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CNN Live Event/Special
America's Choice; New Trump Ad Targets "Corrupt" Washington; FBI Ends E-mail Review, Clears Clinton; GOP Officials: Some Early Voting Not Fair To Trump; Could Weaker African-American Turnout Boost Trump?. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired November 07, 2016 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[02:00:10] ALICE STEWART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: But I believe win, lose, or draw on November 9th, I think the Republican Party is going to take a closer look at changing the way Washington works. I think the Republican Party is going to be committed to reigning in government spending. Certainly, it is a across the board, Republicans and Democrats on issues such as Obamacare. I think they have no choice but to work together.
And trade is certainly a big issue. And we're seeing the trade issue alone is moving numbers in states like Michigan and other states that are key battleground states, so I think they're going to be taking a closer look at some of these issues that Lanhee has been talking about for quite some time.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: I've heard a lot in those battleground states personally from these voters. Guys, thank you. I'm out of time. Sunlen, Alice, and Lanhee, we appreciate it.
2:00 a.m. Eastern, 11:00 p.m. out West. And if you are up, so are we here with our special live election coverage. I am Poppy Harlow in New York, and I'm still glad you're with us. We begin with yet another twist in perhaps the wildest presidential race of your lifetime.
Just hours before Election Day, FBI Director Comey wraps up the review of Hillary Clinton's e-mails, the one he announced 10 days ago. The news? Case closed. Again.
FBI agents working around the clock, scouring thousands of newly discovered e-mails linked to long-time Clinton aide, Huma Abedin. Much of what they found, duplicates of e-mails that had already been seen or personal e-mails. Nothing's found that the FBI said would alter their July decision not to pursue a case against Clinton.
You will remember, when the FBI announced this new review, Donald Trump pounced, calling it bigger than Watergate, even saying, quote, "The FBI agency, their investigation is likely to yield an indictment." That didn't happen and this isn't Watergate. At least not right now, Mr. Trump.
Hours ago, Comey sent a second letter to Congress saying the Bureau found nothing that changed its July decision, finding no criminal activity linked to Clinton's use of private e-mail server.
And taking to Twitter tonight, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, describing Director Comey as an "indefensible pretzel of contradictions." This all comes as Trump and Clinton sprint across the nation gearing up for their latest day of campaigning.
We are covering this from every angle with our political reporters. No one needs to sleep. We are live.
Here with me, CNN Correspondent Sunlen Serfaty; Brian Stelter, CNN senior media correspondent and host of "RELIABLE SOURCES"; and Julian Zelizer, a historian and a professor at Princeton University. Also in Washington, D.C., Laura Coates, CNN legal analyst and former federal prosecutor. And in California, Lanhee Chen, CNN political commentator and the former public policy director for Mitt Romney. He is not supporting Donald Trump so he is our Republican guy.
Thank you for being here. And, Laura, let me begin with you. The FBI, once again, says case closed with Clinton, unless any new devices are found or more e-mails. You say this is not the end, that the Comey letter is not the end of this issue for Hillary Clinton. Why not?
LAURA COATES, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: No, it's not, for the reason that you just stated. What Comey has done is set a very odd precedent here. By inserting himself into kind of the political hemisphere, what he's done is say, I'm going to continue to update Congress if there is anything that may be even tangentially related to what I testified about on the Hill. T
And so there is a conceivable number of devices that may still be found with her aides in various degrees. And so it may actually be a case -- this is a redundant issue that may continue to come up again and again. And, frankly, it's something that has been capitalized by Donald Trump and with good reason. Because it presents to the American public that there's going to be a shadow of perhaps more much more to come if she actually is President.
And so this is one of the failures of, I think, Comey in this case, is that when he did this, it's an irretrievable, irreversible error here. Because now, it will continue to haunt this campaign through the inauguration if she's elected.
HARLOW: And perhaps beyond, right?
COATES: Yes.
HARLOW: I mean, again, if new devices are found, et cetera. Sunlen, we know that the Clinton believes this has hurt them. To what extent, we're not going to know until, you know, Wednesday morning, late Tuesday night. But their internal polling showed it hurt them, this letter that Comey sent nine days ago, among independents and some Republicans who had fled Trump and come over to her.
Why is she making the choice not to address this head on in the stump? I mean, this is good news for her. She didn't talk about it tonight. She's not going to talk about it much tomorrow. Why?
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. This was a calculation from within the Clinton campaign. First, of course, there is relief that this is good news for them. But in essence, they don't want to draw more attention to it by having Clinton come out and talk about, come out at her rallies. Certainly, that was a discussion within the Clinton campaign over the last many hours. But, yes, she's not addressing it.
[02:05:08] They want to make sure that her closing message is a positive one, a message that she controls, not about the FBI. You know, so much, over the last 10 days, has, for her, largely been dictated by this Comey letter. That really has sucked up so much of the oxygen. And, yes, the Clinton campaign believes that this has caused them votes. They think now it's a wound that really can't be healed in these last few days of the campaign, and that's why we're not seeing Secretary Clinton really put a spotlight on it once again.
HARLOW: Brian, you know, we'll never forget Michelle Obama saying, when they go low, we go high. And that is something that sort of the Clinton campaign as a whole has embraced. However, this is not what we're really seeing, is it, in the final days?
BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: No, it's not. I mean, both of these candidates are trying to have it both messages by having positive messages, sharing positive themes, but mostly engaging in negative campaign and mostly running negative T.V. ads.
And I think even though this e-mail development, probably the most development of the weekend, the big unanswered question, the big story even after Election Day is going to be, what was going on inside the FBI and what is still going on inside the FBI? How much of a rebellion is there right now? Will there continue to be after Election Day? I think of this as being a mild pause in that story, but there's a lot more we don't know about what's really going on inside the FBI right now.
