no world cup games for you today, a break until friday when the quarter finals began. we had games to watch morning and afternoons for more than two weeks, but we have to take a break. >> you're covering it well. you have it under control. thank you very much. we're back in a moment.

was it difficult for you to vote for herschel walker? >> it was. i have to look at the ladies in my family with a straight face and say i voted for walker. there were a few shakes of the head. >> that is -- that was a challenge there for folks in georgia. good morning, everyone. that was a georgia voter who didn't vote for herschel walker in the general election but did this time. he spoke to kaitlan collins who is live in atlanta. >> senator warnock's runoff win last night was historic. gives democrats a 51-49 advantage in the senate. we'll tell you how significant is that one seat majority what does it mean? we have a team of reporters and analysts to break down the big win for democrats and the implications it could have for the 2024 presidential race.

this morning we are following significant developments in the trump investigations. we will be joined this hour by alvin brag, the manhattan district attorney, as he moves to jump start another criminal inquiry and off of a big win against the trump org just yesterday. also, cnn was there as a prisoner swap happened in ukraine, dozens of soldiers returning home just before the holidays. we begin with democrats delivering one final blow in a brutal midterm election cycle for republicans. cnn projecting raphael warnock defeated herschel walker in georgia's runoff election. president biden calling warnock to congratulate him and tweeting georgia voters stood up for democracy. warnock thanking supporters with a nod to his mother's extraordinary journey. >> she grew up in the 1950s.

in waycross, georgia, picking somebody else's cotton and somebody else's tobacco. but tonight she helped pick her youngest son to be a united states senator. >> and herschel walker was quick to concede. vowing to never stop fighting for the people of georgia. >> there's no excuses in life. and i'm not going to make any excuses now because we put up one heck of a fight. that's what we got to do, because this is much bigger than herschel walker. >> so cnn's john berman is here to break down warnock's big night. john, you've got the numbers. the numbers tell you everything, don't they? >> they do. raphael warnock the margin 95,000 votes about 2.8% ahead in the election. one month ago led by 37,000 votes so he grew that lead over

one month. how did he do it? it's a little bit of a story about herschel walker and the republican party. we've been talking about this all morning. another way of illustrating it. i want to show you where walker underperformed in the general election. he underperformed in these urban and suburban areas. he actually overperformed in some of the rural areas. that's a trade that some republican strategists are saying is dangerous for the republican party to make. another way of illustrating that for you right now. i'm going to show you the population change in georgia over the last ten years. okay. >> very smart, john. >> in the orange-er, which isn't a word. the orange-er places are population increases. in henry county there, 15% growth. i'll take this down and go to the main map and dig in to each

county. look at forsythe. in forsythe, this is a republican county you're looking saying hey this is really republican. r plus 31. okay. ten years ago you and i weren't that much younger ten years ago. let's go back ten years ago and look at forsythe county. it was r plus 63. >> wow. >> r plus 63. so that lead has been cut in half in ten years, in one of the fastest growing counties in georgia. it's a similar story here in -- i gave away the game here. this is henry county in 2012. mitt romney won this county by four points one of the faster growing counties there. 2012 mitt romney won it. now look at what happened just last night. raphael warnock won it by 33 points. so in these fast-growing counties, where republicans used to do well, now they're not

doing as as well as the case in forsythe or losing by a lot in henry. they may be gaining working class rural voters but losing in the suburbs now in ways that do hurt their chances in certain elections. >> demographics are not on their side if they keep with the strategy -- >> it's something strategists will tell you they need to address. >> mr. john berman thank you very much for that. with the final balance of power in the senate now determined, what can we expect from a democrat majority? let's discuss, john avlon is back. big picture why last night matters so much moving forward. >> that's right. people say, look, democrats had the majority, it was going to be 50/50, why does warnock's win matter? it changes the ball game fundamentally. because all of a sudden democrats will control the committees, fast track legislation, nominations, they have subpoena power. they can't have a legislative agenda held up by one senator and can be a more effective

counter weight to the republican control of the house. it's a tight margin in both seats but still divided government. it's a game changer. it's not one seat it's a difference balance of power. >> it was still close. so what did we learn last night about the future of the republican party for 2024? trump is not a king maker, not last night with walker, not with almost all of his hand-selected candidates. >> that's right. trump is a kryptonite maker. he's putting forward candidates that cannot win elections. it's the suburbs, the deep divide in politics in deep red states. they'll vote republicans in all sorts of races but not when you have someone who's unqualified in fundamental ways except he's willing to kiss the ring. democrats are going to need to

