hello and welcome to "inside politics." i'm john king in washington. thank you for sharing a busy news day with us. president biden taps the strategic petroleum reserve, 15 million barrels is barely one day of what america consumes but the price of gas is hurting the midterm prospects and thehe is trying to show he trying to ease your pain at the pump. no blank check for ukraine. a promise to boot democrats from committees. no promise to rule out cutting social security and medicare. kevin mccarthy gives a window into his agenda. should republicans take back the house. martial law. russia signs off on new decrees from vladimir putin trying to exert more power over ukraine. president biden in a new move designed to help your budget a bit and hopes also maybe his outlook. in just a short while the president announces a batch of new oil drawn from the strategic petroleum reserve, some 15

million barrels and his energy team today won't rule out releasing more oil over the winter. team biden hopes adding a little more supply to the market keeps prices stable, maybe even helps drive them down a bit. the hope is voters see this as proof the president is doing whatever he can to help in an election year where worries about inflation and the economy are a big drag on democrats. straight to the white house live to our cnn's phil mattingly. tell us more. >> reporter: look, there are few things that the individuals in the building behind me care about more than gas prices, yes, it has a massive effect on consumers but the political effect is very clear, there's a correlation between the president's approval between consumer sentiment, between really the prospects for democrats in the midterm elections. it's pretty clearly tied directly to what the prices are at the pump and that was brought into more of an acute reality when opec plus decided to lower its output targets by 2 million barrels. keep this in mind, administration officials have long been planning to try to deploy other tools in the weeks

leading up to the election to try to dampen gas prices. the opec decision really accelerated that effort and expanded it including this 15 million barely release from the strategic petroleum reserve. it's actually part of the 180 million barrels unprecedented that the president pledged to deploy over a six-month period. the bigger issue, though, the commitment for future releases if they feel like it's a necessity, this is something that is sending a clear message to the market that may shave some sense and, yes, that matters off of the price at the pump here. you'll also see the president take a direct shot at oil executives and gas companies again, a regular focus of his trying to reduce the spread between what you're seeing at the retail level on gas prices and what you're seeing at the wholesale level as well. there's some correlation there, officials tell me, in terms of prices. this underscores just how important this issue is for the white house, how important the issue is for consumers, generally the president also holding an infrastructure event today talking about battery supply chain, $2.8 billion in

grants, an inflation issue, a cost issue and the 12 states that will benefit, some of them, georgia, nevada, new york, michigan, you might be familiar with those states and the importance of them in the next three weeks or so, john. >> interesting perspective there connecting the dots for us, livety white house, phil mattingly. let's get perspective from some of the battleground states, michigan. jeff zeleny live for us. you're out there. big race for governor. there several big congressional races there. you're talking to voters and also you talked to a democratic congressman about the midterm inflation issue or for democrats i guess problem. >> reporter: no doubt, john. by now three weeks before the midterm elections, democrats had hoped the page would be turned. president biden of course for months talked about how inflation was temporary, they hoped by now when people started voting and they are voting now here in michigan that inflation would not be at the top of mind but it absolutely is when we talk to voters, the economy, inflation, so central to all

this but we caught up with a congressman, dan kildee running in the 8th congressional district and said, yes, it's a challenge but framing it also as a choice. >> deal with inflation, you have to reduce costs for the american family. while we get through this, for sure. but is it a challenge for us? absolutely. people tend to hold the party, you know, that holds the white house responsible for everything. we just ask folks to really think carefully about what the alternatives are. look at the current condition of the republican party. look at their policies. >> reporter: so it is the state of the republican party that is also very much coming up in discussions here and republicans have not offered a lot of policies in terms of what they would do to combat inflation and the economy, of course, they say spending has just been too high in this administration, so the next 20 days so important in districts like this as democrats try and make this a choice

