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Romney, Obama Blitz Swing States; Florida Dems Sue To Extend Early Voting; New Jersey's Displaces Voters' Option; Voting Concerns In New Jersey; Sharpest Dip In Gas Prices Since 2008; Making A Case For President Obama; Final Day Of Campaigning; Vote Concerns In Florida; Fighting to Control the Senate

Aired November 05, 2012 - 10:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Stories we're watching in the NEWSROOM. Closing arguments, the last full day of campaigning for Mitt Romney and Barack Obama as they sprint across the country one more time.

Tomorrow, thousands will be out in force, watching you as you vote. But in this election, could the poll watchers be the ones picking sides?

Balance of power, Democrats want the House and Republicans are gunning for the Senate. But will either side accomplish their goal?

And gas prices keep falling to levels not seen since a month after the last election. Why? NEWSROOM starts now.

Good morning. Thank you so much for joining us. I'm Carol Costello. Counting down and knotted up. Just hours before Americans head to the polls, the slightest ripple could decide a presidential race too close to call.

According to our new CNN/ORC poll, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are tied at 49 percent among likely voters. And today that has both men racing across key battleground states. Just last hour, we carried Romney's speech at a Florida rally. Next hour, we'll hear from Obama. He's in Wisconsin.

Here's a look at the rest of their day. As you can see in red, Romney now travels on to Virginia, Ohio and New Hampshire. President Obama in blue goes from Wisconsin to all-important Ohio and finally to Iowa.

But let's begin with the Obama camp. White House correspondent Dan Lothian, he is at the president's first stop in Madison, Wisconsin.

Dan, we're going to ask you this morning to read the tea leaves, two reasons for confidence in each camp and one reason for doubt. So, Obama's number one reason for confidence is the ground game. And another reason, many say he has a better message for the middle class. Expound.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. You know, when it comes to the ground game, the campaign has a lot of infrastructure that was put in place during the 2008 campaign. Much of that was still there. So they were not starting from ground zero.

In addition to that, they set up a hub of volunteers, thousands of volunteers in these key battleground states that have been able to get people registered to vote, encourage them to get out and vote early.

And then finally, the campaign has been touting this number of making one-on-one contact with voters, 125 million voters over the course of the campaign. So they believe their ground game has been effective and will pay off on Election Day -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Dan Lothian reporting live for us this morning. Now let's focus on the Romney campaign. CNN national political correspondent Jim Acosta is on the road with the Republican nominee.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. That's right. I talked to a senior Romney adviser earlier this morning and they say their message today is going to be focused on those last few undecided.

That's where that ground operation comes into play. They know they are going to have to outperform these recent battleground state polls across a number of swing states showing the GOP nominee is trailing the president in places like Virginia, in places like New Hampshire.

One came out in Iowa yesterday. So I was talking to the finance chair for this campaign over the weekend. I said, why are we still seeing the fundraising appeals from the GOP nominee going out to supporters and this is where the ground game is crucial?

A lot of that money he said is going to be going to vans to round up voters and supporters and get them to the polls and to make sure that volunteers are getting out in the neighborhoods, canvassing areas where they know they are strong.

And making sure that every door is knocked on to make sure every possible voter that might be leaning towards Mitt Romney can get to their voting place and cast a ballot for this GOP nominee.

So at this point, they know that they have to prove the pollsters wrong and that means getting out the vote -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Jim Acosta reporting live for us from Florida.

Talking about Florida, tempers reached epic proportions during early voting. People waited in line for hours, talking up to four hours, just to cast a ballot.

State Democrats filed the first of what could be many lawsuits in Florida after the Republican governor Rick Scott refused to extend early voting hours this weekend. The Republican controlled legislator voted to shorten early voting this year from 14 days to just eight days. We'll keep you posted.

With New Jersey residents still suffering from the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, Governor Chris Christie wants to make sure his state's voters have their voices heard. Christie's ordered election officials to allow displaced voters to cast ballots electronically.

Here's how it will work. New Jersey voters can submit a mail-in ballot application via e-mail or fax. After officials have proved that application, they will send the voter an electronic ballot that can be e-mailed or faxed back.

CNN's Jim Clancy is in Belmar, New Jersey. Residents there have a lot to worry about. I guess the big question this morning is, will they even bother to vote even though New Jersey's tried to make it easier for them?

JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think they will bother to vote, but it's very complicated, Carol because after all, we're in a town that doesn't have any electricity. But let's find out more. Let's talk to the mayor, Matt Doherty.

Matt, the possibility of e-mail voting is there. What impact will it have?

MAYOR MATT DOHERTY, BELMAR, NEW JERSEY: We're not sure. We did have a lot of families evacuate. So if they're in a place outside of Belmar that does have power, they may have that opportunity to vote. But in town, we're small enough that everyone can walk to the polling place if need be.

CLANCY: There's no power, though. How do the machines work? Where will they go? Do they know?

