climate is affecting your wallet. economy and abortion, those are the issues that democrats are focusing on this morning, trying to rally voters with less than three weeks to go before election day. president biden will address u.s. concerns about rising gas prices. today s expected to announce the release of another 15 million barrels of oil from the strategic petroleum reserve. republicans are driving hard on inflation. there s good news there. millions of americans could see a bump in their paycheck next year. early voting numbers suggesting turn-out could be on pace to match 2018, a year that had high participation for a midterm. control of congress hangs in the balance. right now the senate is split 50/50. democrats hold only a nine-seat advantage in the house. cnn s senior data reporter with us now on this. take us through this. take a look where we are on this generic ballot. this gives us a good indication of where things have been going and where they are r
and welcome to cnn newsroom. i m erica hill. president biden a short time ago laying out his plan to keep energy prices down for americans which includes another push for oil companies to boost production and it comes, that push to lower gas prices as early voting gets under way in some states. we are now officially less than three weeks to go. who is counting? yeah. the president just announced he will release another 15 million barrels from the nation s oil stockpile beginning in december. this is in addition to the 165 million barrels of crude oil that s been put under contract since this past spring. the reserves are at a 30-year low. with my you a nounsment today we are going to continue to stabilize markets and decrease the prices at a time when the actions of other countries have caused such volatility, and i ve told my team behind me here to be prepared to look further look for further releases in the months ahead if needed. we re calling it a ready and
come drone attacks cause blackouts across ukraine. russia targeting more power plants and escalating the bloodshed and suffering of civilians. also tonight, a cnn exclusive on the trump tapes. stand by to hear some of then president trump s revealing recorded interviews with journalists bob woodward including trump boasting about the letters that sparked the mar-a-lago documents investigation. as early voting in georgia sets records right now, the high stakes midterm election is now only three weeks away. we re following flash points in the battle for control of congress including a new promise by president biden on abortion rights for women. welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i m wolf blitzer. you re the situation room. our top story this hour, wide spread blackouts across ukraine as russia strikes major power and water facilities. ukrainian officials warning that moscow s attacks have already destroyed nearly a third of their ener
i ve been asking for syracuse orange highlights for weeks. this wascustomized for you. they are who we thought they were and we let them off the hook. you almost had them. keep the head up, big man. thank you so much. the next hour of new day starts now. good morning. welcome to your new day. i m amara walker. i m boris sanchez. doubling down, the biden administration says they will fight in court to keep the student debt relief program alive. what does that mean for thousands of applicants and how long could that legal fight last? we ll also have the latest on the brutal attacks in ukraine as russia continues to hammer the country s infrastructure. we ll take you inside a secret workshop where ukrainian soldiers are building weapons against russia. residents in jackson, mississippi, still facing problems with the city s water and the epa is opening up a federal civil rights investigation. we ll tell you exactly what and who is getting investigated.
we begin with an alarming outbreak that has some u.s. hospitals struggling. the common but potentially deadly respiratory virus called rsv is spreading rapidly among children. doctors telling cnn the spike is unprecedented for this time of year. cnn s brian todd has more on this troubling surge. the drive to the emergency room was really scary and really intense. reporter: this mother of a 5-year-old who was hospitalized with difficulty breathing told us of an anxious drive to the emergency room. things eventually had gotten worse since we were admitted. i have seen starting last night that he is progressively having a harder time breathing. rsv is one of the scariest infections in a child, especially when it s in your baby. so you will see your baby breathing really, really fast and you feel like there is nothing that you can do. reporter: around the country doctors are reporting a spike in cases of rsv, respiratory syncytial virus, a common respiratory illness tha