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CNN Live Event/Special

Trump Spends Final Days Sowing Doubt on Election Results; Biden Says He's Not Going to Let Trump Steal This Election; Texas Supreme Court Denies GOP-Led Petition to Invalidate Drive-Thru Votes; Breakdown of the Road to 270 Electoral Votes; FBI Investigates Alleged Harassment of Biden Campaign Bus by Trump Supporters; Postal Service Officials Push Workers to Deliver Ballots on Election Day; Interview with Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson about Counting Ballots on Election Day; Deciding to Wear a Mark or Not Becoming a Political Statement. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired November 01, 2020 - 20:00   ET

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

[20:00:01]

BILL WEIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Got a standing ovation, his mom did, from local Republicans there. So it looks like Donald Trump's closing arguments, it will be about some of these stickiest, most painful issues in America.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: It certainly will. Head on.

Bill Weir, thank you very much.

And thanks to all of you in these momentous, historic days. It's good to be with you. I'll see you back tomorrow. Anderson starts now.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: And good evening. If the next 36 hours until election morning look anything like today, and they almost certainly will, well, buckle up.

Today, and it's not over yet, seeing the president all over the map. Five campaign stops today. Joe Biden starting a final two-day blitz in Pennsylvania. Kamala Harris in Georgia and North Carolina. Trump supporters swarming the highways. The mails slowing down just when democracy needs it most. A big court ruling on nearly 127,000 ballots in Texas. And another big court fight on the same issue tomorrow.

All that plus new polling tonight in some key swing states that show a tightening race. The impact of 93 million early votes, soaring COVID numbers and late new reporting that the Trump campaign is prepared to declare victory on election night if the president is close to 270 electoral votes whether or not the president has actually won them.

Again, there's a lot going on. It is unfolding as we speak. In a moment, what Joe Biden had to say of the idea of a pre-victory declaration from the president. But first, Jim Acosta in Rome, Georgia, where the president is expected shortly.

Jim, you've got some reporting about what the president's plan is for election night and also the president's response to that reporting. JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right,

Anderson. What the president and his team are planning to do is watch that electoral map very closely on election night. And they plan to be very aggressive. I talked to a Trump campaign adviser earlier today who said, if the president is on the verge of clinching the 270 electoral votes needed to win the election, that it is possible if it looks like the election won't be resolved on election night, that they might declare victory.

That's a big might at this point. It hasn't been determined 100 percent that the president or his campaign will actually do that. Now the president was just talking to reporters a short while ago. He said that's not the case. We're not going to do that. But in almost the same breath, Anderson, he said, on election night we're going to send in the lawyers.

Anderson, they are saying the quiet part out loud. If the president loses this election in a tight, tight vote count, they are going to try to fight this out in the courts. That's the way it's shaping up right now. Of course the president doesn't get to decide who wins the election. That's up to election authorities.

COOPER: What did the president talk about in battleground states today? Was it sort of the traditional stuff he's talked about? Did he change his delivery in the final days?

ACOSTA: Anderson, it was ugly again today. This is an ugly closing message from President Trump. He was hitting some of the same themes that we've seen throughout the final stages of this campaign. He was essentially trying to demonize immigrants all day long. Referring to President Obama as Barack Hussein Obama. Talking about Congresswoman Ilhan Omar from Minnesota. At one point at the rally that just wrapped up in North Carolina, he recited the words from that racist song "The Snake," once again trying to hit those anti-immigrant tones that we've seen him do time and again.

And Anderson, he's also playing revisionist history on the coronavirus pandemic and claiming once again that this country is rounding the turn in terms of ending this pandemic when of course we all know that's not the case. You can just look at this crowd here tonight. People are not taking precautions. They are not wearing masks and they're not social distancing. This pandemic is going to get worse because of these rallies -- Anderson.

COOPER: Jim Acosta, it's -- and then where is he off after this? Is this it for the night?

ACOSTA: He's got one more event in Florida later tonight, Anderson. And then, tomorrow, it's another big day that ends in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he ended his campaign four years ago. The president feels as though -- and I talked to a campaign adviser about this -- that these big rallies that pick in lots of supporters is somehow motivating turnout, that it's getting -- these rallies are getting people to the polls. They're banking on that strategy working once again. But, Anderson, I was with the president four years ago. You know, he

is hitting some red states, some bright red states very late in this campaign. When he's going to places like Rome, Georgia, two days before the election, that goes to what I'm hearing from a lot of people close to this campaign that this president is in a lot of trouble 48 hours before election night -- Anderson.

COOPER: Jim Acosta. Jim, thanks.

Now Philadelphia, where Joe Biden made several stops, was asked about this notion of claiming victory without the numbers to back it up, more on that from Jessica Dean, who joins us now.

