technical. there were brief opportunities to learn more about the justices artistic tastes. you got to listen to this. >> let's say that i'm both a prince fan, which i was was in the '80s, and -- >> no longer? [ laughter ] >> well, only on thursday night. [ laughter ] >> thursday night at the thomas household. however the court rules, the decision will have rippling consequences for artists across the country. follow me on twitter @john berman. if you ever miss an episode of "the lead" listen on our podcast. our coverage continues with wolf blitzer who is "the situation room". happening now, breaking news, a jury says conspiracy theorists alex jones should pay

$965 million to the victims of the sandy hook school shooting massacre. we're getting reaction about the verdict and impact of jones' lies about the shooting. also tonight, russia launches mass casualty missile strikes in ukraine. as the u.s. and nato scramble to beef up ukrainian air defenses. i'll ask white house national security official john kirby about administration's response to vladimir putin's provocation and learning more about tomorrow's january 6th hearing and new evidence that will be presented. the select committee poised to argue that former president trump remains a clear and present danger to democracy in america. welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're "the situation room."

>> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. let's get right to the top story. a connecticut's jury massive judgment against alex jones for spreading lies and conspiracies about the sandy hook elementary school shooting. for more on the jury's decision, let's bring in cnn correspondent alexandria fields. alexandria, the jury says jones should pay families of the victims nearly a billion dollars in damages. >> wolf, if ever there could be a win for families who have suffered as profoundly as these families had from the loss of their loved ones and the decade of torment that has followed, this marks that win. it is a seismic moment, a huge award of nearly a billion dollars being awarded to 15 plaintiffs in the case, 14 of them family members who lost their beloved on that dark day. one of them an fbi agent that we responded to the scene.

they sat huddled together in the courtroom embracing one another, holding hands at times, weeping into their hands at time as they heard what the jury had decided. again, nearly a billion dollars in compensatory damages for the suffering that came to these families as the result of lies spread by info wars host alex jones who said that the massacre at sandy hook elementary was a hoax, that the family members that lost loved ones were crisis actors. they spent weeks testifying about the pain and the harassment that they endured from those who believed the lies. robbie parker who you're seeing on screen was given the largest sum of money awarded the largest sum of money from the jury. $120 million. he lost his 6-year-old daughter emily at sandy hook. he testified in some of the most poignant moments of this trial that he felt that he had failed his young daughter in life by

sending her to school and that he had failed her in death by not stopping the lies and misinformation surrounding her death and her young life. he spoke tearfully after the verdict was read inside the courtroom. >> the families i've been associated with for ten years throughout this tragedy are the most beautiful people you'll encounter and their children and moms and wives are the most beautiful people you can get to know. all i can really say is i'm just proud that what we were able to accomplish was just to simply tell the truth and it shouldn't be this hard, and it shouldn't be this scary. >> a long fought battle if ever there was one. this is a suit that started back in 2018. of course, the suffering certainly predates that and seeing the way the families banded together sitting with each other every day.

embracing one another and this is something they're sharing in tonight. >> alex jones was not in the courtroom. he was live on the air when the verdict came in. what was his reaction? >> he was not in the courtroom. really to nobody's surprise he made it clear he wasn't going to be there. he never testified in his own defense. he spent his time dewriting this process calling it a kangaroo court. he said he doesn't have the money to pay these families. his attorney spoke out on his behalf after the decision was read. >> we live in divided times. they've been weaponized and used for political purposes in this country in my view and today is a very, very, very dark day for freedom of speech. >> the jones' team saying they will be appealing this decision, wolf. >> stay with us. i want to bring in cnn legal

analyst paul and senior legal analyst elie. this is a very, very powerful significant victory for these families. what do you make of this decision, this verdict? >> well, wolf, it's a monumental verdict. it's a massive verdict. it's a statement verdict. alex jones attacked these innocent victims with knowing intentional lies and this jury sent a message you cannot do that without paying the price. i think it's also worth noting, wolf, this was a careful verdict. the jury didn't just give a blanket standard fee to every plaintiff. they went very carefully through the evidence and gave different awards, plaintiff by plaintiff. that will help this verdict stand up perhaps on appeal. it shows that the jury considered the evidence carefully and dispassionately for each plaintiff individually. >> you know, paul, the jury just awarded, as we noted, nearly $1 billion in damages to these families but jones says and i'm quoting him now, he says there quote ain't no money.

