showing a tight race barnes bringing in former president barack obama to fire up democratic voters and make the case against johnson. >> he's not the person who's thinking about you and knows you and sees you and he should not be your senator from wisconsin! >> both sides believe their path to victory hinges on higher turnout. especially from those who might not typically vote in midterm elections. >> almost called myself apolitical in the past but since roe v. wade got overturned that completely changed everything for me. >> reporter: your conversations having brought a lot of people to the forefront. >> absolutely. >> thank you, thank you. >> reporter: voted for trump in 2016, biden in 2020 and now plans to cast her ballot for barnes top of mind also, the economy. >> people's savings eroded by rising inflation rates and things, and we just need to get back to the bakes in this country. the democrats have gone way too

far left for majority of the country. >> reporter: it's a perception that's being tested. >> most democrats do love this country, and they are concerned about its future. what i'm saying's asking them to join us. >> we have a chance to bring real opportunity back to wisconsin and we can get away from people who try to overturn an election just a because they don't like the results. >> reporter: those results aren't usually close in wisconsin. politically as close to the state's identity as cheese kurds and beer. >> god bless america! get out there, fight hard. let's work! >> well, we know teamsters are very important in wisconsin and across the midwest. that ranks very high. in all seriousness, we heard in that piece one voter held abortion as her top voting priority. what did you find, talking to folks on the ground, was the top issue troubling a lot of these voters? is it that? or is it the economy? >> well, we definitely heard a lot on abortion, but it really was the economy.

people concerned about how much their paying for gas. groceries. the true kitchen table test of being able to put food on the table, and it matched up with what we saw in a recent cnn poll where it went the economy followed by abortion then election integrity, which we heard a lot from on voters, a lot tr from voters as well. both of these candidates, another thing, mentioned and pushing for higher voter turnout. that's what they think the ticket is here. when you look at that we are almost 20% more, absentee ballots, than in 2018. that enthusiasm seems to be there especially for a midterm race. as i mensed, close elections and i have a feeling in the next week, we're going to see a lot of it. >> i didn't get to go to the minnesota state fair this year, so i'm really in need for a fix

of some cheese curds. >> omar, please bring her some stuff back. don'ter i erforget, it is ok from tonight. people are engaged. that's what you heard in omar's reporting. we'll be up all night with you. we hope you'll be up with us too. what exactly is being launched into space this morning. there it is. more on this classified space force mission, but we can't figure out how classified, because we can't see it. we'll talk more about that ahead. also, there is talk of criminal charges this morning after that post game ambush that happened at the michigan and michigan state football game. >> an apology will not get the job done in this instance. there should be serious consequences for the many individuals that are culpable.

just look around. this digital age we're living in, it's pretty unbelievable. problem is, not everyone's fully living in it. nobody should have to take a class or fill out a medical form on public wifi with a screen the size of your hand. home internet shouldn't be a luxury. everyone should have it and now a lot more people can. so let's go. the digital age is waiting.

welcome back, everyone, to "cnn this morning." and this morning, the former israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu attempting to make a comeback in the country's unprecedented fifth election in less than four years. when asked about international fears that a future coalition government under him would be, and i quote here, too far right, he told cnn he does not want, the quote, muslim brotherhood in government. hadas gold live for us in jerusalem with more this morning. hello, hadas. what did he tell you? >> reporter: don, we're outside of a polling station in jerusalem. you can see the posters here the different candidates trying to convince people in the last minute to vote for them. but this election, the unprecedented fifth time in three and a half years that israelis are going to the polls is not just a referendum on benjamin netanyahu who faces an ongoing corruption trial and whether he'll come back to power, but it is also a question of whether the far right of

israeli politics will have power in this new coalition government. because in order to form a governing coalition, benjamin netanyahu will likely need to rely on the growing popularity of a far right group, one of whose leaders was once convicted for inciting racism. i asked him about that just a few hours ago when he came to vote. take a listen. >> we don't want a government with the muslim brotherhood who supports terrorism and denies the existence of israel and pretty hostile to the united states too. that's what we're going to bring. >> reporter: now, polls show that netanyahu does have the most likely possibility of reforming a government. but, of course, it all comes down to voter turnout, whose voters come out to vote. so far, don, this year the turnout is the highest it's been since 1999. >> hadas gold joining us from jerusalem, thank you. appreciate that. still ahead here on "cnn this morning," a fact check of conspiracies surrounding the brutal attack on nancy pelosi's

husband. and cnn is on the mississippi river as a record drought is bringing the water there to a historic low. as far as water levels go, this is the worst you've ever seen? >> this is about as low as i've seen it.

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