How is Vice President Biden responding to this CNN report which President Trump has denied about Trump likely claiming victory Tuesday night even if he doesn't have 270 electoral votes?

JESSICA DEAN, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, Anderson, the Biden campaign really wants a blowout. They want to make it unequivocal that they have won this election. But Vice President Joe Biden was asked about this reporting earlier on the trail today. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: My response is the president is not going to steal this election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[20:05:02]

DEAN: Now Kamala Harris also talked a little bit about this on the campaign trail today, Anderson. She said that they plan to decisively win this election. That it's simply not going to get to this point. But they all know and the campaign knows that they really -- the goal here is to win in an overwhelming way where it just doesn't get to that point.

COOPER: So Vice President Biden was in Pennsylvania all day today. Just a sign of how important it is to both campaigns, frankly. I understand the full ticket plus their spouses will be there again tomorrow. Is that a sign of optimism about the state or deep concern?

DEAN: I mean, I think the campaign would tell you, they are not taking anything for granted. But, Anderson, if you look at the map, Pennsylvania is so critical. If they can take that away from President Trump, it all but ends his path to reelection. It makes it incredibly difficult. So that's one piece of it. The other piece of it, as we were just talking about, they want to win here overwhelmingly. They don't want this going to the courts.

There have already been a number of lawsuits in Pennsylvania. You've been covering this. We've all been covering all the different issues leading up to voting here in Pennsylvania. So the Biden campaign really wants to make sure turnout is high, that they are able to claim victory here without any question about it, and not having to go to the courts about it.

And also a campaign aide telling us today that really, remember, Pennsylvania looks like the coalition they are seeking to build across the country. It's made up of white-working class voters, suburban women, black and Latino voters, union households, people that voted for President Trump in 2016 that they're hoping to bring back to the Democratic ticket.

So when they fan out, they're going to be giving all of these pointed messages right at these certain demographics really trying to increase their turnout to build that coalition and win here.

COOPER: And the Biden campaign, I mean, they've been adding a lot of last-minute stops, unannounced stops. What is the strategy behind that?

DEAN: Well, some of this is trying to get back to some sort of traditional campaigning. I think we all know that Vice President Biden loves to interact with people. And so some of these things are just small one-offs where he stops by, maybe a voter mobilization event or canvassing office, something like that, where he can just kind of talk to voters for a quick second socially distanced.

But what is interesting is they did add a stop in Ohio tomorrow. Now that's a state, Anderson, I talked to local Democrats in Ohio. They are bullish on Ohio for Biden. They think that there are some things there that make it very winnable for him, namely a shift in suburban voters. And they point to Sherrod Brown's win there as a senator in 2018 and how he was able to build this coalition they think Biden can similarly put together. So to see them go back in, to see Vice President Biden go back into Ohio tomorrow should tell you a lot.

COOPER: All right, Jessica Dean, appreciate it.

Now, Texas, where the state Supreme Court has just ruled on a Republican challenge nearly 127,000 ballots already cast at drive- through locations in and around Houston. With the state surprisingly in play this time, the decision is a very big deal. It's a lot of votes at stake. It's not even the final word, though.

Our Ed Lavandera joins us from Houston with the latest.

So, Ed, what happened today? How did the state Supreme Court, which is comprised of entirely Republican justices who were elected, how did they rule on this?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Texas Supreme Court for the second time in this case has ruled in favor of these votes counting. So ruling against the Republican effort to basically invalidate the 127,000 votes that were cast in a location like this, Anderson. Just to give you an idea.

This is one of 10 locations in Harris County that is a drive-thru location. So voters were able to drive into a tent like this and essentially it will serve as a polling location. The computers and the ballot boxes will all be right here. That will be put into people's cars. They can cast those ballots from their car.

There are 10 locations like this set up around Harris County. 127,000 people used these drive-thru voting locations in the early voting period, out of the 1.4 million that voted. So we're looking at these votes of 127,000. It's about 10 percent that used these drive-thru locations -- Anderson.

COOPER: I mean, it's fascinating to see that. You know, for a lot of people have not seen something like that before. They had approval in advance to do these drive-in locations, correct? I mean, this isn't as if this is some rogue operation, they set up, and that's why it's being challenged by Republicans.

LAVANDERA: Right. The Harris County clerk and the office here set up a pilot program of these drive-thru voting for a primary run-off back in July. So this had been done before. What critics or what these Republicans are saying is that they didn't expect it to be used at this scale. So, you know, this is just one fleet of tents that is here. There are about 30 spots in all where cars can come in here to the parking lot of Energy Stadium where the Houston Texans play football to use these sites.

[20:10:10]

But, Anderson, we should also point out that this legal battle is not over yet. These same Republicans are also trying in the federal court system and there's an emergency hearing scheduled for Monday morning to determine what will happen with these 127,000 votes. They are encouraged by the way the courts have ruled so far two attempts to invalidate these votes. That hasn't happened yet but they are still fighting.

