please follow the show at jdbalart msnbc. thank you for your time. peter alexander picks up with more news right now. good morning. i am peter alexander here in washington. parts of ukraine are under fire in the dark and running low on water as russia unleashes a new barrage of air strikes overnight. president zelenskyy says 30% of his country s power stations are destroyed by russia part of what he says is vladimir putin s strategy to plunge ukraine into brutal conditions just as winter approaches. we are in ukraine with the very latest ahead. plus, just 21 days out from the midterms, president biden is going to put the spotlight on a crucial issue the democrats hope will motivate their voters. abortion rights. and he is ready to make this promise. codifying roe v. wade into law will be his first big legislative priority in the new congress. if he hopes that ll be enough to keep control of congress in democratic hands, that actually may hinge on a series of other issues. r
a brand-new update just minutes away. and consumer confident in the u.s. economy plummets to the lowest level in more than a year. consumer outlook has a decade-long low, as president biden is informed by french president macron in an exchange caught on camera that there may be little saudi arabia can do to increase oil production. dream team handle standing by. ghislaine maxwell sentenced to 20 years in prison for her role in aiding jeffrey epstein. we begin with a busy tuesday night of primaries all around the country. bret baier is up late with us, having us covered at the big board. kicking off tonight in utah where senator mike lee facing multiple primary challengers. good evening, rich. good evening, shannon. this sets up a general election that is one of the more unique in the country heading into the midterm season here in november but let s look at that primary first. and covenant know my senator mike lee fends off a couple of challengers. it was about 20-25 minute
something that he has said he doesn t feel at home in. but more broadly speaking, these independent candidates could surprise us in some of these key races, these midterms. watch. i m not going to washington if we prevail to be a boot liquor for donald trump or joe biden. evan mcmullen isn t kidding himself i think party does matter. reporter: he is hoping utah voters can put it aside. i am a registered independent. i don t care what your party affiliation is or who you voted for in the last election. if you are committed to our core ideals as a country. reporter: his long shot bid against the incumbent trump backed senator mike lee is about utah as much as the future of the republican party. one mcmullen used to call himself part of. there is no going home to donald trump for true conservatives. reporter: in 2016 mcmullen ran as an independent for that reason and lee his now opponent actually voted for him then. but times have changed.
officer, former house republican staffer, running as an independent in this race, and he has gotten the utah democratic party to endorse him. the utah democrats aren t running and candidate in this race. so you ve got a republican in mike lee, the sitting senator, the incumbent, running against independent admin mcmullen. this is a very conservative state. the democrats in the state are making the calculation they can get enough people in the middle to cobble that coalition and send not mike lee to the united states senate. there has not been a nonrepublican winning a statewide election here since a democratic governor in 1980s won reelection. in fact, in 1970, that is the last time a nonrepublican went to the united states senate from the state of utah. mcmullen says lee is way too extreme for the state, trying to get democrats to come on board with him, trying to get those in the middle to come on board with him, but it is going to be tough, there are a number of democrats in the sta
but let s look at that primary first. and covenant know my senator mike lee fends off a couple of challengers. it was about 20-25 minutes before the associated press called us for mike lee. he is going for his third term. to navigate the two challengers, the two challengers he had in this race, they said lee was too extreme and was not willing to compromise, to align with former president donald trump. that did not hold water, at least with the republican electorate here. this is a closed primary, meaning only registered republicans got an opportunity to vote, at least in the primary. that sets up a general election. mcmullen ran for president back in 2016, got 21.5% of the vote in this state, the most any third party candidate has gotten in the presidential election, back in the 90s with ross perot. mcmullen is a former cia