hello, and welcome to "inside politics," i'm john king in washington. thank you for sharing your day with us. a brutal beating, conspiracy fodder, and public denial. paul pelosi is still in the hospital this day. his attack now the subject of ridiculous internet theories, and most republicans bob and weave when you ask if their election and january 6th lies are fueling our toxic political climate. plus, eight days until your midterm verdict. three embattled house democrats in virginia and a new batch of polls show that tight, that's at understatement when it comes to the fight to control the senate. and a big question -- is the supreme court about to wipe out affirmative action in higher education? a first for us, the vicious attack on paul pelosi. this hour the husband of nancy pelosi is hospitalized recovering from surgery on his arm and to his skull. today charges for david depape

who brutalized him with a hammer after breaking into his home. police brand this as a targeted attack saying he was equipped with zip ties and duct tape. the district attorney spent sunday trying to quash a torrent of misinformation, most of it on the internet. conspiracy theories about the attack have spawned across all corners of the internet, pushed by the far right fringe, by this elected republicans, and by donald trump jr. and twitter's new billionaire owner. elon musk, that twitter billionaire owner tweeting and deleting a link to a baseless story about the assault. let's go straight to san francisco now with the latest. veronica, what do we know? >> reporter: john, we are anticipating a press conference with the san francisco district attorney's office sometime today where we are expecting the suspect, david depape, to be charged with multiple felonies including attempted homicide, assault with a deadly weapon and elder abuse. in addition to that, law

enforcement sources told cnn that there could be a federal charge leveled against david depape, and that would be specifically in relation to the assault, kidnapping, or murder of a family member of certain federal officials. and if that does come down, it could be as early as this week, according to that source. now the details that we're learning about this investigation are disturbing. the san francisco district attorney's office telling us that depape went upstairs into the bedroom where pelosi was sleeping. sources tell us he tried to tie pelosi up and was shouting, "where is nancy?" we understand that pelosi still recovering in the hospital from those very serious injuries, but sources tell us he is expected to make a full recovery. and speaker pelosi, we did see her yesterday very briefly. she came out of her house and was whisked away by a motorcade. she has expressed to her colleagues how traumatizing this has been for her family. >> live for us in san francisco with the latest. veronica, thank you. we will stay in touch throughout

the day and in the days ahead. let's bring the conversation in studio to share reporting and zin sights, cnn's manu raju, jeff zeleny, and punch bowl's heather cagle. i want to get some of the conspiracy theories in a moment. first the speaker of the house, the election is one week from tomorrow, hshe's out busy helpig democrats. did see her yesterday. what is the impact on her? >> that's a great question because there's questions about what's going to happen after the elections and what will happen if the democrats don't keep the house. but she has been so busy this election cycle traveling across the country, raising tons of money for house democrats. yes, she's always been a target of republican attack ads, but she's essential to that effort to try to raise money, appear with some of these key members, along the stump to try to get them across the finish line. she's obviously not able to do that now. she's been dealing with this very serious situation at home. what impact does it have on -- come tuesday we'll see.

she's already raided a ton of money. -- raised a ton of money. >> what we are seeing sadly is just the continued meanness in american politics. cold-blooded meanness. i don't know what else to call it. elon musk, who just -- a billionaire who took over a very important platform of communication in the united states, re-tweeting a link to an organization that is known for spreading false and reckless fake news. doesn't take much investigation to know what that is. and the son of the former president of the united states, donald trump jr., posting an internet meme mocking the attack. you see it there. i'm not going to read the details of it or try to get into it. is decency just -- is decency dead? >> yeah. i mean, that's a great question. i checked in with top democrats this morning in the house and leadership aides. frankly, they're miffed that it has taken this turn, even with the state of politics now and where things normally are. i mean, this is the speaker of the house, a lot of republicans work closely with her or worked under her. there is her husband of almost

-- this is her husband of almost 60 years. the fact that more republicans aren't condemning it, some are re-tweeting some of these conspiracy theories and deleting them. i think long term what i heard this morning is what does this mean for governing next year in a republican house, how do we work with folks like this? >> i want you to listen. there is the chairwoman of the national political committee who says when we ask questions like do you think maybe continuing to lie about the 2020 election is a mistake, do you think the fringe republicans who say the covid pandemic wasn't real or was grossly exaggerated, do you think that's a mistake? look at the social media postings of the suspect in this alleged attack. look at other attacks. the chairwoman of the republican party says unfair question. >> i think that's unfair. i think this is a deranged individual. you can't say people saying let's fire pelosi or let's take back the house is saying go do violence. that's just unfair. >> there's nobody saying let's fire pelosi or let's take book the house is unfair.

