jasmine wright, live for us from the white house. thank you so much. >>> experts are estimating that hurricane ian caused as much as $47 billion worth of damage and this morning we're seeing some really astounding before-and-after images from the storm that we want to share with you. this is from fort myers beach. this is just a couple miles, maybe less than a couple miles down the road from where we're standing right now. on the left-hand side a thriving beach community and on the right empty lots where buildings once food, where an economy thrived, where families like mine came to vacation and made memories. here's a look at sanibel island where my folks, my mom and my sister spent a good part of the summer. they are cut off from the mainland sanibel right now. it is only accessible by boat or helicopter. so many homes and businesses have been swept away all across the region and, again, an early estimate for how much was lost financially, $47 billion. it would make it the most expensive storm in state history. that is, of course,

>> jasmine wright, we know you'll be watching closely and will bring us the latest from the white houseank you so much. let's send it back to fredricka whitfield, who is in atlanta. fred, obviously, there is so much devastation here in southwest florida. so many stories to share and communicate. but i think one of the things we want to remind viewers of is there is a tremendous amount of need, and every little bit that they can contribute goes a long way right now. >> a variety of stories. just the gentleman approaching you all asking for food, that is a microcosm of what day-to-day struggle has been like for so many for many days. thank you so much, boris. >>> for more information on how you can help victims of hurricane ian, go to cnn.com/impact. >>> still to come this hour, a major military victory for ukraine. >> those were russian flags torn from the roof of a government building and dropped right there in eastern ukraine, just days after this city was illegally annexed by russia. plus, a week after a scary moment on the told for the miaii dolphins quarterback, the nfl players unio

jasmine wright joins us now.use is encouraging people to keep applying for relief online, but what is the administration going to do next? >> reporter: yeah. well, fred, today would have been the day that the white house said some borrowers could see their debt being canceled, but obviously that is not going to happen. now, the court of appeals gave the white house until tomorrow on monday to respond to this hold, and then those challenges have until tuesday to respond to the white house, push thing timeline closer to the midterm elections. so what the white house is doing is saying hey, look, keep applying despite the hold, doubling down, trying to show the american people that they are serious about cancel thing debt, no matter about the court case. and in an op-ed published yesterday. the education secretary, not only did he double down on the fact that the white house wants to continue with this plan, i want to read you some of this. he said the same republican attorneys general didn't file lawsuits when pand

. >>> cnn's jasmine wright joining us live now.ss program was a key point the white house was hoping to motivate voters, but that plan's now on hold. >> yeah, amara. look, it's a major blow for the president. now the question that many are asking is how long is it going to last because the white house had initially said sunday was the first day that some borrowers could potentially see their debt canceled, but of course, the appeals court is giving the white house until monday to respond to this administrative hold and then those who brought the contest, those six gop states have until tuesday to respond to the white house. obviously pushing this out days and days, and it comes at a precareius time and we are under three weeks to the midterm and we saw president biden leaning into this controversial executive order and he touted the benefits of it and who will benefit from it and touted 22 million people signed up in the first week, as they tried to galvanize the democratic base, but also young voters with an eye to young black vot

let's go to cnn's jasmine wright. the program was scheduled to start today and now it's facing this uncertain future. >> that's right, boris. look, this sunday is when the white house identified that some borrowers could start to see their debt canceled. obviously, that's not going to be the case. now the court of appeals has given the white house until monday, which is tomorrow, to respond to that hold and then those states that brought the challenge have until tuesday to respond to the white house. obviously, pushing this timeline for when folks could start to see relief closer and closer to the upcoming midterms if it is allowed to proceed at all. now the white house, you're right, is telling people to continue to apply online, putting those applications as they are doubling down wanting to go full steam ahead when it comes to trying to get some relief to the american people, when it comes to student loans, and they're going on the offensive. yesterday, the education secretary miguel cardona released an op-ed in wh