And the Republican lawyers have told us that they plan on taking this to the Supreme Court if it needs to go that far. So here, just a couple of nights before election day, these legal battles still rage on here in Texas and in Harris County -- Anderson.

COOPER: Yes. Despite these court rulings, it's still not over. They're going to be challenging as you said it in federal court. I talked to Beto O'Rourke last night from Texas. He was saying -- yes, I think it was last night, yes, last night. He was saying that even if -- you know, if this gets approved finally and all the votes -- and those votes are counted that perhaps one of the strategies the people who are challenging this is just to sow confusion, make the people who already voted question whether those votes will count, confuse people about, is drive-in voting OK?

Are these drive-in locations still in use? Will they be in use on election day?

LAVANDERA: They will, Anderson. These 10 locations will be operating on election day. And essentially, they are connected to more, if you will, traditional voting locations. So this is just an option for those people who don't want to stand in the lines or if they are fearful of exposure to people in these lines. And what is interesting also in all of this, and there have been those

allegations. A lot of the critics of the Republican efforts here have been saying, yes, a lot of this is to sow confusion in what is happening. But we should also point out that there has been very little word from the top Republicans in the state, governor, lieutenant governor, the attorney general.

There have only been a handful of Republicans who have criticized this effort. One of them was a state lawmaker here in the Houston area who said that this effort was absurd and harmful.

COOPER: All right. Ed Lavandera, appreciate it.

Next, those final polls in swing states we mentioned earlier. Who's gaining ground, who's losing it at this late stage. And later tonight, new developments in the Biden bus incident. The FBI now investigating exactly what you are seeing, allegations of dangerous highway harassment by Trump supporters. Also the president's winking endorsement of it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:16:41]

COOPER: With the president heading to his fourth of five stops right now, there's new polling to bring in tonight on tightening races in key states.

Our Phil Mattingly is at the magic wall for us tonight.

So we have a slew of new, perhaps final polling to look at. What does it say about the pathways to 270 for each candidate?

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, let's start with the baseline of the 2016 map, right? This was the map that gave Donald Trump the presidency. And for the most part, with the exception of maybe Nevada, Donald Trump's road to reelection runs through this map. And that means going back through the industrial Midwest and rustbelt, and also for Joe Biden's sake right now, taking a look at the sunbelt. Taking a look at perhaps putting new states into play.

So let's take a look at some of the latest polls on where those stand. First, "New York Times"-Siena polling just out today. You see Biden with a narrow lead in Florida, inside the margin of error, 47-44. The six-point lead in Arizona, six-point lead Pennsylvania, and an even larger lead in Wisconsin. Those polls for the most part making Democrats happy and largely track with what we've seen.

But keep an eye on this, "Washington Post"-ABC poll shows Florida with Trump at a two-point lead within the margin of error. Also another six-point, seven-point lead for Joe Biden in Pennsylvania.

So what does this all mean when you start to break it down. First, let's do something that's I think very important here. Take a poll of polls, right? Not just individual polls. Not factoring for outliers. Here's the poll of polls. Joe Biden with another narrow lead in the state of Florida. Another narrow lead in the state of Arizona, five points. Wisconsin, about 10. Pennsylvania, about six. Mostly tracking with what we saw over the course of today, which brings us to this.

What does this mean about the paths forward and where they currently stand? Look, the reality for Joe Biden has remained the same this entire campaign. You win three states in particular, you re-establish that blue wall, and watch this number right here. You win Pennsylvania, you win Michigan, you win Mississippi, and Joe Biden is president of the United States.

However, this also underscores why the Trump campaign is so focused on Pennsylvania. Barnstorming Pennsylvania on Saturday, back in Pennsylvania on Monday. What happens if you keep Pennsylvania? Even if you lose Michigan and Wisconsin and you keep Pennsylvania and all of these states down in the southeast and southwest? You are above 270 electoral votes if you are the Trump campaign.

And that, Anderson, is where those other polls I was talking about start coming into play. If Arizona is in play, like Democrats very much believe it is right now, if North Carolina, which is very much a tossup race, if Florida, which is very much a tossup race, and even if Georgia are all in play for Democrats, that means Joe Biden has several different pathways, a number of pathways that President Trump doesn't have.

However, Trump campaign is confident they can hold onto those. We will see what happens. Obviously all eyes on the Midwest. Don't sleep on the sunbelt, the southeast and some of the southwest as well, Anderson.

COOPER: And there are going to be states that most likely will not be called on election night. What are the campaigns watching for signs of where things might be headed, kind of early indicators?