that's totally fair game in american politics. to do what donald trump did -- donald trump jr. did in reaction is disgusting. and the fact that there are so many leading republicans who still say the election was stolen, you keep repeating lies, and somebody out there who is imbalanced may act on them. >> without question. and the hammer and the halloween costume thing from donald trump jr., it's beyond the pale in every respect. let's not talk about it anymore. it's vile. this has been building for a very long time. so the chair of the rnc to say, you know, fire pelosi, that's not what this is about. this is about election denialism. what has happened over the last two years has seeped into the minds and the thoughts of some unstable people which there always have been. the difference of this now, candidates for public office, for secretary of state, who govern elections and people who want to be our leaders are now saying this, it has suddenly become a mainstream thought to deny the election.

so i think you raise a good point about governing. this election is almost over. the reality is is we'll talk about through the show, the house of representatives, republicans are in a strong position to regain control of the house. history would suggest that will happen. the math would basically suggest it happens. if it does happen, what does this mean for government? >> yeah. it just means absolute, you know -- chaos in one respect, but it's almost an unrecognizable place from just a few years ago with speaker boehner and others. >> absolutely. as heather and i see it almost every single day in the house sides of the capitol, the relations there are already at an all-time low. post-january 6th, they are -- there's absolutely -- in a lot of ways hatred toward the other sides of the aisle. that was never really the case before. yes, there was a lot of hard feelings, big battles, but they would come together estimate points. it is much different now. we're seeing this in the aftermath of the reaction to the pelosi news. some had a hard time even

condemning the violence. some republicans suggested this was both sides were at fault, not linking it to the problems that we -- to the rhetoric and the like. having a hard time going, you know, defending nancy pelosi or saying anything wrong because they've been attacking her for so long. it's because of how bad these relations have been frayed in recent years. >> and you mentioned we're in this world now where if you ask republicans these questions about election lies, about covid conspiracy theories, about just -- they say what about-ism making place including senator rick scott, from florida, former governor of florida, runs the senatorial campaign committee. trying to help take the senate majority. was asked this yesterday by dana bash. >> reporter: should republicans do more to reject conspiracy theories and dangerous rhetoric? >> i think what we have to do is, one, we have to condemn the violence, then we have to do everything we can to make sure people feel comfortable about these elections. i think what's important is everybody do everything we can to make these elections fair.

we've got hillary clinton saying the 24 elections are going -- '24 election is going to be stolen. stacey abrams saying she didn't lose. my job is do everything i can to get people to feel comfortable that elections are fair. >> that's where you get into the both sides argument or the what about-ism. hillary clinton said she worries about the 2024 election. it's a fair point to say should stacey abrams have been clear about the 2018 election. you can debate that in georgia. you have a rematch, gubernatorial election. if you want to say those things are wrong, let's say they are misdemeanors or down here, compared to saying the january 6th defendants are being persecuted, playing qanon tleems themes at your trump rally. that's what you get. >> the fact of the matter is a lot of these republicans are uncomfortable with the extreme that you mentioned of the qanon at the rally and saying people were persecuted, but they do not want to repel their base and not have them come out and vote.

so they're trying to maintain this very delicate balance, but what ween up having is this what about-ism that doesn't make sense, and people feel like can't say, yes, this elderly 82-year-old man was attacked with a hammer, and his skull was broken in half, and that's wrong, that shouldn't happen. right? >> right. look, from -- missing from rick scott's analysis was the fact that donald trump for the past 2.5 years has been saying the election was stolen over and over again. that's been his entire mantra past the november, 2020, elections for two years or so. if you're going to criticize what hillary clinton somebody 2024, perhaps make a point of the fact that donald trump has been making this the centerpiece of everything he's been saying. >> the only way this will stop is if sensible republicans get control of their party back and the media channels that amplify this sort of make a decision here. we don't see that happening, i don't predict that. that is the only way this will change. it's going to get worse. >> most likely is.

that's a sad way to end this discussion, but it's probably the correct and factual way. next for us, virginia's midterm message a year ago, remember, republicans statewide emboldened the gop about its 2022 prospects. with a week left in this year's campaign, three embattled house democrats in virginia fighting to keep their seats. so aaron's folks could helplp hook him up with a new ride. we'll drive you happy at carvana. with gold bond... you can age on your own terms. new retinol overnight means the smoothing benefits of retinol are now for your whole body. plus, fast-working crepe corrector diminishes wrinkled skin in just two days. gold bond. champion your skin.