DOHERTY: We have an emergency generator at our town hall. All the polling locations are going to be there. Usually they are spread out among four different areas, fire departments, but they're all flooded. So the way we're going to deal with it is bring everyone together into one place.

CLANCY: This will be an experiment. Really electronic voting in this manner, maybe something good that comes out of the storm. You have local elections here as well. Do you think people are still in a mood to cast a ballot?

DOHERTY: You know, that's a great question. I think in a presidential election, you'll see high turnout, even with the devastation you see around us. I think people are still interested. We have local elections, county, state, everything. I think you'll see a decent turnout this year, the storm not deterring people.

CLANCY: Listen, I've got you here. Let me ask you. I was down at the pumps a little bit earlier. I think we have video of that we can share with our viewers. They are pumping out tens upon tens of thousands of gallons a minute and the lake has come way down. This is the lake that got overtopped and really flooded your downtown area.

DOHERTY: Yes. We're going to continue pumping that. The weather forecast is for a nor'easter sometime in the middle of this week. Right now, our ground water is so high, the water table, that if we get one inch of water, our basements are going to flood again throughout town. So we're going to drain those lakes as much as possible and draw that water back into the lakes in preparation of the storm coming this week.

CLANCY: All right, there you have it, Carol. Lots of work to be done, they're on it in Belmar. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Back to you, Carol.

COSTELLO: And I do hope people can vote. Jim Clancy, thanks so much. CNN's live coverage, by the way, of the election begins tomorrow night at 6:00 p.m. Eastern. Hope you'll join us.

Let's talk gas prices now because they've been on voters' minds for quite a long time. When are gas prices going to go down? Well, the answer might be right now. Alison Kosik joins us from the New York Stock Exchange. Really?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Really, just in time for Election Day, too. And this is actually working out to be the biggest two-week drop for gas prices since 2008. The latest Lundberg survey says the national average fell by more than 20 cents a gallon from October 19th to November 2nd.

AAA reporting today as well a national average of $3.47 and look at this, it's only been a month ago that it was $3.81 a gallon, that's a 9 percent drop in price, Carol. And guess what? It's a trend that could continue.

The Lundberg survey predicts prices could fall another 10 to 20 cent a gallon and that means in some states we could actually see prices fall below $3 a gallon before the end of the year. That's better than even the most optimistic forecast we were talking about a few weeks ago -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Wow. So there's a gas shortage in New York and New Jersey. I mean, what impact will Sandy have on gas prices?

KOSIK: Not necessarily a shortage. What analysts including Lundberg are saying is that Sandy could actually bring down prices. That's because, as I said, there was no shortage of gasoline. The gas prices we're having here in the New York area are happening because gas stations, they don't still have electricity to pump the gas into the cars. Of course, there's also this general panic that's kind of setting in that set in over the weekend that's causing those long lines. Analysts come close it did say that social media may have amplified the panic that we're seeing causing the equivalent of flash mobs to form at gas stations.

But Carol, the real effect of Sandy on gas prices is that the storm forced a drop in demand, which could cause prices to go down across the country. But what you're seeing those long lines, we're being told, are not because there's a shortage of gas -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Interesting. Alison Kosik reporting live from the New York Stock Exchange. Making a case for why President Obama deserves to be re-elected and why a Romney win could erode the civil rights gains of the last century. Going to talk with the Reverend Jesse Jackson. He's the one making those charges.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: President Obama needs African-Americans to vote in large numbers to win. They came through for him in 2008. But today, some might not be so eager to head to the polls.

If they don't, in civil rights leader Jesse Jackson's mind that could take them back to 1875, the end of the civil war. Jesse Jackson joins us now from Cleveland. Welcome.

REV. JESSE JACKSON, PRESIDENT, RAINBOW PUSH COALITION: Welcome to you. I see longer lines than 2008. We were in Cincinnati yesterday, six-block lines. It was open from 1:00 to 10:00. Once you're in line, they can't close the polls until you leave the lines. So we've seen longer, stronger, more determined voters.

COSTELLO: Well, let's talk about voter enthusiasm. Yes, it's nice to see so many people out early voting. But when you talk to some African-Americans, they say, we gave Barack Obama is chance in 2008, but my life has not changed.

It's the same. In fact, in many cases, my life is worse. So, I don't know, are we really seeing that much enthusiasm at the polls?

JACKSON: Yes, three things are happening for them. Number one, the voter suppression has become the voter stimulus. The roll purging tends to make it more difficult, aroused people who would not have been aroused.

Number two, the attacks on him, you retard, you're not a Christian, not an American, those attacks have become very personal to people. They feel those were attacks upon them.

The third, things are getting better for many people. This time four years ago, we were in a deep dark hole. We've had 5 million jobs in contrast to having lost 4 million. Pell grants have increased. More Americans are insured today than four years ago. There is a sense -- there's an up feeling here in these lines.

