we re following a pivotal moment in the midterms as we come on the air with the final countdown to that critical debate in pennsylvania. john fetterman and mehmet oz facing off for the first and only time ahead of election day. this hour, what to expect and what to watch for. and why republicans are now pumping a new round of $6 million into the race. our political experts are here standing by. also this hour, new details on two one-time close aides to former president trump. nbc news confirming one member of his white house inner circle talking to the january 6th committee. while another is trying to get out of talking to the georgia grand jury. the new legal filing just dropping this afternoon. we re live with those developments. plus, president biden making a new public plea for americans to get their covid booster shots with cases rising across the country and new worries about a so-called triple demic. one of the nation s top health officials, dr. anthony fauci, here
are warning this winter could be extra hard. not just for covid, but for flu, and now a childhood respiratory virus that s going around. it is an important message and we re going to go to the white house when he begins speaking. speaking of the president and midterms, biden is going to syracuse this week. yes, syracuse, yes, new york. yes, new york, in the last two weeks before the midterms. he s coming here because as blue as new york is, some of the congressional races are looking a little more purple. after a haywire redistricting process, new york has more congressional battlegrounds than nearly any other state in the country. even the democratic campaign chairman is locked in a dead heat, forcing the house campaign arm to spend a lot of money to defend its own chief from republican michael lawler. it s not just malone in westchester. nine of new york s seats from the tip of long up to pew kip see are in play and now the governor s race is tightening. kathy hochul, once
election day. right now, average polls at half a dozen senate races are within the margin of error. so what moves the needle now? three huge debates are scheduled tonight alone. we go to our reporters live in the field in just a minute. plus, what the biden administration is calling a sham appeal hearing that was over before it started. brittney griner denied her bid to get out of a russian prison. it will no doubt ramp up international pressure on vladimir putin. that may be nothing from the pressure he s getting against his own people. plus, the flu, covid and now rsv. how worried should you be? the answer coming up. but we start with the mid-terms. and let s get specific. new polling shows both ohio and wisconsin senate races are a statistical dead heat. and a tracking poll out of pennsylvania shows john fetterman and dr. oz points apart. tonight s huge debate in pennsylvania provides a critical timed opportunity for both candidates to gain some late momentum. and that
here we go. welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world, it is monday, october 24th. i m christine romans. we begin with the midterm elections now just 15 days away. early voting already under way with more than 5.8 million ballots cast in 39 states. right now polls and political spending suggests republicans are surging and stand a good chance of retaking the house of representatives with a solid majority. recent surveys show the reason for that surge, the economy. inflation and to a lesser degree crime. early this summer looked like the anger at the supreme court ruling overturning roe versus wade would give democrats a chance to hold back the red tide and keep control of the house. now it looks like that abortion-fueled momentum may have peaked too soon. they have to split their messaging between abortion and the economy are the democrats. nobody said we re doing abortion rather than economy. but it s about both. i can tell you that that issue is ver
fundamental question of voters confidence in the vote result. and exclusive cnn reporting of the bravery of one little girl in the middle of the uvalde massacre, begging for help why law enforcement stood outside. thank you so much for being here. we begin with a critical decision from the federal reserve and the major ripple effects it will have on the economy and also potentially the election. the fed is expected to announce another big rate hike this afternoon, another effort to tamp down inflation. this would be the sixth rate hike this your. it comes as new polling shows that voters are most concerned about the economy and inflation, putting republicans in a strong position ahead of the mid terms, the poll also showing enthusiasm among democrats is significantly lower than it was twoiers. two former presidents are hitting the campaign trail hard. barack obama in arizona, former president trump heading to ohio tomorrow, and we learned that joe biden will be speaking to t