MATTINGLY: Yes, look, let's start with the baseline, that the fact that votes might be counted after election night is not unusual or untoward or, say, anything unruly is happening. In fact, President Trump might want to flash back to 2016 where Michigan wasn't called until I think two or three weeks after the election.

Here's what we do know. We know Pennsylvania is likely going to be slow. So maybe that's not a leading indicator about where the night is going to go. Same with Michigan. They will be slow in counting their absentee ballots. However, that doesn't mean you're not going to know or at least have a sense of where things are headed over the course of the night.

And here's why. The state of Florida, it counts fast. It knows what it's doing. It's worked through vote by mail before and the expectation is its results will come out on election night. Should have some early results and a decent number of early results from the state of Georgia, too. Also Arizona.

And, Anderson, if you want to know, a leading indicator for the Midwest, keep an eye on Ohio.

[20:20:04]

They report quickly as well. There will be results. Will there be a definitive answer or winner? We don't know that yet. But there will be things to look at that could tell us what's happening on election night.

COOPER: All right. Phil Mattingly, appreciate it. Thanks.

Up next, discussion where these latest poll numbers mean for the strategies of both campaigns in these final days. Plus, what happens when the president, as we reported earlier, tries to declare himself victor, even if no one else has?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: As our Phil Mattingly just reported, a slew of new polls just coming across in the final moments of this campaign. Most showing Joe Biden with strong national polling and leads in Michigan and Wisconsin, close contests in other battleground states leaving the door open for a Trump upset.

[20:25:03]

All of this complicated by the fact that, as we reported at the top of the program, President Trump and allies are prepared to declare victory election night even if there is no declared victor, something the president denies.

Perspective now on all of it with David Axelrod, CNN senior political commentator and former senior adviser to President Obama, Gloria Borger, our chief political analyst, and Harry Enten, our resident poll expert, senior political writer and analyst.

So, David, you know from experience how these campaigns are feeling in the final days. What's your read on the polling?

DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, I think the polling is about as to be expected. We knew that these -- the battlegrounds states are battleground states for a reason. They're battleground states because they're close. And, you know, I would much sooner be Biden than Trump right now. He's got two of the three look out of reach, Wisconsin and Michigan look very strong. I mean, they've had a consistent lead for Biden outside the margin of error.

I think Pennsylvania, Democrats there feel good about it as well. And everything else is kind of gravy. They'd like to end this early, win one of those southern states. Florida, look good, and Georgia, North Carolina, maybe Arizona, and make it very clear on election night to avoid the antics that you referred to. But right now they feel good about where they are. And I think the Trump people understand that they need to pull another inside straight.

COOPER: Harry, I mean, looking at the new polls in Arizona and Pennsylvania, I know you said that this race is likely to come down to those two states. Can you explain? HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL WRITER AND ANALYST: Yes, I mean,

essentially, if you look at the polling averages, what you see is exactly what David was explaining, right? That Joe Biden at this point pretty much has all the Hillary Clinton states in his corner. You add in Michigan, you add in Wisconsin, then you essentially just need to find another 12 electoral votes.

And Arizona plus Nebraska's 2nd congressional district, remember Nebraska allocates its electoral votes. You get one if you win a congressional district, so if you win Arizona plus Nebraska, too, that gets you to exactly 270. Or if you win in Pennsylvania, that obviously gets you way past 270.

So those are the two states that I would call the sort of tipping point states, the states that could put Biden over the top. And that's why I'm watching those two particular states.

COOPER: And, Gloria, this new CNN reporting that the campaign is, you know, prepared to declare a victory on election night, the Trump campaign, if it's the president is even close to 270. The president is disputing it tonight but is also saying, you know, we'll look at what happens. And they just talked about sending in the lawyers.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Right. He said, we'll send in the lawyers in Pennsylvania. I think we've just never had an American president that attacks American democracy like Donald Trump. This is someone who is saying the election is rigged before all the votes are cast and counted. It is because, should he lose, he needs to have something to blame. And that would be a rigged election.

Now I'm not saying that either of these candidates are likely to concede anything on election night. We all remember Bush-Gore, the year 2000. Al Gore conceded and then he had to take it back. And that's not going to happen on Tuesday night or Wednesday. But the notion that a president of the United States says out loud that he would declare victory even if he doesn't have all the votes counted and even if, you know, we haven't called states, states are not clear, the outcome is not clear, is quite remarkable to me that he can just say, well, you know, I'm going to declare victory and the lawyers will figure the rest out.

COOPER: Yes, David, I mean, if he declares victory before the race is called, he is essentially laying groundwork to say that the election was taken from him if it is then called for Biden.

AXELROD: Well, let's break it down. It's Pennsylvania that he's got his eye on because there are millions of ballots that have been cast in early. They've come in apparently, if you look at party affiliation, about three in one in favor of Biden. But two-thirds of the state will vote on election day. And they will probably tilt toward Trump. And so he will hold up those returns. And if he hangs on to the other states, Florida and North Carolina, Georgia, he will say, I'm on my way to victory.