jasmine wright joins us live. the president focusing on abortion rights, but in poll after poll, voters out there say that the economy remains the most important issue to them. >> reporter: yeah. boris, the economy is something the president is going to have to confront when he heads into his busy week and focus a large part on campaigning for the midterm elections, trying to make the case for democrats. we know he finished a four-day swing on the west coast. this week will be dedicated to the east coast. as you said on tuesday, he will have a speech on abortion, on thursday we can expect him to do a finance event for john fetterman who we were just talking about in pennsylvania. for abortion, this will probably be his fourth or fifth speech since roe versus wade was overturned in the summer but the white house and officials are hoping it brings voters to the table really trying to vote for democrats, vote their way. now, of course, as you said, that stands in a bit of contrast to what we're seeing when it comes t

jasmine wright there.et's bring in political commentator and anchor of the you decide podcast, errol louis. good morning, errol. we just said, heading into a midterm this crucial, we would expect to see, at least traditionally, the president holding big campaign rallies, but the white house has obviously taken a much more toned down approach, still focusing on biden's ability to raise lots of money for the democrats. so more private events. and an analysis from "the new york times" shows obama had, i think, 16 rallies in october before his first midterm. trump had 26 and you see there biden with a big fat zero for the month of october. does this hurts or help democrats in the midterms? >> good morning, amara. you could put another line of numbers on that chart, and i think it would explain what president biden is doing right now because after he did all of those rallies in 2010 and joe biden was there with him, president obama's democrats lost 62 seats, 63 seats in the house of representatives. you know, a

cnn reporter jasmine wright joins us live. jasmine, walk us through the federal response.t are the officials and the biden administration doing to help people on the ground here in florida and elsewhere that have been impacted by the storm? >> reporter: yeah, boris. the president wants americans to know these storms are on the top of both he and his administration's minds. he's pledging the full support of the federal government when it comes to the recovery. just overnight we know he approved an emergency declaration as hurricane ian moves up the east coast. for florida, we know the president has spoken to republican governor ron desantis three times talking about the different phases of the storm. of course, now we're in recovery. the storm the president said is likely to rank among the worst in the nation's history. i want to play for you a second, boris, this message he delivered directly to the people of florida on friday. take a listen. >> i've directed that every possible action be taken to save lives and get help to survivors because every single minute counts. it'

. >> cnn's jasmine wright is live in washington. good friday morning, jasmine. it does look like democrats are moving towards pocketbook issues. >> they are. it's more of a political reality. despite whatever improvements democrats feel they have done while biden has been in office from low unemployment to of course those high gdp numbers we saw yesterday, the fact is that the economy and inflation remain their worst issue heading into the mid-term election. so this closing message from president biden we heard yesterday, it did two things. first, it argued things just are not that bad. secondly, it focused less of his accomplishment that he's had in office and the focus on what havoc republicans could wreak if they were in control of congress. now president biden using a little bit of concern and fear trying to motivate voters. he said republican's control would be a ticking time bomb under the economy. take a listen. >> tax credit to lower energy bills, gone. corporate minimum tax, gone. under the republican plan some big corporations are going to go back to p

let's turn it over to jasmine wright who is at the white house. as we were mentioning, jasmine, president biden and the first lady will be making visits to these areas hard hit starting with puerto rico. we know many in puerto rico are concerned that they will be forgotten afee ona ravaged that island. >> reporter: yeah, amara. a lot of consideration goes into these trips when the president goes to visit natural damage with the survey. a lot of the local officials on the ground have to be redirected to protect the president. that would have been possibly a sign to other recovery efforts. this is something president biden has said repeatedly weighs on him when it comes to the timing of visiting these areas. the white house announced he would be visiting puerto rico on monday, visiting florida on wednesday. before that announcement came out, he was speaking at the congress black caucus's feen necks awards. he said he vows for his administration to do whatever it takes to bring some aid to that recovery. take a listen. >> our hearts, can't go without

