And a wonderful morning to you. It is Saturday, October the 22nd. I'm Ali Velshi coming to you live this weekend from Detroit in the crucial swing state of Michigan for a very special edition of Velshi

Across America, 2022. I traveled here earlier in the week for a conversation with a diverse

group of voters about the prominent issues on the ballot this year as Election Day nears.

It was a fascinating and important conversation. I'm going to be sharing it with you

in little bits all this weekend. Michigan is a state that has been a key battleground

for several election cycles now. This year's no different, even though it's not a presidential

election year, and neither of the state's two U.S. senators are up for election. There are

outcomes of several races here that will have huge implications in the years to come, especially

for the 2024 presidential

election. For one thing, Democrats hold a very slim majority in Congress. The Senate, as you know,

evenly split. 50-50. In the House of Representatives, Democrats only have an eight-seat

advantage over Republicans going into election day. Right now, Michigan has an even number of

Democratic and Republican representatives in the House, seven representatives each, but due to

redistricting, Michigan has lost one district, which means that one party is certain to lose at

least one of its seats in Congress. On top of that, four of the most competitive House races in the country this year

are right here in Michigan, and which is 17 days left until the election and control of Congress

up for grabs, there is no room for error for either party. Both Republicans and Democrats understand

Michigan's importance very well, which is why they've deployed their party's most popular figures to help the campaigns here. At the beginning of the month, the former president,

Donald Trump, held a rally in Warren, Michigan, in support of the state's Republican nominees.

And a week from now, former president Barack Obama will be here to do the same for his party's

nominees. This is just one stop in a campaign blitz that will take Barack Obama to

Georgia, Nevada, and Wisconsin in the final days of the election. But control of Congress is far from

...