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Last Pre-Election Labor Report: 261K New Jobs Added In October; Oprah Endorse Fetterman Over Oz In P.A. Senate Race; Rep. James Clyburn, (D-SC), Is Interviewed About Midterm Election, Attack On Paul Pelosi; Biden Pivots Closing Pitch From Democracy To Economy; Today: Deadline For Trump To Comply With Jan. 6 CMTE Subpoena; Sources: DOJ Mulling Special Counsel IF Trump Runs In 2024. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired November 04, 2022 - 17:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[17:00:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: Pete Muntean, I thank you. And our niece (ph), thank you.

Tonight, Jake Tapper is interviewing actress Kerry Washington. That is on CNN tonight at 9:00 Eastern. Then on State of the Union, Republican Party Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel and Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota. That's Sunday morning at 9:00 Eastern and again at noon. Our coverage continues in the Situation Room.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Happening now, we're heading into the final weekend of the midterm campaigns. The elections now just four days out as candidates from both parties make their final pitch to voters.

Also tonight, the U.S. economy, the top issue for most Americans, is getting one more gut check before the midterms. The Labor Department reporting 261,000 jobs added during the month of October.

And we're also watching former President Trump who is -- who now says he's very, very, very probably going to run for the White House in 2024. And there are new indications the announcement could come soon after the midterm elections.

Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. Wolf Blitzer is off today. I'm Brianna Keilar. And you're in the Situation Room.

Our top story tonight, the midterm campaigns hitting their final stretch. CNN is on the trail covering all the key races across the United States with just four more days until polls close. We're also getting one final look at the health of the U.S. economy before the elections, American employers adding 261,000 new jobs last month. Let's get right to our Senior White House Correspondent Phil Mattingly.

Phil, the U.S. labor market still going strong, but this is tricky for the White House as Election Day closes in.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it is the complex balancing act that's really served at the core, a really good window into how the administration has tried to grapple with their most politically difficult moment. And then as it relates to the economy by double digits, that is the most important issue for voters, voters who are staring more at the prices in grocery stores or at gas stations than they are about the fact that this White House or under this White House the US economy has added more than 10 million jobs since President Biden's inauguration. Unemployment rates still sitting at five decade lows.

But here's kind of the paradox. Right now when you talked to White House officials, they acknowledged they did not want a gangbusters report today, 261,000 jobs, a healthy sign that any idea of a recession is likely not the case at this moment but any higher would have made real concerns that that inflation problem was only going to be persistent even longer. However, the fact that it remains pervasive at this moment is a problem as the President alluded to today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Folks, our economy continues to grow and add jobs even as gas prices continue to come down. We got a lot more to do. We also know folks are still struggling with inflation. It's our number one priority.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: Brianna, it is the economic record the President and his team and want Democrats to really tout, but the inflation that has been the driving problem for Democrats at the polls, that is how they've tried to grapple with things. Whether that works out or that message gets through still remains one of the biggest questions just a few days from Election Day.

KEILAR: Certainly does. Phil Mattingly, thank you for that report.

Now let's check in on the Senate race in Pennsylvania. CNN's Jessica Dean is in Wexford just north of Pittsburgh.

Jessica, this race could determine control of the Senate. And Democratic candidate John Fetterman got quite the celebrity endorsement last night.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He sure did Brianna. Oprah Winfrey coming out and saying that she would have voted for John Fetterman if she lived in Pennsylvania. Of course, look, celebrity endorsements, endorsements of any kind, they don't often move the needle in huge ways. But let's acknowledge kind of the unique situation here, Mehmet Oz, of course, made a household name by Oprah Winfrey, she of course had him on her show and then back his show. So it is unique for her to now throw her weight behind Fetterman.

He talked about that endorsement a little bit earlier today. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. GOV. JOHN FETTERMAN, (D) PENNSYLVANIA SENATE CANDIDATE: I mean, she's an icon. I mean, it's unbelievable. It's an honor and I'm so grateful. And you know, she understands what's at stake here in this race.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: And again, any edge that either of these campaigns can get right now, Brianna, in this ever tightening race, they'll take it. So, Fetterman quite happy to have this endorsement. Oz, for his part, saying he respects Oprah and then turning back to the messaging that we've been hearing from him on the trail, which is that he wants to reject extremism in Washington and really work in a bipartisan way.