HARLOW: And, Julian, you've written about this, and you say, you know, exactly to Brian's post, there's just perhaps, though, not much of an appetite within Congress to take on the FBI ever since the days of, you know, J. Edgar Hoover.
JULIAN ZELIZER, PROFESSOR OF HISTORY AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY: That's right. Politicians are always reluctant to take on the FBI because they don't want the FBI to go back against them. That's J. Edgar Hoover always threatened politicians who tried to intimidate him.
And at the same time, it's not clear that Republicans would go after the FBI if they controlled Congress. So the question is, would a Democratic Senate do something? I think Senator Franken has already raised the question of the need to look into this agency more closely. But I don't know if that will happen.
STELTER: The media calls for a leak investigation, trying to figure out where all these leaks are coming from inside the FBI. ZELIZER: Right.
HARLOW: Right. With Rudy Giuliani saying, in the morning on Friday, oh, well, you know, I've heard this, I've heard this, I've heard this, and then saying later to Wolf, well, no, actually it was former FBI agent.
STELTER: I mean, that's the book that I'd like to read now at the end of this election, is what happened inside the FBI, what agents were taking what positions because it seems that there's a lot of mystery there still.
HARLOW: Lanhee Chen, to you, regardless of who wins, whether it is Trump or Clinton, I think it's hard to dispute the argument that there's been a fracturing of your party, of the Republican Party. And the question is, to what extent is it lasting? What do you want to see your Party do come Wednesday morning?
LANHEE CHEN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I think part of it, Poppy, depends obviously on whether Trump wins or loses. I think if Trump wins, it's going to be very difficult for those who opposed him to continue as part of the same party or certainly the same party as presently constituted.
HARLOW: Right, yes.
CHEN: I think if Trump loses, it will be an interesting question. I do think that there's room in the Republican Party for all the different elements we saw in this election, not the least of which is maybe some rethinking around issues like trade where Donald Trump did have a message that was resonating with a lot of people, maybe not fundamentally becoming an anti-free trade party but thinking more thoughtfully, for example, about how to deal with those that have been displaced by the effects of trade.
So I think these are some of the things that we'll see starting Wednesday morning. But I would hope, if Trump loses, that enough Republicans can come together to say, look, there's a party here worth saving rather than going off and trying to start something new, which I just don't think would be entirely productive.
HARLOW: I do think, you know, there is -- Brian and Sunlen, to both of you because you cover different aspects of this, it is very much an important reality for us to talk about, the people, the millions of people, that have felt left behind in this economy in this country --
STELTER: Right.
HARLOW: -- for far too long. And even if you disagree with Donald Trump, even if you despise him of the things that he said, he has been their voice, Brian.
STELTER: I've been interviewing --
HARLOW: And so who is your voice after him if he doesn't win?
STELTER: I've been interviewing a lot of the Trump campaign beat reporters anonymously. I want to get their real candid assessment --
HARLOW: Yes.
STELTER: -- of what they've been through the past year. And all of them have said, I didn't know what was happening in these states, in these communities --
HARLOW: Yes.
STELTER: -- in these specific areas, these overlooked voters. I think, Sunlen, you saw that firsthand early on in the primaries.
SERFATY: Yes. I mean, when you're talking to Trump supporters really trying to tap in, why do you support this man? There is a sense that he gives them a voice, and that they haven't had that in a really long time. I can't tell you the amount of Trump supporters I've talked to that said that they haven't been involved in elections past, but they really felt like, this time, they have a stake in it because they feel they have horse in the game.
HARLOW: So that goes, Julian, to the question of, is there the secret Trump voter?
ZELIZER: Oh, I'm not sure there is. I think most Trump voters have now been pretty vocal. In many polls, they're the same. There's not going to be a surprise that way. You might see some of that in a Pennsylvania or Michigan, but I'm not convinced that --
[02:10:08] HARLOW: That might be all you need, though, in one of those states.
ZELIZER: Yes. I mean, but on the other question, I always think of Barry Goldwater, was right-wing Republican. He gets killed in 1964. It goes poorly. And then Ronald Reagan will come on to the scene in 1976 with a more polished look, a more charismatic look and a little bit cleaner look, and he'll be president in 1980. And so that's one thing that can happen, that Donald Trump is done but someone continues with his message in a more politically astute way.
HARLOW: Quickly before I go, Laura Coates, to you, regardless of who wins, does Director Comey stay and he can serve until 2023?
COATES: Yes. He certainly has the tenure that's intended to outlast, you know, the political sphere. And the reason for that is we want to make sure that the FBI remains apolitical. But I think the trend that he started to try to make it more, you know, inevitably apolitical organization is going to kind of signal his demise. When he raised the red flag 10 days before and lowered it two days before the election, it just really undermined his integrity and of the FBI in general.
HARLOW: I'd read that book, the book that he writes after this.
COATES: Oh.
(LAUGHTER) HARLOW: Thank you, guys. Laura, Sunlen, Brian, Julian, and Lanhee, thanks for being up with me at 2:11 a.m. You are a trooper.
COATES: Thanks, Poppy.
HARLOW: Donald Trump's campaign manager was on CNN a short time ago. She spoke at length with our Anderson Cooper. We want to play you part of their conversation, especially these accusations from officials in the Republican Party that early voting in some states is being run in a way that is unfair to Donald Trump. Here is part of the conversation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Last night at a Trump rally, the chairman of the Nevada Republican Party made a claim that polling places in Clark County were kept open late, in his words, quote, "So a certain group could vote."
When you were asked about that earlier today on CNN, you referenced, quote, "Special favors and perhaps special rules for Democratic voters." Do you have any evidence at all to back that claim up that Democratic voters are getting special favors?