And the only way -- and this is what he's been telling the crowds, Anderson, as he goes along in Pennsylvania. He says the only way we can lose this is if they steal this with these fraudulent ballots. Now these ballots aren't fraudulent. The fact is, the Republican legislature in Pennsylvania forbade election authorities from counting these ballots early like some of these other states, Florida and other states are doing.

And I think it's for the expressed purpose of creating doubt and giving the president that opportunity to besmirch the process and claim that there was something wrong with it. And I agree with Gloria, we've never seen anything like this. But, you know, we've never seen anything like him.

[20:30:04]

BORGER: And let me make it clear. What he would effectively be doing is disenfranchising Americans, saying, your votes don't count because my lawyers say, you know, you couldn't drop off your ballot at a voting box while you were in your car. Your votes don't count. Let's see how that goes over.

COOPER: Yes. Well, I mean, that's what they were trying to do in Texas with this drive-in voting.

BORGER: Yes. Yes. Exactly.

COOPER: And they're still trying to do it. Those are more than 100,000 votes that have already been cast.

Harry, the "Des Moines Register" poll, it shows Trump leading Biden by seven points in Iowa after being tied there last month. You said it's giving Trump backers hope. Democrats anxiety. Do they think whatever is behind those numbers might not be limited to just Iowa?

ENTEN: Yes. I mean, that's essentially it. Right? I mean, Joe Biden doesn't need Iowa to win the presidency. It's because Iowa is, you know, right below Wisconsin and maybe if he is doing so well in Iowa, Donald Trump, then he can go up and win in Wisconsin. But the fact of the matter is, this is one poll. This is one poll. We have a slew of other polling data that suggests that Joe Biden is in a strong position in Wisconsin. You saw that in the "New York Times"-Siena College poll. You saw that in our CNN poll.

COOPER: I talked to Rick Santorum last night who said, you know, that the "Des Moines Register" poll is the gold standard. That it was the only poll that saw how his race was -- how his, you know, campaign was doing when he was running.

ENTEN: Sure. I mean, look, Ann Selzer is a great pollster. No one is going to take that away from her but she's not a goddess, right? Polls have margins of error for a reason. And you go back to 2018, the "Des Moines Register" poll had the Democratic candidate winning for governor. It was Kim Reynolds, the Republican, who won. You go back to 2004, they had John Kerry winning. In fact, it was not John Kerry who won Iowa. It was George W. Bush.

So, look, polls have margins of error. "The New York Times"-Siena College poll is a great. The CNN poll is a great poll. There are a lot of great polls. That's why we took an average of polls, Anderson.

COOPER: Harry, I know I'd said this to you yesterday, but I'm just amazed at your knowledge. Like you're -- like I kind of think like if I asked you to, you could go back and give me poll results going back like, you know, 60 years. I'm not going to ask. But like --

ENTEN: We could do that if you wish.

COOPER: No, no, no. That's fine.

BORGER: That's what he does for fun.

COOPER: Yes. I know, right? As you said, you haven't gotten out of the house.

David, the White House ripped into Dr. Fauci after his criticism of the president's pandemic response and the president's favorite medical adviser, the radiologist, Dr. Scott Atlas, why would the White House want to have this battle with the most accomplished infectious disease expert in the country on the eve of the election?

AXELROD: You know, look, you know, one of the interesting things about all these polls is that Trump is having problems with seniors that he didn't have last time. He carried seniors by eight points last time. He in this "Wall Street Journal"-NBC poll today he was trailing with seniors by 23 points. And I think there's a connection. One out of four people who are 50 years or older know someone who has died from coronavirus.

And the fact that he has cavalierly traveling the country telling people that it is all a fiction and that it's really not nothing to worry about, and that we're turning the corner when in fact we're entering this very dangerous time, and then on top of it, going after Dr. Fauci, I think this is hurting him. And he's making a big mistake.

COOPER: Yes. David Axelrod, Gloria Borger, Harry Enten, thanks so much. Really appreciate it.

Still to come, breaking news in a confrontation on a Texas highway. Pickup trucks flying Trump 2020 flags surrounding, trying to slow down or stop a Biden team campaign bus. The president of course then praised their actions. New reporting on an investigation now underway by the FBI when we continue.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:36:37]

COOPER: Breaking news on a story we brought you last night. A symbol of the toxic, hyper partisan atmosphere of this election. After the FBI announced an investigation earlier today into a confrontation apparently instigated by Trump supporters against Biden supporters aboard a campaign bus in Texas.

The president just moments ago tweeted this in reply, quote, "In my opinion these patriots did nothing wrong. Instead, the FBI and Justice should be investigating the terrorist, anarchist and agitators of Antifa who run around burning our Democrat run cities and hurting our people."