election. yes, abortion is still very much an important issue particularly here in michigan where abortion rights is also actually on the ballot where voters are being asked to decide if they want to add that to the state constitution, but, john, still economy and inflation top of mind to so many voters we talked to here. john. >> jeff zeleny, thanks. the trees behind you is how i know election day is close behind us, the trees are changing across the midwest. >> reporter: fall. >> yes, indeed. with me to share that cnn's dana bash, jack si kucinich of the daily beast. there are two very competitive house races in the neighborhood where he is right now. the speaker of the house is traveling quite a bit in these final weeks to try to help democrats with turnout. interesting interview published in "punch bowl." a piece about inflation. this is nancy pelosi, inflation is there but it's global and not as bad as it is in some countries. we'll have to message it in the

next three weeks ahead. i think we're in great shape. the part we'll have to message it better. on the one hand many voters don't tune in until it's late. on the other hand if you need to message it better three weeks from election day when some are voting is a concession we have a problem. >> a bit concession. that comment from the house speaker, the fact as phil reported that the president is going to give this big speech and is trying to make some moves to alleviate some of the pain at the pump and what i thought was really interesting that we just heard from jeff -- yes, from jeff, from dan kildee, the incumbent democrat fighting to keep his seat is an admission, yeah, we get it. the people who are in power always get the blame. whether or not it is a global problem or not and it is a global problem. they're right but the people in power always get the blame. consider the alternative. that pivot is new and i haven't

heard that from others and we'll probably hear more and more of it. you think it's bad now. well, it's a binary choice and, remember, if you vote us out that means you'll be voting somebody else in, is that really who you want. >> interesting because this comes up too. jeff is out there talking to the candidates but he's also talking to voters. a sampling where some voters it's all personal. how is my family budget. other voters make the political calculation and try to think it through. >> gas prices and the economy and inflation, i hope that things get -- we can't continue to spend, spend, spend. it's like a credit card. you can only tap that so long before it's over the limit. >> i want to scream from the mountaintops, it's not one guy who is doing this. >> the democrats still blame the president. >> blame corporations and the corporate greed and the -- yeah, don't blame politics for every single thing that happens in our world. >> just a great example there of

the tug-of-war out there for the candidates. >> biden is going to do just that, we think, when it comes to oil companies, something that you've heard a lot of democrats hammer throughout the midterm elections. but i really do think particularly somewhere like michigan, the congresswoman there said last week people are bringing up abortion to her all the time on the campaign trail. that's not something she heard before. now, of course, she's a democrat. she's going to say that. however, we know, weaver's seen elections that the economy is top of mind and have seen that the party in power thrown out, we haven't seen what happened with roe versus wade play out in an election. we've seen some special elections and how, you know, some candidates who took that as their main message, how that turned out. i think this x factor is really, you know, something that we don't know how that is going to play out at the polls yet. >> if it's smart -- at first

glance is might be hard to read but look at "the washington post" and the graphic about his approval rating and the price of gas. it takes a few minutes to study the chart to prepare but the president's approval rating has gone up and down with the price of gas. the range is pretty modest but up and down. here's where we are, 3.34 a year ago, a month, $3.36, a week ago $3.92. trending in the wrong direction down to $3.85. the president is hoping at least keep it there. maybe what he does, you know, adds a little more supply, knocks it down just a bit more hoping that helps. >> right, he's hoping to buy himself some time again knowing that election day is three weeks away and the thing is, when gas prices were surging, republicans were blaming the biden administration even though we know it's more complicated than that but when gas prices started to come down we saw president biden and members of his administration taking that victory lap.

and so now they've got to, you know, take the responsibility now that gas prices are going back up again. it's more nuanced but when you boil it down for a message during campaign season, the buck stops with the president. he understands that which is why he's making those -- >> own it. >> if it was only gas prices maybe it would be a little bit more manageable but it's so much more than that. it's inflation across the board. report that came out last week, eggs, up 33%. >> right. >> the basics, the fundamentals that everybody in this country needs and relies on. >> interesting to watch, the president next hour, next for us more important campaign news today. a new letter in john fetterman's doctor trying to put to rest any questions about his health. if , stand strong. and d if you got the devil on your shoulder... take him for a r ride.