KELLYANNE CONWAY, TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: No, not in this instance. I was just making the case that if -- that we're watching that, you know, and we don't believe that polls should be open past the minute they're supposed to be. And that special favors should not be granted and --
COOPER: But the people are already --
CONWAY: -- if people are in line and they're there to vote --
COOPER: But as you know, people are in line.
CONWAY: Then great.
COOPER: Right.
CONWAY: Great. But we're -- right. But folks will be watching. I mean there are people watching -- I know Hillary Clinton has got people watching.
COOPER: Right, but --
CONWAY: We just want fairness. And we are up against -- but, Anderson, in fairness, we are up against a woman and a machine that stops at nothing to get her way. It's always Hillary first, the corruption, the ethics, the stop at nothing to advance her interest is very clear and so we're just watching.
But, you know, if people are already in line and they wanted to vote, fine. We're very happy with the returns we're seeing from the early balloting and the absentee voting in most states. COOPER: I mean, don't facts matter? I mean, if the chairman in the
Nevada Republican Party is making this inaccurate claim that polling places in Clark County kept open so, quote, "a certain group could vote," the certain group was just voters who are on line like in time to vote. So why imply that it's this certain group?
CONWAY: I think he was referring to the workers who were, I believe, they were on break or after their shift trying to vote, from what I understand. But he's just making the claim, he's making a point, that if this happens, then it will be noted.
But, look, I mean, honestly, we're running against Hillary Clinton and her crew. And we're going to fact check everything we say and very little what they say, I mean, that's rich. They are just for -- everything from Jim Comey should resign to he's lying to he's a Republican to he's the worst person ever and now, he's done the right thing, he's done a very honorable thing --
COOPER: We know, the system is rigged to the system is rigged, it's rigged. I mean, isn't that exactly what you guys have been doing? I mean, it's just --
CONWAY: The system is rigged against the forgotten man and forgotten woman.
COOPER: I agree it's hypocritical for Democrats --
CONWAY: Anderson, the system is rigged.
COOPER: -- in July to be praising Comey, and then suddenly go after him when things don't turn out their way.
CONWAY: And now he's great again.
COOPER: But isn't the same thing you guys are doing?
CONWAY: Make Comey great again.
COOPER: Well, he's right but you guys did the same --
CONWAY: I'll get some hats, make Comey great again.
COOPER: You guys were doing the same thing. Donald Trump was saying, oh, the ship has been righted. You know, he's got back his reputation. Is he going to say the same thing now? Does he have confidence in Comey if he becomes President?
CONWAY: Well, but that doesn't change a couple of facts, the ones that we know. She lied and she lied about how many devices and having the server to begin with and lied about the classified information. She lied about giving the rest of the --
COOPER: Does your candidate have confidence in the FBI Director?
CONWAY: Well, this -- but I would say, this doesn't change a very simple fact which is, this investigation was bungled from the beginning. I mean, that's obvious. Otherwise, today would have been the day that we found out Hillary Clinton was asking her maid to print out information even though the lady doesn't have a security clearance, we would imagine.
I mean, that's new information that we'll --
COOPER: Right. That's a "New York Post" story we haven't been able to confirm and we're looking into it obviously.
CONWAY: That was not known to us, in other words. It was not known to us, previously. We know that Hillary Clinton left classified information, left information at a hotel in China. We know Huma Abedin had information on the front seat of her car. I mean, we know all of this. We know it's sloppy and that things have been mishandled and none of that changes.
[02:15:08] But, look, we also know that they lie all the time. I feel like, how have we really tightened the polls? Mr. Trump is out there talking about Obamacare, the 26 to 27 times that President Obama lied. If you like your doctor, keep your doctor. If you like your plan, you keep it.
COOPER: They're chanting about lock her up.
CONWAY: Don't facts matter?
COOPER: I mean, it's not as if you guys are going high either.
CONWAY: Well, I don't say lock her up but I do say prop her up.
COOPER: I mean, look, everyone's gone through hell.
CONWAY: I find it very curious that she thinks people are at these rallies to see her and not Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, Beyonce, or Jay-Z. We know who they're there to see. Because when she's by herself, it can be compared to a professor in a lecture hall.
COOPER: Isn't Ted Nugent going out with your candidate now?
CONWAY: Pardon? I'm sorry?
COOPER: Isn't Ted Nugent now going to out with your candidate?
CONWAY: Possibly, but, you know --
COOPER: Isn't --yes.
CONWAY: -- people come to see Donald Trump. We know that. People come to see Donald Trump. In Minnesota today, we posted the event, Anderson, and within 16 or 18 hours, we had 22,000 RSVPs for a hangar that --
COOPER: No, that's incredible turnout to you.
CONWAY: -- that holds 4,500 people. But then the media asked, but will they vote? No, they parked their car a mile away and walked in the rain to be at the rally, but we're not going to vote. Of course, they're going to vote. You're going to see --
COOPER: Of course, they're going to vote, yes.
CONWAY: -- huge lines --
COOPER: Look, we've been saying that all along.
CONWAY: -- on Tuesday.
COOPER: That the enthusiasm you guys have and the people, there are tens of thousands, who show up is incredible. They spend hours to get there. I mean, it's like Kenny Chesney concert. People go there all day. It's an experience, and I have no doubt they're going to vote. And that's one of the extraordinary things your candidate has done, mobilizing all these people, many of them who have, maybe, not been engaged in the process. That's an amazing thing I think we've been covering.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARLOW: You can see the full interview with Anderson at CNN.com.
Meantime, James Comey may not be popular with either party at this point, but his announcement that Hillary Clinton will not face criminal charges over the latest review of her e-mails is being cheered by the U.S. stock market right now, a little after 2:00 a.m. Eastern. Dow Futures up 230 points. That is a big jump, folks, for a market that has been slumping for nine straight days now. We'll see where stocks end up when they open at 9:30 a.m. Eastern.
