hello again, everyone. thanks for joining me. i m fredricka whitfield. we begin in georgia where a contentious race could determine which party controls the u.s. senate. democratic senator raphael warnock faced off against republican herschel walker last night after weeks of bombshell allegations leveled at the former football star. a week before this debate, a former gifford made public accusations saying you paid for an abortion and encouraged her to have another. in an abc news interview this week you said that the accusations are, quote, all lies. for the voters watching tonight, can you explain the circumstances surrounding these claims? you have 60 seconds. s as i said, that s a lie. i put it in a book. one thing about my life, i ve been very transparent. not like the senator. he s hid things. but at the same time, i said that s a lie. cnn s eva mcken joining me live from savanna, where the debate took place. this will be their only debate. no promises there would
threatened a shoot-out with the police. and. now i have to respond to that. we are moving on, gentlemen. i am responding to that. you know what s so funny, i am at the same time mr. walker. mr. walker. no, no, no. wait. mr. walker, please, out of respect, i need to let you know, mr. walker, you are very well aware of the rules tonight. yes. and you have a prop. that is not allowed, sir. reporter: early voting starts monday in georgia. walker held a post debate rally this morning in savannah. his supporters said they were quite nervous going into last night because they said that senator warnock as a pastor is clearly a lot more polished but they felt as though walker held his own and defied their expectations. fred? all right, eva. not likely to have another
he s hid things. but at the same time, i said that s a lie. cnn s eva mcken joining me live from savanna, where the debate took place. this will be their only debate. no promises there would be another within the next three days or so, so toll us how they did. reporter: good afternoon from beautiful savannah, fred. both sides claiming victory this morning as expected. senator warnock spent much of the debate playing up his bipartisan policy achievements in congress while walker worked overtime to try to tie warnock to president biden. here s our recap. democratic senator raphael warnock and republican challenger herschel walker are in a contentious georgia senate race with u.s. senate control at stake. it is time to get under way. reporter: the georgia candidates debated friday night. walker, running on a family values platform currently
where they are, because there are a lot of roads that are blocked by downed trees. in addition, because there s no power, there are no gas stations open. no supermarkets open. no mini marts or grocery stores. all of that is closed. authorities say until they have an opportunity to access the damage, clear the roads, fix the power line this is still not a safe place to be. beautiful savannah still closed down there. rehema ellis, thank you. over to meteorologist paul goodloe in jacksonville, florida. it s passed but not. right, paul? reporter: yes. the storm is passed. cleanup still begins. at the courseyard in jacksonville beach, definitely water in the first floor and busy trying to clean up the debris and get this place back open for business, but a lot of cosmetic damage generally. you have structure damage thanks to all of the storm surge. in fact, we were here thursday