KEILAR: Yes, and Oz has recently been trying to appeal to Independents, Jessica, on the campaign trail. Has Donald Trump heads to Pennsylvania this weekend?

DEAN: That's right. And that's really the fine line that Mehmet Oz has to walk here in these closing days because we know that President Trump -- former President Trump lost the state by just a little bit back in 2020 and that he turned off a lot of these Independent swing voters. Those are the exact voters that Oz is trying to capture in these closing days.

[17:05:16]

But he also needs to make sure that the base turns out and turns out big so he can run up the score in these more rural areas. So he's kind of walking this very, very fine line here. But we have heard him again and again over the last several days, and we're about to go probably hear him say it again inside this rally, that he really is pitching himself to these Independent voters. Here's what he's saying.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MEHMET OZ, (R) PENNSYLVANIA SENATE CANDIDATE: The reason Pennsylvania is so important is we're perfectly purple. Right? Our neighbors are Democrats, and we're going to win this election because we're going to get those neighbors, conservative Democrats, in particular, Independents to vote with us, because they don't like what's happening to the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: So we've been hearing that from him again and again. So, former President Trump will be here tomorrow. Also former President Barack Obama traveling to Pittsburgh area and then also going to Philadelphia, Brianna, with President Biden. And note, these closing days, they brought them all here on this weekend as close to Election Day as pretty much as they possibly could.

KEILAR: Yes, they certainly have. Jessica, thank you.

And now I want to get an update from the battleground state of Georgia. CNN's Eva McKend is on the trail in Monroe, Georgia.

So Eva, today is the last day for early voting there. EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER: It is, Brianna. Just about two hours left to go, of course, people can also vote on Tuesday, Election Day. But this has been remarkable to watch. The sheer number of people participating in this process, more than 2 million Georgians voting early the last two weeks.

And also of note is when we talk to people across the state as we've traveled and ask them, what is really animating them. Why are they voting? What's top of mind for them? Depending on where you are, you hear different things.

So, in Atlanta, you might hear about reproductive rights or the growing number of hospital closures in this state. But if you go over to Newman, as we were this morning, we heard about the overall state of the country and the economy. But all candidates making their final pitch today.

We were with Herschel Walker this morning in Newman on his bus door. He's making several stops. Senator Warnock doing a tell out (ph) rally tonight. This morning, he was in New York, attending a funeral service for a longtime mentor.

Stacey Abrams did her bus tour as well. And Governor Kemp just wrapping up a rally here. Brianna.

KEILAR: All right, Eva McKend live for us in Georgia. Thank you.

And let's get some more analysis now from our political experts. David Chalian, to you first. So you have this jobs report, 261,000 jobs, good news for Democrats. It's so close to the election, though. And I wonder if you think this news is even good enough to make a difference here?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, it's no doubt good news in the sense that it's a good job market. But it's such a complex story about the economy right now and that the recession fears still exist and wondering if indeed the Fed is going to need to inject, you know, more so called medicine into the system of higher interest rates. So it's not entirely just like a clear runaway victory that Democrats can tout, though, obviously, it's a robust job market.

The issue is, Brianna, one day one data point, this final jobs report to combat the inflation pain that people are feeling in their daily lives, that seems to be a pretty tall order. Not that it didn't give President Biden Democrats something to tout today, but it doesn't reverse the experience most Americans are having with higher prices.

KEILAR: Yes, hot job market we see that's great news. The Fed says, oh, what else maybe do we have to do here to pump the brakes a little bit? And I think maybe Americans are catching on to that.

You know, Van, I wonder on messaging here, where are Democrats versus where you think they shouldn't be?

VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think that we are now seeing more and more focus on the economy. I think there was a little bit of fool's gold for a while. People thought, well, maybe we can talk about abortion only or maybe we can talk about democracy and that was going to be enough. It turns out that people are sitting on white hot stoves of just pain economically. And Democrats have a lot to say about that.

I do think that jobs numbers are good. If they were bad, we'd be saying, well, it's even worse. So I think, you know, having good jobs numbers is there. Ten million jobs in the past two years, that's incredible jobs record.