keep the center, the suburbs. so not only a lot on the to do list in the lame duck -- >> encourage compromise, it's a good thing. >> yes. that's a good thing. >> john avlon, thank you. we like to end on good things on this program. kaitlan to you in atlanta. >> last night during his victory speech you saw senator warnock disagreeing with republicans in the state who said the strong turn out showed there's no voter suppression in georgia. >> there are those who would look at the outcome of this race and say that there's no voter suppression in georgia. let me be clear. just because people endured long lines that wrapped around buildings, some blocks long, just because they endured the rain and the cold, and all kinds

of tricks in order to vote, doesn't mean that voter suppression does not exist. it simply means that you, the people, have decided that your voices will not be silenced. >> joining us now is washington post georgia democracy reporter matthew brown. you heard senator warnock there. that pushes back against what you heard from brad raffensperger, from brian kemp, from gabriel sterling. what did you make of that as you were covering what the voting efforts looked like on the ground? >> i think it's important to note there's a lot of different factors going on in georgia's elections right now. you're seeing enthusiasm from voters in a polarized state. at the same time you're seeing a lot of energy put into turning people out to the polls while voting laws have changed across georgia. this runoff we're experiencing this year was four weeks after the midterm election whereas in past years, 2021, just last

year, it was nine weeks. that compression was something that warnock and his allies point to as a sign of making it more difficult for elections to be administered. whereas secretary of state brad raffensperger and his staff will point to the efforts that counties and the states offices have put into administering the elections and making sure people can vote. so there's a lot of different factors going into making it possible to see if people can vote here in georgia. >> the fight over the extra day in early voting. today governor kemp said he disagreed with how republicans pushed back, saying it's a waste of time. but we have seen the runoffs in georgia twice. the one with kelly lelf lerand david purdue. but you wrote a fascinating article about how the system was created to dilute black voting

power and the two round voting came as ensuring a white candidate won the election. what's it like to see last night knowing the history? >> reporter: there's a deep irony to the fact two black men were competing here in georgia in a race designed to make sure in a past era a conservative white majority would be able to consolidate against the black voting political power. i think it's important to note that runoff systems are still a democratic election but coupled with what you saw in a past era of georgia election systems, with a bunch of other unfair policies and whatnot, it made it so it was easier so there was a barrier for people to have to turn back out and vote. as we look at the new era of voting it'll be interesting to see if people think it's necessary -- >> whether or not runoff elections are necessary. >> yes. to see whether or not this is going to be something that runoffs are going to be used

because they are expensive, takes time for voters and we have new systems and methods to administer elections now. >> is your sense that that is something they could be on the verge of eliminating the runoff system in georgia? >> we have to see what goes on in the legislative session here in the coming months but when you talk to legislatures on both sides of the aisle there's a discussion whether runoffs should exist here. the question is what system do we adopt after that? plurality? ranked voting. or some other system we haven't adopted yet? >> we'll wait to see what happens, matt brown thank you for your reporting and joining us here in atlanta this morning. >> thank you. local reporters, as i was saying, know their stuff. >> yeah. thank you kaitlan. ahead of our coverage of senator warnock's win in

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it is my honor to utter the four most powerful words ever spoken in a democracy. the people have spoken.

>> we are on the right side, check this out, we're on the right side of her story and his story. you got to say both now, and i'm down with it. >> well raphael warnock is keeping his day job. cnn projects the incumbent democratic senator will defeel herschel walker in the runoff left. the win gives democrats a 51-49 majority in the senate but this is for the money. this makes a big difference as to what happened last nitime. but gives them breathing room, it means a lot to the party and the president and the president's agenda and the direction of the country. let's bring in our political experts, former special assistance to president george w. bush scott jennings and former democratic lawmaker in south carolina, bakari sellers. we're going to get to all of that. good morning to both of you. >> good morning. >> good morning.