A lot ahead for us this hour. Clinton and Trump making their final pitch to voters in the battleground states coming up. We will take you live to Pennsylvania where we find our Sara Sidner. Hi, Sara.
SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there. You know, as Donald Trump says, he needs his supporters to go out and watch the polls, talking about fraud. There will be some folks here in Philadelphia watching the polls that are here for other reasons. We'll have that story coming up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And that's why I am so thrilled to announce that my running mate is a man who doesn't just share those values, he lives them.
(APPLAUSE)
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I would like to introduce a man who I truly believe will be outstanding in every way and will be the next Vice President of the United States, Governor Mike Pence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[02:21:45] TRUMP: The people, my people, are so smart. And you know what else they say about my people? The polls, they say I have the most loyal people. Did you ever see that, where I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose any voters, OK? It's like incredible.
CLINTON: He never apologized to Mr. and Mrs. Khan, the Gold Star family whose son, Captain Khan, died in the line of duty in Iraq.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: Remember those moments? It has been quite a campaign season. Let's go to Florida, a state truly divided politically. In 2012, President Obama won by less than 1 percent of the vote. And in this race, our CNN poll of polls shows a dead heat, 45 and 45, between Clinton and Trump. It may be the middle of the night. It's just 2:20 a.m. But that is not a problem for our Nick Valencia who joins us live from Tallahassee.
And, Nick, Sunday was the last day of early voting in Florida. What do we know about turnout and who would benefit?
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here in Leon County, a Democratic stronghold, Poppy, it was historic turnout. In fact, 12,000 more people cast their ballots in this round of early voting in 2016 than in 2012. And according to election supervisor here, things went smooth as silk.
This election, of course, we've all heard it, the talk about potential for rigged election or voter fraud, voter irregularity. I think every election, there's that concern that something could disrupt the perception of this being a free and fair election. It's something that we talked to the election county supervisor in Leon County. He said that talk is just nonsense.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ION SANCHO, SUPERVISOR OF ELECTIONS, LEON COUNTY, FLORIDA: You know, you have the discussion about rigged elections, which is poppycock. Our systems are pretty secure. In Florida, for example, they're all paper-based. All the touch screen voting machines were banned in 2007 because of their inability to verify that their votes were actually correct.
So we have a system in place with optical scan technology. That's state of the art, so fears over rigging the election are just that, fears that I believe that are being fomented to try to drive turnout low.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VALENCIA: There were long lines here, especially towards the end when polls close at about 4:00 p.m. According to Leon County, the votes cast 57 percent in favor of the Democratic candidate, 28 percent in favor of the Republican. We'll see if that translates throughout the state on Tuesday, Poppy.
HARLOW: See you, Nick. Thank you. Let's go now to battleground Ohio. Eighteen electoral votes, up for grabs in that state. The latest polling gives Donald Trump an edge, leading Hillary Clinton by five points.
Our Suzanne Malveaux is awake just like you and me and everyone else watching. Who can sleep because we are 48 hours away from Election Day?
I know early voting has been really high there, especially in some places that have set records this year. When you talk about the campaigns, how do they look at that high early turnout for them?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Sure, Poppy. I mean, it's absolutely critical for both sides but especially for Hillary Clinton. Now, she is looking at Cleveland. That is critical for her. And that's why we've seen over the last 48 hours, Clinton appearing with LeBron James, with Jay-Z, Beyonce, a whole bunch of real super stars there to try to attract the African-American vote, millennials, as wells as women. That is really critical for her.
[02:25:07] When you take a look at Donald Trump, Cincinnati is really important. And that's where you see a lot of the early voters in Cincinnati, as well as Southern Ohio. He needs that section as well. That is really Trump country, where his message against free trade and really building up the economy again resonates with those who've lost their jobs in manufacturing and steel.
And so we've seen big numbers in both of those areas, so that is rather significant. We're also taking a look at the latest information from CNN and our partner -- this is Catalyst -- and it shows, out of the 1.5 million early voters, about 27 percent are Democrats, 33 percent are Republicans, and 39 are unknowns. And it's those unknowns that we want to take a look at and see who do those unknowns turn out to be -- independents, people who are crossing over party lines. That is going to be very significant.
And, Poppy, you might recall, it was back in 2012, it was Mitt Romney who actually won on Election Day. But it was Barack Obama who got the state of Ohio when it was all said and done because of those early votes that were coming in and that were counted. And that's what Hillary Clinton is hoping to see as these two candidates and their races tighten.
HARLOW: Suzanne live for us tonight there in Columbus. Thank you so much. Now, to Pennsylvania, historically tilting Democrat but not this year. Not necessarily. It is in reach, frankly, for both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Take a look at just how close things are in Pennsylvania right now.
Hillary Clinton with an edge by just 4 percentage points. Our Sara Sidner is there. She doesn't like to sleep either. And you have been talking to people who are really keying in, Sara, on some specific words used by Donald Trump. SIDNER: Absolutely. Those words, mentioning both Pennsylvania and
Philadelphia in particular. And one of the reasons for that, Donald Trump going after the state and the city, because there is an investigation right now going on of this company called FieldWorks who was gathering registrations for voters and then turning them in. And they have found some serious problems with those registrations, some irregularities, if you will. And so there's an investigation going on right now and Trump has hit very hard, saying his supporters need to go out and watch the polls. But that has also galvanized others to do the same.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We're going to watch Pennsylvania. Go down to certain areas and watch and study and make sure other people don't come in and vote five times.
SIDNER (voice-over): The words of Donald Trump galvanizing people to act.
SIDNER (on camera): -- you're going to watch certain areas. What do you think he means by that? Is that racially charged?