But also, you have a president that has tried to deliver on other ways to address cost of living, whether you're talking about prescription drug prices, the Inflation Reduction Act was going to put a lot more infrastructure in place. So, now he's got a record to talk about. He's just screaming into the wind of this onrushing cost of living problem with inflation.

KEILAR: Yes, Charlie, 261,000 jobs, but 75 percent of respondents in our most recent CNN poll think the U.S. is already in recession. That's how they feel about it. Is there, when you look at that, is there really anything Democrats can do to overcome that?

[17:10:07]

CHARLIE DENT, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: At this point, I don't think there's much they can do. It's true it was a good jobs report. But there's this feeling, there's this overhang that things are about to get worse. Kind of reminds me a little bit of 2008 where the numbers were good until they weren't. We knew we were heading into a major storm, I'm not saying we're going to have a recession like that one, but it just feels like, you know, the numbers are pretty good until they're not.

And, you know, it seems that the Fed is still going to be ratcheting up interest rates, things are still a bit too high. And it's not just food and fuel, I mean, it's housing, some of the other things are way up in price. That's why Americans are feeling uncomfortable right now because they're paying more for a lot of big ticket items.

KEILAR: Yes, groceries. I mean, it is eye popping, when you go to buy chicken or beef or anything at the grocery store.

And Jessica, you're in Pennsylvania, folks, they're inundated with ads. They're about to be inundated with big names coming there, Biden, Obama, Trump, they're all descending on the Commonwealth this weekend. Are people looking forward to this? Is this going to move the needle?

DEAN: I mean, that's the big question, right, is what is going to motivate these voters. I think for the campaigns and certainly the reason they're bringing three presidents here to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is to turn out their respective bases, right? And so for the Democrats, they really need to run up the score in places like Pittsburgh, in places like Philadelphia, that happens to be where Barack Obama is going, and then Joe Biden, of course, President Biden going to join him in Philadelphia. So that's no surprise at all. And then of course, we're seeing former president Trump going just outside of Pittsburgh, about an hour outside of Pittsburgh, again, like a signature area for him where he really runs up the score with the base.

For Republicans and for Mehmet Oz, it is, as I was talking about just a little bit earlier in the show, just such a fine line of how much you turn up the base with Donald Trump and how he's also trying to attract these Independent swing voters who in the last election really swung toward Democrats and Biden. Are they there again in 2022? We just don't know. We're going to have to wait until Tuesday to find out.

But both of these campaigns really hoping, at this point, that they can really turn out the basis and then they both want to go after these Independent voters. And you can tell based on where they're going to be in these final days, Brianna.

KEILAR: Van, you heard Jessica's -- Van, sorry, go on.

JONES: Yes, I was just going to say that. You know, Pennsylvania is so tough, you got three presidents, you also have the queen weighing in, Oprah Winfrey weighing in.

KEILAR: Right.

JONES: And I just think it's remarkable that you have people -- you know, Oprah Winfrey knew this guy, she knows this guy, she gave him a start, and she's saying, no way. There's something happening with these candidates. You know, Herschel Walker's family is saying, no way.

So I do hope that people listen to the presidents, but if you listen to the presidents, listen to the Queen, Oprah Winfrey knows what you're talking about. Is Oprah Winfrey wise? If you think she's wise, if she's somebody who knows people, Oprah Winfrey says Fetterman not Oz, that's a big deal.

KEILAR: Yes, because let's remind people, Oprah made Dr. Oz, right? She made him into this television star. And Charlie she said that she would have voted for Fetterman over Oz. Do you think it makes an impact short of her say visiting Pennsylvania, which I wonder if that would have?

DENT: No I don't think it's going to have much of an impact at all, to be perfectly honest. I mean, Fetterman's problem was at disastrous debate performance, Tuesday, a week ago. That was a catastrophe. And Fetterman's numbers are slipping among college educated men. About 60 percent of Pennsylvanians saw at least some part of that debate. That is his problem.