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( screams in joy) save 20% with the lowest transaction fees and keep more of what you make. with a partner that always puts you first. godaddy. tools and support for every small business first. the democratic candidate for pennsylvania senate john fetterman just last hour released a letter from his doctor after a visit on friday. the first medical update directly from a medical

professional since he has made since june. he suffered a stroke in may. it said he is recovering well and has no work restrictions. let's bring in dr. sanjay gupta. sanjay, i know you've had a look to look at the letter. a, what stands out and as somebody doing this for a living, anything missing if you're trying to assess how he's doing? >> well, first of all, in terms of what the letter reveal, the big issue, the big question regarding his speech and his ability to understand, they talk a lot about that here and dr. chen, who is his general practitioner says fetterman's speech was normal, he was able to speak intelligently without any cognitive deficits. he does have auditory processing disorder which is something we talked about last week, john. dr. chen said this auditory processing disorder comes across as hearing difficulties more than anything else, interestingly he makes a note here that this auditory

processing seems to be localized to language, to words, but, for example, he could hear music and process music without difficulty. so really making the case, this isn't a hearing problem. it's an auteurry processing problem, not a comprehension problem, able to speak intelligently. no cognitive deficit. your second question, we still haven't heard really what the underlying issue was that may have caused this stroke in the first place. it sounds like it was a pretty serious event back in may. he had to have a defibrillator and pacemaker placed at the same time so exactly what was going on. he had a procedure to remove a blood clot from a blood vessel inside his brain. again, i don't want to minimize what happened to him at that point, but now five months later, what his doctor is saying, dr. chen, is that these exams have continued to improve and that he is fit, this is the last line, he's fit for duty for public office. >> there's some stats in here, i

could look at them and think that seems about normal but i have a brain surgeon on the tv so let me put them to you. his physical exam normal, blood pressure, 115-o over 82, heart rate, 80. pulse ox imtri 97% on room air. >> all these numbers look good. i looked at the lab values, as well. i will tell you that the other thing dr. chen writes is that lieutenant governor fetterman takes appropriate medications to help control these things. we aren't told at least in this letter what those medications are and the big question is, you know, what would those lab values be like if he was not taking these medications. nevertheless, what the underlying issues are that may have led to this stroke and any other health problems seem to be adequately controlled or addressed with these medications which is what i think dr. chen is saying here, so again functional -- functional issue in terms of auditory processing

more than cognitive and good health, you know numbers overall. >> dr. gupta, appreciate that. >> you got it. >> let's bring the conversation back in the room with reporters. in a statement releasing the letter fetterman essentially said, sorry, dr. oz, i'm good. they debate next week. >> that's going to be the key. >> yes. >> that's going to be the whole ball game, i think. when it comes to the question, obviously the bigger issue, which is the issues and the policy debates and who could and should be the better candidate in the eyes of the voters but when it comes to this open question about his ability post-stroke to do the job, this debate is going to answer that question for the voters and the open question is whether dr. oz is going to be more like he was in an interview recently where he was more like you would want a physician to be, a little bit

more empathetic or whether he's going to go for the jugular like his campaign has done when he's on stage with him. >> right, questioning his ability. >> questioning his ability. >> to serve. >> from a medical point of view. >> without a doubt. obviously this is, you know, this is the senate race that could determine the balance of power. three or four around the country. they debate next week. fetterman just the other day put up an ad that starts with dealing with everyone is trying to talk about my stroke. now he put out this letter from his doctor. it does tell you, nancy pelosi saying we need to better message inflation. it does tell you they understand this is a legitimate question for voters and needed to do a better job answering it. >> this is about political independence, right? democrats want the seat. republicans want the seat. this is about the people in the middle and convincing them that fetterman is apt to serve. i think it's interesting to see the rollout. we saw it start with some of the televised interviews that fetterman has done explaining how he's communicating at the

this moment. this letter, just this kind of steady rollout where he's saying i'm fine and so when he does get on that stage, you know, just managing expectations, it seems like is what they're trying to do to set the table because they know how important that debate is going to be. >> yeah, and i think it's also about projecting to voters that this is an even match because i think that's something that dr. oz has tried to say is that why is this guy even up here with me at this point? it's obvious that i can do a better job leading for pennsylvania. i think what fetterman's people are trying to show is that he can match oz. he can go toe-to-toe and that's ready to serve but you guys are right, that debate is going to say a lot. >> the debate is going to say a lot. another important senate debate in florida last night. it's a race that doesn't get as much attention because it has been viewed as a red state and the presidential elections. you had marco rubio, the republican incumbent, val

