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CNN Live Event/Special
America's Choice; FBI Ends E-mail Review, Clears Clinton; The Final Pitch To The Battlegrounds; 2016 Race: How We Got Here; Gold Star Father Who Scolded Trump Joins Clinton In NH; Trump Complains About Polling Stations Staying Open Late; Latest Electoral Map Shows Easier Path for Trump. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired November 07, 2016 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 24 hours.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kumbaya.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My Lord.
LEMON: Not yet. Speak for yourself. That's it for us tonight. Thank you so much for watching. I'll see you right back here tomorrow. "AMERICA'S CHOICE 2016" with Ms. Poppy Harlow, starts right now.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN NEWSROOM ANCHOR: 1:00 a.m. Eastern, 10:00 p.m. Pacific. I hope you are awake, ladies and gentlemen, because this is it. This is the moment that the last year and a half has been building up to. I'm Poppy Harlow in New York. So glad you're with us. You have a front row seat to history. This is CNN's special election coverage. We begin tonight with yet another twist and perhaps the wildest presidential race of your lifetime. Less than 48 hours before the election, FBI Director James Comey throws a curveball and wraps up the review of Hillary Clinton's e-mails. The review he announced just 10 days ago. That's it. Case closed. FBI agents apparently working around the clock scouring thousands of newly discovered e-mails linked to longtime Clinton aide Huma Abedin, but much of what they found, duplicates or e-mails that were personal, nothing that would alter their July decision not to pursue a case against Clinton. You all remember when the FBI announced this new review, Donald Trump pounced, calling it bigger than Watergate. Even saying, "The FBI agents say their investigation is likely to yield an indictment." Well, it didn't happen. Hours ago, Comey sent a second letter to congress saying the bureau found nothing that changed its decision, finding no criminal activity linked to Clinton's use of a private e-mail server. Taking to Twitter tonight, former house speaker Newt Gingrich and a Trump ally, described Director Comey as "An indefensible pretzel of contradictions." This all comes as Trump and Clinton sprint across the country gearing up for their very last day of campaigning. Let's dig deeper with CNN Justice Correspondent tonight, Evan Perez. EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Poppy, FBI Director James Comey says investigators worked around the clock during the past 10 days. And based on what they found, the FBI's decision in July stands. No charges against Hillary Clinton. Comey sent his conclusions in a three-paragraph letter to congress on Sunday. What this means is that as far as the FBI and Hillary Clinton are concerned, this investigation is now over. Comey, in his letter to congress says in part, "During the process, we reviewed all of the communications that were to or from Hillary Clinton while she was Secretary of State. Based on our review, we have not changed our conclusions that we expressed in July, with respect to Secretary Clinton." Let's remember how we got here. About a month ago, the FBI took possession of a laptop belonging to Anthony Weiner, husband of Huma Abedin, one of Clinton's closest aides. The team that spent a year looking at the Clinton e-mail server, was brought back to review tens of thousands of e-mails. Investigators found some classified information in those e-mails, but how much of it and what level of classification, we don't know. What we do know is that these e-mails were largely duplicates or some were personal. Investigators still want to talk to Huma Abedin, and she has said that she doesn't know how these e-mails got there. Poppy?
HARLOW: Evan, thank you very much for that reporting. Donald Trump stumping late into the night. He rallied supporters in the Battleground State of Pennsylvania, Sunday evening, before heading to Virginia. Just moments ago, Trump wrapped up an early morning speech to a big crowd in Leesburg. That's where we find our CNN Senior White House Correspondent Jim Acosta. Jim, doesn't matter if they have work tomorrow morning. They stayed up late for Trump.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. And some of the people here in this barn, here in Leesburg, Virginia, waited five or six hours. It's a pretty chilly temperatures for Donald Trump to show up, but they got what they were waiting for. Donald Trump came out here after midnight and really lit into Hillary Clinton once again, referring to her as corrupt, as dishonest, as somebody who the public can't trust. It is really his closing argument in this campaign. It's interesting to know, Poppy, ever since that Jim Comey letter came out earlier today, Donald Trump has been sort of treading lightly, treading carefully around this subject. He hasn't really gone after the FBI Director and hit him, you know, right in the nose. He's really just been sort of complaining that, well, there's no way the FBI could have conducted a real thorough investigation in this last week and a half since Jim Comey announced eight or nine days ago that they were sort of re-launching this look into her private e-mail server. Listen to how he described it just a little while ago, here in Virginia.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hillary Clinton is the most corrupt person ever to seek the office of the presidency of the United States. She's being protected by a totally rigged system. I've been talking about the rigged system, folks. I understand the rigged system. I understand. This is a rigged system. This is a rigged system. (END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Now, a part of the problem for Donald Trump in all of this, Poppy, as you know, earlier this summer, after Jim Comey first said that they were not going to bring charges against Hillary Clinton. You know, Donald Trump was saying that the FBI was part of this rigged system, to give the election to Hillary Clinton. Then eight or nine days ago, when that letter came out, saying, well, they are taking a whole new look at this. You know, it was just last Monday, Poppy, when Donald Trump was saying, well, James Comey has resurrected his reputation. It took a lot of guts -
HARLOW: Right.
ACOSTA: -- to do what he did. So, it's not surprising to see Donald Trump sort of hold back a little bit tonight, although at this last rally of the day, he said this was embarrassing. Described as an embarrassing episode for the FBI. That's the - that's the farthest he went today, in really criticizing the bureau.