You know, Oprah can't do anything about college educated men starting to move away. And Oz has been very clever to pivot towards these Independents. He's been quite smart about that. Fetterman has not done that. and candidly, there's a lot of concern about Fetterman's capacity to serve right now. JONES: What's wrong with Fetterman will heal. Every day he's getting better. What's wrong with Oz won't heal. Oz has been a snake oil salesman and he's abused his position for years. Fetterman will get better and better, unfortunately, Oz will not.

DENT: But the problem there is -- the problem there, Van, is Fetterman has not explained his positions. He hasn't been able to articulate his positions on his evolution on the fracking issue, which is a huge issue in western Pennsylvania. And, frankly, on the crime issue where he's voted opposite Josh Shapiro on the Board of Pardons over 200 times. And crime is a resonating issue, particularly in the Philadelphia region right now.

And so that's the other issue when you get beyond the health issues. I mean, this is really having an impact. These issues are resonating in Pennsylvania. That's why this race has tightened so much.

KEILAR: Yes. And this is going to be the decision before voters that they've either already made or that they'll be making on Tuesday.

Thank you all for the discussion this evening. I really appreciate it.

And coming up, just days before the midterms, Democrats scramble to hit the right notes for voters. I'm going to speak with one of the highest ranking Democrats in the House, Congressman James Clyburn. You're in the Situation Room.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:18:50]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: I know you always asked me, how are we doing? We're going to win this time around. I feel really good about our chances. I haven't been in all the House races, but I think we're going to keep the Senate pick up a seat. I think we have a chance to win in the House.

I don't think we're going to not win. Keeping the House. So I'm optimistic. I really am. And I find that, you know, most of the debate that occurs in a place that I've visited, I know you don't think it but I think we have pretty good crowds. A fairly enthusiastic. You don't write it that way, but they are.

And I find that the thing that gives me the most confidence is the fact that the policies we've initiated with a fair amount. They want more, they have right to request. I don't know anybody who's really opposed to us bringing down medical pressures and prescription drugs and all those other things. So, I feel optimistic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: President Biden there just moments ago. As you heard it, he's optimistic, he says, about Democrats holding the House and the Senate. Four days out from the midterm elections, President Biden changing his closing pitch from democracy in peril to the economy. [17:20:02]

And joining us now, one of the most influential members of Congress as Majority Whip, South Carolina's James Clyburn is the third ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives.

Sir, thank you so much for your time this evening. I wonder, as you listen to the President there, are you that optimistic?

REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D-SC), MAJORITY WHIP: Well, first of all, thank you very much for having me. Yes, I am. If I had talked to you last week this time, I'll be much less optimistic. But I came back to South Carolina on Monday evening, and I started talking to people around the country. I'm getting the feel that things are better this week than they were last week. And I hope they'll be a little better next week.

KEILAR: Why is that? Why do you think they're better this week than last week?

CLYBURN: Because I think people are beginning to focus on this race now. People have been listening to what's been reported, they have been watching things on television, they've been listening to all the pundits. But people are now begin to focus in on exactly where this country is, where their personal feelings, what their personal feelings are, and where they fit in the overall scheme of things.

I tell people all the time, when you campaign, you say to people, this is what my policy will do for you, this is what they will do for your family, and this is what it will do for your community. And when people bog down to the most scary things. They see in the Democratic Party the things that they want to see done for themselves, their families and their communities.

When you're cutting taxes on the rich, what is that doing for the rank and file? Absolutely nothing. And when you say that, if I am elected, I am going to means test Medicare, I am going to sunset Social Security. And people have been paid into Social Security since they were 16 years old. And now all of a sudden you can say, you cannot recoup any of that money because we can sunset it. No, people see the opposite (ph).

KEILAR: Yes, you're talking about Senator Rick Scott's plan that -- I do just want to be clear, the Republican Leader of the Senate, has certainly distanced himself, has publicly distanced himself from that. I do just want to be clear, that is Rick Scott's -- the plan that he initially did put out there.

But I want to ask you about this because you say that you think people are more optimistic. We're hearing though some Democratic pollsters who are sounding the alarm. And when you look at the most recent CNN poll, three out of four Americans think that we're already in a recession. Those are pretty alarming numbers from a Democratic perspective, yes?

CLYBURN: Yes, if those numbers were accurate, I would say so. Look at the jobs report this morning, what, two weeks ago, we saw what the gross domestic product was all about. This growth taking place, jobs are being created. How are we in the recession already? I don't know how you come to that conclusion.