will these families actually receive any of the damages owed to them? >> that's a good question, wolf. i have to say this award may well be the largest award for this kind of a case in american history. but collecting it of course will pose difficulties. there was testimony during the trial that his company generated income in excess of $100 million over the course of a period of years. remember, what he would do was he would perpetuate this hoax, the hoax that crisis actors were playing the victims at sandy hook, that there weren't any real victims to get people to listen to him an the radio to sell supplements and other products. he'll be certainly put out of business and whatever money he made in the past that's still available will be securable and by the way, judgments are usually enforcement for up to 20 years so this judgment will haunt him for the rest of his life. >> certainly will. alexandria, punitive damages are

yet to be determined, right? >> yes, this is just the start. these are compensatory damages. they still have punitive damages. it will be up to the judge to decide what that amounts to. this is an award that will cover the legal fees, attorneys fees, that's something the judge will determine at a later date during a hearing and there are also additional damages that could be paid for violating connecticut's unfair trade practices act the judge will determine down the line. >> elie, jones, as you know, is vowing to appeal this verdict. so where does this go from here? >> sure, he certainly will appeal. he may get the amount reduced somewhat on appeal. of course, i don't think he'll get it thrown out entirely. it's important to know alex jones is telling my fans, donate to me, don't worry, i can declare bankruptcy and hide your money. this isn't how this works. because this is a court judgment, he cannot discharge this debt through bankruptcy.

he can hide money elsewhere but if he does that in a fraud length way, he runs the risk of getting himself in more trouble. alex jones' legal troubles are just beginning. he's still got another trial ahead and plenty of problems to deal with. >> certainly does. thanks very much. paul, alexandria field, thanks to you guys, as well. >> coming up, a live report from the war zone in ukraine and new reaction coming in from a key white house national security official. we'll talk to john kirby, plus, cnn is learning new details about tomorrow's january 6th house select committee hearing. we'll share those with you right after a quick break. trading pl. it's an entire trading experience. that pushes you to be even better. and just might change how you trade-e—forever. becaususe once you experience thinkorswim® by td ameritradee ♪ there's no going back.

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tonight ukraine is under bombardment for a third straight day as vladimir putin escalates the bloody war. nick paton walsh is joining us from the war zone now. nick, russian missiles killed more ukrainian civilians today, what's the latest? >> reporter: yeah, it's important to point out hitting civilian targets is something that's been happening since the beginning of the war but a particularly awful instant in donetsk i should point out, a part of ukraine that falsely

russia claims is the own territory since the annexation process. it went through weeks ago and now a central market hit by shelling killing seven injuring a significant number, as well. we heard scenes like this over the past month but the occasional ones stick out acutely. also a town in zaporizhzhia bore a blast. over 300 shells. today possibly signs of russia's persistent bombardment of civilians continuing. russia, nato very clear they want to continue messaging about the backdrop of nuclear threats that russia has been giving a. senior nato official saying unprecedented consequences for russia if it did use any kind of nuclear weapons. that could include a physical response possibly from all of nato itself so stark messaging there by that continued background threat even though i should point out the last time we heard from vladimir putin, he didn't explicitly reference

that, wolf? >> russia spy agencies making claims about an attack, an at attack? >> the truck carried across across 22 met triric tons of sheeting that contained the explosives. they say eight people have been arrested and they suggest the journey of this truck began and weaved through a number of countries before it got to the bridge. still questions how it was moving and suggestions how it may necessary outside the exploration originated from the truck. a lot of questions still around this particular attack but this comes at a time, too, where we're hearing from russian officials, talk of diplomacy. it's clear the west, washington, ukraine do not trust russia and the negotiating table and therefore don't want to begin