HARLOW: Jim Acosta, live for us tonight, really, no, this morning, 1:00 a.m. in Leesburg, Virginia. Jim, thank you. Let's discuss all of this. CNN Correspondent Sunlen Serfaty is with me, also Brian Stelter, our CNN Senior Media Correspondent and host of Reliable Sources. I think he's been awake for 24 hours straight since his live show this morning. In Washington D.C., Laura Coates, CNN Legal Analyst and former Federal Prosecutor, and in California, Lanhee Chen, a CNN Political Commentator, former Public Policy Director for Mitt Romney, a republican, I should note, not supporting Donald Trump. Thank you all for being here. And Laura, let me begin with you as the legal voice in all of this. Is it odd to you, that Comey opted not to have the FBI, you know, not to get that warrant to review all these e- mails if they could do it relatively quickly, as they did, prior to sending the initial letter to congress nine days ago? Or do you think that he was so fearful that this would get politicized, that the warrant news would leak and then he would look like he was not forthcoming enough?
LAURA COATES, CNN LEGAL ANALYST AND FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Poppy, everything about Comey's actions can be classified as odd here. What's particularly odd about Comey's actions here is that, yes, if it could have been reviewed in this very expedited way that ultimately it has been, then why not give the information that was already, you know, concluded by the FBI before giving a letter to congress. Because remember, a letter to congress was sent as a means to update them based on his testimony in July. But he didn't actually inform of anything. He said that I may have something for you. I haven't bothered to look at it yet.
Now, we have the conclusion, and we're able to see we're just back where we started, which is, that the FBI will not recommend charges against Hillary Clinton in this case. Remember, Poppy, the final discretion lies with the Department of Justice, the Attorney General's Office, not with the FBI Director. And so, I think you're absolutely right. His decision making was based more on his decision to be objective and trying to prove that he was objective than it had been what the FBI should have done.
HARLOW: Yeah, I think David Axelrod put it really clearly tonight when he said, you know, essentially, he was doing everything to uphold the integrity of the bureau, etc. and it ended up crumbling, frankly, with some of that. Sunlen, let me - let me go to you. When you think about what this has done to Clinton's campaign, we're not going to know until Tuesday night, Wednesday morning. But their internal polling within the Clinton Camp shows that it does hurt them among some independents and some republican women who have strayed away from Donald Trump, come to her side and then left her side after this Comey letter. Is this damage that is irreparable at least in part?
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it absolutely could be. I mean, first and foremost, the Clinton campaign, there's a sense of relief within the Clinton campaign but there's also this sense among people very close to the campaign, that the damage is done. That it's not something that can be undone. That it's a wound that can't be healed in the few hours before Election Day. You know, keep in mind that when this Comey letter came out, that's was 10 days ago. Such a critical time in this campaign, when many people were heading to the polls for early voting in states that have that when people were making up their mind. When they thought maybe some republicans and independents who couldn't stomach Donald Trump, could be persuaded to their side. And this might have talked him out of that. That was really baked into the political ether at that critical time. It also handed Donald Trump in these last few days and last week, an essential burst of momentum. He had suddenly a good talking point that he could latch onto. That's not stuff you can undo in 24 hours before Election Day.
HARLOW: Yeah. And then Brian, here we are. It's 1:00 in the morning, Monday. And this is the news that breaks today, two days out. But I just wonder, I mean, your immediate expert or wiz, how does this play? Is this what gets the attention in the final stretch or does this get more buried than the initial Comey letter that was covered ad nauseam for a week?
BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT AND HOST OF RELIABLE SOURCES: Yeah. There probably is a reality that fewer Americans will hear about this follow-up than about the original letter.
HARLOW: Yeah.
STELTER: Is there anyone in America less popular right now, than James Comey? Because the people that were thrilled about him a week ago, are now angry and vice versa.
HARLOW: Maybe these two - maybe these two candidates with their high unfavorables.
STELTER: Well, right. Maybe they're the two. You know, Donald Trump was saying, you can change your vote. If you've already voted, you can change your vote (INAUDIBLE) of probably back away from that kind of rhetoric. But I actually don't think much for turnout on Tuesday, as some of the other things we're seeing in the coming hours. So, the Khan family re-emerging with the Clintons, you know, the web video and things like that. The big rally that's going to hold later today with Bill Clinton. You know, those kind of visuals will ultimately matter more for turnout.
HARLOW: And her team is making the conscious choice not to talk about this. Not to have her talk about this on the stump, because they don't want the closing hours to be about her e-mails again.
STELTER: And the unanswered questions that still exist.
HARLOW: Yeah.
STELTER: There's a lot of questions about that letter. Just because Clinton might be in the clear, doesn't mean other staffers are. A lot of questions about that. He does not want to be stuck on that.
HARLOW: If they find other devices, you know that if they find other devices, then that could raise this all again.
STELTER: Yeah.
HARLOW: Lanhee, let me ask you. Regardless of who wins on Tuesday, can FBI Director Comey survive?
LANHEE CHEN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, FORMER PUBLIC POLICY DIRECTOR FOR MITT ROMNEY: Well, I think it's going to be very difficult, regardless of who wins. I mean, if it's -- if it's Hillary Clinton, you know, I think, first of all, there is some baggage there, but second of all, you know, there will be a strong desire for her to put in place, leaders of her administration that in many cases are going to be different from those in President Obama's administration and certainly for Donald Trump, look, I think he is going to have his own vision of government. He's probably going to put in place his own leadership as well. So unfortunately for Director Comey, I think this could be the end. The reality here, though, Poppy, is I don't know that he had a whole lot of options. I think he had to disclose information once he had it. And in this situation, it all looked very hurried but I do think the FBI did the best they could to get the information out as expeditiously and accurately as possible.