KEILAR: So, I do want to turn now to the attack on Paul Pelosi. You've heard the Republican responses some of them have ranged from yes, condemnation, but some of it feels like check the box condemnation. And some of the reactions have been, quite frankly, total lacking in -- totally lacking in human decency. Have you talked to any of your Republican colleagues about it? And are they saying anything different privately to you than they are publicly?

CLYBURN: I have not talked to a single Republican about this. I have not talk any subject about this. Look, I live here in South Carolina. I know what it is to have these kinds of threats.

When I was in state government. I got them often. When you spoke out against the Confederate battle flag flying on top of the state house, yes, I got death threats for doing that. So, I know what that's like.

And I know what Nancy Pelosi and her family have been going through. I know what it is to leave home and have to have police officers in your house with your wife and children because crazy people who are not all that crazy but doing crazy things can be the catastrophic events. That's what happened in California.

And for those Republicans, especially the former president to talk about this was not a break in but a breakout, so people stop pushing all of these lies. What is happening to our country? Where is the goodness that has always been a part irrespective of where we stood on these issues? Alexis de Tocqueville told us years ago, if we lose our goodness, we are going to lose our greatness. That is just how simple it is.

[17:25:26]

KEILAR: Let me -- part of what we've seen happen here recently, that is part of why you recently compared America right now to Germany in the early 1930s. That's what you said. And you said that we're on track to repeat what happened in Germany here in America. Can you explain what you see happening here in America that prompted you to say that?

CLYBURN: All you have to do is look at history. Remember, I've studied history all of my life, I used to teach it. And what I see lining up in this country, and then a lot of people will begin to say this now, but saying it back since 2018 when I said that Trump was not planning to give up the presidency. A lot of people gave me a hard time for having said that. Now we see on January 6, he was not planning to give up the presidency.

And I'll tell you something else, if the voters do not enter, see (ph), we are going to see this democracy come to a crashing halt. This democracy has existed because people have been free to participate in it. When you set up committees that can overturn the results of an election, that is what autocracies a born of. When you're saying begin to make it a crime to give anybody a bottle of water standing in line for four or five hours, that's the kind of stuff that autocracies have made up. That's what I'm talking about.

So you go back and look at Germany, who duly elected Adolf Hitler to be their chancellor and then he went about the business of discrediting the press. What did the former president said? The press is the enemy of the people. That's what autocracies are made of. The delegate real.

KEILAR: Congressman James Clyburn, thank you so much for your time this evening.

CLYBURN: Thank you very much for having me.

KEILAR: Just ahead, today's the deadline for former President Trump to comply with a subpoena from the January 6 committee. You're in the Situation Room.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:32:02]

KEILAR: We have some new developments in the January 6 investigation. The deadline for former President Trump to comply with the House Select Committee subpoena has passed. For more on that we're joined now by CNN Special Correspondent Jamie Gangel, our Senior Crime and Justice Reporter Katelyn Polantz and defense secretary -- pardon me, Defense Attorney Shan Wu with us.

OK, so Jamie, what happens next here? Are negotiations still underway?

JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL REPORTER: So, what we know is the deadline was at 10:00 this morning, and they did not produce the documents. The deposition to that deadline is November 14. So right now, I think it's fair to say the ball is in Donald Trump's court. The committee is sitting there, they're waiting to hear from his lawyers. Is he going to produce all these documents that they asked for?

Just to remind people what these documents were about, this has to do with all of his messages, phone calls, communications with everyone from members of Congress, what he said and did to pressure Vice President Mike Pence. All of those people in Trump world who took the fifth, Mike Flynn, John Eastman, Jeffrey Clark, what was he saying and talking to and how was he communicating with Rudy Giuliani. It is a very big trove of documents. So, I think by the end of today we will hear from the committee, but right now we're waiting.

KEILAR: We are in wait and see mode here.

And Shan, I know, I just nearly gave you a big promotion there. But I have a question for you. The clock obviously running out for the committee. It really is here. So how aggressively can they pursue information? Do they pursue information from former President Trump?