. >> cnn's jasmine wright is live in washington. what else did the president have to say about putin and ukraine? >> reporter: obviously the president warned of catastrophic mistakes and miscalculations. president putin continues to make these nuclear threats. as the u.s. grows more concerned while looking at the escalations happening in ukraine caused by russia. he warns of armageddon. take a look at his answer last night when asked by tapper about that possible outcome. >> how realistic is it that you think putin would use a tactical nuclear weapon? >> i don't think he will but it's irresponsible to talk about it. the idea that a world leader says he may use a tactical nuclear weapon in ukraine. >> had he directed the pentagon to gain out what a response will be? >> there have been discussions. i won't get into that. it would be irresponsible for me to talk about what we would do. >> have you asked the pentagon to game it out? >> the pentagon didn't have to be asked. >> there we go. officials say there's been no change in the nucl

cnn's jasmine wright is live for us bright and early in washington. jasmine, what do you expect the president's message on abortion to be? >> reporter: the president is going to talk about how he believes there is an assault on women's bodies and their right to choose. they can go with the republican party who wants to ban abortion, he's going to say, or go with democrats who don't, who want to codify abortion. the president has been trying to drum up the democratic base hoping they'll come out and support their base. control is on the ballot come november. now of course two things stand in contrast here. first, we talked about a majority of voters are not listing abortion first as their main voting issue. it's the economy. something you can see on the screen. something they have fought against. second, what today is going to look like. we're not expecting him to show up with a major candidate. john fetterman of pennsylvania when he comes there for finance vote. that is likely to be closed door. cutting holes into this series the president has been doi

jasmine wright joins us this morning bright and early from washington. good morning, jasmine.he president hasn't said too much. why is he highlighting it today? >> reporter: new political strategy for the white house. the president has been touring the country promoting his official agenda as well as talking to voters. that is instead of the larger candidate rallies that we know we've seen from past president's experiencing their first mid terms. former president trump and former president obama. the white house hasn't been doing that that much. yesterday we saw the president give a speech on infrastructure and afterwards he met up with john fetterman at a sandwich shop before going to a closed door donor event. now that kind of new strategy represents a political reality for this white house, which is the fact although things this president has passed like student loans with executive order alike, the bipartisan infrastructure bill through congress, he still remains an unpopular president and one that some democratic candidates in those tighter races don't exactly want to be

jasmine wright is live in washington. jasmine, i mean, nearly 22 million people have already applied for student debt leave and that ruling came just hours after the president boasted of his college debt relief plan. so now what happens? >> reporter: well, for the white house, they want people to continue to apply on that website. but it is a tough blow it to the president's agenda here. it's having people question how long will it last because sunday is when the white house identified would be the soonest day some borrowers could see their debt canceled. that's going to be pushed back because of that administrative hold the court of appeals has given the white house to monday to respond and those challengers have to tuesday to respond to the white house. now, of course, it comes at a precarious time. we are just three weeks and under to the midterm elections and, as you said, we saw president biden friday leaning in finally to this controversial executive order touting the benefits of who would get their debt canceled. no

cnn white house reporter jasmine wright with details. so what's going in the president's calculus here? >> reporter: the president spent the last three days mixing official policy with politics here while he visits the west coast. we know that he has been going to democratic strongholds. we saw him in colorado, then to california, two stops there and today he will be in oregon. he went there last night. really what he has been doing is touting the administration's achievements trying to make the case for democrats come november just in a few weeks here, and also raising millions of dollars for democratic candidates. now, where he has been absent quite noticeably here is those two states, arizona and nevada. two key senate races that could determine who controls the senate. basically determining how much president biden can do in these next two years when it comes to his agenda. of course, his absence is reflective of his poll numbers. the president is unpopular. therefore, the president is not visiting these states where there are democr

. >> jasmine wright joins us now.alk us through the strategy. >> reporter: the president has spent the last four days mixing official policies as he goes to the west coast. we saw him in los angeles, irvine, california, and portland tried to tout the accomplishments of this administration, make the case for democrats and also raise millions of dollars for democratic candidates. notably where we have not seen him on the west coast is in nevada and arizona. we talked about a few minutes earlier how those two senate races could determine who controls the senate, of course, controls what the president's able to do in two years unless he runs for re-election. of course, that's reflective of his absence in the two states where his poll numbers are. of course, officials would prefer them to be a bit higher. they're lower, making him a likely unpopular president even though americans like some of the things he passed like the bipartisan infrastructure bill. so the president has told his advisers that he believes he would be m