>> listen, i'm going to be -- last night was lit at warnock headquarters. you know why i say that? i say that jokingly, but there was so much tension, so much importance, so much wrapped up into this. steeped in history. and you know what i'm talking about. this is dr. king's home state. >> it's more than that. i think the history of the entire movement and it's more than king. it's all of those individuals who didn't have to read about jailhouse floors or being shot. they knew what the smell of gun smoke smelled like. many of them sacrificed and paid what abraham lincoln called the last measure of devotion to get the right to vote. and to see someone like raphael warnock, a moorehouse graduate, to be able to vanquish his opponent, stand on stage, still have the grace and the pastor delivery. >> two men of color. this was a content of character -- >> i think it was more than

that, because there was a great deal of resentment which drove minority voters. the majority of the vote in the state of georgia is in atlanta proper that kind of metro area. many black voters that you talked to, including myself i'm not a georgia voter but there was a great deal of resentment to the fact we believe that herschel walker describes and exemplifies many of the tropes and prejudices people have about it. >> scott jennings, mitch mcconnell said months ago it's candidate quality, right. but to bakari's point, the way "the new york times" put it this morning that i think gets to the core of it is talking about black voters many of whom saw mr. walker as the white power structure's maistaken idea of a candidate that spoke to him. >> he tripped on a number of policy matters and character

matters. republicans won every other race -- >> so why did your party put him forward -- or trump? >> that's the thing. donald trump had a long-standing relationship with herschel walker. liked herschel walker. and decided this is the way it ought to be. and once again, we learned that when we let donald trump pick all the candidates for these offices it doesn't turn out well. wasn't just georgia. happened across the board. >> we had a full screen before of trump picked candidates who lost. >> to poppy's voice, a great question and response by scott jennings saying this is how donald trump sees black people. we've been echoing this since 2016, this character of being hyper sexualized, masculine, athlete. but it's not able to grasp policy as my daddy say he don't talk too good. it's all these things combined in one. >> let's be honest, bakari.

it was cringe worthy when herschel walker opened his mouth most african american are like -- >> it was beyond cringe worthy. i don't know what it was. you felt embarrassed for herschel walker and then you felt mad and then you feel angry. all of that came out last night, regardless of what the voter suppression may have been. all of that came out last night in the fact that voters, like black voters and men and women of color do often came out and voted in outstanding numbers. >> raphael warnock said last night, scott, i am georgia. and you tweeted last night, georgia may be remembered as the state that broke trump once and for all. is it both of those things? >> certainly warnock benefitted from the race. talked to people in georgia, great campaign, great ads, i think his ad campaign is getting props. so for his staff that was a good thing they did. if you look at specifically

what's going on with donald trump in the state of georgia. lost it obviously in 2020, still an investigation into him going on from his actions after the 2020 election. gets ripped in the georgia gubernatorial primary, goes with david purdue and kemp turns that back. hand picks herschel walker who lost another senate race in georgia. let's not forget the actions after 2021. georgia does not like donald trump. but this is a state to win as republicans which many republicans did win you have to put together the rural and suburban vote. >> every other statewide republican candidate won. >> except the people who were most closely associated with him. so between the politics, the investigations, this state, this is going to be a swing state in 2024. this might be the one that broke him. >> let me ask you this -- i'll get to that in a minute. i have a lot to say. bakari said this is what the establishment thinks of african

americans. >> particularly donald trump. >> we had a group on earlier and your party did, regardless if it's donald trump said this is our guy and supported him. if you look at most of the republicans in georgia supported herschel walker. is this, and i'll ask the same question, is this what republican establishment thinks of black people that they can just put a black face up there and that black people are going to get out and support them? >> i think republicans have a fetish for celebrities right now. herschel walker was a famous person, nationally famous. a lot of people liked him. and had a well-known story. we, republicans have become very, very attractive to any celebrity, particularly african american celebrity who pipes up and said -- maybe says something you like, maybe they say they want to be a republican. and then you get really excited. look at kanye west, this guy was thought of as being an emerging sort of influencer for black republicans and that's been a

disaster. >> lesson learned. >> and so, in this particular campaign here, trump wanted to go with walker, which in and of itself was a huge boost for him. but herschel walker is a legend in georgia. but none of that necessarily means anybody vetted you or thought through the contours or confines of a campaign. you can be legendary, have a great story, be famous, but political campaigns bring it all out and people are willing to -- people are willing to overlook that if they can like get a celebrity, particularly an african american celebrity and they don't think about the fundamentals of campaigns, which gravity often takes hold in these things. >> i can't say this was trump's candidate. i don't think that's fair. i think that's not completely accurate, that's rewriting history. mitch mcconnell endorsed herschel walker, every time you saw him, it looked like one of those eddie murphy movies. >> you had two white guys. >> are you saying the