significant peace talks about this but we heard from russian officials they want to push back on the idea they're not ready to have those conversations. we heard that yesterday from former minister sergei lavrov and another saying there may be the possibility for diplomacy. does it sound like it's not the offensive when it is or is this an under hand move to get talks started? we know putin is meeting tomorrow. a lot still moving, wolf? >> we'll see what happens there. nick paton walsh, stay safe over there. we'll talk to you soon. the biden's administration's response. kaitlin colins is joining us with details a. week after president biden warned of nuclear armageddon, he's providing fresh insight into putin's actions and thinking. tell our viewers what you're learning. >> reporter: yeah, wolf, president biden says he's directing the comments to president putin himself saying

he doesn't believe he can speak to the impunity using a nuclear weapon as you've seen putin do in recent speeches including one the west and united states set the precedent for potentially using them and so in light of that, president biden saying he doesn't ultimately think that armageddon like situation he warned about behind closed doors last week at a democratic fundraiser will come to pass but still saying he doesn't believe putin should be able to make those comments and just let it pass. he also said he does believe putin is a rational actor. he doesn't believe he's acting irrationally but says some decisions he's made like sending troops into ukraine is not a rational decision clearly of course, it did not go the way putin expected it to go. that as president biden is weighing in on what he views as the russian leader's mind set now as this war still is dragging on. >> the white house revealing in the brand-new very lengthy national security strategy review what it sees as america's most consequential geopolitical

challenges. tell us more about that. >> reporter: yeah, this say 48-page document delayed, the release because of russia's invasion of ukraine and some people may assume it says russia is the foremost threat that the united states believes is being posted right now. tw actually, they say china is who they have to worry about out competicompeting. china, russia and of course, democracy at home. basically making the argument china and russia both pose challenges but pose different ones because what russia's invasion of ukraine revealed is their military is not as scary as some people thought. not as well equipped as people believed initially but china, the president is worriedo out compete and reshape the international order and can do that via military and diplomacy. that's why china takes it in this document that the white house released today, wolf?

>> definitely worth reading this lengthy document indeed. thank you very much. let's discuss this and more with the national security counsel coordinator for strategic communications john kirby joining us from the white house. thanks for joining us. as you know the joint chiefs chairman said the goal is to create what he called an integrated air and missile defense system for ukraine. is that really possible given the nature of the fighting and ukraine's vast size? >> reporter: we do believe that certainly president zelenskyy's right wing says he needs additional air defense capabilities and general milley, secretary austin working with the international community to see what additional capabilities can be provided and we talk about integrated air defense, what general milley is referring to is air defense in any regard is a sort of layered process. you have short range, medium range, long rage and collate and use those to defend your skies

and troops on the ground and that's what we're trying to help ukraine develop is a better layered air defense process and program in place. >> do you have any update for us, john, when the first two desperately needed u.s. air defense systems will actually arrive in ukraine? >> you're talking about these national advanced surface to air missile systems which were jointly developed by norway and the united states. there are eight on order to get to ukraine. the pentagon believes that they can get the first two into ukraine in coming weeks. i don't have a deadline for you but obviously, everybody is focused on trying to see if we can accelerate the timeline and get them there faster. in the meantime, you know, we continue to work as i said with these more than 50 countries around the world who also have different air defense capabilities that can be provided to ukraine to see if that can also supplement some of their needs right now. >> general milley has you know says israel could provide ukraine some very capable air

defense systems. israel has this iron dome system as you know. >> right. >> has the u.s. asked israel to step up and do so? >> we've asked countries all around the world to contribute what they believe they can to ukraine's defense and every country answers that call differently, wolf. it's a sovereign decision. i respect that. i'll let them speak for what they will or won't do. that's the appropriate way to handle this. we have been nothing but open and candid with all our partners around the world. more than 50 nations participating in these contact groups that secretary austin has been hosting to see what they can do but it has to be in accordance with their security needs and their ability to provide security assistance to ukraine. >> senior nato official says a russian nuclear strike, a nuclear strike would almost certainly trigger a physical response from the allies. how much is the risk growing right now of the u.s. and nato being drawn into this conflict?

