one moment to draw your attention to today as president trump was left guessing when he was asked by megyn kelly who might have awarded dr. anthony fauci a presidential commendation. >> you actually gave him a presidential commendation before you left office. would you like a do over on that? >> i don't know who gave him the commendation. i really don't know. >> somebody probably handed him a commendation. >> of course, the someone who handed dr. prouty and others involved in operation warp speed vaccine efforts, that commendation was former president trump himself. you can see here, this happened on his last full day in office, january 19th, 2021. one of his 2024 campaign rivals is not buying that he doesn't remember who did so.

>> was that the immaculate commendation that just happened to happen? it said donald trump awards spouting this combination. i thought it was really pathetic to sit there and listen to that dribble, it is totally false. >> immaculate commendation. that's when it does not roll off the tongue, thank you for joining us tonight, prime time with abby phillips starts right now, i don't think that would ever be what was said in the middle of this 2024 race. >> gloves are apparently really off between those two, we'll see where this one goes, thank you, katelyn. good evening, i'm abby philip, we begin with breaking news that will have a massive impact on the entire united states economy. in less than two hours, workers across the nation are scheduled to go on strike against the big three automakers. it is the first ever simultaneous strike of ford, general motors and stolantis in moments we are expecting to

hear from the president of the united auto workers union about the next steps. here is what is at stake for you, 145 union members, and an economic impact of $5 billion. the union is demanding nearly 40% pay increases, better benefits, and a four day work week. among the players in this saga is sean fain, the uaw president who has been pretty unpredictable in talks so far, and also the ceos of these companies who say that the demands will put them out of business. also, there, is the president himself, president biden, under pressure economically and politically tonight. first, let's start with cnn business correspondent, who is live from outside of the uaw headquarters in detroit. vanessa, less than two hours until this contract is expected to expire. where do things stand in these negotiations right now?

>> listen, abby, deals have come together in the last moments, but two hours is not a lot of time to come to an agreement. as you mentioned, we are waiting moments away from uaw president shawn fain to announce exactly where the uaw plans to strike, starting at 12:00 a.m. on friday, tomorrow. he's going to go live from inside this uaw headquarters. in terms of what the offers have been, general motors came with a new economic proposal earlier this morning, a 20% pay raise across four years that matches fords a 20% offer, and stellantis was at 17 1/2% in their last public offer. as you mentioned, that is nowhere close to the 40% that the union has been looking for since day one. what we expect to hear from shawn fain is that they are going to target select plants

by activating select unions across the country. that is by design, to keep the companies guessing so that they have to try to figure out who is going on strike, who is not, that leaves some workers still in the plants, working. it is very unclear, because there will be no contract, what will happen to those workers. ford ceo earlier telling me that those workers will likely not be paid. in moments we will hear more about this rollout plan as there are two hours until this very critical deadline. >> vanessa, about that 40% pay increase that the unions are asking for, you spoke with the ford ceo, jim farley, about this earlier today. tell us what he had to say. >> the union is tying this 40% pay increase to what they say the ceos of these big three have made in increases over the last four years. i will point out that ford says that jim farley is only received a 21% pay raise, and

that is very close to what they are offering workers, but ultimately, he says a 40% pay raise for workers is out of the question, it's untenable, here's more of what he told me earlier. >> 40% will put us out of business. we would lose $15 billion. we would have to cut people, close plants, what's the good of that? it's not a sustainable business. there's a fine line, here, that we won't go past, which is, we want everyone to participate in our success, but if it prevents us from investing in this transition to ev's and future products, like the ones we have now like new f-150, best- selling vehicle in the u.s., then everyone's jobs at risk if we don't invest. >> reporter: i spoke to jim farley two days ago, he was very optimistic that ford could

reach a deal with the uaw and avert a strike, but as the days went on, you could see him becoming less and less certain that that would happen. of course, abby, two hours to go, the clock is ticking, we have seen deals come together in the final moments, but as it stands now, at 12:00 midnight, we could expect thousands of uaw workers to head out to the picket lines, and that will cause disruptions in the auto industry, and beyond in the whole economy in the u.s. abby? >> very much a significant night tonight. vanessa, we are standing by for this announcement. i know that you are, too, we will get back to you as soon as it happens. up next, a uaw member, charles wade, who is at a ford assembly line in michigan. charles, can you tell us, what are you and your colleagues feeling tonight ahead of the possibility of this historic