REV. ALYN E. WALLER, ENON TABERNACLE BAPTIST CHURCH: It's racially charged because he's appealing to a people that already believe Black and Brown people are inherently dishonest and dangerous.
SIDNER (voice-over): Trump argues this is not about race but, instead, potential voter fraud. Still, there are reports White supremacist groups say they'll show up to monitor inner city polls in Philadelphia. If they do, they'll have company, from members of mega churches like Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church to local mosques. Some 400 men of color say they will be at polling places this year too.
WALLER: If it's raining, we'll have umbrellas. If the lines are long and people feel like giving up, we're going to tell jokes and entertain them so they don't leave. If someone comes to disrupt, we're going to shut that down through proper authorities. We'll be willing to call the police and also escort persons away from those areas. We will not allow anyone to disrupt free and fair elections in Philadelphia.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: Now, this same group of men, about 400 strong, did show up in 2008, excuse me, for the election of President Obama. They came out because the lines were going to be very long. They said, this time, they're coming out because they think there will be a lot of voters but also because they are worried about intimidation and want to make sure everything goes smoothly. Poppy.
HARLOW: Sara, thank you for the reporting. We appreciate it. Sara Sidner there for us in Pennsylvania.
And as the national polls tighten between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton -- we're talking about a three-point spread in the latest CNN poll of polls -- Trump's path to the 270 electoral votes he needs to win may be more feasible than originally thought. Take a look at this map, based on a CNN analysis of our polls, that shows the latest estimate of which states are up for grabs. This, of course, all hinges on voter turnout in the key swing states.
Let's talk about a few different scenarios. Alice Stewart is back with me. Also, Symone Sanders. She supports Hillary Clinton. Alice, I should note, supports Donald Trump. And Lanhee Chen is a Republican not supporting Donald Trump. Guys, thank you for being here.
Let's begin with a real fear for Clinton that has played out in early voting, especially North Carolina where President Obama has been pleading with African-American voters to turnout big and turnout early for Hillary Clinton saying, basically, she is his legacy.
[20:30:11] If African-American drops this could help Trump a lot in state like North Carolina or in Florida or in Georgia or in Michigan. Symone, where are you fallen on this? Are you worried?
SYMONE SANDERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, you know, voting in North Carolina, specifically, for African Americans is up, 16 percent, actually.
HARLOW: Right.
SANDERS: But there has been unprecedented voter suppression efforts in North Carolina, you know, in places in Mecklenburg County where there use to be 17 polling places -- early voting polling places. There's one now. And that is an issue. And Mecklenburg is traditionally African-American heavy region. So I think that there -- I mean there are clearly some alarms going off in North Carolina to others across the country. But the democrats have really put together a great game.
STEWART: And this is --
SANDERS: Voter suppression -- In North Carolina, yes.
HARLOW: You don't think it's a lack of enthusiasm for Clinton or not as much so for President Obama.
SANDERS: So, one, I think it's important to note that -- if anybody thought Hillary Clinton was going to get Obama numbers that is not just not a fit. So we can't really -- its different electorate this time around. It's a different calendar. And I do think, yes if there's more suppression in North Carolina than in Florida. We've seen that the vote is up, you know, by about like 26 -- I think percent the last numbers that I saw. So in North Carolina specifically, yes16 percent was up from 2012. But there are unprecedented voters suppression everywhere.
HARLOW: All right, so let's talk about another scenario. If Clinton leaves votes to Gary Johnson here we're talking about Nevada, New Hampshire, Colorado, states where Johnson is polled relatively high appealing to Republicans who aren't comfortable with Trump. Alice, could we see a Ralph Nader effect? STEWART: No. I mean the -- he's not pulling any numbers away from them that will make any much difference --
HARLOW: Even if he's pulling 3 percent. I mean that's the spread between Clinton and Trump in some of these states.
STEWART: I don't see either him or Jill Steinp making a tremendous difference or Evan McMullin for that matter. I think what we're going to see in the next -- under 48 hours is we're going to see these undecided as Susana had mentioned undecided Republicans coming home but were also seeing signs of Democrats switching over to Donald Trump. The FBI e-mail problems with James Comey have -- had an impact on Hillary Clinton.
HARLOW: Perhaps, I mean, no question in the early voting her camp has admitted that. Now come Comey comes out and says, wait, never mind.
STEWART: Right, right. But I think what we're going to see is what we're seeing based on the numbers we've seen over the last few weeks in a lot of these key battleground states. Nevada is being one. A lot of these states, Hillary had double digit leads two weeks ago. Now we're down single digits. And the momentum is going in Donald Trump's favor and that's the -- he's peaking at the right time in terms of momentum in his favor at times.
HARLOW: The Nevada early voting numbers don't show that for him. I mean, the Nevada early voting numbers have been really strong for Democrats.
STEWART: Well that's the key is there are certain places that he's going to continue to pick up numbers that Republicans traditionally wouldn't. And Nevada is one of those states where it's still to close to call at this stage of the game
HARLOW: Let's talk about that third dream scenario. OK. Lanie tend to you. if there is a silent majority of blue collar white cracking Clinton's blue wall of Michigan, of Wisconsin, of Pennsylvania, this is what Trump has banked on frankly since the inception of his campaign. He hasn't polled well in these states, necessarily. It's getting a lot tighter. Do you believe there's this silent Trump vote, secret Trump vote?
CHEN: Yes. I don't necessarily buy into it being to being a significant large number. I do think it's an open question.
HARLOW: But does it need to be significantly large.
CHEN: Well I think it needs to be large enough to over come the deficit in states like -- if we're talking about Michigan and Wisconsin. I absolutely think it does. Pennsylvania may be a different story. But certainly in Michigan and Wisconsin are states that Republican Presidential Candidates have coveted for a long time certainly in 2012. We would have loved to have been competitive in Wisconsin and Michigan. I grant you Donald Trump is a different candidate. He represents a different value proposition. But I just don't know if the demographic he's appealing to is big enough to get him over the top where he needs to be.