Nothing wrong at all, he said. On Friday, that Biden campaign bus was heading to an event in Austin when a mass of pickup trucks displaying Trump 2020 flags surrounded it on the highway. Neither Joe Biden or Kamala Harris were aboard. Democrats who were aboard said the trucks swarmed the bus forcing it to slow down. Local law enforcement had to assist the bus to its destination.

On Saturday, President Trump tweeted a video of the encounter with the words, "I love Texas."

Tom Foreman is here with the latest about the investigation. So what more do we know?

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know the FBI said they're aware of it. They're looking into it. And this is precisely what authorities coast to coast have been worried about, Anderson.

Here's what we know. Took off from San Antonio headed to Austin. There is some indication that this was not a random encounter but it was sort of coordinated on the Internet to say this bus is coming this way. The people on board the bus say the Trump supporters were yelling profanities at them. They believe they were trying to run the bus off the road or bring it to a complete stop. Let's see what the investigation --

COOPER: Yes. I mean, in the video we were showing, there's that black pickup truck right there just bumped into --

FOREMAN: Yes.

COOPER: -- a campaign vehicle and pushed them out of the lane.

FOREMAN: Yes. There's very clearly contact here. And to suggest as the president said they were escorting them for their safety, they were there because they wanted to protect their opponent, that is simply laughable. There's no idea that would be true. And so of course authorities have to look at this, Anderson, because this is -- you know, we're not even to the vote yet. And clearly, this is a type of harassment taking place out there in a way that an awful lot of us would be uncomfortable with.

COOPER: With just around 36 hours until the polls open, how widespread are concerns among law enforcement agencies about incidents like that?

FOREMAN: They are just all over the country. In Philadelphia, basically a memo has gone out reminding everyone out there, law enforcement around polling places there, that if somebody attacks somebody coming in to vote or just touches them in some way that they could face a very serious charge. That same to be true if anybody shows up, as they describe, in like GI Joe gear.

Michigan is preparing to protect polls everywhere there. You know it's a really important state in terms of being one of the swing states up for grabs right now. New York City, putting on a lot of pressure out there. Chicago cancelling all off-time for any of these officers saying they need everyone there. Same out in Los Angeles.

Honestly, Anderson, when you look at the map, these are some that were highlighted by the "New York Times." But I would doubt that there are any major cities or even minor towns in this country that aren't aware of the potential for violence because tensions and emotions are just running so very high.

COOPER: What about street protests, concerns about, you know, federal buildings, other sites that could be targeted?

FOREMAN: Yes. The federal authorities, Homeland Security and such, have said that they'll obviously try to protect federal property out there. But if you look around, here in D.C. just driving down here, you can see buildings that have boarded up. The same is true in New York and other places out there. Private companies handling private security firms saying they have to protect themselves.

[20:40:02]

And what we're really talking about here is what happens as the results start to come in. If you start saying one side or the other simply won't tolerate it and begins to sort rampage in the streets, there are many businesses out there saying, we can't sit around and wait until that happens. And many private security agencies saying, we'll be there to try to help you.

It's going to be a very tense few days, Anderson.

COOPER: Yes. Tom Foreman, appreciate it. Thanks.

Another flash point of the election, the U.S. mail. According to new internal documents filed in federal court, the Postal Service is stressing to its employees that every possible ballot must, must arrive on election day regardless of state-by-state deadlines. Slowing delivery in addition to legal controversies have complicated those efforts to allow voters a safe, socially distanced way, to make sure their voices heard at the ballot box.

Pamela Brown joins us now with more.

So less than two days to go until the election. The Postal Service is reporting another slowdown for on-time delivery of ballots. I mean, what's going on?

PAMELA BROWN, SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the closer we're getting to election day, it seems the more the performance of the Postal Service declines. We're seeing a slowdown in mail going through the system of the Postal Service over the last three days.

This has been the trend, Anderson. And what this means is it could mean that the ballots aren't going to reach important places in battleground states. The election offices on time to be counted. That is why this matters. That is why you're seeing a lot of focus on this right now, because we're so close to election day. And in so many states, if the ballots don't get there on time, they're going to be tossed out. They're not going to be counted.

COOPER: In 28 states, ballots have to arrive by election day in order to be counted even if they were postmarked before. Has the Postal Service said what it's doing to try to make that happen?

BROWN: Well, the Postal Service is saying that it is taking extraordinary measures right now. It's adding hours for collection. It's adding special lines at the post office. It has a special election hotline it's using. They're having daily task force meetings. Clearly this is not enough, though, because we're still seeing the decline in delivery. And I think we can show a map here, too, on where we're seeing that specifically in these battleground states.