HARLOW: And Harry Reid wrote this letter, responding to the newest Comey letter to congress saying, "Comey created a political firestorm 11 days before a presidential election merely to confirm what we already knew that Secretary Clinton's e-mail practices were legal by confirming that new e-mails were meaningless. Today's letter underscores the irresponsibility of Director Comey's original letter." I want everyone to take a moment and listen to how Donald Trump chose to handle this news, stumping today in Michigan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Right now, she is being protected by a rigged system. It's a totally rigged system. I've been saying it for a long time. You can't review 650,000 new e-mails in eight days. You can't do it, folks. Hillary Clinton is guilty. She knows it. The FBI knows it. The people know it. And now, it's up to the American people to deliver justice at the ballot box. (END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: This is a message that he kept up in Virginia, just moments ago in a speech that ended just before 1:00 a.m. Brian Stelter, to you. It was rigged before. Then it wasn't rigged nine days ago when Comey sent the initial letter to congress. Now, it's rigged again. I mean, when you talk about a rigged election, you've been very vocal about this on your show. This is about the essence of American democracy, free and fair elections. And he's back on rigged.
STELTER: Every time I've been listening to his speeches last few days, I've been looking for signs or clues, he's going to return to this rigged election idea. The idea that the election being stolen from him. And on the one hand, he can mean from the media, from the elites. But if he starts to talk more explicitly about voter fraud, as he started to drop hints about that in the last couple of days again, he could be laying the ground work to delegitimize the result of the election on Tuesday night, to not concede if it's clear that Hillary Clinton does prevail on Tuesday night. So it's worth listening to those signs and those hints in his rhetoric.
HARLOW: I think it's an important point because we heard the chair of Nevada's Republican Party, coming out last night and saying -- he said last night in Clark County, they kept the polls open until 10:00 p.m. The polls are supposed to close at 7:00. This was kept open until 10:00. And he was saying, you know, that it was to let, "certain groups" vote.
STELTER: Certain people.
HARLOW: Sunlen, interestingly, Kellyanne Conway, the leader of Trump's - of Trump's campaign, was asked about this. And she said, you know, well, you know, it's OK to speculate about things like this. I mean, this gets to the essence of it. Anyone that is standing in line when the polls close in any state, has the legal right to vote.
SERFATY: Right.
HARLOW: There's no gray area.
SERFATY: Right. There's no gray area. And, you know, there has been some hints dropped by the Trump campaign in small amounts. And to piggyback on what Brian was saying, I've been to a lot of Trump rallies recently and I can tell you, nothing creates this sort of crowd cheer like the election is rigged. That is a line that worked so well with his supporters. This is something that he repeats again and again at a time where Donald Trump needs his base to get out and vote for him. That's a line that's very effective. That's something we've seen him repeatedly doubled down, tripled down in the days leading up to the campaign. So, whether that's a legitimate concern from their campaign or a tool that they're using to how people actually come out and vote, I don't know, but that's --
STELTER: Activates the base.
SERFATY: -- certainly what he is leading on at this late hour. Exactly.
(CROSSTALK)
HARLOW: He needs more than people who already believe that or who are motivated by that. He needs ideas and issues focused voters to be able to bridge the gap. Guys, thank you very much. Quickly a little bit later, Laura Coates, Sunlen Serfaty, Brian Stelter, Lanhee Chen, we appreciate it. It is all been leading up to this. Election Day in America, we have every race and every result. Stay with CNN until the very last vote is cast. We have a lot ahead for you this hour in our special live edition of CNN NEWSROOM. Clinton and Trump making their final pitch to voters in Battleground States. Coming up, we will take you to the Sunshine State, and its critical at 29 electoral votes. That is where we find Nick Valencia. Hi Nick.
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Poppy. As Florida goes, so seems to go the nation. I'm Nick Valencia in Tallahassee, Florida. Where earlier on Sunday, early voting wrapped up here in the state. It was a historic turnout in Leon County. We'll give you the numbers after the break.
TRUMP: Friends, delegates and fellow Americans, I humbly and gratefully accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States.
CLINTON: And so my friends, it is with humility, determination and boundless confidence in America's promise, that I accept your nomination for President of the United States.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[01:20:00] DONALD TRUMP: And they are reopening the case into her criminal and illegal conduct that threatens the security of the United States of America.
HILLARY CLINTON: It is pretty strange -- it's pretty strange to put something like that out with such little information right before an election.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: Hillary Clinton rushing to build up support in key Battleground States. She added a last-minute trip to Pittsburgh on Monday and Trump was there Sunday. Just hours ago, Clinton rallied in New Hampshire introduced by the man who has perhaps done some of the most damage to Trump this election, Gold Star father Khizr Khan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KHIZR KHAN, GOLD STAR FATHER: I have a few question for Donald Trump. Donald Trump, would my son, Captain Humayun Khan, have a place in your America? Would Muslims have a place in your America? Would Latinos have a place in your America? Would African-Americans have a place in your America, Donald Trump? Would anyone who isn't like you have a place in your America, Donald Trump? Well, thankfully, Mr. Trump, this isn't your America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: This last-minute push comes as FBI Director James Comey tonight announcing the agency has once again cleared Clinton in the investigation into her private e-mail server. With me now to debate, CNN Political Commentators, Symone Sanders and Andre Bauer. Symone is a Former National Press Secretary for Bernie Sanders, she now supports Clinton. Andre is the Former Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina, he supports Donald Trump. Thank you for being here.