HARLOW: Do you think it's big enough.
STEWART: One of the things what we're seeing has Lanhee said, Democrats have won presidential contests for the last six presidential races.
HARLOW: Yes, even Michigan he couldn't take his home state.
STEWART: Absolutely and what we've seen as I indicated earlier, two weeks ago Hillary was up 13 points in Michigan. She is now only up four and in addition to that Obama is going there to campaign -- his surrogates are going. The Clinton campaign is putting $2 million worth of on air ads this week alone in Michigan.
HARLOW: That they'd being that.
STEWART: And they wouldn't be doing that if they weren't worried about it and that's the state that should have a been a slam dunk.
SANDERS: I think he's storing up the base though also, probably, you can't leave anything on the table here.
HARLOW: I hear you. I really want to get you take on New Hampshire because I think New Hampshire is not getting enough attention. This is stated in the primary your guy, Bernie Sanders, now Hillary is your girl.
SANDERS: He took him by a large market.
HARLOW: But if there's a lesson in history to be learned it is the lesson -- in New Hampshire it's the lesson of Al Gore and it's the lesson of campaigning only once there and election of losing that state by what? 7,000 votes. I mean Hillary Clinton's back there in this final push. And is her campaign smart to not let any moment go when it comes to New Hampshire.
STEWART: I definitely think they're smart.
SANDERS: Look she's done a myriad of things in New Hampshire. She did most notably, though, a forum on education and the economy with Bernie Sanders which I think definitely helps because, you know, Bernie Sanders so large in New Hampshire. So I definitely don't think you can leave anything on the table especially when it comes to New Hampshire voters. New Hampshire voters notably, a lot of them make their decision write down to the wire.
They are in line at the polling place saying, I haven't made my decision yet. I'm going to decide when we get to the ballot box. So we can't leave anything on the table especially when it comes to New Hampshire. And I'd also say that a lot of these other places across the country in Nevada specifically I don't think Donald Trump has a chance now because of the firewall certainly of Latino voters and Hispanic voters that have come out in droves.
HARLOW: And now early voting is done -- SANDERS: The early voting -- yes.
HARLOW: in Nevada.
CHEN: Yes, I think Poppy -- I think this focus on New Hampshire is really smart because there's a couple of issues in New Hampshire. One is it's a remarkably independent state. You know it's a live free or die state. If you've been up there and spend any time -- so, you know, voters very much take their queues from sort of neither party in some cases. So it's likely that Trump could be making headway there. The other issue is remember there's contested congressional district in Maine next door. And when you're counting Electoral votes down to one or two votes those, you know those single districts can make a big difference. So obviously campaigning in Maine have some spill over effects.
HARLOW: Maine, too, is a critical part some of Trump's now path or be the narrow path so victory. Guys thank you. And we appreciate it. Alice, Lanhee and Symone. It's all been leading up to this, folks selection day in America. We have every race, every result covered around the clock. We will be live with you literally from now until you know who the next president. Stay with CNN until the last vote is cast and counted.
Talking politics at this our maybe new to you and to me, I'm usually in bed. But Chelsea Handler is no stranger to late night. She made her name after hours. And there's, no, doubt, who she wants to see in the Whitehouse. I sat down with the funny woman herself and she had me cracking up as you will see on her rapid fire take on this election.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: Word association rapid fire. All the soldiers feeling as new politico?
CHELSEA HANDLER, AMERICAN COMEDIAN, ACTRESS: Saturday Night Live. SNL. Donald Trump.
HARLOW: President Obama?
HANDLER: Michelle.
HARLOW: Michelle Obama. Lunches?
HANDLER: What? Like the healthy food thing?
HARLOW: Yes. Do you want to try this again? There can be a better way.
HANDLER: Carbs.
HARLOW: Donald Trump?
HANDLER: Icky'
HARLOW: Hillary Clinton?
HANDLER: Bad ass.
HARLOW: Bernie Sanders?
HANDLER: Hairy.
HARLOW: You don't like his hair?
HANDLER: Yes. That's what hair is -- hairy. Hair usually reference --
HARLOW: Like on his head or his arm?
HANDLER: Everywhere it's coming out.
HARLOW: The Pay Gap?
HANDLER: Unjust.
HARLOW: Tim Kaine?
HANDLER: He's boring. I'm trying. I don't have to be in love with Tim Kane.
HARLOW: Mike Pence?
HANDLER: Loser. He should be sent to Utah and like locked up in a little barn there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: From everything I see has no respect for this person.
CLINTON: Well, that's because he'd rather have a puppet as president.
TRUMP: No puppet. No puppet.
CLINTON: And it's pretty clear --
TRUMP: You're a puppet.
CLINTON: It's pretty clear you won't admit that the Russians have engaged in cyber attacks against the United States of America that you encouraged, espionage against our people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: Remember that moment? Boy, it's been quite a campaign season. Let's have a little fun, right? It's 2:43 in morning. We can do this. Comedian Chelsea Handler no holds bared when it comes to this election. And even though she makes people laugh for a living, this race, not fun and games to her. I sat down with her as a fortune most powerful women stomach. I should note this was before the Comey e-mail review tied to Clinton was announced? Here's Chelsea Handler
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: You're a huge Hillary Clinton supporter, no question?
HANDLER: Yes, I support Hillary Clinton.
HARLOW: You've also said Hillary may not be the best option but she's a better option than him. Are you more passionately off the vision of Trump or favor of Clinton?
HANDLER: I believe that Hillary Clinton is more qualified to do this job than maybe anybody ever in history. I understand that she's also divisive. I like divisive. I'm divisive. I don't like pleasing everybody.