>> the risks are high now. no question about that given the rhetoric that mr. putin has been uttering here in the last few days and given the fact he's now trying to add to his troop count through these mobilizations, these sham referendums and political annexations. all of this, of course in the air strikes over the last 48 to 72 hours all of which raised the st stakes and nobody wants to see this escalate higher than it has. it's visited way too much violence and death and destruction on the ukrainian people so we'll be focused to make sure we continue to get ukraine the capabilities they need to succeed on the battle field so if and when it can get to a negotiated settlement that mr. zelenskyy has the leverage he needs to be successful in that negotiation. >> john kirby, thanks for joining us. >> yes, sir. up next, pennsylvania democratic senate candidate john fe fe fetterman answers questioning about his health.

that and the battle for african american votes in pennsylvania could eventually determine control of the u.s. senate plus, president biden says a slight recession is indeed possible but unlikely he says even though americans are still facing rising inflation. we'll take a closer look. stay with us. oh, wow. but we got to sell our houses. well, almost perfect. don't worry. just sell directly to opendoor. close in a matter of days. get your free offer at opendoor.com

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and working in san francisco, the cost of housing makes living and working here really difficult. proposition d is the only measure that speeds up construction of affordable new homes by removing bureaucratic roadblocks. so teachers, nurses, firefighters and workers like us can live where we work. while prop e makes it nearly impossible to build more housing join habitat for humanity in rejecting prop e, and supporting prop d to build more affordable housing for everyone. now. we're counting down to tomorrow's highly anticipated january 6th house select committee hearing. the final public testimony bump the midterm elections. our senior justice correspondent evan perez is here with me "the situation room." i know you're doing a lot of reporting on this. what are you learning about the

new evidence we anticipate will be revealed tomorrow? >> i think what the committee, wolf, wants to drive home is the -- what they say is the continuing danger to democracy that donald trump opposes, not only from what happened on january 6th but also conduct he continues to push in his rallies and so on. you'll see new video. you're going to see a trove of new documents, emails, internal emails from the secret service that they believe members of the committee believe will shine a light into the events of january 6th and the current present danger. here is a couple members of the committee describing what to expect. information that we've not shown to the public that's available to us. >> there is some new material that, you know, i found as we got into it pretty surprising. >> and wolf, we don't expect any live witnesses, but this is going to be a couple hours where they're going to make a

presentation to drive home some of the new things they say that they have learned since the last time we saw them. >> it's also interesting, evan, this is the first hearing since the fbi actually searched trump's mar-a-lago estate and since the committee interviewed several high profile witnesses. how will that factor in? >> some of those witnesses are very important witnesses like mike pompeo for instance. these are people who we now know, wolf, have sat down with the committee. some of the information that's come out includes that there was some consideration of trying to figure out a way to remove the former president because of the concern of what happened on january 6th. people like elaine chow, of course we know that ginni thomas, the wife of supreme court justice clearance thomas has also come in for an interview with the committee. so all of this, the committee members are going to put together in a presentation that they believe, again, serves to button up what they've been driving home over the last few months and of course, we have

the election just in a few weeks. >> certainly is very, very significant. evan, thank you very, very much evan perez reporting for us. an important programming note, our special coverage of tomorrow's january 6th hearings begins at noon eastern here on cnn. pennsylvania lieutenant governor and democratic senate candidate john fetterman is answering questions about his health. he sat down with nbc news using closed captioning to help as he recovers from the stroke he had in may. >> i use captioning so that's really the major challenge and every now and then i'll miss a word, every now and then. sometimes i'll maybe mush two words together, but as long as i have captioning, i'm able to understand exactly what is being as asked. >> questions about his health, his campaign is also focussing on appealing to voters who will