(CROSSTALK)
HARLOW: (INAUDIBLE) It's only 1:00 in the morning. I'm so glad you're here early. Andre, let me begin with you. Case closed with the FBI, we know that, that's indisputable. In New Hampshire on Friday, Donald Trump said the FBI agents say their investigation is likely to yield an indictment. He also previously said this is bigger than Watergate. That's just not the case. There were no facts to prove it then, and there certainly aren't now. As a Trump supporter, are you comfortable with him doing that?
ANDRE BAUER, CNN COMMENTATOR AND FORMER SOUTH CAROLINA SENATOR AND LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR: Well, there actually are facts. Maybe --
HARLOW: Not to support an indictment and not to support it's bigger than Watergate, and those are his words.
BAUER: Well, and a lot of folks, including myself, feel that there are. When you examine the case and we're not going to re-examine it now -
(CROSSTALK)
HARLOW: But that's not how the justice system works.
(CROSSTALK)
HARLOW: When you know that you're former lieutenant governor.
BAUER: Well, you got a department of - you got a Department of Justice system that's had over 228 people donate to Hillary Clinton. Two of them have donated to Donald Trump. So you got a system -
HARLOW: So, you're saying the DOJ is rigged?
BAUER: I'm not saying it's rigged but it I'm saying it definitely favors Hillary Clinton. She's had 40 years of being in public office to build a lot of friends. Bill Clinton, I guarantee you nobody else could have gotten a meeting on the runway with the attorney general a few days before the FBI waits (INAUDIBLE) why is that just doesn't happen.
HARLOW: And you know, Director Comey was a registered republican up until this election.
(CROSSTALK)
BAUER: I don't think that has any bearing on it. But again --
HARLOW: So, you are comfortable with him, it sounds like, you're comfortable with him saying things like this? Baseless claims -
BAUER: I don't want to say I'm comfortable with everything Donald Trump's has ever said but I think that --
HARLOW: But saying this is bigger than Watergate and saying they're going to indict. They're not sure.
BAUER: Well, they looked at indicting, and he thought they would indict. And a lot of people thought they would indict, including a lot of members of congress when -
(CROSSTALK)
HARLOW: He said FBI agents say. I think --
BAUER: Well, maybe some - maybe some of them did say that.
HARLOW: And if they were speaking to Donald Trump, they certainly shouldn't have been.
BAUER: Well, maybe he heard it through some - you know, I don't have all the information there but given a lot of the facts that were presented here, destroying evidence, there's a lot of things in here that no other American would have gotten away with. HARLOW: So, to that point Symone, how concerned are you as a Clinton
supporter that other - you know a lot of other Americans perhaps are thinking the way that Andre is.
SYMONE SANDERS, CNN COMMENTATOR AND A FORMER NATIONAL PRESS SECRETARY FOR BERNIE SANDERS: I'm not concerned, per se and I do - I really do think that it's dangerous when we start politicizing the FBI on both sides, on republican side and the democratic side. So, we saw -- you know, nine days ago when Director Comey came out with this letter that he sent to congressional republicans -
HARLOW: He sent it to both.
SANDERS: He sent it to both, but you saw democrats really coming after Director Comey. And I definitely it's dangerous when we start to politicize the FBI and the Justice Department. It's really dangerous when folks like Donald Trump and Governor Pence are questioning the legitimacy of what the FBI is saying, what they are handing down, our Justice Department, it's something we just have to uphold our truth in it. When we start questioning, you know, if our - if the career prosecutors and if the justice department is doing what's in the best interest of the American people, well, that's when we started eroding cornerstones of our democracy.
(CROSSTALK)
HARLOW: Even President Obama weighed in this week and in an interview more than frankly Josh Earnest, you know, was willing to go and comment.
SANDERS: But I do think so -- here's the difference, I think it's okay to say that, you know, I don't agree with the method and way in which Director Comey went about this and the FBI went about this. It went against precedent, which we know, there's documented evidence - there's documented citations to support that, but it's not okay to say, you know, I just don't know about Director Comey. The system is rigged, the FBI is rigged, 228 people have donated to Secretary Clinton -
(CROSSTALK)
BAUER: And he said she lied. Director Comey has said Hillary Clinton lied.
HARLOW: On that point of rigged, I want you to listen to this. This is some sound from the person who leads the Republican Party in the state of Nevada talking about the early voting there yesterday. Let's play that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL MCDONALD, NEVADA STATE GOP CHAIRMAN: Last night, in Clark County, they kept a poll open until 10:00 at night so a certain group could vote.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: So a certain group could vote. By law, anyone in line can vote. If they are in line by the time the poll closes, they are allowed to vote. No one on Trump's campaign, including the candidate came out and disavowed this. In fact, here's what Donald Trump said about it today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: It's being reported that certain key democratic polling locations in Clark County were kept open for hours and hours beyond closing time to bus and bring democratic voters in. Folks, it's a rigged system.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: So Andre, as a Trump supporter, he says it's a rigged system, he says people were - if this was done to bus in democrats, which he has no idea who was in line -
BAUER: Well, he does, Harry Reid bragged about it.
(CROSSTALK)
HARLOW: He wasn't there, I mean, what happened is legal.