HARLOW: But there's been all these talk about enthusiasm gap, right? And are people enthusiastic enough about the candidates to get out there? I mean, are you enthusiastic about Hillary Clinton? Are you voting against Donald Trump?
HANDLER: Yes -- no, I'm voting for Hillary Clinton. But everyone: you know everyone who is not -- there's not enough enthusiasm. We're adults like not everything is like -- this isn't an evening party. This isn't like oh, I get to bring my favorite color to color with. We've got two options here Gary Johnson is not going to win the Presidency so if you vote for him you're not -- you're voting for Donald Trump.
HARLOW: And that's just the way it is. You've said about Hillary Clinton, so what if she's not the most charming person on the planet. I do not want to hang out with her.
Do you think too many people want a President they want to hang with?
HANDLER: Yes, I think that they think that they need to know her personal like they want her -- if Hillary Clinton is vilified and pilloried no matter what she does. Like if she doesn't smile then she gets attack. I mean there's nothing more sexist than telling a woman to smile. You smile. Like don't tell us to smile and then it's so disgusting for a man to say that to a woman. Can you imagine a woman ever saying to Barack Obama hey wipe that frown upside down.
HARLOW: Have you met Donald Trump?
HANDLER: Yes, I have. He introduced himself to me one night in a restaurant in L.A.
HARLOW: And --
HANDLER: You know not much. I mean he said hi Chelsea. I just wanted to let you know I'm Donald Trump. I was like OK, hello and then walked around --
. HARLOW: It was pre -presidential run?
HANDLER: Yes, this was like eight or ten years ago. I love the idea of like a celebrity coming over and introducing themselves to another celebrity. Like also a disgusting like thing to do.
HARLOW: But you've also said, Chelsea that you wouldn't have Donald Trump on your show. Why not?
HANDLER: He's so irresponsible.
HARLOW: You can ask him whatever you want.
HANDLER: I don't kid -- I want to him to answers. He has no answers to anything. He's proven| that time and time again.
HARLOW: 14 million people voted for him in the primary.
HANDLER: Yes, who have not graduated from high school?
HARLOW: That's not fair. That's untrue.
HANDLER: Well it's not true. But the majority of them -- no, no, 14 million did not graduate from high school. But plenty of the people that are supporting him did not graduate from high school.
HARLOW: But does that mean that their vote countless? Come on.
HANDLER: No. It doesn't mean that their vote count less. It means they're uneducated and they don't know what their voting for.
HARLOW: Why wouldn't you have him on your show just to ask him whatever you |`want?
HANDLER: Because it's -- that's a rating ploy and I'm not interested. I don't want to do something for -- to get people to watch because Trump is on. I can get other people to come on my show that are much more I think responsible.
HARLOW: Let's talk about late night, you know, in the past late night host like Leno and Letterman, you know, would hit both sides, right? And it seems to me like this year is different whether it's Stephen Colbert, Seth Myers, Samantha Bee, you really really targeting Trump. Is this the year that late night picked a side?
HANDLER: Yes. I think that's unavoidable. I think with somebody whose this irresponsible and is saying things like calling Mexicans rapists and inciting violence and the people at his rallies who are talking about hanging Hillary Clinton. I mean that's not acceptable language. That's really scary.
HARLOW: What is the role and responsibility of late night host? Was it fair and right that Jimmy Fallon got skewered for playing with Donald Trump's hair?
HANDLER: Well I mean, you know, I don't know. Jimmy Fallon can do whatever he wants. For me personally all I can say is well I don't -- I find that to be irresponsible. I'm not going to have Donald Trump on my show. I want to send -- I mean this part of my career and being on Netflix is that really -- like it's something that I am proud of and that I wanted like do. You know you could still have fun and send a great message. Like I want to I want to empower people. I want everybody to come on and have a great story and be inspiring.
HARLOW: Obviously, you're an entertainer but it sounds like you feel like you have very much a responsibility which you entertain.
HANDLER: Yes. Now I do I mean I really had a silly show for seven years on another network where I acted like a complete ass. I'm done with that. And then, you know, I mean I'm like when my show came on the air right as the selection was kind of heating up. Whoever gets elected is going to start again in two years.
HARLOW: Yes, it is.
HANDLER: And so it's another nightmare. So hopefully, you know, the system isn't perfect. And the system isn't great. And I understand that Hillary Clinton isn't everybody's favorite candidate. But for me she's qualified for the job and more qualified than anybody else. And I'm willing to forgive all the other short comings.
HARLOW: Why is she struggling with young women?
HANDLER: Because she's not warm fuzzy. But you know what she is like that in person. She's not like that in public. She's guarded after everything she has been through publicly, I would be guarded, too.
HARLOW: What's the funniest thing about Hillary Clinton just to have a little bit of fun?
HANDLER: Like the last -- the second debate. I liked the second debate where she just kind -- like he was going on and on and making nose stands and being really accusatory. And she just -- like one thing she was listening at him and getting she was just like when is this going to be over -- like when is he going to stop talking so I can make my actual valid point. The kind of the like the water rolling off a duck's back because in the first debate she didn't have that demeanor and I thought that was really amusing.
HARLOW: Funniest thing of Donald Trump?
HANDLER: His career -- the Trump Plaza. That's the funniest thing about Donald Trump.
HARLOW: Aleck Baldwin and Donald Trump, Kate McKinnon' and Hillary Clinton.
HANDLER: It's good stuff. Really good stuff. That's a good impersonation on both their ends.
HARLOW: Your Election Day prediction? What will you wake up and see on the font of the New York Times November 9th?
HANDLER: Hillary. Hillary is going to win. HARLOW: Word association rapid fire. All the soldiers feeling this new politico?