demings right out of the box, the very first question got to the abortion issue. >> i'm 100% pro-life because i -- not because i want to deny anyone the rights but because i believe innocent human life is worthy of the protection of our law, that said every bill i've sponsored or voted for has exceptions. every one of them does because that's what can pass and that's what the majority of people support. >> number one, you have been clear that you support no exceptions, even including rape and incest. now, as a police detective who investigated cases of rape and ses, no, i don't think it's okay for a 10-year-old girl to be raped and have to carry the seed of her rapist. no, i don't think it's okay for you to make decisions for women and girls. >> it is a crystal clear both candidates very clearly explaining their views on this issue. that's a battle for the suburbs.

the question is, in florida, is that as effective an argument for democrats as they believe it is in some other places? >> it remains to be seen, john, honestly, there's air reason the democrats have honed in on this issue because they believe that they have the political advantage and that's why you have republicans talking about the economy and inflation. but certainly, you know, val demings, you heard her invoke her law enforcement background when answering that question, so -- >> if it's going to make a difference meaning help her a point or two, that would be a place where i think it probably could, because she's trying to get democrats out. she's trying to get independents and republicans who are going to vote on this abortion issue in a way that they obviously haven't before. it doesn't necessarily mean, i'm sure you'd agree with this, that this is suddenly a highly competitive seat. >> right. >> that's why demings needed the debate. she doesn't have the party

apparatus as they are behind candidates in pennsylvania and georgia so needs these moments to try to swing voters. and i think she had some good moments that answer on abortion an invoking a 10-year-old girl who is the victim of rape, you know, i think will speak to people but can it swing an election where polls show her down? that's a bigger question. >> substantive debate. credit to the candidates and moderators. continue that conversation. keep an eye out. 20 days out you think which state is going to surprise us? a race where we don't think it will be competitive. >> yeah. it could be. it could be. right now it doesn't look like it but who knows. >> it's been shifting the other way i think for most. up next for us, very important conversation. kevin mccarthy tows the line on impeachment and gives a preview if the voters put them back in power.

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the house republican leader kevin mccarthy giving us a new glimpse at how republican was use their majority if they retake the house after the midterm election. this morning, punch bowl news with a mccarthy interview reporting that he is is as of now opposed to impeaching the president. if anyone ever rises to that occasion, you have to but i think the country wants to heal and start to see the system that

actually works. mccarthy says house republicans want to curtail federal spending, interestingly he says that could mean cutting support for ukraine, he says, and mccarthy did not rule out spending cuts for medicare and social security either. our great reporters still with us. where to start is the challenge here because he said a lot in this interview. let's start with that. mccarthy did not say we will cut social security and medicare. but he said we wouldn't predetermine anything when you get back into these debt ceilings. the easy answer there politically is, of course, not. any changes to social security medicare we will do only in conjunction with bipartisan agreements. he didn't say that. >> you know, it's all fun and games to talk to reporters about what you might do as a majority, it's a lot different when social security checks don't go out. when military pay is in jeopardy because they're going right up to the line with the debt ceiling. and we've seen this.

we've actually seen this play out. now, the difference is republicans haven't really ever paid a political price for that. because it's always happened at a time when young voters move on so the question is whether they decide that it's worth it to play -- to do that kind of perform tiff stuff even though it doesn't change anything in order to, you know, look like they're doing something but having the majority is different than having a governing majority. so we'll have to see and mccarthy has strong personalities already in the caucus and we'll see who -- >> that seems like an opening to democrats with 20 days left to say watch out. can you make it a choice because he did not give a clear answer about that and the rick scott plan over in the senate side opens the door to entitlement reforms which many think would mean cuts. let's come back to the impeachment question and says the country doesn't like impeachment for political purposes. that's what kevin mccarthy says and probably the very smart political thing to say before the election but we also understand that within his house