BAUER: Well, I would question this -
HARLOW: Why do you question the people standing in line, American citizens are allowed to vote.
(CROSSTALK)
BAUER: Well, here's why I question this. You're exactly right they're allowed to vote, but when did they cut it off? Did they let people continue to get in line after the 5:00? The ones that were there, because guess what happened to Andre Bauer on Friday. I was on the phone with CNN getting ready to walk into the polling place, we're working out my travel logistics, at 5:03, I actually walked through the door and got turned away on Friday, and I don't get to vote now.
HARLOW: Because they close at 5:00.
BAUER: Because they close at 5:00. The place was full inside -
(CROSSTALK)
BAUER: But I wasn't through the door. And so exactly, my point is, is it where did -- the people that were in line, at 5:00, but after 5:00, did people continue to get in line and they get to vote, too.
SANDERS: OK. So, what Andre is saying is very different than what Donald Trump and the Chairman actually, that was the Chairman of the Republican Party --
(CROSSTALK)
BAUER: I'm asking more than really saying it because I don't know.
SANDERS: Yeah, so, what you're questioning is definitely different than what the chairman of the Republican Party in Nevada said and Donald Trump. What Donald Trump and the chairman of the Nevada Republican Party were saying is, look, they deliberately kept these polling places open so a certain democratic, which they're alluding to Latinos and Hispanics, could vote. And that is absolutely not true. Look, republicans could have got in line, but what we're seeing here is a difference between the democrat strong ground game and the republicans lack of infrastructure to really invest in a ground game, because republicans could have been in line at 6:59 in Nevada to stay in line until 10:00 p.m. but for all we know -- and we don't know who was in line, to be honest, we don't know.
BAUERS: Well, I'm not questioning if they're in line. I'm saying if the lines -
(CROSSTALK)
BAUERS: If this is the end of the line and after 7:00 -
SANDERS: And that is dangerous to our democracy. And furthermore, it's not doing the republican party any favors when they need to be broadening, expanding their base, and when you use coded (INAUDIBLE) with a language (INAUDIBLE) a certain group of people -- who are these certain people you talking about?
(CROSSTALK) HARLOW: Would you agree with that point that saying things in the
tone that he said it in a certain group of people, does that make you uncomfortable?
BAUER: I think people are quick to call a dog whistle on any side they don't agree with. And I may say stuff that some might say is dog whistle but I can tell you, there's no malice in my heart towards anybody. And I don't mean it as a dog whistle but I think we're now - we gotten so politically correct that if you're not on the right side, immediately it's a dog whistle. I don't know his heart, I don't know where he is, and so I don't -
HARLOW: OK. Got to leave it there.
BAUER: All right.
HARLOW: Thank you. I'm sorry you didn't get to vote, by the way. Just --
BAUER: Should have been there earlier.
HARLOW: All right. Symone Sanders, Andre, thank you very much.
We are about to take a swing through some Battleground States, Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio. That's where we find our Suzanne Malveaux.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NEWSROOM CO-ANCHOR: Well, Hillary Clinton, Lebron James, Jay-Z, as well as Beyonce, all of them here in the Cleveland area, the last 48 hours to try to get out those early voters. This in the state of Ohio which is a must-win for Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: If Hillary Clinton were a man, I don't think she'd get five percent of the vote. The only thing she's got going is the woman's card, and the beautiful thing is women don't like her. OK?
CLINTON: If fighting for women's health and paid family leave and equal pay is playing the woman card, then deal me in.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS WALLACE, FOX NETWORK TV HOST: Are you saying you're not prepared now --
TRUMP: What I'm saying is that I will tell you at the time. I'll keep you in suspense.
CLINTON: Look I made speeches to lots of groups. I told them what I thought. I answered questions. ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: But did you have to be paid $675,000?
CLINTON: Well, I don't know. That's what they offered so --
MEGYN KELLY, AMERICAN JOURNALIST: You called women you don't like fat pigs, dogs, slobs and disgusting animals. Your Twitter account --
TRUMP: Only Rosie O'Donnell.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: Remember those moments? Wow, it's been a long election. Hey. You awake? Can't sleep? Excited for this election? So are we. It's just after 1:30 in the morning and we are live now just hours from Election Day.
Hillary Clinton still has the edge in the latest CNN electoral map but the path for Donald Trump is gotten a little bit wider. Our Political Director David Chalian has the numbers.
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN, POLITICLA DIRECTOR: We made some pretty significant changes to our electoral map all in Donald Trump's favor. This is our old map. It had six battleground states. This is our new map. Five remaining battleground states, here's what we changed.
New Hampshire went from leaning democrat to a battleground state. Ohio went from battle ground to lean Republican, really significant there. Utah, battleground to lean Republican, and the Second Congressional District in Maine, they award their electoral votes by congressional district went from battleground to lean Republican.
So, that gives us Donald Trump at 20, Hillary Clinton at 268 falling below that 270 mark. How does she do it now? What is Hillary Clinton's path? She still needs to defend this blue wall of Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, where Donald Trump is going to be campaigning through the weekend. She did get some late news out of Michigan.
A brand-new poll there, 42 percent to 38 percent in this Detroit Free Press poll, four points edge a state that the Democrats would really like to be farther ahead than that. It gives them a little bit of concern but that's a significant enough edge to say that Hillary Clinton is holding her blue line. So, where does she go to find the two electoral votes that she needs? Any of the battleground states.
The smallest one, four electoral votes, New Hampshire gets her over the line to 272. How about Donald Trump's path? Again, this is our new battleground map. How does he get there? Donald Trump has to sweep the map. Let's start adding to his 204.