HANDLER: Saturday Night Live. SNL. Donald Trump.
HARLOW: President Obama?
HANDLER: Michelle.
HARLOW: Michelle Obama. Lunches?
HANDLER: What? Like the healthy food thing?
HARLOW: Yes. Do you want to try this again? There can be a better way.
HANDLER: Carbs.
HARLOW: Donald Trump?
HANDLER: Icky'
HARLOW: Hillary Clinton?
HANDLER: Bad ass.
HARLOW: Bernie Sanders?
HANDLER: Hairy.
HARLOW: You don't like his hair?
HANDLER: Yes. That's what hair is -- hairy. Hair usually reference --
HARLOW: Like on his head or his arm?
HANDLER: Everywhere it's coming out.
HARLOW: The Pay Gap?
HANDLER: Unjust.
HARLOW: Tim Kaine?
HANDLER: He's boring. I'm trying. I don't have to be in love with Tim Kane.
HARLOW: Mike Pence?
HANDLER: Loser. He should be sent to Utah and like locked up in a little barn there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: Utah we love you. My thanks to Chelsea Handler, her show Chelsea on Netflix right now in its second season. All right folks, 590 days. Will you have been counting? I have. That is roughly how long we have been covering this election. It started back in March of last year when Senator Ted Cruz became the first your candidate to announce his bid. Then in April Hillary Clinton released this video announcing she's launching a second run. And little did we know what was to come when Donald Trump descended that golden elevator just two months later.
And now all of this comes down to what happens -- escalator. Elevator-escalator, it's 2:00 in the morning. And now it's comes down to what happens in just two days,. But hey who is counting? I know two people who are counting. CNN Correspondents Sunlen Serfaty and Brian Stelter, CNN Senior Media correspondent and Host of Reliable Sources.
On a very serious note, Brian, when you talk about what this experience has been like for you covering this election, your show specifically, really taking Donald Trump t task for things he's said that are just badly not true. Did you expect that you would ever cover a presidential race in this way and you would have to talk about some of the things you've had to talk about?
STELTER: I never thought I would hear so many curse words on CNN. I never thought we heard so much kind of coarse and vulgar language on television. That's one small example of what was surprising about this year. I think this was the year that we were reminded that journalists learned a long time what we need a reminder about. And that is that we're supposed to stand up for our audience.
That viewers want us to advocate for them, not any political side in particular but for them. Viewers do not want us just let nonsensical answers that pass by from partisans. Viewers don't want us to just take this ridiculous answer for answers. They want us to stand up for them. And I think that was reaffirmed this year in a really special way and fact checking in as example of that.
We've seen great fact check efforts of the Washington Post, Politic Fact here at CNN and elsewhere.
HARLOW: By you --
STELTER: By many of us. I think, you know, those were the best moments on TV are when anchors and reporters hold some of these commentators and politicians accountability and talking to Glenn Kessler at Political at the Washington Post. He has the four Pinocchio's counter. He said this race wasn't even close, 59 Donald Trump statements that earned four Pinocchio, seven for Hillary Clinton. It's our job as journalist to call that out and identify that.
HARLOW: You know I always say if both sides are mad at you did a good job. You're doing you're job frankly. If not neither of them are happy with you're doing your job. Sunlen you have been in the field so much for the last 590 days covering these campaigns. You faced and journalist have faced the constant and a stream of insult and being belittled especially by -- frankly Donald Trump on the stamp. What has it been like for you personally?
SERFATY: no doubt covering Trump rallies are a tense -- intense experience and I think it's grown more so in the last days of the campaign. At times verbally aggressive. as you said not only for Donald Trump who on podium, you know, singles out media ask his voters and supporters in the crowd to turn around and look at us.
He'll be doing some interesting hand signals from those in the crowd. But I do, too, have subject to insults from personal voters and support at Trump rallies, a few feet away taunting me as I'm doing my launch out. So that's certainly is something I have not experienced in this level before. And I do think as Donald Trump raises the temperature, it encourages his supporter and voters to raise that temperature. Almost gives them a free pass to do it.
But on one thing I did have an interesting experience recently Lisbon, Maine. It was Republican District. A woman saw in the woman's restroom and she grabbed my arm and said I'm so sorry. I want you to know that not all Trump supporters think this about the media and I don't condone what he's saying about you. But then interesting she shifted and she said but I think it's just the heat of the campaign almost as if she was making an excuse for him kind of putting on a show.
HARLOW: Brian it seems like both of major party candidates had been allergic TV -- national TV interviews in the final stretch --
STELTER: Yes.
HARLOW: So that's sort of is what it is. But really whoever is in office access to for press, for the media is so critical. Are you worried about what a Trump Presidency or Clinton Presidency would have mean for the press?
STELTER: Yes, I think on both cases either administration will be particular allergic. They will probably be hostile towards the press and transparency. Even in this final -- I guess in these final days, Trump is not even talking to Sean Hannity. You know one of his favorite interviews. Trump is avoiding all interviews. And so is Clinton. They just want to stay on message at their rallies. I think its Donald Trump is not even really tweeting much anymore.
There was that New York Times report saying that his Tweeter account essentially had been taking away from him. If he says that's not true he could Tweet. And I guess proven at this earlier or late hour. Yes. Either administration there will be concerns about press access. But I do think it's been on an overall measure a strong year for the media because we've been standing up for the viewers at home.
HARLOW: Guys thank you very much. I hope you have big long vacations planned for post Tuesday. Brian and Sunlen thank you and thank you all for being with me tonight. It's been great to spending two hours with you. I'll see you back here tomorrow, 1:00 a.m. Tuesday, Election Day as last.
Let me hand it over to John Berman and Christine Roman. They will join you next with an especially early, early start. Thank you for staying up later, getting up early. See you tomorrow.
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