new projects means new project managers. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. when you sponsor a job, you immediately get your shortlist of quality candidates, whose resumes on indeed match your job criteria. visit indeed.com/hire and get started today. don't miss your shot... to get more for your medicare dollar. it's annual enrollment time, and with an aarp medicare advantage plan from unitedhealthcare, you can get $0 copays on primary care visits, more dental coverage than ever before, and $0 copays and deductibles on hundreds of prescription drugs. all for a low or $0 monthly premium. call unitedhealthcare today to talk to a medicare plan expert. ♪ ♪

♪ hit it!♪ ♪it takes two to make a thing go right♪ ♪it takes two to make it outta sight♪ ♪one, two, get loose now! it takes two to make a-♪ get double rewards points this fall. book now at bestwestern.com.

hey, thanks for helping me out. of course. you can easily get helpful customer service over the phone or on the progressive app pretty much anywhere. like at the coffee shop, at the park, or on the moon. just kidding. it's another coffee shop.

remember this -- just one year ago, republican glenn youngkin defeating the democratic party chairman terry mcauliffe in the 2021 governor's race. that was what emboldened that republicans in 2022 would be a good midyear term for them. in the house we have 8 competitive house districts -- that's 75. three are new districts drawn up after the census. 53 seats, democrats on defense. 22, it is republicans including three right here in that same commonwealth of virginia. three house democrats back on

their heels as we enter into the final week. republicans need a net gain of five. they could get three of those five right here in the commonwealth of virginia. look at this seat. this is 2020 election. jennifer wexton won comfortably in 2020. you come forward now, she is running against a military veteran running in this district in northern virginia. pull out the map a little bit, come down to the district beneath it. spanberger, the democratic incumbent running against vega. i want to show you in a presidential year, abigail spanberger won this seat but just barely. look how close it was. then the third district, come back to the house, come down on the map, here in the southeast corner. you have elaine laueria, the democratic incumbent. you might remember her, she's on the january 6th committee. this is now, if you go back two years ago, a comfortable five high point victory for lauria but all three democrats if you look at them in the southeast, more to the central, in the

northern washington, virginia suburbs, all three in competitive races. a brand-new ad from elaine lauria playing up her role on the january 6th committee saying democracy is on the ballot. >> and if standing up for what's right means losing an election, so be it. if you're looking for someone who will just say anything just to win, i'm not your candidate. if you support insurrectionists or call our country weak, i'm not your candidate. if you attack the fbi and defend donald trump, i'm not your candidate. if you believe the 2020 election was stolen, definitely not your candidate. >> we have heather cagle. that's a provocative ad, laying out the reasons why she might not be the candidate of some voters. that's a little upside down. why? >> well, because normally, one, democrats especially in vulnerable districts don't want to mention trump, they don't want to alienate voters in case some uncomfortable with january 6th but maybe previously voted

for him would come their way. this ad was fascinating to me. she has leaned into this a little bit. yes, she's on the committee investigating it, but she's run ads saying i'm not a biden democrat, i've stood up to biden, i support our military, vote for me. i'm kind of the anti-democrat that you think of. and she is really, really leaning into this i -- january 6th was wrong, if you voted for trump, i'm not your candidate. that was so fascinating to me. i had people reach out to me this morning, she's one of the top five most endangered house democrats. a lot of them have seen polling, they think she's probably going to lose. and they see this as a way for her to position herself for something in the future. >> interesting also post this election, if it does gone the democrats' way, and it looks like republicans have a strong chance of taking back the house, to look back about their messaging and how they dealt with these issues about democracy, about trump, about january 6th. as heather was saying, a lot of democrats steer cleave of these topics -- steer clear of these

topics. it's not until the eve of the election year that we saw lauria embrace this mention. the question, monday morning quarterback, should they have done it sooner? >> it's interesting you say that. jennifer wexton and abigail spanberger are not on the committee like lauria, but their districts are closer to washington, d.c.,. in their recent ads they do touch on this. listen. >> how extreme is republican for congress hung kao? after january 6th he defended violent insurrectionists, he said he was thrilled the supreme court overturned roe v. wade and supports letting states ban birth control. >>iat vega doubts rape leads to pregnancy, i was shocked. she bashed the fbi and defended those who attacked our capitol. that's just wrong. i'm a republican, and i'm supporting abigail spanberger because she puts country and community over party.