>> jasmine wright, traveling with the president, good job as you are working what sounds like a nascarbehind you. thanks so much. >>> the economy and inflation will be a major focus or voters in the upcoming election, and the prices surging for most consumer goods. more americans are turning to food pantries to feed their families. here's cnn's nadia romero. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: hundreds of families lined up for help. some of them, four hours before this pantry started in a suburb of atlanta over the weekend. >> take care. >> you have no idea how many people are suffering in silence, having no clue as to how they're going to feed or take care of their families. >> reporter: every saturday since january 2020, back then, just 30 cars per week. but now, up to 3,000 cars a week. the pandemic and rising inflation providing a one-two punch on people's wallets. >> it is the pandemic. and everything is going up. >> double and triple. i paid 85 cents a dozen for eggs. and now they're $3. it's crazy. >> ridiculous. you go to the supermarket and things get expensive. >> reporter: food prices more tha

cnn white house reporter jasmine wright joining us now. biden on a campaign swing through the west this weekend. he's not hitting some of the states that you might expect. so, what is the strategy? >> reporter: yeah. well, the president spent the last three days mixing official policy with politics to democratic strongholds. we saw him in colorado, then two stops in california. today he will be in oregon, out thing the achievements this administration has done, trying to make the case for democrats as they under four weeks to the midterm election, and to raise millions of dollars for democratic candidates. noticeably absent, though, from that west coast swing of the president's appearance in arizona and nevada, two state where is the senate races are very tight and could determine whether or not democrats keep the senate, again, really limiting possibly, if they lose it, what president biden could do in next two years. so, really reflective of that absence is the president's poll numbers. he's unpopular right now, so the president as well

. >> jasmine wright joining us now. that forgiveness program was a key point the white house hoped would motivate voters. what's the white house saying now? >> yeah, well, it's a tough blow to the president's agenda and leaving folks to question it. the white house had identified sunday as the first day where borrowers could see potentially some of that debt being canceled. of course that will be pushed back. the appeals court gave the white house to monday to respond to the administrative hold and then those who brought the challenge have to tuesday to respond to the white house, pushing some days along. that comes at a precarious time here for the white house as we're just under three weeks to the midterm election. and as you can see on the screen here, president biden on friday finally started to lean into this controversial executive order, touting the benefits of who would benefit from this student debt cancellation. he said 22 million people had signed up in the first week that that website was live and as the whi

let's bring in jasmine wright who joins us now. the program was scheduled to begin today but faces an uncertain future. >> reporter: yeah, that's right, boris. sunday was when the white house identified was the first day that some borrowers could start to see their debt canceled. obviously, that's not going to happen, as a court of appeals has given the white house until monday, tomorrow, to respond to that hold and then those states who brought the challenge have until tuesday to respond to the white house, pushing the white house's timeline for folks to have relief closer to the midterm elections just under three weeks now. now the white house has encouraged people to continue to apply, really reaffirming that they are not backing down from this issue. instead, they are moving forward. secretary of education, miguel cardona, he was really forceful in an op-ed that was published in "usa today" yesterday, really slamming the republicans for what he called hypocritical or basically that outlining as hypocritical actions. i want to r

let's take you to wilmington, delaware, where president biden is spending the day and jasmine wright joins us live. the president focusing on the issue of abortion rights, but poll after poll indicates that the top issue for voters in this election cycle is the economy and inflation. >> reporter: yeah, boris. those two things, the economy and inflation, are going to be what president has to confront this week. a busy week ahead of him campaigning for democrats before the midterm elections. on thursday we will see him in pennsylvania for a finance event for john fetterman. we just talked about that senate candidate. but on tuesday, of course, it's going to be that big speech. this will be the fourth or fifth big speech on abortion. the president has given since roe v. wade was overturned. he and the white house are hoping it brings democrats to the table, to the voter booths, trying to get them energized for the democratic party ahead of the midterm elections. that doesn't exactly jive with what we are seeing that americans truly, truly care about on the ground. a recent cnn poll show