Nevada, Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, New Hampshire. I've given him all the battleground states. That only gets him to 269. Where does he go to find that extra one? Well remember, Nebraska also awards its electoral votes by congressional district. That little yellow area around Omaha, that is the second congressional district and it is a true battleground. So, if indeed, Donald Trump can win that congressional district in
Nebraska, let's give it to him, boom. He gets to 270 electoral votes. He's got a steep hill to climb. It's a little less steep than it was yesterday. Hillary Clinton still has the control of the electoral map.
HARLOW: David, thank you so much. Let's go to Florida because of all the swing states you can say that Florida is the swingiest. That is a word we like to use at 1:30 in the morning, the swingiest. The latest CNN poll of polls shows a dead heat there. 45 to 45, Clinton versus Trump, our Nick Valencia is in Florida's capital, city of Tallahassee where he joins us this morning.
Once again my friend Florida could go either way. Why is it so often that it seems as Florida goes, so goes the nation?
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is a crucial battleground state. And political analysts, political scientists will tell you this appears to be a microcosm of the rest of the United States and provides a snapshot, Poppy of what the future of the U.S. Might look like. You have a lot of newly arrived immigrants here, lot retirees. Northern Florida, predictably Republican, South Florida a democratic stronghold.
And right in the middle of the state you have this often talked about I4 corridor of the 12.8 million registered voters here in the state. 40 percent of them live -- more than 40 percent of them live right in the middle of the state. There's no greater indicator, no better indicator just how important a state is to a presidential candidate but how many times they visit. Both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have dotted the map from south to north.
Tomorrow or I should say later today, here Monday, we expect Donald Trump to have a rally in Sarasota, Florida. Hillary Clinton expected to have Vice President Joe Biden, a surrogate of her stump. And just to give you an indicator of just how razor thin of a margin here it is and just how crucial it is that the last three presidential elections in the state of Florida decided by less than three percentage points in 2012. Obama won this about 0.9 percent. You could believe that Poppy.
HARLOW: And 537 votes decided it there, the entire election, back in 2000. Nick, are the local officials on the ground who oversee all of these polling sites et cetera concerned about any potential issues there for voters?
VALENCIA: So, we've heard a lot about so-called rigged elections.
HARLOW: Right.
VALENCIA: Specifically from the Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump. I talked earlier to Leon County where we are here in Tallahassee to the election supervisor. He called that just nonsense. Earlier today -- early voting wrapped up in historic margins. It was historic voter turnout. Back in 2012 there was about 45,000 or so people here specifically in Leon County that casted their ballot early.
Yesterday, or actually I should say at the end of polls closing, there was already more than 67,000 people that had turned out and the good news. So far here in this democratic stronghold for Hillary Clinton, of those that cast their vote, 57 percent were democrat, 28 percent were Republican. We'll see if that translates throughout the rest of the state come Tuesday. Poppy?
HARLOW: Nick Valencia, live for us in Tallahassee, thank you very much. Next it is no Florida as Election Day prize go but Ohio is a high value battleground with 18 electoral votes. The latest polling gives Donald Trump an edge in Ohio leading Hillary Clinton by five points there during this campaign season. You have probably seen a lot of Ohio as you might have expected to see in a lifetime.
But I bet you've never seen it at 1:40 in the morning, right Suzanne Malveaux joins us live from Columbus.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, AMERICAN TELEVISION JOURNALIST: I just couldn't sleep Poppy. I think that was it.
HARLOW: I know. I know, I think that was it.
MALVEAUX: Because that was six and a half hours, right?
HARLOW: Exactly. You know --
MALVEAUX: Six and a half hours it's all early voting starts.
HARLOW: Exactly and I mean --
MALVEAUX: (INAUDIBLE) live today.
HARLOW: We're getting towards the end of early voting, right there?
MALVEAUX: Absolutely. We are getting towards the end of it. It's going to start at 8:00 in the morning it will go until 2:00 in the afternoon. So far we've seen 1.5 million of people who have actually voted early out of the 7 million in Ohio. So, this is really good news for both sides but potentially really tightening this race even tighter potentially working for Hillary Clinton.
She is really counting on those votes in Cleveland, the Millennials, African-Americans as well as women. She's been working very hard in the Cleveland area. We've been seeing record turnout in terms of early voting there. In terms of Donald Trump, he really needs Southern Ohio, Cincinnati. There are big numbers out of Cincinnati for early voters there.
People who have lost their jobs, who had steel or coal industry jobs and who are now looking and really resonate with Trump's message about the anti-free trade movement he's been pushing forward. Some statistics here from CNN and our partner here catalyst showing now that Democrats, out of those early voters, Democrats represent 27 percent Republicans, 33 percent others, 39 percent or unknown. And Poppy that is really the big question, of course. How many of those folks are independents and how many of those folks
are actually crossing over and voting across party lines? That is something that we are not necessarily sure of. But it could be up to two million additional voters leading up until Tuesday before the official Election Day. So this is very, very big, very serious. And Poppy you might recall this 2012, Mitt Romney actually, he won on Election Day Ohio but it was Barack Obama who won the state ultimately --
HARLOW: Yes.
MALVEAUX: -- because of those early ballots.