caucus conference you have people saying let's -- some say impeach biden. other says impeach the homeland security director alejandro mayorkas. mar marjorie taylor greene says to be the best speaker of the house and please the bases going to give me a lot of power and a lot of leeway. that's interesting. >> i found it very interesting "the new york times" magazine had a long exert and in that marjorie taylor greene said she's asked to be on the oversight and judiciary committees, very powerful committees and talked to donald trump about possibly being his running mate in 2024. talk to kevin mccarthy and that she -- he had actually started bringing her in to top level discussions on things like the defense policy bill, the ndaa so talking about an empowered marjorie taylor greene if republicans retake control of the house and, again, she has pushed very far right

initiatives, she's anti-lgbtq on trans issues and things like that, impeaching the president and we know marjorie taylor greene is not the kind of person to fall in line once everything is said and done. you know, she's not going to just go quietly and say, well, you know, now that we're in the majority maybe i don't want to do that anymore. that hasn't been what we've seen from her. >> no. let me get in the time to this ukraine question. it's fascinating about the shift in the republican party. there was a pretty big recession during the ronald reagan presidency. he didn't say let's stop the military buildup. let's go easy on the soviets. forget the commie, we're in a recession, kevin mccarthy says i think people will be sitting in a recession and they're not going to write a blank check to ukraine. they just won't do it. that is a big shift. adam kinzinger, one of the republican members who is retiring who is not a fan of kevin mccarthy says, what in the absolutely bloody hell is happening to gop leader.

>> this is to me one of the more fascinating things that we are going to see if, in fact, republicans take over because the very real divide inside the gop on the question of foreign policy and in particular, all things related to putin or pick your, you know, your strong man leader out there in the world, the divide has been masked by understandly all the focus on the democrats who are running washington right now. that mask will be ripped off if the republicans take the house or even the senate. even if it's just the house you are going to see the older school republicans, adam kinzinger obviously is part of that who say, fund as much as you can to try to get rid of putin and those that are following the tucker carlsons of the world who are apologists for what vladimir putin or even questioning the notion of what's going on in ukraine. it's a real divide. >> it's a huge guide -- divide

but mitch mcconnell whether he is the senate majority or minority leader will be with president biden on funding ukraine which traces back to the possibility of shutdowns or coming to the cliff of government shutdowns in the big fight. >> yeah, absolutely. yep. >> up next we'll continue the conversation about the aforementioned vladimir putin. a putin power play today declaring martial law in four regions of ukraine that putin asserts belong to russia. when my last customer discovered a crack in h his car's windshield, he scheduled at safelilite.com. safelite makes it easy. we're the exexperts at replacing your glass... ...and recalibrating yoyour advanced safety system. >> customer: and they recycled my old glass. now that's a company i can trust. >> tech: don't wait. schedule today. ♪ pop rock music ♪ >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ two new ihop lunch and dinner menu items for twice the goodness, twice the flavor,

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a big ukraine related announcement from the kremlin today. president vladimir putin

declaring martial law in four ukrainian regions, russia now claims that's its territory. >> therefore, i signed a decree on these four subjects. so we'll be immediately sent to the federation council. >> president putin making those at a security council meeting this morning in moscow. let's go straight to moscow and bring in matthew chance. tell us more about what it meanings. >> reporter: well, for these four regions which russia, of course, attempted to annex, it means quite a lot. it means that, you know, the civilian authorities and military authorities will work hand in hand. there will be very tight restricts in those areas that russia still controls even as russian forces are pushed out of those areas, particularly the kherson region. but the other parts of the announcement today are equally important because he's imposing

tightened security measures on the border areas inside russia as well. where there will be much more close military checks, travel restrictions will be in force, there will be a lot more of a military presence in the border regions where there has been an upsurge in attacks emanating from ukraine over the past week r couple of weeks and months in particular but beyond that further deeper into the country as well regional governors are being given undefined powers to impose certain restrictions including increased checks of individuals in the country as well. the moderna mayor, for instance, falls under this area says it's not going to interrupt the rhythm of normal life in the country but that's altogether not clear and i think what this is doing is really showing, you know, the country that vladimir putin is not backing down. he's doubling down. he's not apologizing for the setbacks that have taken place inside ukraine, instead he's like really sort of positioning the authorities to have a much tighter grip, much greater