>> the use of the word extreme both on abortion rights and in supporting of those who stormed the capitol, interesting in a state that many democrats thought had turned blue. youngkin wins, republicans win statewide, now at a minimum purple. >> without a doubt. if you drive through loudoun county, just outside washington, which i was doing a couple of weekends ago, the signs for hung kao are everywhere. some is some of the terrain where the school board fights were happening that propelled glenn youngkin into office. this race has joined unlike really -- it's a different set of circumstances and environment than in other parts of the country. this is washington's back yard. so i think that the -- if they're successful, and we will see on election night, we'll be watching the commonwealths of virginia which closes early, if these three are successful, then the january 6th messaging worked. manu, you make a good point, democrats other places have shied away from talking about this too much. we'll see if that was a mistake or not. i think the -- spanberger and

luria and wekton are three interesting case studies of if virginia is -- they're more educated voters, college-educated voters and other things, that will be interesting to watch if they can keep those seats blue. it's totally different electorate probably than the governor's race last year. >> right. you mentioned youngkin on parental rights, some people say he overdid it, but it worked for him especially in the northern virginia suburbs. all three of the republican candidates made a joint appearance on fox this morning. listen. >> first and foremost, it will be the economy. how can we get grocery prices down and gas prices down? >> i stands with parents and with their children, and unfortunately today's progressive liberal left party has lost touch with the voters when it comes to that issue. >> the parents' rights is the biggest issue here in this district. besides the economy. obviously the economy is f forefront of everything. >> you see vega and cao closer to washington, d.c., the suburban areas here, essentially saying this worked for youngkin,

i'm going try. >> i'm glad we're focusing on these races. these are the three democratic candidates who helped democrats take back the house post 2018 -- >> all wanted the blue wave. they understand the president's first midterm. >> absolutely. it also underscores the importance of -- in most elections, in this one, too, suburban voters in some of these key districts and what these republicans obviously are trying to do is paint these democrats as outside those more moderate educated voters who are going to be essential here in determining the election. so if things don't go democrats' way, we may learn pretty early if virginia turns red. >> right. if they swing back, we'll learn from that, as well. a lot of lessons we're going to understand a week or so from now. tuesday -- a week from tomorrow is election day. i suspect it's going to take a few days after that to have a full tally. coming up, republicans optimistic as we enter this closing week of the midterm campaigns. some new cnn reporting on that ahead. first, a final faceoff in georgia's fascinating race for governor.

seatgeek is the ticketing app for fans like the high-fives-strangers guy. game winning interception, first down, just a nice solid tack - if you're in arms length, you will be swapng skin with this extrovert. you see he knows stgeek got him a great deal on tickets, so he can focus on what he does best: smacking palms. seatgeek handles the tickets to sports, concerts, and more, so fans can fan. ♪ i got into debt in college and, no matter how much i paid, it followed me everywhere. so i consolidated it into a low-rate personal loan from sofi. get a personal loan with no fees, low fixed rates, and borrow up to $100k. sofi. get your money right. we've got questions about medicare plans. well, we've got a lot of answers! how can i help? well for starters, do you have a medicare plan i can actually afford?

how about a plan with a $0 monthly premium? well, that's a great start. what other benefits can we get? things like dental, vision and hearing. but let me help you pick the plan that's right for you. ooooooooh! [laughs] don't wait, call 1-888-65-aetna to get answers to your questions and pick a plan that's right for you and let's make healthier happen, together.

they say you eat with your eyes first, so here's a good look at our new thick n fluffy french toast. artisan challah dipped in vanilla cinnamon batter. french toast the way it's meant to be. try all three flavors. only at ihop. download the app and earn free food with every purchase.

i love san francisco, but i'm working overtime to stay here. now is not the time to raise taxes. i'm voting no on propositions m and o, because the cost of everything is going up. san francisco collects more tax revenue than nearly any city in america. but our streets are dirty and public safety is not getting better. i'm working hard to live within my budget. the city should too. join me in voting no on m and o. now is not the time to raise taxes in san francisco. vote no on m and o.

look to battleground georgia. brian kemp facing off against his democratic challenger, stacey abrams, last night in their second and final debate. they clashed on everything from the economy to crime to abortion rights. >> i'm not going to count -- say yes or no to any specific piece of legislation without seeing exactly what it's doing. it's not my desire to go move

the needle any further on this issue. >> abortion is a medical choice, and as such it should be that a woman has the ability to make a decision until viability. and that decision about viability should not impact her life or her health. that is a decision that should be made between a doctor and a woman. >> let's get straight live to eva with more on the last debate. >> reporter: john, the policy differences could not be more clear. not only on abortion as you referenced but also on this issue of public safety. governor kemp working overtime to try to tie stacey abrams to the defund the police movement, something she firmly rejected. meanwhile, abrams argues that kemp's positions on guns, the gun bill he signed into law, making georgians less safe. >> for his four years, violent crime has gone up. gun violence has gone up. guns are the number-one killer of our children.