SHAN WU, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I think they should. I mean, I think the whole reason they issued this subpoena, kind of at the tail end of their process, was they had done the due diligence to lay the foundation. And they wanted to check the final box and they're giving him a chance here.

I think they should move aggressively. They could look to hold him in contempt. But there's a limit to how fast they can move on that. And after that, of course, it would be up to the Justice Department.

So, he is going to run out the clock. I mean, I think you know, we'd have better odds on the Powerball than he's got, you're going to produce anything right now. And the longer they take, you know, the better his hopes are with the midterm changing the landscape. So, it's obviously a delay process. And I think it's probably going to work too.

KEILAR: Probably going to work here. And Katelyn, I know you have some exclusive new reporting when it comes to two DOJ investigations into Trump. What can you tell us?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME & JUSTICE REPORTER: Right, so the two investigations obviously the Mar-a-Lago documents investigation and the January 6 investigation both right around Donald Trump, his inner circle. And what we know now is there's a debate happening within the Justice Department of how they shore themselves up for political cross winds after the election, especially if he announces for president. That debate is whether or not Attorney General Merrick Garland should appoint a special counsel.

[17:35:05]

We've heard a lot about special counsels. Will there be one overseeing these investigations? Looks like it could be something that's on the table that we'll be talking more about. And one of the things that is shoring this up and putting this in place right now with this conversation is that the Justice Department has a lot happening behind the scenes with the criminal investigation. They're bringing people into the grand juries.

We also know that there's a brain trust essentially being established at main justice, really high level experienced national security prosecutor, a former prosecutor who's coming back to the department giving up a really lucrative job in the private sector to advice on cooperators criminal matters, so we should be ready. That's the message for many defense attorneys and prosecutors for right after the election.

KEILAR: And Shan, you know, if a special counsel is on the table, you say that that would actually delay justice, maybe forever. Tell us about your concerns there.

WU: I think the concern there is that there's got to be setup time for a special counsel. And there's got to be transferred time they have to staff up. And I get the fact that the Attorney General and DOJ is very concerned about looking completely apolitical. But by dis -- well, by deciding to do this, if they do that, they're really reacting to a political move by Trump to run and that actually ends up pushing them into the political realm.

They have been working hard, they got started kind of late, but they'd been working hard. And I don't think they need a special counsel. That's for conflicts of interest, like if he was still president. And I think they should just move ahead themselves, don't do it.

KEILAR: Well, we will see. We're in wait and see mode on a few things here, including that.

Shan, thank you. Jamie, Katelyn, thank you to all of you.

Up next, as Russia targets Ukraine's energy grid, millions of people are struggling to get by in the cold in the dark. We're live from Kyiv.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:41:24]

KEILAR: For 100s of 1000s of Ukrainians living in the capital city of Kyiv, the misery of living without power and water for hours at a time has become a daily struggle. CNN Chief International Anchor Christiane Amanpour has our report from the warzone.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL HOST (voice-over): Week four of Ukraine's new struggle against the cold and the dark, rolling blackouts, blanket Kyiv, nighttime is spooky, and we are entering this high rise apartment complex to see how the residents are coping with Russia's constant attacks on key infrastructure.

Up to the 12th floor, no light in the stairwell but our cameras and no elevator. Luliia Mendel meets us hobbling down on crutches and the foot she fractured by tripping over the steps the first night of the blackouts.

LULIIA MENDELL, JOURNALIST: Hi.

AMANPOUR (on camera): Hi.

(voice-over): She's a journalist and a former press secretary to President Zelenskyy.

(on camera): Hi, how are you?

(voice-over): Together we visit her neighbor Natalia with an 18-month- old daughter Lina (ph), just one of a whole generation of war traumatized Kyiv kids, especially with the constant air raid sirens.

(on camera): Is she stressed?

NATALIA HORBAN, KYIV RESIDENT: She is like, uh-uh, she's pointing to the window.

AMANPOUR (on camera): Yes.

HORBAN: So she knows that something goes wrong. AMANPOUR (voice-over): The two of them are recovering from a two hour ordeal trapped in that tiny elevator when the power went out. Now, all over Kyiv, residents are putting small care boxes inside with water, snacks and anti-anxiety medicines.

By the time we sat down to talk, the power popped back on again after nine hours on this day.