strike? >> anxious and ready to create a new standard for the american worker. >> you talk about a new standard, is this what this is about for you? >> it's about the quality of life, and >> charles, i'm sorry, uaw chief shawn fain is speaking right now. >> ford, general motors, and stellantis. the first time in our union's history, we had all three companies bargaining right here, at the solidarity house. leading into the final hours of our strike deadline. we've been working hard, trying to reach a deal for economic and social justice for our members. we have been firm. we are committed to winning an agreement with the big three that reflects the incredible sacrifice and contributions uaw members have made to these

companies. we've been open. the companies, the members, and the public know what we've been fighting for, and we've been clear. midnight on the evening of september 14th is a deadline. uaw family, that deadline is nearly here. tonight, for the first time in our history, we will strike, all three of the big three at once. we are using a new strategy, the stand up strike. we will call on selected facilities, locals, or units to stand up and go on strike. tonight, we call on three units to stand up and go on strike at midnight, if we do not reach a tentative agreement in the next two hours. we're calling on gm, wentzville assembly, local 2250 in region four, to stand up and strike.

we're calling on stellantis, toledo assembly complex, local 12, in region 2b to stand up and strike. and we're calling on ford, michigan assembly plant, final assembly and paint only, local 900 in region 1a to stand up and strike. these three units are being called to stand up and walk out on strike at midnight tonight. the locals that are not yet called to join the stand up strike will continue working under an expired agreement. no contract extensions. though the contract is expired, most of your contract is still in effect. management cannot change terms and conditions of work in your workplace. you do not become an employee

at will. you cannot be fired or disciplined for no reason. this strategy will keep the companies guessing. it will give our national negotiators maximum leverage and flexibility in bargaining. and if we need to go all out, we will. everything is on the table. i encourage you to visit uaw.org/stand up for everything you need to know about working under an expired contract. no matter what, all of us need to keep organizing. rallies, protests, redshirt days, and community events. we must show the companies you are ready to join the stand up strike at a moments notice. and we must show the world that our fight is a righteous fight. again, tonight, at midnight, gm wentzville assembly, local 2250

in region four, stellantis, toledo is only complex, local 12, region 2b, and ford michigan assembly plant, final assembly and paint only, local 900 region 1a, will stand up and walk out on strike. the rest of us will keep organizing and support them on the picket line. if we strike tonight, i'll see you on the picket line at michigan is assembly at midnight. tomorrow, we'll be holding a mass rally at the uaw ford joint trust building in downtown detroit, at 4:00 p.m. we will show our strength and unity on the first day of this historic action. all options remain on the table. national leadership will determine the appropriate targets and timing for further stand up strike action.

this is our generations defining moment. the money is there, the cause is righteous, the world is watching. the uaw is ready to stand up. this is our defining moment. thank you. >> you were just listening, there, to shawn fain, the president of the united auto workers. he just made a very important announcement that at midnight, if there is no deal, which there is not yet, he has called on three plants to go on strike. striking three of the big three automakers all at once, he says everything is on the table, and they will use these strikes to gain maximum leverage against these automakers. i want to go back, now, to charles wade. charles, you're at uaw worker, who was, who works at one of the plants that shawn fain just mentioned, correct? so, you plan to go on strike after midnight if there is no

deal? >> i plan on going to join them as soon as it starts, at 6:00 a.m. i'll be shuttling people to make sure they get out there, membership to the line. to hold the line for the strike line. we're going to be out there picketing until we get a tentative agreement, for sure. we're ready. >> i noticed that he said this is a generational fight. that's how he views it. do you view it that way? what did you make of what he had to say along with the announcement of the strike? >> absolutely. like i said, we're trying to make a new standard, and it's for the future. it's for my children, it's to make this a job that's a career, not a job. when i hired and it was a career, it made me feel as though i was proud to build a car and be able to afford one, that i built. now, 70% at at these plants can't afford a vehicle that they built, they're buying foreign vehicles because they