>> ms. abrams has said she wants to defund the police. she wants to eliminate cash bail and have get out of jail free cards. >> i believe in public safety. i did not say nor do i believe in defunding the police. he is lying again. >> reporter: economic issues also a major flashpoint, as well. governor kemp has routinely argued that he would be the best steward to lead georgians through inflation. but abrams says that the economic policies that the governor has championed has left some georgians behind, has not included all georgians. john? >> on the ground for us in georgia. thank you so much. one week to go in that contest. the georgia governor's race does factor into the late campaign opt optimism. governor kemp has had a narrow but steady lead for some time. the gop hope is that he can offer coattails to others like perhaps the controversial senate contender, herschel walker.

there is no guarantee of that. some new cnn reporting today explores there big question, whether voters will stick to one party, or are they in a mood to deliver split ticket moves? our great reporters are back, including jeff zeleny part of this reporting. it is a big question in georgia, if kemp wins, if he can hold onto the lead does he pull other republicans with him, walker. you can say the same in new hampshire, ohio, if you look at the polling, mike dewine. >> it's going to be fascinating to watch on election night. i feel like our list of fascinating things is growing here. you're on top of it. that is something we'll be looking at, split tickets versus coattails. each state may do it differently. it is not a monolith. i was in georgia last week, and boy, one of the big reasons for republican optimism in the senate race is, you know, all these allegations of abortion payments and things seem to have sort of run off herschel walker. just have not been as effective as democrats were hoping.

but -- even probably brighter spot is that governor's race with governor kemp going against stacey abrams again. on the flip side, i was in pennsylvania last week, as well, josh shapiro is probably the democrat in the most commanding position of any prominent race in the country in his governor's race. and can he bring fetterman over the line with him? there are open questions about that. i'm getting much more of a sense, and we'll see next week, but much more of an appetite for split-ticket voting with shop yo and dr. oz up there. we will definitely see. but people who are not campaigning together are shapiro and fetterman. and in a georgia -- they've been campaigning largely separately, too. that is one of the dynamics. if there is a wave, the top of the ticket can help those below. >> no question, such an interesting dynamic this cycle. not only those states but ohio, wisconsin, nevada, all have governors races. and one reason why -- >> and arizona. >> one reason why the democrats are -- a lot had watched tim

ryan's campaign in ohio and these -- run an effective campaign, they think perhaps -- they hope he can pull it off. they see the governor's race, the republican incumbent, mike dewine, bulling well ahead of his democratic challenger, and that is one big hurdle for him to overcome. this will be a dynamic playing out across the country. in georgia, the question will be if walker and warnock don't get over 50% there's a december runoff. if kemp gets over 50% high will not be on the ticket in the december runoff. how does that affect things? a lot of big questions. >> another complete complication. i want to show you "new york times" -- we'll go through them. in four, a 50/50 senate, vice president harris breaks the tie. we say democrats control the senate. it's 50/50 so republicans need just one to take control of the senate. you siee warnock, walker, this has warnock up a little bit, but that's a statistical tie. in arizona, mark kelly, this one

democrats are optimistic about this. he does have a six-point lead outside the margin of error when you look at arizona. in never, no clear leader, cortez masto in a dead heat with the republican in pennsylvania, fetterman, oz, lead for the democrat in -- when you get to pennsylvania outside of the margin of error but close. we have new updated spending on tv ad spends. look at the races i talked about. georgia, arizona, nevada, pennsylvania. the top five spending, pennsylvania, georgia, nevada, arizona, and number five is wisconsin, also a very close race. >> yeah. and i think -- >> a lot of money, staggering. >> every year -- every cycle it goes up. anyone who tells you they know what's going to happen in the senate is lying. the reason the governors races matter as was pointed out is because all of these polls have tightened in these states, arizona, nevada, new hampshire, pennsylvania, georgia, mostly in republicans' favor. if you have governors, candidates or current governors who can pull them over the finish line, i mean republicans