control on the country as he moves deeper into what he calls his special military operation, john. >> matthew chance, live for us from moscow, thank you very much. back home now two important data points from the front lines of the migrant crisis. new york city opening emergency relief center for asylum seekers. 20,000 arrived there and they declared a state of emergency and the white house asked one city, el paso to not make an emergency declaration of its own. cnn's priscilla alvarez is here to walk us through it. the new york city mayor says it's a crisis and declares an emergency and el paso did what. >> reporter: the white house had reached out and made assurances that they would continue to see federal funds at a time when the city was considering the state of emergency. to rewind here, el paso mayor had said late last month that the white house had asked had him to hold off but he supported that. he didn't believe they needed to

declare a state of emergency at that time and we asked the white house about those discussions. an official told us that they did happen, there was no request made and they would continue to stand by el paso. now, john, to be clear here, it is not unusual for the federal government and border cities to be in touch especially when there is an influx of migrants and that is what is happening in el paso. we've seen thousands of immigrants crossing into that city and straining their resources and the mayor told us in a statement that he, quote, doesn't bow to pressure and went on to say it is, quote, critical to work not only with the federal government but with regional elected leaders and multiple partners when facing what he called a humanitarian crisis of this level. now, we should also note the administration did say last week they're going to start turning venezuelans back to mexico and expect that to drive down the numbers and the city officials have also noticed that numbers have subsided and they don't need to declare a state of emergency at this time. >> so biden critics would say the white house tried to muffle this silence, they don't want

the words emergency declaration from a city near the border coming out close to the election. the mayor says not the case. >> exactly and a reminder too that this happens often, counties or cities issue an emergency 0 shore up additional resources and often get to that point in an influgs and this scenario there was nothing unusual about the conversation as we know at this point. >> thanks for coming in and sharing that. thank you very much. up next we go inside the numbers. republicans see momentum 20 days to election day, one reason the belief is that the gop is rebuilding trust with latino voters. pet wrangler too. yoyou report to your boss, every afternoon. soso beautiful. so becoming a student againn might seem impossible. hello o mi amor. but what if a school coululd be there for all of yo? career, family, finances and mental health. well, it can. national university. supporting the whole you.

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fanduel and draftkings, two out of state corporations making big promises. what's the real math behind prop 27, their ballot measure for online sports betting? 90% of profits go to the out of state corporations permanently.

only eight and a half cents is left for the homeless. and in virginia, arizona, and other states, fanduel and draftkings use loopholes to pay far less than was promised. sound familiar? it should. vote no on prop 27. naomi: every year, the wildfires and smoke seem to get worse. jessica: there is actual particles on every single surface. cooke: california has the worst air pollution in the country. the top two causes are vehicles and wildfires. prop 30 helps clean our air. it will reduce the tailpipe emissions that poison our air. kevin: and helps prevent the wildfires that create toxic smoke. that's why calfire firefighters, the american lung association, and the coalition for clean air support prop 30. naomi: i'm voting yes on 30.

there's an undeniable shift toward republicans in the latest midterm polling but remains remarkly competitive and some impressive early voting numbers have some democrats believing they can deliver a few surprises out there. to go inside the numbers, kristen soltis anderson and margie o'meara. she's doing polling for a number of candidates. that's our clarification. so help me, we're 20 days out and can find a lot of conflicting data points although in the last several days when you look at polls you see most of the trends shifting toward a more favorable climate. one of the top issues, the economy, 26%, inflation, 18%. abortion, 5%, well behind it right there. margie, what we saw as democratic momentum after the dobbs decision in july, in august seems to have faded some. fair? >> i don't know if i say that is fair. i think sometimes people look at the -- some of these recent poll numbers and, you know, the urge

people have is to say what did democrats do wrong this time, right? i think there's a lot more to the story. of course, people are looking at things beyond the issue of abortion. the economy, inflation have always continued to be issues. it's something that democrats have important story and talk about success in congress also what's happening in the states and districts where republicans have spent a lot of money on television, millions of dollars, so the polls don't necessarily reflect what someone saw in a debate on television or a funny tweet somewhere. it actually reflects the fact that you have outside groups spending millions and millions in some places so invariably will lead to races changing maybe from the summer. >> to that key point ad spending, three key states with not just -- key senate races and governors' race, georgia, pennsylvania, nevada. ad purchases from yesterday through election day. and you see there the democrats are -- have more money promised