can't afford an american, the vehicle that they built. >> when he says everything is on the table, how long do you think this can go on? are you willing to strike for weeks, months, longer? >> i'm willing to strike until we get something that's equable and fair for everybody in the uaw. the retirees, the new hires, we need to pop up the hire and pay from $16 to a livable wage that's not creating families that are struggling. i am a legacy that has a pension, let's get pensions in their and get these these new hires something to look forward to. let's support our retirees. >> do you have a sense of how this strike, three separate plants in different parts of the country, each impacting one of the different automakers, how will that affect the everyday person? give us a sense of what this

means for the production of a car, that an american might be driving at home. >> throughout history, every time the uaw has went on strike against the big three, anything that we've had significant gains on, it affects the whole united states, the nation, in positive ways. if our pay goes up, we spend more, we're consumers, we're the middle class. somewhere along the line, we got forgot about, and now we're just upper poor. if you don't get the middle- class back, we're just going to have a stagnant economy. the more money you give us, the more we spend, the more we are more likely to be able to afford and buy one of the cars. >> earlier today the ford ceo that a 40% increase over four years for auto workers would bankrupt his company. what's your reaction to that? >> he is wrong. that at the same time, i can see where he's coming from in a strategic point of view.

but we're only 6% of the cost of vehicle. if that's the case, tell them to stop gouging the consumer's that aren't the workers at 30% more on each vehicle tag gouge up, they upped the price 30% on all their vehicles. >> all right, charles wade, thank you very much, good luck to you, we'll be following this story, it's very important for us. >> tiktok, thank you. >> i want to bring in democratic covers many from michigan, congressman, thanks for being here. you just heard that announcement from shawn fain, at the uaw, what you make of what he said tonight? >> i stand with the workers of the uaw. these are my constituents, tens of thousands of these people are people that i work for. look, they are fighting for the future. a couple of generations ago, here in my hometown of flint,

the workers staged a sitdown strike, it gets poetic that this is referred to as a stand up strike. back then, the workers occupied the factories and got the first uaw contract, and as the previous guest said, that led to the creation of the middle- class in the united states of america. what's happened in the last couple of decades, much of what was gained was lost, and the workers that we're talking about, actually made concessions in order to keep the american auto industry alive when it was challenged a decade or so ago. so, this negotiation is really about getting back to that principal that says that if you work hard, if you work for one of these countries companies, a highly successful, highly profitable company, that the workers ought to share in the incredible wealth that their productive hands generate. that's with this negotiation is about, and if it does result in a strike, that's what the strike will be focused on.

>> president biden, leading up to this, has spoken to the uaw president. he's spoken to the autoworkers, yet here we are, at quite literally the 11th hour, there's no deal. president biden said he didn't even think strike was going to happen. why are we at this point right now? and do you think president biden and the white house could have done more? >> i know the president has been engaged on this, gene sperling, who is part of the presidents team, i talked to jean on a regular basis, he's been tasked to monitor this. he's the most prounion president that we've had, certainly in my lifetime. i think he knows that this is important. but, the negotiations between workers, united auto workers, and the company's, the federal government is not a party to a contract. he can encourage, we can

provide support, but at the end of the day it really comes down to the workers and their representatives in uaw sitting across the table from the company's, and coming to an agreement. they haven't gotten there yet, because they started out pretty far apart. but, there's been progress. while obviously we all want to avoid a strike, what we don't want to do is forgo the opportunity to build a much stronger future for those uaw families. that's what's at stake at the bargaining table right now. everything that they can gain as the previous guest from ford said, everything that they gain goes right into the u.s. economy. in the short term, this is challenging, it's difficult. in the long-term, whatever they're able to generate, whatever they're able to get at the bargaining table, will benefit not just autoworkers, it will benefit workers in all these communities where the autoworkers salaries is what keeps the economy alive. >> congressman, thank you very much. >> thank you.