are much more lying to have a better night than just a few weeks ago when democrats were in the lead in many of these races in the senate. >> so your job, if you're the head of a campaign committee, is to be optimistic. so this is rick scott yesterday saying no problem, we got this. >> we're going to get 52-plus. herschel walker will win in georgia. we're going to keep all 21 of ours. this is our year. the democrats can't run on anything they've done. people don't like what they've done. they don't like high inflation. they don't like gas prices, food prices up. they don't like the -- the public doesn't like an open border. they don't like high crime. and that's what the democrats are known for. >> he says we're going to keep all 21 of ours at the beginning there which, you know, one advantage for the democrats on the senate map is all those blue democratic senators up in states biden won. doesn't mean you win the next time but at least you're not defending a state that trump won. he says we're going to keep all 21, that includes wisconsin, pennsylvania, north carolina, and ohio. they're all close races. >> yeah. and he's obviously being very optimistic at this late stage of

the campaign. mitch mcconnell has been on the other side where he's been optimistic in past election cycles, and it has not worked out which is why he has been more cautious. the reality is these races are -- can turn on a knife's edge, and we simply don't know what's going to happen until we -- until it comes out on election day. rick scott wants to ride the national environment to the senate majority. the senate races aren't always dictated exclusively by the national environment. we see that happen more with house races. candidate quality does matter. we'll see how much. >> and of all the things we don't know, we can track where surrogates and important people are going. barack obama now is going to arizona. on wednesday this week. he was only scheduled to be to nevada. they've added arizona i'm told because they are worried there. senator mark kelly, because of the governor's race as we were talking about. so interesting schedule addition there which always gives us a sense of what the dynamics are inside the race. >> i was noting before we came

on the air that all of my incoming from democrats over the week was -- gulp about the current trends. that would explain why you're calling out all the stuff even in arizona. more than 21 million people across the country have already voted early. as you see, some got in line before it gets bright out. we'll break down the numbers in key states and tell you what it might mean. but with upwork... with upwork the hiring process is fast and flexible.. behold... all that talent! ♪ this is how we work now ♪ (driver) conventional thinking would say verizon has the largest and fastest 5g network. but, they don't. they only cover select cities with 5g. so, for me and the hundreds of drivers in my flt, staying connected, cuttingowntime, and delivering on time depinterstate highway miles,with covthey've got us covered. (vo) unconventional thinking delivers four times the 5g coverage of verizon. and it's ready right now.

t-mobile for business. i earn 5% cash back on travel purchased through chase with chase freedom unlimited. i earn 5% on our cabin. hello cashback! hello, kevin hart! earn big time with chase freedom unlimited with no annual fee. how do you cashback? chase. make more of what's yours. it's nice to unwind after a long week of telling people how liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need! (limu squawks) he's a natural. only pay for what you need. ♪liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty.♪ because i trust their quality. they were the first to be verified by usp... ...an independent organization that sets strict quality and purity standards. nature made. the number one pharmacist recommended vitamin and supplement brand.

my name is joshua florence, and one thing i learned being a firefighter is plan ahead. you don't know what you're getting into, but at the end of the day, you know you have a team behind you that can help you. not having to worry about the future makes it possible to make the present as best as it can be for everybody.

two important piaeces of breaking news. paul blpelosi, brutally beat weekend a hammer, spoke to

investigators over the weekend from his hospital bed providing details of the attack. we are also told that federal prosecutors may file charges against the alleged assailant, david depape, as soon as today. we will keep you updated on those developments as we get new information. back to politics, eight days until the midterm elections. look at this -- more than 21 million americans have already cast their ballots. this is early voting across the country. more than 21 million ballots cast in 46 states. the deeper the green, the higher the vote total. not as surprising in the largest states, california, texas, florida, among there are more votes cast. interesting when you look at this data, and we have to be careful not to read too much into it. if you look at georgia, big race for governor, as we discussed earlier. huge race for senate. some other contests, as well. more than 1.6 million votes cast, up 40% from the last midterm election in 2018. now the covid pandemic, more people voting early, is that just people are changing the way they vote, or is this a sign of higher participation? that's one of the big questions.