HARLOW: Yes. It is critical. It is a critical state. Suzanne, thank you very much. Now to Pennsylvania, historically tilting democrat but this year it's a light blue battleground. Look how tight it is. Hillary Clinton has an edge but just by four -- just by, well, right now that one says 2 percentage points. Our Sara Sidner is in Philadelphia. Some very big guns coming out for Hillary Clinton, President Obama, The First Lady, Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi. It's like an all-out rock concert tomorrow night?
SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And just imagine this year was hanging out with Katy Perry this weekend. If star power won elections, she'd be doing pretty well considering the number of people that backed her like Jay-Z and Beyonce. So, lots of star power, she's been here in Pennsylvania. It gives you some idea though just how important this state is when the candidates are spending quite a bit of time in the last few days before the election here.
Donald Trump was here in the Pittsburgh area today, the day before, I should say. And so we are seeing these candidates comes through here and these last crucial 48 hours trying to get people, galvanize more people to get out the vote. This is certainly been an exciting time for this city in particular because they're seeing so much of both candidates, as well as Pennsylvania as a whole. A lot of excitement but just so you know, early voting doesn't really exist here.
So November 8th is the big day here. And they are expecting very long lines at the polls, Poppy.
HARLOW: No question about it. Sara Sidner, live for us in Pennsylvania, thank you so much.
Coming up, some Mexican cartoonists in Mexico have a message for Donald Trump. Let's bring in our Ed Lavandera. He is live tonight for us in Mexico City, hey, Ed.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDEDNT: Hey, good morning, Poppy. We're here in Mexico City. Obviously, the country of Mexico playing a very significant factor in this presidential election, we're here taking the pulse of the Mexican people who are watching this election very closely. We'll have more on that coming up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: Donald supported the invasion of Iraq.
TRUMP: Wrong.
CLINTON: That is absolutely proved over and over again.
TRUMP: Wrong.
CLINTON: It's just awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in our country.
TRUMP: Because you'd be in jail.
CLINTON: What we want to do is to replenish --
TRUMP: Such a nasty woman.
CLINTON: -- the social security trust fund by making sure that we have sufficient resources.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: That wall is getting taller with every interview these ex- Mexican presidents do. Getting taller, taller, it's getting up there. I'll tell you what.
CLINTON: It may be hard to see tonight, but we are all standing under a glass ceiling right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: In less than 48 hours, you go to the polls. You vote. You decide. If he wins, Donald Trump will be closer to fulfilling his campaign centerpiece, building a wall along the US-Mexico border. Right now some Mexican artists are responding to his strong rhetoric. Let's bring in Ed Lavandera. He's live for us this morning in Mexico City.
And Ed you spoke with some of these political cartoonists in Mexico City really expressing their views on the U.S. Election. What are they saying and what are they creating?
LAVANDERA: You know, it's not going to come as a surprise to many people that the vast majority of people you speak with here are very concerned, very worried about how the U.S. Presidential Election is going to play out on Tuesday. A great deal of support here for Hillary Clinton.
I'm not really sure if that's exactly a lot of support for Hillary Clinton or just a lot of people very worried about the fact that Donald Trump might become president of the United States. That is by and large the vast majority -- the opinion of the vast majority of the people that we spoke with. And in the historic center of the city here, Mexico City, with more than 20 million people, there's a little museum called the caricature museum. And cartoonists, political cartoonist here in the city of Mexico City
gathered here. And they put together an exhibition of cartoons lampooning Donald Trump. It's become kind of a very popular stopping point for many people to duck in. All of these cartoons basically raking Donald Trump over the coals that is kind of capturing the mood of this country. Here's a little bit offer conversation with one of those artists.
LAVANDERA: (FOREIGN LANGUAGE) Donald Trump, que -- what do people think of Donald Trump.
UNIDETIFIED MALE: (FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
LAVANDERA: They don't like him?
(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
LAVANDERA: Xenophobic, racist speech? (FOREIGN LANGUAGE) Donald Trump insulted the (FOREIGN LANGUAGE) that's what he says.
(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
LAVANDERA: What percentage of the population here do you think supports Hillary Clinton compared to Donald Trump?
(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
LAVANDERA: He says 99 percent, mucho. That 99 percent -- a scientific calculation, but you can get the sense that there's just a great deal of support, or great deal of people against Donald Trump at this point. And it's not just people you talk with. The people you speak with here on the street repeatedly told us over the last few days, you know, the talk of what they view as racist and xenophobic speech coming from Donald Trump has really turned off people.
But there's also a great deal of concern here, Poppy from people in the government worried about what a Donald Trump election could do to the economy here. As you well know Donald Trump talking about forcing Mexico to build -- pay for the wall that Donald Trump wants to build along the southern U.S. Border. Talk of tearing up the NAFTA trade deal as well as raising tariffs on Mexican products.
All of that creating a great deal of concern forcing government officials to talk about contingency plans that in today just the news of the FBI not going after Hillary Clinton on the e-mail issue ticked up the value of the Mexican Peso here almost two percent. So you can sense the volatility that's going on here --
HARLOW: Yes.
LAVANDERA: -- in this country as they pay very close attention to this election coming up in just a couple of days.
HARLOW: It's been fascinating, Ed, to watch the currency fluctuations day to day, week to week in Mexico, especially, based on what the candidates have said. Thank you Ed, live for us early this morning in Mexico City. We are just shy of 2:00 a.m. here on the East Coast. But worry not my friends we are live with you every single hour through Election Day.