more on this breaking news and what to expect in the economy tomorrow, and in the weeks to come. plus, hunter biden is now the first child of a sitting president to be indicted as he faces gun charges tonight. why his lawyer now is blaming mega republicans. and attentions are flaring on capitol hill as speaker kevin mccarty fights to save his job. . [announcer] finance your next car with carvana today.

tonight, hunter biden is the first child of a sitting u.s. president to be indicted. federal prosecutors charging him with three felony gun counts which include illegal possession, lying to a gun dealer, and making a false claim on a firearm application. it is a rather stunning turn of events after his original plea deal collapsed. here's what his lawyer said tonight on cnn. >> it is the folks like chairman comber and the republican maggot crazies who have been pressuring the u.s. attorney to do something to vindicate their political position and, guess what, they succeeded. hunter owned an unloaded gun for 11 days. there will never have been a charge like this brought in the united states. >> if this does get to a trial, it's quite possible it would be in the middle of his father's re-election campaign. let's keep in mind that the charges contradict joe biden's defense over the years.

>> this is not about me, it's not about my son. there's not a shred of evidence that anything was done wrong. no one, no one has asserted my son did a single thing wrong. no one has asserted that i have done anything wrong except lying president. my son did nothing wrong, and, let's get something straight, my son did nothing wrong or illegal... let's talk about what trump did and what he's doing. first of all, my son has done nothing wrong. >> let's discuss this with cnn legal white house ethics, also it is vice president of domestic policy at the heritage foundation and former doj civil rights attorney roger sarah vino and cnn senior political analyst, i want to start with you, on the subsistence of these charges. it's really part of the story, here, because the doj declined to go here at first, then they

settled on these gun charges that are already on shaky legal ground in another jurisdiction. where does this end? >> i think it's going to end in at least one of the gun charges being thrown out on constitutional grounds. the supreme court has said that you have to read the second amendment the way it was written at the time that the constitution was adopted. you look at gun regulation in terms of what was permitted or forbidden, then, another circuit has indeed just found that these identical charges are unconstitutional, because there was no limit for drug or substance abuse on gun ownership at the time of the adoption of the constitution, and in this circuit, in the third circuit, in the range case, the third circuit has said a closely analogous provision, almost identical for former felons,

unconstitutional. so, i think that's going to fail. this was the subject of a diversion agreement because it's a weak case, one of america's best trial lawyers, the government is going to have a real fight on their hands, and i think my friend, roger, we don't often agree on things but he probably agrees on my second amendment. >> can i just say how the tables have turned, here. right? >> it is quite the irony, you have the defenders of president biden, president gun control, now standing up for the second amendment to get hunter biden off the hook. this is the extreme irony. >> do you think to what norm is saying, that this is a weak charge? because this gun statute is being challenged? >> no, i think it's a strong case, in fact. the law is clear, you can't lie on a federal form. that's one of the charges, and he lied on a federal torn form. that's not a constitutional issue. he said he was not addicted to

drugs when he's a notorious drug abuser. that is common knowledge. even very strong second amendment proponents have real issues with handing a gun to a known, open in this case, crack addict. there are some reasonable limits. >> but let me just say, i'm not a lawyer, but these things are normally not charged the way this was charged. that hunter biden, whatever you think of him, was not a felon using the weapon in a terrible way. >> and also had no prior convictions. >> no prior convictions. exactly. >> that's sentencing, how severe the punishment is going to be. >> it's a question of whether any other person, we've had a parade of lawyers on cnn today, basically saying they personally have never heard of anyone being charged. >> if you look at the statistics, for example, in