we go from now through election day and analysis after. now let's look at florida. and what it's going to take a now and then look at florida. follow along with me. this is the votes cast so far, 39% of the ballots cast early by people who are registered democrats. doesn't mean they voted democratic but the people who took the ballots were registered democrats. 42% by registered republicans. again, no guarantee they vote for republicans, but 42% of the early votes cast by people who are registered as a republican. go back to 2020, remember when donald trump was saying early voting was a scam? don't do it? the percentage of republicans then was at 36%. so 36% then in florida. up to 42% now. is that because donald trump almost every day is not saying early voting is a bad thing? we will see. similar question in arizona. you see in 2018, 44% of the early votes cast at this point in that midterm were by registered republicans. in 2020, that dropped to 34%. trump's attacks likely responsible for that. this year, back up to 37%. not all the way back to 2018

levels, but jeff zeleny, that will be one of the questions. early voting data now gives us insights, but we have to be careful about context until we see what happens on election day. is there a flood of late voting -- people who show up on that day, or is this early voting now part of our new norm? >> without question. the reality is -- it is astonishing that 21.4 million people have already voted. it makes you wonders if all the money on these ads at the end of the cycle are really well spent because a lot of people have already decided. but the reality also is that we have limitations to what we can learn from this data. and i think because of the pandemic, because of other things, because of the fact that -- there's been shifting around of populations, as well, in florida. we don't know exactly what it means vis-a-vis a 2018 or 2020 -- how people vote in america is different now than it used to be when we started covering these races. it probably will change every cycle. it does show that there is big interest, and we also know that republicans love to vote on

election day. so any democrat who's sitting back and, you know, totally feeling good about these numbers, which there aren't many, know that election day is a big republican day. so this is fascinating, but we don't know exactly what it means. >> and we talked earlier, this is about how people vote, and we want higher participation, whether you vote early, whether you vote on election day, higher participation is good. we talked about the debate about strategy in the democratic party. you talked about barack obama adding an event in arizona in addition to nevada. he was out over the weekend -- again, democrats, there's a debate among democrats, what should we emphasize most with voters. this is the former president's view -- >> who will fight for your freedoms? is it republican politicians and judges who think they should get to decide when you start a family or how many children you should have or who you marry or who you love. >> that's the choice in this election. that's what you have to decide. >> it's interesting to watch. again, we'll know more after when we count votes and see how

the states break. the former president in office did not have good luck in midterm years. he's trying to help democrats this time. >> this time around there are a lot of democrats telling me and probably you, too, they wish obama had started coming out earlier on the campaign trail and helping draft their message. until this point it's been all over the place. >> we haven't seen the president, he's not really been out much on the campaign trail. bill clinton, remember how he was such a huge democratic surrogate. of course, he's not anymore for his own issues. it is barack obama. it's late stage of the cycle. is that enough to turn out -- turn around an electioning that going against them? probably not. but perhaps it could turn out some voters in some key states. >> what they think. it's coming when he's basically an organizing tool, he's basically a beacon to get people out to early vote. so it is -- i was at the rally in georgia with the former president on friday. and boy, happening behind the scenes for hours before. people with clipboards and ipads and other things, you know, trying to make sure everyone at

the rally either has voted or has a plan to vote. so that's the point of these. >> that's one of the things we learn every day as someone who started this in the pre-internet days is the value of technology in organizing people and motivating people. they know, the campaigns know, democrat or republican, they know if you have voted, if you requested a ballot, if you have returned it. that's why you're still getting phone calls. a giant case argued before the supreme court. the question -- whether colleges can continue to use race as a factor in admissions. (music) ...innovation..... (music) ...discovery? or simply stability... ...security... ...protection? you shouldn't have to choose. (music) gold. your strategic advantage. (music) visit goldhub.com. your shipping manager left to “find themself.” leaving you lost.

you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. indeed instant match instantly delivers quali candidates matching your job description. visit indeed.comire imagine having to use the wrong tool at your job. (upbeat music) - let's get into the numbers. - why would a company do that? especially with hr and payroll software.

with paycom, employees enter and manage their own hr data in a single, easy-to-use software. visit paycom.com and schedule a demo today. becoming a morning person starts the night before with new neuriva relax and sleep. it has l-theanine to help me relax from daily stress. plus, shoden ashwagandha for quality sleep. so i can wake up refreshed. neuriva think bigger. with gold bond... you can age on your own terms. new retinol overnight means the smoothing benefits of retinol are now for your whole body. plus, fast-working crepe corrector diminishes wrinkled skin in just two days. gold bond. champion your skin.