be key to winning in november. cnn congressional correspondent jessica dean traveled to philadelphia to talk to african american voters. >> reporter: philadelphia is home to pennsylvania's largest concentration of black voters. >> black voters are always the key to winning tough races in pennsylvania. >> reporter: and if democratic senate nominee john fetterman is going to win in november, he has to run up the score here. >> this comes down to trust. who do i trust to give a dam narks n about communities like mine? >> reporter: he's from north philadelphia and he supports fetterman, he ran against him in january. in that race fetterman received 58% of the vote winning all 67 counties in the commonwealth, but he under performed in philadelphia where he got less than 37% of the vote. the battle for black voters is front and center in the race between fetterman and republican

dr. oz, it could determine control of the u.s. senate. >> there is not really a competition in terms of who black voters are going to be for. >> reporter: oz allies are trying to weaken fetterman's standing here highlighting ads with a 2013 incident in which fetterman the mayor heard gunfire and grabbed a shotgun and pursued an unarmed black jogger. fetterman said he did not know the jogger's skin color until they came face-to-face. >> why did john fetterman see a black man and do that? he knows why and our community does, too. >> i think he's addressed that issue appropriately. all of us wish that would have never happened and i'm sure he probably wishes that never happened. >> reporter: allen waller is the senior pastor at a baptist church, philadelphia's largest african american baptist church. waller said he's concerned by what he sees as a younger

generation that does not trust the political process or government institutions. he's focused on making sure people vote. >> i'm concerned about turnout because at the end of the day, what we know about philadelphia and what we know about pennsylvania is philadelphia, if we turn out we can impact the election. >> fetterman's campaign knows this, too. it opened a second campaign head quarters in the city after his primary win and says it spent millions of dollars to target black voters with radio and digital ads as well as direct mail. >> we know, you know, how important it is to get someone in there that's going to speak for us. >> reporter: she voted for the other opponent but now backs fetterman. >> black voters feel confident and have a man that listens to them. >> reporter: back inside, we asked a church member for her thoughts. >> i think he's genuine. he, you know, his attire kind of

threw me off initially but i think that he knows the people. i think that he has a heart for the people. i don't think oz is the same way. i think he's kind of a neighborhood guy. i think he's kind of a community guy, and i hope that i'm correct and we shall find out. >> reporter: for his part, republican dr. oz is focused on crime prevention. he's hosted a couple events called safer streets initiatives here in philadelphia and also in pittsburgh, wolf, as he looks to really build support within this critical constituency. wolf? >> jessica dean, thank you very much for that report. let's get more on this. joining us is cnn's chief national affairs analyst kasie hunt. kasie, you're from pennsylvania. how important is philadelphia the largest city obviously in the state to this fetterman

campaign? >> huge. it's huge for any democratic campaign, right? the reality here is -- and jessica's piece was great. it highlighted the fact what republicans and people opposed to fetter pan man are trying tos discourage people from voting. they're not making a plea for a vote for oz. this is a weakness fetterman had in the primary and something he had to pivot a little bit on in his general election campaign because he really has focused on trump voters quite frankly, especially in the western part of the state where he lived and mayor of braddock. they show up to see him in places democrats had trouble in recent years getting a crowd but if you don't turn out the african american, the black vote in philadelphia, you're going to lose the election as a democrat in pennsylvania. >> although i want to mention one thing. sometimes there is a conversation going on about black voters that's not actually

with black voters and that happens quite frequently with crime. post 2020 there was a discussion out of the black lives matter movement what it means to have to progressive criminal justice ideas. fetterman is following that and larry the d.a. in philadelphia. so the voters in the suburbs are actually hearing this in the context of a broader discussion about how crime is fought where you have fetterman or krasner saying look, the democrat should continue to push along this track with progressive policies and oz in the republican party saying no, no, no, look what is happening. we have to go back to law and order days. >> it's interesting. you look at this. i want to turn to our cnn poll that finds a significant finding, president bidebiden's approval rating rebounded from the summer low. what do you take away from the latest numbers? >> so that trend line, wolf, i think is always the most important thing since we're four weeks or so out from the midterm