2019, there were only three referrals of these kinds of charges in delaware. you know how many were actually referred to the u.s. attorney? how many were actually prosecuted? zero. this is a disproportionate treatment, precisely because he bears the name biden. in a normal universe, this would never be charged. i've resented people including on weapons charges for 30 years. this case would never be charged if his name were not barred by. >> he's not being charged on a real issue, here. the dog that did not bark are the tax charges. i think this is actually a smokescreen. because the plea deal fell apart, it was a sweetheart deal, unusual that the judge spoke out and said, i have some hard questions to ask. the plea deal fell apart because there was going to be immunity for the real charges that should be brought related to the tax evasion. we know he's received millions, hunter biden, and we don't know if president biden received any of that money in some sort of

an influence operation. >> i'm glad you said we don't know, because that's the truth. there's no evidence that he's received money. >> but they were prevented from asking those questions. >> but there is no evidence, i agree with you, and i spoke to a senior white house adviser today and basically, while they're not saying this out loud, they believe that if his name were john doe, he would never have been charged. and i think it is ironic that republicans are talking about the weaponization of the justice department, and now you hear democrats saying, wait a minute, why was this charged? this could be the weaponization of the justice department in the special counsel, and you heard abby lowell talk about the fact that this was influenced by politics. so, now, the democrats are talking about a justice department that really overreached, here, and you have

the republicans talking about a justice department that doesn't do its job or his weapon eyes against republicans. >> at the end of the day, this has been going on for five years. the most we've gotten out of this in terms of charges, has been a gun charge that, honestly, is probably week at the end of the day. how much longer does this have to go on for republicans to be satisfied? it's been investigated under the trump administration, it's been investigated under the biden administration, where does this end? the mac when the doj stops politicizing this issue. >> how can they prove that they're not politicizing it when it was a republican investigating it, they didn't bring charges, a democrat, they didn't bring charges. >> so we have two irs whistleblowers who have said that they were hamstrung. they were not able to, for example, issue a warrant to get documents because they were in president biden's house. they were ordered from the top

to not do that. when the whistleblowers was removed from the position, you have two folks who have gone to congress, they are heroes because they're exposing that they were interfered with, corruption of hunter biden to protect corruption at a higher level. that's what this looks like. >> that's not accurate. david weiss, the u.s. attorney in delaware who has denied that strongly and in writing to congress is a trump appointed u.s. attorney. a senior fbi supervisor has rebutted parts of that account, and when you talk about, i looked at that, in the first trump impeachment we concluded there was nothing improper as to joe biden, and, 5 1/2 years of looking, they have not traced a single penny. they got thousands of documents, this congress has been looking. i think that both congress and those who are pressing these false charges against the

president, there has to be an end at some point. it is so unfair, and now his son is being punished for it. it's wrong across the board. >> let me just say that there is a perception, here, it may not be reality, that, the questions are being asked, why was hunter biden doing all this for and work while his father was vice president of the united states? that's a legitimate question to ask. personally, i believe that people, if you have somebody in that high and office, you want to be limiting your foreign lobbying. so, that's a legitimate question. but, taking it beyond that and saying that joe biden was involved in his son's business other than a few phone calls in which he may have exchanged pleasantries, and they haven't gotten beyond that, >> he showed up at a dinner. >> and what was discussed at the dinner? these are the questions they've been looking at. >> why was the president at a dinner with his son with

ukrainian business dealings when he was getting $1 million a year to advise his company which president biden when he was vice president moved to remove the prosecutor that was investigating the company that hunter biden was a board member of. >> the prosecutor that both democrats and republicans agreed at the time was not prosecuting corruption. [ inaudible ] we've got to go. we've got to go here, but at the end of the day, what's missing, for you, was missing for me, what's missing for all of us is evidence of joe biden profiting off of anything that hunter biden did. we don't have that evidence and until we do, we're going to keep discussing it, thank you all very much. coming up next, anger and swearing erupting between republicans in the house as kevin mccarthy tries to hold off his critics, and to hold onto his job. >> and if it takes a fight, he'll have a fight. plus, the big admission from donald trump about how he

considered pardoning himself in office. jim acosta joined me, next.