(on camera): Do you feel demoralized? Do you feel like OK, all right, enough already, it's time to surrender and negotiate?

MENDEL: No way. Look, we have past through the hardships of '90s. And we didn't have light water heating and everything for hours and hours every day. And that then was desperate because we didn't -- we knew it was about poverty, now it's about war, and we know that we must win.

AMANPOUR (voice-over): Winning this phase of the war comes with weapons like these to charge phones and any other emergency equipment.

HORBAN: It's the most important thing here to have in Ukraine. It's a powerbank, without it, you don't have any connection. And it's the most important now to know that your relatives are OK.

AMANPOUR (voice-over): They tell us generators are almost all sold out and super expensive now, as well as candles, torches and headlamps. Natalia has improvised light from a water bottle and her iPhone.

Downtown, it's dire for businesses too. Every beauty salon operates on hair dryers for that blowout and of course water to wash out the shampoo and the die. Olena (ph) is taking her chances today that.

OLENA (PH) (through translator): After we finished dyeing it, I might have to go home to dry it, but it's fine.

AMANPOUR (voice-over): Just one floor here has power and the others are dark. Before the war, Hairhouse had 150 clients a day. Now, it's more like 50 and the salon has lost 60 percent of its revenue.

But as Dmytro, the commercial manager tells me, they keep calm and carry on.

DMYTRO MEDVEDEV, COMMERCIAL MANAGER, HAIRHOUSE: I believe that we should work even without light. Even without electricity, we should help our army, we should help our people and we will do our job to the end. And we believe that sooner or later the light will come.

[17:45:04]

AMANPOUR (voice-over): Like so many civilians, they say, enduring these hardships on the home front is part of their war effort supporting their troops on the front lines who are fighting to keep Ukraine independent fighting for their homeland.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

AMANPOUR: And in his nightly address tonight, President Zelenskyy said that his forces had shot down eight of those Iranian made kamikaze drones, which the Russians are using, as well as their cruise missiles to attack the energy infrastructure. Also the United States it was the National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan in town today saying that 400 million more U.S. dollars of aid including refurbish tanks and sophisticated anti-air defenses are being pledged and they're coming soon. That's the latest from here, Brianna.

KEILAR: All right, Christiane, thank you so much. And thank you for taking us inside of those Ukrainian homes and businesses in that excellent report. Christiane Amanpour live for us in Kyiv.

Coming up, with four days to go until the elections, the economy is the top issue for voters. More than a quarter million new jobs just added, is that a good thing?

And why some voters are being asked to weigh in on magic mushrooms. The psychedelics being used as a way to treat depression and stress disorders.

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[17:50:49]

KEILAR: A new study shows the use of the psychedelic, commonly referred to as magic mushrooms, could help treat those with severe depression. In Oregon, the use of this psychedelic is already legal. But now some communities are fighting back with ballot measures in this year's midterm elections. CNN's David Culver has more.

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DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the nearly 1000 acre, New Frontier ranch in Southern Oregon. Mike Arnold wants to explore uncharted territory.

MIKE ARNOLD, PROPOSES PSILOCYBIN RETREAT IN OREGON: This will literally save people's lives because psychedelic medicine works.

CULVER (voice-over): He's talking specifically about psilocybin or magic mushrooms as most know them, a natural substance he firmly believes can bring internal healing.

ARNOLD: I thought this, I have to get this in the hands of as many people that are suffering as quickly and inexpensively as possible.

CULVER (voice-over): But to do that, his company, Silo Wellness, had to go where psilocybin is legal. They chose Jamaica with medical professionals on site to keep watch vetted participants in just the drug, medicine as they prefer.

CHRISSI DELACRUZ: It was in a powder form that was mixed with like a juice.

CULVER (on camera): Are you thinking, oh gosh, what's this going to do?

DELACRUZ: Yes, definitely nervous.

CULVER (voice-over): Chrissi DelaCruz says she turned to the drug to help her grieve the loss of her sister and a recent breakup.

DELACRUZ: I was feeling pretty lost and hopeless.

So this is my room.

CULVER (voice-over): So in June, she traveled down to Jamaica for one of the retreats. She says she remembers every detail from her altered state, but like many, struggles to convey the experience through words.