republicans should have abandoned him? >> no, but it looked like -- >> why not? >> it looked like he needed a baby sitter. >> why not? there comes a point in time where political parties on both sides have to stand for something. and i think that herschel walker was below the bar and i think when people reevaluate this race, he was below the bar of every metric we use to determine who serves us. i don't know if you abandon him, not elect him, whatever, but the fact that lindsey graham, rickey scott, nikki haley, were all embracing him with open arms, everybody knew he held a gun to his wife's head, everybody knew he was paying for abortions, everybody knew hi doesn't do proper sentence structure, he doesn't know what's going on in washington d.c. and republicans are like he black, won a heisman. >> if i show in a state and rattle off the file on every

mediocre or worst candidate you're arguing they should walk away? >> that's not my argument. >> republicans had a great chance for a pickup and you're arguing the party should walk away? >> there's an op file, and there's a dump file. the file on all of us is this thick. this goes beyond opposition research, this is beyond he paid taxes in another state. these are character flaws i believe are below the dignity of the united states state. i say we have to stand for something on both sides and if we do not we'll erode the structure of our philosophies. >> and baby sitters on both sides saying that african americans or democrats didn't like herschel walker because he was a conservative. there are conservative african americans and african americans

can be very conservative in their politics. that was insulting to black people -- >> i think proof positive of your point, you have, in georgia, a great deal of socially conservative black voters. >> right. >> i believe that many black voters if we look throughout history, even today, particularly throughout the south, are more conservatively inclined. you saw that clash. but at the end of the night it was a good night it was a good night because raphael warnock represents what's good in the future of the country. >> one quick thing. i asked earlier what david thought about -- i'm not sure if i asked on the air, everything you said about trump, this may be the state that ended trump, do you think he's going to be the nominee? >> he's had a bad month from launch to what happened in georgia to the investigations, to all the -- more rocks going in these bags he's carrying around, he's had a rough month and other candidates are looking better. i feel he's in the weakest

position he's been in, not gotten any better. i heard david say he has his core people but right now republicans are doing soul searching whether they want to go through it a third time. we'll have a primary and find out, see how fragmented it is, but he's weak. >> thank you both. >> up next the trump organization has been found guilty of criminal tax fraud. reaction and what's next when manhattan district attorney, alvin bragg, joins us next. ahead the recession prediction from the ceo of united airlines. >> if i didn't watch cnbc in the morning which i do, the word recession wouldn't be in my s vocabulary lookingng at my data. you can't see it. pool pararties... tailgates... holiday parties... even retirement parties. man, i love parties. subway keeps refreshing and refreshing i brought in ensure max protein

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welcome back to cnn this morning. coming up for us, walmart's ceo said inflation is easing a little bit on things like toys, clothing, sporting goods. and the family of a fallen officer at the capitol refusing

to shake hands with two top republicans in congress at a ceremony honoring the officers who defended the capitol on january 6th we'll be joined by the family of late officer brian sicknick and more on raphael warnock's runoff victory giving democrats a slim, 51/49 in the senate. three investigations into donald trump and his business. jack smith issuing subpoenas for county officials in three key states, arizona, michigan, wisconsin, he's asking for communications with trump allies around the 2020 election. second multiple sources telling cnn that the january 6th house committee is weighing criminal referrals for trump and his closest allies. third, a manhattan injury found trump's organization of guilty of a tax fraud scheme. the companies were accused of

trying to avoid taxes for years. so joining us now is district attorney alvin bragg, he and his team led the prosecution. we're happy to have you on, mr. district attorney. here's a question for you. you said in a statement, you said this shows the outcome of what you did, that no corporation is above the law. so what does this verdict men to y -- mean to you? >> it's consequential. you have the name-sake company of the former president of the united states found guilty. so it does underscore one standard for corporations in manhattan. when we look at the conduct here, it's tax fraud but it's cheating, it's lying, it's greed. it's what the great prosecutors i worked with said in court and that kind of conduct stretched out over 13 years. we're not going to tolerate that

in manhattan. >> you said corporation. people at home are wondering about the person, if it's his name sake as you said the company, the company is being held accountable, why isn't donald trump being held accountable himself? >> understood. we issued a statement in april. i did. indicating -- because we were getting this question -- that the investigation concerning the former president is ongoing. i view this in chapter. this was one chapter in the book. this was an important chapter to see the inner workings of the company laid bare in the courtroom. while those team members were in court others were in the office continuing the broader investigation. so the work continues. >> i wanted to get that question -- >> of course. let me follow-up on that. because the defense counsel pushed for a mistrial and now they'll appeal on the grounds that you invoked trump so much. one of your adas said to the

jury that convicted on all 17 counts that donald trump sanctioned tax fraud. that's one of your guys explaining it to the jury. how do you explain no criminal charges for trump? >> one of the guys i'm proud of on the team, josh, susan, and -- >> you hear what i'm getting at. he stood before the jury and said that. >> we'll leave the appeal for the appellate courts but the defense team repeatedly talked about how this was one rogue employee in mr. weisselberg who pled guilty and is going to be sentenced later this year. that was in rebuttal to that. you can't say it was one employee, cfo, along with others who are also senior and say it's not in the benefit of the company. that was the legal issue that ada steinglass was referring to.