elections. my question is and we don't have the data, what is that line doing now? is it continuing to go up or starting to trend downward, the same way that gas prices have been trending upward? approval rating and gas prices have tracked up closely because what you really want on election day, especially a midterm election and especially one where the house of representatives is on the line because it's sort of moving in the most generic way from a political perspective. you want that line as voters are heading to the polls to be going in your direction. so i actually think that while this is not bad news for the white house, we don't actually have the full picture that they need to know what is happening at this moment. >> it's interesting. biden's approval numbers may be going up a bit but when it comes to the economy if you look at the polls, americans are pessimistic about the future of the economy and that's not good for the midterm elections for the democrats. >> there is an effect in terms of the republican language about how bad the biden economy is and

it's been a puzzling economy to describe. it one you have plenty of jobs, high wages, but then are struggling at the grocery store. so i think it a complex picture and not so easy to put on a bumper sticker. >> wolf, look, i think the challenge administration has here and where they've struggled on economic messaging so far is acknowledging the pain that many americans are feeling while still defending the policies that they have put in place. and some of the republicans i talked to feel like voters are telling them sometimes he's hit the wrong note and hasn't come across as empathetic because he's saying no, no, no, everything is fine. this is putin's fault. you shouldn't be worried and people are having a different experience in their own lives. if that takes a dramatic the turn for the worse and we don't know what events may occur in the next four weeks before election day, this is potentially very dangerous ter trorry ry -- territory for democrats or if things remain steady and

things are moving slowly in the wrong direction, democrats could probably hold onto the momentum they gained over the summer. >> do you agree? >> there is always a trump effect. we have four weeks to go. who knows what will happen in that arena. i'm being serious. you can always detour from the economy, from gas prices, from those things republicans want the race to be a referendum on. >> gas prices and food prices as well. >> exactly. >> a lot going on. thank you very, very much. president biden says there will be consequences for saudi arabia's decision to slash oil production and weighing in on worries over the u.s. economy saying americans could be in for what he calls a slight recession in the coming months.

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. during an exclusive interview with cnn president biden vowed quote consequences for the saudi led decision to slash oil production. i want to talk to ro khanna. thanks for joining us. first, i want you to listen to how the white house press secretary today spoke about these oil cuts and the goals of president biden's trip to saudi arabia back in july. listen to this. >> the way we see it, it was short sided because it was, you know, it was a decision that was self-interest decision and so, you know, we have been very clear to your point, our trip this past summer to the middle east was not about oil. yes, was energy security a topic? absolutely energy security was a

topic. >> congressman, what's your reaction to that. >> look, the saudi decision is appalling because it reeks of ingratitude. america has done so much for saudi arabia. we supply them with 70% of their arms and stood up for sovereignty when saddam hussein was going to invade and for them to hurt americans' pocketbooks at a time of crisis is wrong. there needs to be consequences. the president said there needs to be consequences. senator blumenthal and i said there needs to be a pause on arms to saudis. >> you're broproposing to halt sales of arms to the saudis. does it give you pause this potentially could provoke saudi arabia and maybe backfire big time actually raise prices on americans here at home? >> no, wolf, because they've already made such drastic cuts and if they cut any further, the other people in opec, other

countries i think would not go along with that pledge. i mean, here is the fact. they have made almost $100 billion on their sales of oil in 2022. they have a 70 plus percent margin on the oil. the argument that the economics aren't working just doesn't make sense and i think it's time we use our leverage. look, we can literally ground the saudi plane air force to a halt. they rely on american technicians to fly the planes and again, it's time that they respect america for all that we've done for them. >> do you have any sense, congressman of whether or not president biden will actually get behind your proposed legislation? >> well, he was asked about it directly today. he said he's considering it.ume been in touch with officials that said the president is re-examining the saudi relation slip that he plans to take action and i'm confident he will take some action that is going to be significant. now, whether it's the exact