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capitol hill is getting a little saltier than usual today. tempers flared and f bombs flew as speaker mccarthy goes to war to keep his job. in a heated closed-door meeting with house republicans, multiple sources in the room tell us that mccarthy grew frustrated over the threats against him. the speaker then said, quote, move the epping motion. he's been facing recent threats from gop hardliners including the florida congressman matt gates, whose threatening called for a motion on the house floor to vacate mccarthy as speaker. following that meeting report is pressed mccarthy on the risk of losing the gavel. >> threats don't matter. sometimes people do those things because of personal things and that's fine. i don't walk away from a battle, i knew changing washington would not be easy, i knew people would fight or try

to hold the bridge for other things. i'm going to try to focus on was the right thing to do for the american people. and if it takes a fight, he'll have a fight. >> not long after that, congressman gates weighed in himself. >> i'm concerned for the speaker that he seems to be rattled and unhinged at a time when we need focus and strong effort. whether or not mccarthy faces a motion to vacate is within his own hands. all he has to do is come into compliance with the deal we made in january. >> joining us now, cnn anchor jim acosta. jim, there is so many interesting things about that. the body language is fascinating between mccarthy and gaetz. mccarthy seems that up, and gaetz seems to, as we asked him about earlier this week throwing out these threats that he really cannot substantiate. what do you think? is kevin mccarthy at risk of losing the gavel, here? >> he doesn't have a lot of job security right now. i talked to a republican source who is close to members on

capitol hill, who said a lot of these more moderate members in the gop conference think that a lot of these hardliners are just blowing hot air. the problem is it just takes one of these members, part of the concessions that kevin mccarthy made to become speaker, it takes one of those members to begin the process to remove the speaker. is not in very good shape right now. the other dynamics at play, here, one is that the hardliners have the support of the former president, donald trump, they can keep pushing knowing that kevin mccarthy is going to bend to donald trump's will. the other thing playing out on capitol hill these days is that a lot of these hardliners in the republican party aren't that worried about losing their seat, they feel like they can do whatever they want right now. >> very much so. the other thing that happened, you mentioned megyn kelly sat down with trump this week and she asked him about the impeachment inquiry. this is one of the issues that's facing mccarthy, the impeachment inquiry into president biden, listen to what he said.

>> they did it to me, and had they not done it to me, i think, nobody officially said this, but i think had they not done it to me, and i'm very popular, they like me and i like them, the republican party. perhaps you wouldn't have it being done to them. >> it's cliche at this point, but saying the quiet part out loud? >> absolutely. let's be clear about this, donald trump is the de facto speaker right now. donald trump wanted impeachment inquiry? he gets an impeachment inquiry. he may want a government shutdown by the end of this month, and he may get a government shutdown because the members of this republican conference are listening to donald trump and not kevin mccarthy. kevin mccarthy is following in the footsteps of two previous republican speakers, paul ryan and john weiner. both of those gentlemen, as you know, dealt with difficult members of the freedom caucus and other hardliners of the republican conference, two big differences. one is, there wasn't a former

president donald trump back then, the other is, kevin mccarthy is not as politically skilled. that's a problem. >> but they still paid for it with their jobs. at the end of the day. >> and it was kevin mccarthy who resuscitated trumps medical career, and let's not forget that. mccarthy has himself to blame. >> the other thing he was asked about this week in a different interview was about what he would have done, whether he would have pardoned himself, in those last days of his presidency. listen to this. >> i could have pardoned myself when i left, people said would you like to pardon yourself? i had a couple of attorneys who said, you can do it if you want. i had some people that said, it would look bad if you do it, i think it would look terrible. i said, here's the story. these people are thugs, horrible people, fascist, marxists, sick people. they've been after me from the day i came down the escalator with melania, and i did a great job as president, people, great economy, great jobs, rebuild

the military, space force, i could go on forever. let me just tell you, i said the last thing i'd ever do is give myself a pardon. >> so you know a lot of people in trump world. i think some of this has been out there, the conversations, but, what have you heard about whether this was really on the table? and, gosh, if you're thinking about pardoning yourself, doesn't that suggest that you think you did something illegal? >> certainly. i went back and looked at what we were reporting in the weeks after the november 2020 election. i reported in early december that donald trump and his advisers were talking about not only a self pardon for himself, but for pardons for his family. we were talking about a flurry of pardons in those days and those advisers inside and outside were telling him he could do it. i heard a story from one trump adviser who was saying, perhaps, the president could resign from office, and put and then mike pence would do the