We watched Trump steadily creep up in the polls over the last two weeks. CNN's average of the most recent polling shows him trailing Clinton but just by three points nationally. He is gaining momentum also state by state this week. Ohio, Utah and a key congressional district in Maine. Maine's second district moved from battleground to lean Republican. And New Hampshire, a state where Clinton has held a healthy lead up until recently could now go either way.
If this recent anti-Clinton sentiment caused by Wikileaks in the controversy over her e-mails or are reluctant GOP voters coming home? Are they coming home to Donald Trump? With me CNN Sunlen Serfaty, also with us Lanhee Chen, CNN political commentator and former public policy director for Mitt Romney a Republican who does not support Trump. And Alice Stewart formerly the communications director for Ted Cruz
and one of those Republicans who has come home and is now supporting Donald Trump. Guys, thank you for being here. Alice, let me begin with you. You wrote an opinion piece, a fascinating piece on CNN.com this week about exactly this. And you talk about personally being uncomfortable when you were leading communications for Ted Cruz and Donald Trump said that his father had something to do with JFK's assassination and you had to go ask Ted Cruz and his father about that.
You had to deal with the mean tweet that Trump sent about Ted Cruz's wife, Heidi Cruz's looks, compared to his wife's look. But in your words, you say you are backing Trump because Hillary Clinton is just that bad. Is that enough to drive enough people to Trump to be an anti-Hillary vote?
ALICE STEWART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Based on the closing of the big gap that Hillary had, it appears to be the case. Look, I kind of divided the Republican Party up into three groups. There's the team Trump, the team reluctant Trump which would be me and the team never Trump which would be Lanhee there. And look, a lot of people like me are reluctant.
Yes, I had to deal with all of the attacks Donald Trump did against Ted and his father accusing him of assassinating JFK and Heidi Cruz. Not to mention calling him lying Ted and questioning his citizenship. And I personally as a woman and as a rational human being, I'm disgusted by the comments he said on the Access Hollywood tape and his demeaning comments toward women.
And there's no excuse for that and there's no defending that. But at the same time, I'm a Republican, and I do feel like he would certainly make, in terms of our national security, he's stronger on that. In terms of immigration, he's strong on that. And I think, an important issue is the Supreme Court. And he has committed to appointing conservative justices to the Supreme Court.
Hillary on the other hand, I think she would take this country in the wrong direction when it comes to the Supreme Court. Obamacare, she hasn't vowed to make any drastic changes, which Donald Trump has done and these are key issues I think he will make -- get our country back on a stronger footing.
HARLOW: So, Lanhee it's interesting because you're also a Republican but someone who has not come home or has not come around to Donald Trump. And you heard Alice's argument there that she's disgusted by some of the things he's said and done but she says it comes to filling the ninth seat on the high court. It comes down to the issues. For you, why was that not enough?
LANHEE CHEN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, look. It's certainly a fair argument and I totally respect where Alice is. I mean I think for me, the challenge is just, can you really trust what Donald Trump has said this entire cycle? Can you really trust that he's going to make the appointments that he says he is. It seems to me if you look at Donald Trump's record over the years, what you see is somebody who hasn't really been a conservative.
And so for me, that gives me a lot of disquiet. It doesn't allow me to get to the point where I'm able to support Donald Trump. Add on to that all the offensive things that he said, all of the ways in which he's really behaved in manner not befitting the presidency. And for me, it's just not enough. But I totally understand. There's some Republicans for whom it is enough and I respect that point of view.
But For me, it wasn't enough to get there.
HARLOW: Sunlen, since Trump became the official nominee, we've been talking about whether or not he can bring this party together, right? His message of drain the swamp appeals his base, the crowds -- the massive crowds at his rallies. Is that messaging, though, making it more difficult for more Republicans to come home, if he's saying they're basically part of the swamp he wants to drain?
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, it is. And this is going to be a stark reality for Donald Trump if he goes on to become president Trump that he has Republicans that he's going to have to work with in congress that he has just in essence spent the last year and a half trashing. But this has always been the struggle between Donald Trump and the Republican base.
He does not operate like other Republican nominees typically would. Looking out for down ballot candidates as much but in part that has been because this has always been part of his appeal as a candidate and it's been interesting in the last few days since he started using this drain the swamp slogan, he talks from the podium, he kind of analyzes that slogan. He says, look, at first I didn't like this, my advisers told me to use it.
And he saw how people responded and then said he really liked it. It gets back to the core part of what makes Donald Trump so appealing to many people across the country. One, that he's outside, far outside their Washington system, and as his vote all the bums out. This is something that works very well, regardless of what it means for down ballot candidates. HARLOW: Yes.
SERFATY: Regardless what it means after the election.
HARLOW: Well not to mention that his running mate is -- is part of that. But, Alice, let's listen to this, this is a new part of a Trump ad. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Our movement is about replacing a failed and corrupt political establishment with a new government controlled by you, the American people. The establishment has trillions of dollars at stake in this election.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: You know, it's interesting, Alice because it's a really a populous message and Lanhee Chen has argued that if Trump doesn't win more mainstream Republicans need to abandon some of the more pro- business elements of the GOP platform in favor of recognition, for example, some of those more populist views on these issues like trade, et cetera. Do you think that that is true, that he has changed the messaging of the party even if he doesn't win on points like trade?
STEWART: I think certainly he's tapped into a facet of the Republican Party and conservatives that doesn't feel like they've been heard. I think his message -- I think that's a phenomenal ad. It's a two- minute spot that's really driving home his message of draining the swamp and anti-Washington establishment which has been pretty consistent on throughout his campaign. But I believe when was the draw on November 9th.