bought in georgia, pennsylvania and in nevada but in the pennsylvania senate race republicans up to this point have outspend the democrats by $40 million, 107 to $67 million. how much can you use tv ad spending to bend what people might answer in a poll, i care about this then you as a strategist says let's change their mind. >> how many undecided voters are there at this point? you would think in a moment where we're so polarized and people have strong polls from partisanship, look, in one tribe or the other and you're going to vote, some of this might not matter. in races that are going to be very close, just a little movement of a percent or two could really make the difference in the makeup of the united states senate at the end of the day, so even if there are not many undecided voters as they're sifting through all of the information available to them you want to be the last voice they heard in their ear before they're walking into the ballot box. >> let's go through. you mentioned and you're right.

little tweaks on the margins, a point here, half a point here can flip who wins a 50/50 race. you did a recent focus group among latino voters and donald trump made gains among them particularly men. the question was that an aberration or can republicans sustain build-back, if you will, with a constituency they performed horrifically for many years. the words that jumped out the most, inflation, housing, divided nation, inflation and division, moral conscience. let's start with you. is it real? do you believe that latinos are coming back to the republicans in every state that matters in a state like nevada, it would be decisive, arizona could be divisive, even georgia, a small constituency, how significant? >> i think it's very significant. because latino voters like young voters like so many other groups that have been a key part of the democratic coalition that enabled them to have successes in recent elections, they've been more disappointed with the way things are going and getting

hit with high housing prices and getting hit with it costing so much to fill up their tank. as a result republicans have an opportunity to talk to voters who may in previous cycles have said, no way, that party is not for me. now, do i think republicans are going to win latino voters outright nationally, no. but do i think they can do better than in previous cycles, absolutely and in a number of these districts and in some key states in the senate i think that can make a difference. >> if your friend is right, different party, still a friend. what do democrats need to do to stop republicans from making again even modest gains that could make the difference. >> i think it's important for any group. there is no group that is a -- that is monolithic you can say this group cares about this whether latino voters, suburban women, younger voters, you name it so latino voters disproportionately vote democratic but that margin according to a lot of polls has been shrinking. turn outaudience and persuasion.

you need to make the case, not as well as boost enthusiasm and motivation and making sure people made a plan to vote and so on. that means talking about a variety of issues, i mean, people talked about abortion as well and kristen's focus group and in addition to economic issues it means the wide range of issues affecting everybody right now. >> this smart campaign figures out what do we have to do about that. we'll continue the conversation. up next donald trump answers questions under oath in a defamation lawsuit brought by the former magazine columnist e. jean carroll. bonded by engineering excellence. palantir. data driven enterprise acceleratotor. (vo) get the new iphone 14 pro on us. right now t-mobile is including apple business essentials so you can easily manage your team's devices. on the networkith more 5g coverage. only from t-mobile for business.

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the former president donald trump is being deposed under oath in a defamation lawsuit brought by e. jean carroll. she sued him for defamation. she said he damaged her reputation when he denied raping her in a new york department store dressing room in the 1990s. the sanibel causeway re-opening to resident as head of schedule. more than 100 construction crews were scheduled to fix it. they worked around the clock over two weeks to fix temporary repairs. about 25% of the island should have power back but neighbors on

captiva not so lucky. power might not be restored till november. steph curry giving a shoutout to griner on her birthday. steph curry appealing for her release from a russian jail. >> we want to continue to let her name be known and we pray that it's been 243 days since she's been wrongfully incarcerated in russia and hope she comes home soon and everybody is doing their part to get her home. >> griner awaiting a hearing later this month. this programming note. an investigation into steve bannon and his master plan to reshape the united states government and republican party, cnn's special report "divided we fall" begins 11:00 p.m. eastern. thanks for your time today on "inside politics." ana cabrera picks up our coverage right now. hello and thank you so much for joining us. i'm ana cabrera in new york. minutes from now the power of the presidency and the pressure