pardoning. of course, mike pence and donald trump's weren't on speaking terms back then, but, the big show in their publican party right now, there isn't anybody inside the gop right now who is willing to stop donald trump. if you listen to the rest of that interview, he's talking about how he could continue to declassify documents, despite the fact that he obviously can't declassify documents by looking at them, but he's under the impression and keeps saying that he can declassify documents. he's talking about vladimir putin being a person who is judging the political and judicial process is underway in the united states, with trump being indicted in these different cases, looking to vladimir putin for validation. just goes to show you that inside the republican party right now, donald trump answers to nobody. he's almost like pooping in that regard. >> he seems very comfortable saying pretty much anything. no one bats an eye, and voters seem to be completely unfazed by it all. he's leading by a long way in

this republican field right now. >> no question about it. as i used to say when he was president, for as dishonest as he is, he can be remarkably candid. he's being very candid in these interviews. is showing, as he did when he was president, that he's going to be corrupt, he's going to be lawless at times, and he doesn't have much regard for the constitution. >> thanks for being here, it's important, just because he says it doesn't mean that it's not significant. it's important to note these things. >> absolutely. you have to wonder when the party is going to step in and try to do something about it. when i talked my republican sources they know they're running out of time to stop him getting that domination. >> thanks so much, you can catch jim's show this weekend on saturday, and on sunday, don't miss it. you're more now on our breaking news, we are now just an hour and a half away from a potential autoworker strike that could have devastating economic consequences all across the country. with me now is gina, the new

york times reporter, and mark zandi, chief economist at moody's. i want to start with you, when we look at the potential of an economic impact, could be days, could be weeks, could be months of a strike, could this push the economy ultimately toward a recession? >> there's lots of different scenarios, a lot depends on how disruptive the strike is, and of course, how long it goes on for. if it's for a few weeks, a month, maybe two, probably not. i think the economy is resilient enough to digest that. but of course if it extended through the remainder of the year, then the economy would be really in trouble. of course, the economy is struggling with other things, we have student loan payments that are going to resume, a potential government shutdown, higher interest rates and most recently, the surge in oil prices and higher gasoline prices is starting to hurt as well. there's a lot of headwinds, this is just one more.

if it extends through the remainder of the quarter, the remainder of the year, the odds of recession will arise significantly. >> gina, we just heard the new head of the uaw, shawn fain, he's not a man afraid to speak his mind. take a listen to some of what he had to say. >> the talking heads, the pundits, companies want to say that if we strike it correctly economy. it's not that we're going to wreck the economy. we're going to wreck their economy, the economy that only works for the billionaire class. it doesn't work for the working class. >> he's talking about this gap that we all know about, between the ceos and their workers, between the rich and the poor. this is the story of this economy this year, it seems. >> and we have really seen very clearly workers trying to take back a lot of power in this economy. this is not the first strike action we're seeing, we've seen a big uptick in collection actin this year, this is the latest part of the story we saw

with hollywood writers, with a lot of news outlets, this has been a common theme this summer. and i think that it's interesting that they're couching this in terms of inflation, woodworkers have lost, what they're trying to regain, but also in terms of profits and the idea that ceos are making so much that we need to even out the playing field a little bit. >> mark, last question to you, according to data from the auto website, edmunds.com, the average cost of a new car is 48,000, $48,000. that's a huge amount of money. that is up nearly $12,000 from what it was just five years ago. these car companies are making a lot of money. why can't they pay their workers a lot more? >> i think they'll make pay their workers more, it's a negotiation. there needs to be compromise on both sides to get this done. i would be surprised if we don't see that happening. but they have to come to the middle and we'll figure it out.

