united states and around the world. it is wednesday, october 19th. i m christine romans. we should hopefully know the winners of the mid-term election. the latest cnn polling shows the economy and inflation are the top issues for voters. later today president biden will announce the sale of 15 million barrels of oil from the strategic petroleum reserve. that will happen in december. mr. biden s aim is to ease gas prices. the move fulfills the administration s decision back in march to release a total of 180 million barrels from the reserve over a six-month period. we get more now from cnn s phil mattingly. reporter: president biden and his top economic officials have for several months made trying to do something, anything to dampen skyrocketing gas prices a central priority, if not the top priority both politically and economically for the administration. over the course of the summer they had a pretty good run, three months of consecutive drops. a run that was put into qu
president biden moving to keep gas price s down with the critical midterm elections fast approaching. good morning, it is wednesday, october 19th i m brianna keilar with john berman. today the president is expected to announce he s authorizing the release of 15 million more barrels from the u.s. strategic reserve. the draw down first announced in march to release 180 million barrels. and on the inflation front, millions of americans could see a bump in paychecks next year thanks to an inflation adjustment in the tax code. this comes as president biden and democratic candidates lockdown midterm messaging. the focus now, economy and abortion. president biden was speaking trying to rally voters still angry about the supreme court decision on roe v. wade, pledging to protect abortion rights if more democrats are elected to congress. right now, we re short a handful of votes. if you care about the right to choose, then you got to vote. that s why these midterm elections are
president biden makes a promise on abortion rights, as well as another widely supported issue, if democrats can keep control of congress after the midterms. plus, we ll have the big moments from a fiery senate debate down in florida. as marco rubio and val demings go after each other s legislative records. also ahead, the latest from ukraine. the russian forces are now more focused on civilians than soldiers on the battlefield. good morning, and welcome to way too early. on this wednesday, october 19th. i m jonathan lemire. thanks for starting your day with us. it was a fiery debate for the u.s. senate in florida last night. between republican incumbent marco rubio and democratic congresswoman val demings. they clashed over inflation, abortion rights, immigration and guns. demings who has consistently trailed in the polls was on the attack for much of the night. so a senator who has never run anything at all but his mouth. the senator has obviously resorted to ly
touch. you were right. that was kind of a buzz kill. politico sam stein, thank you for the great polling information. we will speak to you again soon. thanks to all of you for getting up way too early with us on this wednesday morning. stick around for morning joe, which starts right now. a senator who has never run anything at all, but his mouth. the senator obviously resorting to lying, cheating and trying to steal. senator, how gullible to you really think florida voters are? repeating yourself again. we ve seen this show before. socialist, socialist, crazy, marxist, silly when one would you prefer? on your list for talking points. look, the senator can play national security expert all he wants. i know he needs that for his next presidential run. yeah. i mean i don t know what you mean playing national security, vice chairman of the intelligence committee and previous chairman. it s actually my job. some of the highlights from last night s fiery
florida and will meeting with governor desantis to put their differences to help hurricane ian victims get back on their feet. we have you covered with a void in fort myers with the latest on that meeting. steve, the recovery is just beginning. the white house john kirby and where these recovery efforts are going. welcome, everybody, a very, very busy news day and something rare you seek cooperation from both sides of the aisle because the people in florida demanded it but more to the point, the leaders offered it. momentarily. let s go to nate boyd in fort myers with more. good afternoon, neil a cordial vision cor to mike visit between president biden and governor ron desantis and over s over into fort myers beach. they were there recently and the president just left under an hour ago at this point and you mentioned it was cordial. the president said he has done a good job responding to this hurricane but governor desantis is very thankful of the government assistance he r