>> i understand you were re rebutting defense counsel but this was the crux of his argument. people at home are saying you say that to a jury but why not charges against trump if you say he sanctioned tax fraud. >> the investigation is ongoing. this was a chapter in it. a case against the corporations. and two the standard is different when we're kind of corporate liability who sanctioned the conduct on behalf of the corporation is a different standard from obviously proof beyond a reasonable doubt as to an individual. we'll continue to do our work. i'm constrained what i can say here, saying why if we bring a charge, things i bring here could prejudice the case. >> i'm going to try to understand what you do going guard. "the new york times" is reporting that you are looking to quote jump start a criminal inquiry into trump's involvement in that hush money payment to

adult film actress, stormy daniels. a number of your other prosecutors in the office, predecessor declined to do this because of a number of legal challenges that they confronted. is that correct? that you are looking to jump start that criminal inquiry? >> first i want to take issue with the word jump start. >> it's the time's word not ours. >> we have been working with rigor throughout the year. and you're going to be maybe displeased with the answer because we have not confirmed or denied, that's the times reporting. we're working on a number of pieces and perspectives with this. this is one chapter, an important chapter but there are a lot of, you know, tent c tentacles if you will. we'll follow the facts where they go. i've been a prosecutor for about 20 years now and this is what i've done the past 20 years what i did at the attorney general's office leading the trump foundation matter. we can't talk about it

publically because it can prejudice it but we have to do our work. >> in that vein you said to "the new york times" and other interviews i heard you say this was just a chapter and people shouldn't read ahead in the book. i'm wondering what that means, because that looks like people are saying -- like you're saying to people stay tuned there's something on the horizon. >> what i'm saying is let's pause for the moment as we are. this was very consequential the work that went into this, how abe ly the people of the state new york were represented. but there's other work going on. we're continuing that. it wasn't paused. we have a team in court. what i would say is to folks who watched the trial, that's where we do our speaking when we talk about facts and evidence and apply the law in the courtroom. i think people saw the professionalism, how well that was done. we apply that same level of professionalism and rigor to the

work we're doing behind the scenes. so got to let us do the work. and don't read it in the book. >> speaking of the work you do, i want to make a turn and talk about what's happening in new york city. the mayor, eric adams, announcing a series of policy changes that he hopes is going to reduce the number of homeless people on city streets and also have an impact on crime. critics say that it could put homeless people and first responders at risk. what do you think? do you believe that and what do you make of the policy? >> the involuntary detention -- >> from the top, mental health is, you know, an issue that affects the criminal justice system really at almost every step so these are criminally important issues we need to address and we've been working on in our office sort of once a case starts in terms of diverting people and connecting people in appropriate cases to mental health services. we also have done stuff on the prevention side, a pilot program

in east harlem, we had community engaged people out connecting with people having mental health issues. so we have done that. and we have our own sort of initiatives with mental health which i'm happy to go into further details about. >> do you support the policy is my question? >> i don't know it chapter and verse. we had a bunch of us to talk about mental health generally. i don't know the details, i look forward to engaging on them. >> the details are allowing involuntary detention of anyone on the street that police deem to be mentally ill and at risk. involuntary detained is the construction of it. >> i understand. >> you're for that? >> it's how it's applied. in my work, if someone is not competent to stand trial there may be -- >> you said you don't know about this policy, but was your office not consulted beforehand?

>> in broad stokes. he had all the district attorney's offices, defenders, judges, about a month ago. the details in how it will be applied certainly in the pilot project we did in east harlem, it was kind of community based in the connection -- >> that's fair and by whom. >> yeah. >> we really appreciate your time this morning. >> thank you, good to see you. come by we'd love to have you back to discuss these issues and more. coming up a troubling plot foiled in germany how officials say they were able to stop a far right group intent on overthrowing the government. plus we're live in ukraine. we have just returned from the russian border where we spoke with ukrainian prisoners of war in their first minutes of freedom. they described brainwashing and psychological torture at the hands of the russians.