the car companies are doing well, and i think workers should share in that success. ultimately that will happen. to gina's point, the labor market is very tight, there's a lot of unfilled job positions, people have been quitting their jobs. this is a time when i think we will see that rebalancing between the negotiating power between workers and their employers. >> we've been talking a lot about soft landings, here. what's the word among the folks that you talk to about whether this will have an impact on this broader picture? >> i think it could go both ways. we're seeing data that suggests that consumers are resilient, the labor market is slowing down but it's doing so in this moderate, modest way, but then as mark alluded to, we've got student loans restarting in october, a higher interest rate, there is a lot happening right now that could derail the recovery and so i

think you've got to keep your eye on these risks and say that they are small individually, but are they going to add up some to something big in aggregate? >> for the biden administration, you know, they are navigating these tricky waters, too. this is probably a moment where they're staying up a little bit late tonight to see if they can work this out. gina and mark thank you both for joining, us will be keeping an eye on the story. coming up next for us, daniel dale with fact-check of donald trump's interview with meghan kelly, including one claim that one of his rivals is now marking. >> is this the immaculate -- ? julian's about to learn that free food is a personal eating trigger. no, it isn't. (sigh) yes,t is. and that's just a bit of psychogy julian learned from noom weight. sign up now at noom.com.

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don trump has been in quite a talkative mood, giving two interviews and a lot of bogus claims and process. cnn's senior reporter daniel dale is here with a fact check. so, daniel, let's listen to one of these bogus claims. >> i don't know who gave him accommodation, i really don't know who give them -- somebody probably handed him accommodation. i overrode many of the things he did, he was much less important to me. >> who could have done it? >> it doesn't take a hard boiled detective to figure out who gave a presidential accommodation to anthony fauci. it was don trump because we know this because the trump white house post on their website saying trump awards such and such accommodations to

dozens of people involved in the operation warp speed. of course presidents are, busy is busy at the time trying to overturn the election, that's not sarcasm it's what he's trying to do. i spoke today to former trump administration communication actors who both said they do not think anything like this would ever be awarded without his knowledge and consent. alyssa farah griffin is a cnn political commentator is said that this kind of accommodation would or acquire presidential sign off. she doesn't know how closely trump would've looked at this before he signed it, but for him to claim that he had nothing to do with it is patently absurd. >> not for nothing, the backlash against fauci at that time was well underway. danielle, spring this interview, trump claimed on a separate topic that he never had an impeachment inquiry. >> he did. he did claim that, and he did have an impeachment inquiry. so let's listen to what he had to say on that subject. >> that is up to them, if they want to do impeachment or impeachment inquiry. i never had an inquiry, nancy

pelosi, crazy nancy said we are going to impeach him. they didn't, they went out and devoted. >> so there was an impeachment inquiry. that house speaker, nancy pelosi announced in 2019 over trump's efforts to pressure the president of ukraine to investigate ascend political rival joe biden. this is very public, you may remember a televised hearing after televised hearing, that was part of the impeachment inquiry at the and the democrats in the house released a three and a page for port. trump critics merkley said that there is no inquiry there second time he is impeached in 2021, that impeachment was based on his public statements in his speech on january 6th that did not feel like they needed a lot of investigating, but for him to claim there was never an inquiry, and democrats always just rushed to impeachment vote on him is not true. >> to be fair, when you are impeached twice sometimes it is hard to figure out which one is which. >> you've got to keep them straight, it could be a challenge. >> it could be a challenge. but that's why we have you here. thank you daniel, we appreciate it.

coming up next we have more on our breaking news out of detroit. we're one hour away now from automakers going on strike, standby for that. ever since i retired, i've had trouble falling asleep and staying asleep - you know, insomnia. which was making my days feel like an uphill battle. that is, until i discovered something different, quviviq - a once-nightly fda approved medication for adults with insomnia. not getting enough sleep was leaving me tired. -oh come on! but quviviq helped me get more sleep. quviviq works differently than medication you may have taken in the past. it's thought to target one of the biological causes of insomnia: overactive wake signals.

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- [announcer] do you have an invention idea but don't know what to do next? call invent help today. they can help you get started with your idea. call now 800-710-0020. well, good evening everyone i am laura coats. welcome to cnn tonight. our breaking news, we are less than one hour away everyone from what looks like maybe thousands of auto workers walking off the job. the deadline is midnight and you see the countdown clock right now on your screen, don't turn away, that is going to be very important because it could mean that production could actually grind to a halt at general motors, ford,