proposal senatorumenthal and i propose, i don't know. there will be implications. >> what about for democrats heading into the midterm elections? >> look, it's not good for americans, and it's not good to see gas prices go up. that's obviously politics 101. i don't -- my interest is not the politics. my interest is why is saudi arabia not taking into consideration americans and our gas prices at a time where we are hurting because of the war and putin and why saudi arabia aligning with putin and everything serving putin's interest instead of ours. >> thanks for joining us. >> thank you. president biden telling cnn if there is a recession it will be slight. what does that mean? and we'll look at tomorrow's januarymittee hearing.

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president biden telling cnn in an exclusive interview that he thinks a, quote, "slight recession" is possible. but unlikely, he says. however, a key inflation gauge out tonight shows prices rose faster than expected in september. cnn's brian todd is working the story for us. brian, the new numbers could be at odds with the president's remarks. >> they could be, wolf. most economists will tell you we are technically not in a recession yet, but there are indications that it could be coming. we have good advice from experts on how americans can prepare for it.

tonight, a new gauge of how americans are being pinched in the wallet. a government report on the inflation that businesses are feeling says those prices are still rising really fast, even if they rose not as fast in september as in august. >> some of that cost growth will get passed along to consumers in the form of higher prices for food, higher prices for energy, higher prices for the services that they purchase as well. >> reporter: it comes as president biden tells cnn he doesn't share the gloomy outlook of some top economists. >> i don't think there will be a recession. if it is, it will be a very slight recession. that is, we'll move down slightly. >> reporter: what might a slight recession look like in america? >> people are going to lose jobs. unemployment is going to rise. we're not going back to 10% that we had during the pandemic, but the labor market is hot. and interest rates are designed to cool it down. and that, therefore, means there will be an increase in unemployment. won't be huge, but it will be there. >> the cost of a home, that is going up dramatically.

i think that it's going to be harder to ask for a wage hike. >> reporter: two of america's most respected economic voices disagree with president biden's prediction that there won't be a significant recession. former treasury secretary larry somers and jpmorgan chase ceo jamie dimon giving their prognostications on "the situation room" and cnbc respectively with different timelines. >> i think more likely than not, sometime in the next year or 18 months, we will have a recession. >> likely to put the u.s. in some kind of recession six, nine months from now. >> reporter: economists telling americans, don't panic, be patient. high prices may take longer than you expect to level off. and even though it may not last long, gas prices are on the uptick again. >> i'm trying to do my best to find the cheapest gas prices around. after we're all doing that, you're spending even more money doing so. >> reporter: how can the american consumer prepare for a possible recession and ride it out if it comes?

>> you can bolster your nest egg, save service possible, pay down debt. >> if you don't need to make a big, expensive purchase, especially on credit, don't do it right now. especially if you think that there's some chance youndsing laid off or you could have your hours back. >> an important barometer will come tomorrow with a new report on the consumer price index, the inflation that all of us feel at stores, gas stations, and elsewhere. this is going to be a critical measure that the federal reserve will look at when it decides whether to raise interest rates again. those rates are probably going to be raised at some point. >> that's what everybody anticipates. brian, thank you very, very much, brian todd reporting. coming up, new testimony and evidence expected in the final january 6th select committee hearing tomorrow before the midterm election. we're learning new details about what we're likely to hear, stay with us.

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happening now, the january 6th select committee is preparing to reveal significant new evidence and testimony with a focus on the threats still posed by former president trump. i'll ask a key panel member, congressman jamie raskin, for details. tonight, a powerful new verdict against conspiracy theorist alex jones for the lies he told about the sandy hook school massacre. a jury deciding jones should pay nearly $1 billion to the families of the shooting victims. russia shares new information about the crimea bridge bombing that prompted vladimir putin's deadly new revenge attacks on ukraine. we'll have a live report from moscow this hour. welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." here in washington tonight, antici