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this morning time magazine has announced the 2022 person of the year. who had the greatest influence on the events you saw play out? let's see who some of the finalists were, elon musk, chinese president xi jinping, protesters in iran. florida governor, ron desantis, congresswoman liz cheney. but the winner is ukraine's president volodymyr zelenskyy. speaking of, ukraine's military this morning says that at least two people are dead, several have been wounded after heavy russian shelling targeted the civilian areas of the donetsk and kherson region. in the midst of the fighting, there is some good news for families ahead of the holidays. ukrainian soldiers returning home in a prisoner exchange.

cnn's will ripley has the exclusive reporting from kyiv. >> reporter: at an undisclosed location near the russian border, two buses arrive with 60 ukrainian soldiers. prisoners of war just released in a pow swap with russia. two women, 58 men. their first minutes of freedom. this marine tells me about his 4-year-old daughter. it's so emotional he says, i can't wait to tell her i love her and that i've missed her so much. some are parents. others grandparents. most defenders of mairiupol. the port city that fell to the russians in may. all of us from mariupol worry so much he said, we lost the city, couldn't fight them off, we don't know how people will react to us. they'll get a heros' welcome of course. as we go inside, they each get a

cell phone, the first time they've called their families in months. how's mom, how's dad, he asks? are they alive? their bodies bear the scars of months of captivity. we didn't have any medical treatment he says. it's been eight days since he's had a shower. a lot of these guys have physical injuries, scars, but the emotional scars, the mental scars from this heldish ordeal are going to take longer to heal. one of the two rescued women, a radio intelligence operator describes months of psychological torture, lies that half of ukraine was now part of russia. brainwashing pledge loyalty to mother russia. i wondered when will this be

over, she says. sorry for my tears. for this former p.o.w., there are no tears left. her 6-year-old daughter is still in occupied mariupol. >> how does it feel to be out and know that your husband is still there, still in rush? >> i worry about them, she says. she's not ready to talk about how she was physically treated. she, like everyone here, just wants to see family, wants to go home. from devastated and occupied mariupol, for most going home is not an option. >> in russia every day they were forced to wake up at 6 a.m. to the russian anthem and they said all they wanted to do is be back on their home soil.

they are now back on their home soil. it is a long road ahead. many of their homes have been destroyed in mariupol but they have to go to a rehabilitation program to try to transition back to normal life. after all the horrific things they've experienced, it's going to be a very tough recovery for these men and women. >> it's hard to see what a normal life is like for them. just hearing those stories, those people are released from being prisoners of war, that your still separated from their families and trying to figure out what life looks like now. >> you're so right. there is no normalcy after that. >> still ahead, what the ceos of walmart and united airlines are saying about inflation and the possibility of a recession. >> but first, something happy for you this morning. here is a preview of cnn heroes. the all-star tribute.

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can two things be true at the same time? of course they can sometimes. the u.s. economy -- the u.s. is showing signs of a strong economy but at the same time many experts say a recession may still be in the cards. listen to this from united ceo scott kirby talk about this. >> we're probably going to have basically a mild recession induced by the fed. if i didn't watch cnbc in the morning, which i do, the word recession wouldn't be in my vocabulary. >> other than the fact he watches another unnamed morning show, which we love, joining us is christine romans. what do you think? more are like i don't see it. >> i don't see it today but i'm looking out and i'm worried and i see uncertainty in the future.

you're seeing stronger than expected job support right now. yes, everybody feels bad about the economy but they keep spending. people with disposable income are spending their money. inflation showing signs of cooling. we've seen factory orders increase. listen to what the ceo of walmart said about customers as well and maybe a little bit of a silver lining in terms of that inflation. listen. >> toys, sporting goods, apparel, prices have come down aggressively. we're still inflated but not nearly as much as other categories. >> the fed has been raising rates aggressively to fight that inflation and i think we're just starting to feel that we've got a lot a lot of higher interest rates that have to work through the economy next year. so, yes, the economy is strong but -- >> the yes but economy.

christine christine romans, thank you very much. >> i want you to watch this hilarious video from "inside the nba" last night. >> that was bad right there. that was bad! >> he was stuck in the tree. was that shaq? >> in fact, can we rerack? >> that was 7 foot tall shaq getting launched into a christmas tree. >> i think that has happened before. the shove sent him tumbling and leaving his feet sticking out. shaq joking that it was revenge. he was going to get his revenge. >> and now he jumped into the tree. >> why can't we do that on this show? >> you