DELACRUZ: I almost was like I could see the life within everything around me. It sounds weird, but it's like, feel what it really is like to feel alive.

CULVER (on camera): Do you start to revisit some of the loss and pain?

DELACRUZ: There definitely was a lot of processing and healing that I was able to do during the ceremony and then especially afterwards too.

CULVER (voice-over): Arnold wants to bring the same retreat ceremony, as he calls it stateside, beginning in Oregon. In 2020, the state became the first in the U.S. to legalize the growth and distribution of psilocybin at licensed service centers to be taken under strict supervision and with restrictions on driving, opening up potential billion dollar industry.

JASON LAMPMAN, OREGON FARMER: Yes, wow.

CULVER (voice-over): Folks like McMinnville farmer, Jason Lampman, a dad of three toddlers willing to spend nearly $50,000 to undergo the mandatory training and licensing and to build the infrastructure required for approval.

LAMPMAN: I want to do it right here. My family is here. All of our other businesses are here. It's a farm crop.

CULVER (voice-over): He plans to host people for a few hours.

LAMPMAN: Over here we'd have something like a yurt.

CULVER (voice-over): As they experience a mind altering journey amidst his small orchard.

(on camera): Do you think it's safe for the kids?

LAMPMAN: There's a winery right there. People can drink as much alcohol as they want and drive down this road. I think that's a way more concerning conversation that I'm going to have to have.

CULVER (on camera): It might sound so strange, something that's only happening way out west in places like here in Oregon. But other states across the country are also exploring this new frontier (voice-over): Colorado likely to put legalizing psychedelics to a state vote. New Jersey and Washington have already reduced penalties for possession and personal use. More than a dozen other states actively studying the potential benefits or considering their own legislation. For centuries, psychedelics have been used for treatment and rituals by traditional cultures.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: America's public enemy number one.

CULVER (voice-over): But in the '70s with the war on drugs, they were criminalized in the U.S. Today, the medical community is studying psilocybin to treat PTSD, anxiety, depression, and even occur of alcohol use. But a recent headlines raised concerns about the effects of mushrooms potentially sparking erratic behavior, the lingering unknowns and stigma creating a growing unease in Oregon.

MAYOR HENRY PORTER, STAYTON, OREGON: We just want to say no, we want to opt out for a while.

CULVER (voice-over): More than 100 counties and cities and Oregon may be pushing back, state Mayor Henry Porter, one of many who secured November 8 ballot measures allowing voters to ban psilocybin businesses locally.

(on camera): Do you feel like the community needs protecting from this measure?

PORTER: Yes.

CULVER (on camera): Why?

PORTER: I don't know what it does. I don't know how it would be controlled. I don't know how to keep kids away from it. I guess it's the fear of things we don't understand.

[17:55:02]

CULVER (voice-over): A similar concern echoed back in Southern Oregon near New Frontier ranch. It's here, the legalization of cannabis proved messy in 2015 led to the participation of cartels, human trafficking and water depletion. Legalizing a new drug, not going over well here.

MARY ANNE CRANDALL, LIVES NEAR PROPOSED PSILOCYBIN RETREAT: Oh boy, you got that right.

CULVER (voice-over): Maryanne Crandall lives next to the ranch. She's open to the potential therapeutic benefits, but worries about the impact.

CRANDALL: We have a very unique community and we want to keep it that way.

CULVER (voice-over): Arnold see psilocybin as a vital service, It's more medicinal than recreational. ARNOLD: There are people suffering right now that will get the piece that they need to make it through another season and make it through another day. That they'll learn that they have value, they have worth, that life has dignity, and they're special and they're loved and they're lovable.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

CULVER: Brianna, we have to be clear here, this is going to be a reality in Oregon come January. The vote on Tuesday is to allow certain jurisdictions to opt out. But there are some that do not have this on the ballot. Hence, come the New Year, they're going to roll out in Oregon and the rest of the country will be watching.

KEILAR: Yes, I think we'll be seeing these votes in more and more states in the years to come here. David Culver in Los Angeles, thank you for that report.

Coming up, just four days out from the midterms, the economy is the biggest issue for voters and Democrats are scrambling to switch their messaging.

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