In Colorado and Wyoming, as you see right here, 43 ballots -- only 43 have arrived on time, Anderson. And then you see in some key battleground states this election, under 90 percent of mail-in ballots are on time. You see Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and parts of Texas and Florida. And so while the Postal Service is saying they're taking these extraordinary measures, we are still seeing these numbers that are impacting the battleground states in this election.

COOPER: So why is this happening? Have they said?

BROWN: Well, the Postal Service has said, look, this is not -- these are extraordinary times. We're in a pandemic. They've had to make some changes. And so mail just isn't moving as fast through the system. Also we're seeing a big influx of mail-in ballots. Now the Postal Service has said that even with this large number of mail-in, it's a small number compared to what they have to deal with day in and day out.

But clearly, that the combination of factors including other challenges they face with staffing shortages and processing issues. So all of that combined is now coming to a head as we see.

COOPER: All right. Pamela Brown, appreciate it.

We want to take a look at how this controversy over vote by mail is playing out in a battleground state both campaigns are vying for. Joining us now the secretary of state of Michigan, Jocelyn Benson.

As Pam Brown reported, Michigan is one state where on-time delivery of ballots is under 90 percent.

Secretary Benson, in Michigan, mail-in ballots must arrive before 8:00 p.m. on November 3rd in order for them to count. How concerned are you that ballots won't meet that deadline?

JOCELYN BENSON, MICHIGAN SECRETARY OF STATE: I'm confident we're doing everything we can to ensure that every ballot does get in by that deadline. Most importantly, we have consistently from the beginning of the point where voters could count -- could vote absentee. We've been letting them know that once you get within two weeks of the election, don't use the mail. And that has not changed regardless of the litigation, regardless of all the other changes around the country. And voters responded. I mean, already we've got the majority, the vast

majority, over 80 percent of ballots requested to vote absentee, they're in. And so, and of those remaining, about 500,000 that are still outline, we are confident that voters will use our local drop boxes or their local clerk's office to ensure it gets in on time.

COOPER: So what happens to ballots that arrive after the deadline?

BENSON: Well, they won't count under Michigan's law, quite clearly. And so we want to make sure that voters are also tracking their ballot and they can do that at our Web site, Michigan.gov/vote. It will (INAUDIBLE) when their ballots have been received and then if it's not been received, voters can either tomorrow, Monday, go to their clerk's office and get a new ballot and return that and vote in person and their previous ballot will be invalidated.

We're also instructing voters on Tuesday if your vote still says it hasn't been received to just go to the polls. You can vote then. And we've got a procedure set up to verify at that point with the clerk that the ballot hasn't been received or -- and to spoil that one so that the voter can vote in person on election day. So the name of the game is contingency planning, being vigilant tracking your ballot, making sure it's been received.

[20:45:03]

And if it hasn't been received by Tuesday, having a backup plan to ensure your vote gets in.

COOPER: How long do you anticipate it's going to take for Michigan to count all ballots to be able to declare a winner? Because, you know, as we know, President Trump said that, you know, votes counted after election day shouldn't count.

BENSON: Well, every vote will count in Michigan as in every other state in the country. Every valid vote counts. That's how democracy works. Candidates don't get to decide what votes get counted. Our election administrators will count every valid vote. So in Michigan, we cannot begin tabulating ballots that are voted absentee until 7:00 a.m. on election day morning. We anticipate more than three million ballots will be voted absentee ultimately and that's going to take time, to methodically and securely and accurately tabulate every ballot.

On Tuesday, we will announce the full number of absentee ballots that we have received as of Tuesday morning so that people can know the universe that we're dealing with. And then at the end of the day, we'll provide an update as to where we are in that process and we'll provide from the minute those polls close to the minute we have the tabulation, updates as we go along so that voters can know what to expect, what votes are in and what votes are still being tabulated.

COOPER: In past races that you've done, do you have a number of votes that end up not being allowed because they were received after election day? BENSON: Yes. In our August primary, we had 1.6 million absentee

ballots. Of those, 6,000 were postmarked prior to election day, 6400, prior election day and then were received after. And so recognizing that, we launched a very consistent proactive multimillion-dollar voter education campaign over the past few moments to minimize that and we've also been tracking the data to confirm that ballots once received by voters are being returned on time.

The good news is, again, that percentage of over 80 percent returned at this point is much higher than we've been in at past elections. So that's a good sign that voters are returning their ballots, they're getting them in on time. But we're going to continue to track. And I know a lot of folks are also notifying voters if they still have outstanding ballots to remind them to return them on time.

The good news in Michigan is we've never wavered from that deadline of 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday. And so voters know they need to get them in. The voters know how, local drop offs or local clerk.

COOPER: Jocelyn Benson, appreciate it. Thank you very much.

BENSON: Thank you.

