good afternoon, everyone. i m bianna golodryga. welcome to cnn newsroom. i m victor blackwell. it s good to have you. more than 9 million votes across the country already been cast. election day just two weeks away now. not two days away. two weeks away. and the pressure s on for the candidates to win over every voter. it s especially high in pennsylvania. tonight democrat john fetterman will face off against republican mehmet oz in perhaps the most anticipated debate of the election season. it s also the only chance for pennsylvanians to see the candidates argue the issues side by side. in a 50-50 senate pennsylvania is one of the races democrats hope to gain to retain power over the chamber. many voters there have already made up their minds, though. nearly 640,000 people have already turned in ballots. cnn s jessica dean is in harrisburg, pennsylvania. jessica, give us a preview of tonight s debate. reporter: well, bianna, you really just outlined how critical this
this is perhaps the most anticipated debate of the election season. it s also the only chance for pennsylvanians to see the candidates side by side. they re debating just this one time. the senate is 50-50 and pennsylvania is crucial in the fight to either keep or gain control. cnn s jeff zeleny is in harrisburg where the debate is happening. jeff, what should people expect to see tonight? reporter: well, victor, i think people can expect to see fireworks as we ve seen in debates across the country. more interestingly this has a unique element to it and that is because of john fetterman. of course he s the lieutenant governor of pennsylvania but he s been recovering from a stroke for the last several months. so this debate tonight is going to be slightly different. it s going to have a closed captioning system. john fetterman is still having auditor processing issues. he can t always hear and see things in realtime so he ll be using closed captions as many americans do when
battleground goes bionic? the lead starts right now. one of the most anticipated debates of the year. john fetterman versus mehmet oz as this political season kicks into overdrive for candidates nationwide. plus, distraction for democrats. the anger and outrage over a letter to president biden now retracted. and moscow shuts down an appeal to release brittney griner from a russian prison. is there any hope left to bring the wnba star home? welcome to the lead. we ll get to the midterms in just a moment. first, a significant step for the justice department and its investigation into the january 6th attack. sources tell cnn the doj is trying to force the testimony of pat cipollony and patrick philbin, the top two lawyers from donald trump s white house, and hear about their conversations with the former president. this is exclusive new reporting, so let s get right to cnn s sarah murray. this is an attempt to break through a firewall of sorts trump has used to avoid scr
the russian military. adidas drops kanye west weeks after the rapper s anti-semitic and hateful rant. cbs news jonathan vigliotti reports tonight on the rise in crimes against jewish people. and health watch, cbs news meg oliver, on the triple threat, doctors sound the alarm about a possible surge of covid flu and rsv all at the same time. this is the cbs evening news with norah o donnell, reporting from the nation s capital. o donnell: good evening and thank you for joining us on this tuesday. law enforcement is on alert tonight after we learn disturbing new details from the deadly shooting monday at a high school in st. louis. police found a notebook in the gunman s car inside a handwritten note, and ultimately a window into his motive. the 19-year-old shooter was a former student. he managed to get inside, even though the building was locked with seven security guards on duty. two people were killed, including a 15-year-old student and a teacher, who was getting re
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