supreme court justice today hearing an argument on this question -- should sthey overtun

another decades' long precedents, there time on the question of affirmative action. right now the supreme court hearing arguments on whether colleges and universities can continue to consider race as a factor in their ads missions. at the center of it all the university of north carolina and harvard. jessica schneider joins us live outside of the court. what are we learning? >> reporter: we are three hours into the arguments with still a lot more time to go. a clear clash has emerged between the six conservative justices and the three liberal justices. in fact, on the liberal sides of things, the newest justice, ketanji brown jackson, has been leading the questioning here and pressing her points that she says race is crucial to a student's identitiy and can't imagine a place where colleges and universities would not be able to consider race as a factor in admissions which would happen. on the conservative side we've heard several justices asking others factors besides race, why it wouldn't be sufficient in producing diversity. in fact, leading the questioning on that end is chief justice

john roberts. and of course in years past, cases past, the chief justice has really been critical of using race in any number of scenarios. so asking today why in fact colleges can't look at other factors to try to promote diversity. but what we've heard from these colleges and universities both in argument and in their written briefs is that even in those schools where affirmative action has, in fact, been banned for several years because states, nine states across the country ban affirmative action, they say when they don't have this affirmative action way of finding out what races students are, they haven't been able to achieve the right diversity that they say they want promoted on campus. in another line of questioning here that could ultimately be what we see in this opinion, we've seen the justices, brett kavanaugh, amy coney barrett, as well as other justices here talking about maybe time is up for affirmative action. they've consistently been pointing to a 2003 opinion from

justice sandra day o'connor when she said that maybe 25 years would be enough for affirmative action. and given the fact, john, that this spring would mark 20 years since that opinion, it's very possible that the justices here, the conservative justices, could rely on that timeframe to eventually do away with affirmative action either now or in the years to come. john? >> live outside the court for us. one of the many consequential cases this term. jessica, thank you so much. ahead for us, guess who just might come to thanksgiving dinner -- one senate candidate warns he could be crashing your turkey dinner if you don't vote.

seatgeek presents the high-fives-strangers guy. seatgeek got him a great deal on tickets, so he can focus on what he does best: smacking palms. seatgeek handles the tickets, so fans can fan. ♪ hit it!♪ ♪it takes two to make a thing go right♪ ♪it takes two to make it outta sight♪ ♪one, two, get loose now! it takes two to make a-♪ get double rewards points this fall. book now at bestwestern.com.

not flossing well? then add the whoa! of listerine to your routine. new science shows it gets in between teeth to destroy 5x more plaque above the gumline than floss. for a cleaner, healthier mouth. listerine. feel the whoa! opportunities are all about timing. it's time to take advantage of a plan that gives you more for your medicare dollar. a medicare advantage plan from unitedhealthcare. so, give unitedhealthcare a call today. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ the first time you made a sale online was also the first time you heard of a town named... dinosaur? we just got an order from a dinosaur, colorado. start an easy to build, powerful website for free with a partner that always puts you first. godaddy. tools and support for every small business first.

all across the country, people are working hard to build a better future. so we're hard at work, helping them achieve financial freedom. we're providing greater access to investing, with low-cost options to help maximize savings. from the plains to the coasts, we help americans invest for their future. and help communities thrive. okay everyone, our mission is complete balanced nutrition. together we support immune function. supply fuel for immune cells and sustain tissue health. ensure with twenty-five vitamins and minerals, and ensure complete with thirty grams of protein. ♪ giorgio, look! the peanut butter box is here. ralph, that's the chewy pharmacy box with our flea and tick meds. it's not peanut butter. ♪ the peanut butter box is here ♪ i'm out. pet prescriptions delivered to your door.

chewy. two new ihop lunch and dinner menu items for twice the goodness, twice the flavor, and twice the choice. sirloin salisbury steak and all-natural salmon. perfect for lunch or dinner. only at ihop. download the app and earn free food with every purchase. with angi, you can connect with and see ratings and reviews. and when you book and pay throug you're covered by our happiness check out angi.com today. angi... and done.

topping our political radar today, some sad news out of seoul. two american college students among those killed in that halloween stampede including the niece of republican congressman brad wenstrop. he confirmed the death in a statement. the congressman is devastated and called her a bright light loved by all. 20-year-old steven blessi also killed. and jair bolsonaro has yet to concede a vote or make a

public statement. president biden congratulating da silva on his win calling the elections free, fair, and credible. this new ad from raphael warnock that features sweet potatoes at a thanksgiving table and a warning to voters -- if you're sick of seeing me make sure there's no runoff election. if nobody gets 50% of the shots there will be a runoff. nobody wants that to happen. >> multiple people may not show up to the office tomorrow. the powerball jackpot $1 billion. the drawing set for 11:00 p.m. eastern tonight. i'll be here tomorrow when i win. thanks for your time. see you tomorrow. ana cabrera picks up our coverage right now.