COOPER: Tonight, as President Trump continues to barnstorm his way across the battleground states, appearing before a largely maskless crowds with no social distancing, there are some parts of the country where wearing or not is becoming a pure political statement. That when we continue.

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[20:52:26]

COOPER: Before he goes to bed tonight, President Trump would have appeared before five rallies, and it goes without saying five mostly maskless crowds.

Here's a live picture of a crowd waiting for his arrival in a room in Georgia. This of course as the daily coronavirus case count surges. More than 73,000 today alone. Among the places the pandemic has hit the hardest of late are rural areas. And in some of those rural areas, the simple act of just wearing a mask or refusing to has become a political act.

CNN's Elie Reeve now with some examples from a small town in Missouri.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHELLE WALKER, ADMINISTRATOR, CARTER COUNTY HEALTH CENTER: I think there is a stigma to wearing a mask. I know I've talked to people and I've heard them say, well, I want to wear a mask, but I'm afraid people will just me and think I'm weird or sheep.

ELIE REEVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Is that the word they use is sheep?

WALKER: Yes. That's what I've been called. I feel like I'm pretty hated right now.

REEVE (voice-over): Michelle Walker has become an unlikely villain in this remote part of Missouri. She runs the Carter County Health Center which wasn't controversial job until COVID. She says many residents resent her team's efforts to control a virus they don't believe can be controlled.

WALKER: At first, they were very scared and very aware. But recently, they're bored with it. Everybody is tired of it.

DAKOTA TURLEY, NURSE, CARTER COUNTY HEALTH CENTER: In my opinion, a lot of people don't think of the severity of the illness or even the reality of the illness. They think it's affecting their everyday life. COVID kind of took normal, everyday country living.

REEVE: COVID is spiking in rural America, including here in the Ozarks. Walker says Carter County's positivity rate has risen to 30 percent in the last week. And their cases went from 40 in August to about 200 now. That's a lot in a county with just 6,000 people, no hospital and two ambulances.

WALKER: This is currently where we're housing all of the county's PPE.

REEVE: Everyone knows everyone here. They know who is in quarantine and who wears masks.

WALKER: There's a lot of shaming. There's a lot of the reason why we're seeing cases rise now is because people don't want to get tested because they don't want to affect people's lives. And they don't want to risk their aunt, uncle, niece or their ball team getting quarantined.

REEVE (on camera): We talked to the people at the health department. They feel like now they're kind of hated in town.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are.

REEVE: Why?

BRIAN KEATHLEY, CARTER COUNTY RESIDENT: We're really fortunate to have them there. Until they start telling people how to live their lives. To be perfectly honest with you, if I walk through town wearing a mask, there'll be somebody call me a hippie for wearing a mask.

REEVE (voice-over): When COVID first hit, Brian Keathley and his family stockpiled with goods and stayed home for weeks. Now he says he's over it and that it's gotten too political.

[20:55:04]

KEATHLEY: We sit in the coffee shop and watch people walk in the door. We look at a mask and we all look at each other and we go, Democrat. It's a political virus for the most part.

REEVE (on camera): Who made it political?

KEATHLEY: The government.

REEVE: Who is in charge of the government?

KEATHLEY: Oh, would you like to -- would you like to put all this off on Trump?

REEVE: No, I wouldn't.

KEATHLEY: That he should have been a leader? That he should have gotten up in the podium and said, everyone, wear the masks. It's a really good mask. It's a really, really good mask. We have the greatest mask ever. Nobody cares what Trump has to say. There's no politician, there's no person of authority of any kind that can issue any kind of order that's going to make people abide by this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you wear a mask?

KEATHLEY: I'm not a Democrat.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

KEATHLEY: See there? I've told you it's a political situation.

WALKER: I don't know what it would take for people to take it more seriously. And I'm just really tired of people insinuating that it's about politics when it's really about people's health.

KEATHLEY: For the most part, people are revolting against it and revolting to the point that they are causing -- maybe causing a little damage. But does that make you a bad when you finally just give in and realize, it's here to stay? I can't help everybody. And I can't keep everyone safe. And I know that there's a chance that I may get it. And it's a calculated risk. I guess, if I get it and it kills me, then it's slow walking and sad singing for the family.

REEVE: What would you put on your tombstone?

KEATHLEY: Didn't wear a mask.

REEVE (voice-over): Elie Reeve, CNN, Van Buren, Missouri.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: A lot more straight ahead on this special Sunday edition of 360. As election day closes in, Joe Biden and President Trump making their last-minute pitches with more than 93 million Americans already casting their ballots, either in person or by mail. We'll have updates from both campaigns. And I'll speak with a South Carolina Democrat looking to unseat Senator Lindsey Graham.

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COOPER: Good evening. Picture this, a few hours until election night and neither candidate has the 270 electoral votes they need to win. But one of them, the president --

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