COSTELLO: You wrote an op-ed for "The Guardian," that reads in part, quote, "There are attempts to take the civil rights victories back. Our opponents are fighting the civil war of 1865. If Romney wins and puts right wingers on the Supreme Court, the courts could rule to undermine the entire movement made by Dr. King." Seriously, the entire movement?

JACKSON: Well, the attack on voting access is fundamental. America is a before-and-after 1965 and it's before and after 1865. So the attack on the acts of the voting is fundamental.

Secondly, the attacks of workers' right to -- the attack on women's rights -- the attack upon civil rights and social justice, that is a radical setback -- I think that one thing that Mr. Romney's done is he's pushed off a whole body of people he never sought to include.

Remember, he's campaigning in South Carolina -- African-American, open primary did not reach out at all, for example. No reach-out and seemingly no sensitivity to civil rights, workers rights and social justice.

COSTELLO: Well, Romney did speak before the NAACP, right? He says he tried to reach out.

JACKSON: Well, that was a gesture. If I were running in South Carolina, one third African-American and an open primary, I would reach out to Michael Steele, who was former chair of the RNC. He did not.

Reach out to Colin Powell, another prominent Republican. Even George Bush reached out to Latinos and put one on his cabinet. Once they reached out on the George Bush one is not seen in this Romney campaign.

COSTELLO: Let me turn the question the other way because white men aren't exactly flocking to Barack Obama. Why do you think that is?

JACKSON: Repeat that, please.

COSTELLO: White men, they're not flocking to President Obama. Why do you think that is?

JACKSON: Well, I know a number of them are because four years ago, with the banks, with the global collapse, the bank had been resuscitated. When I think about more Americans have health insurance who didn't have it, benefited everybody.

More men, white, black and brown, home from Iraq, benefited everybody. I do not know why some are not voting for him -- here in Ohio, the auto industry is working three shifts now. Those workers working now matter.

COSTELLO: Reverend Jesse Jackson, thank you so much for joining us this morning. I know it's cold in Cleveland this morning. So we appreciate you taking the time.

JACKSON: Indeed.

COSTELLO: The election so tight, a couple of thousand votes could determine who wins the White House. Many people have already voted. But come tomorrow, we could still see some very long lines and, yes, the possibility of voter irregularities.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Now's your chance to Talk Back on one of the big stories of the today. The question for you this morning: Election 2012, defining moment? The time for a game of changing October surprise is over, if there ever was one, seems like we've been talking about defining moments since the beginning of time.

The latest and perhaps the last, the bromance between political enemies, Barack Obama and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. I've showed you the real pictures, but "SNL's" are so much more fun.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HORATIO SANZ, IMPERSONATING GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE: I would like to give a sincere thanks to President Obama for how he handled the situation. On Election Day, I'm voting for Mitt Romney. But if I had to pick one guy to have my back in a crisis, it would be Barack Obama. He's been amazing, so kind, such a leader, a true inspiration. Again, I'll be a good soldier and vote for Romney, but I'm going to hate it!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Other defining moments? Mitt Romney's stellar first debate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: And what we're seeing right now is, in my view, a trickle-down government approach which has government thinking it can do a better job than free people pursuing their dreams and it's not working.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Defining moments the candidates would like to take back. Barack Obama's famous "you didn't build that American businessman" and Mitt Romney's 47 percent moocher remark there was Benghazi, Libya, four Americans dead and questions about the Obama administration's response.

And how about Mitt Romney's assertion that Russia was our number one geopolitical enemy? It's all water under the bridge now. I do wonder, though, did any defining moment really change your mind or was your mind made up on day one?

Talk Back today: Election 2012, what was your defining moment? Facebook.com/CarolCNN. Your responses later this hour.

A presidential election too close to call, a battleground state mired in voting problems and controversy. Sound familiar? Sure does in Florida. Those haunting memories of 2000 debacle are still painfully fresh and now a new crop of concerns are hanging over the elections there.

Ali Velshi is keeping a close eye on these problems as they unfold. He joins us now from CNN's Vote Watch Desk. It was ugly this weekend in Florida.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I mean, can you imagine that we're having this conversation about voting problems in Florida? I guess it wouldn't be a battle, Carol, without a battle in Florida.

Specifically, by the way, South Florida, one third of the state's registered Democrats do their voting in three counties, Broward, West Palm and Miami-Dale. This is what the early voting lines looked like in Miami yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been waiting here since 12:30 to pick up an absentee ballot. Now they're telling us we have to go home. That's just ridiculous.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: We heard reports of wait times from 45 minutes to seven hours. I've been getting tweets about that, seven hours. Talk about committed voters. This all started on Saturday. The scene had some folks walking away.

It had the Democrats are lawyering up. They have pushed to have voting extended in some Democratic strongholds. Guess what, Carol? People are lining up again today. Why these long lines?

Well, if you ask Democrats, it could have something to do with a new law. Last year, the Republican Governor, Rick Scott and the Republican-held Florida legislature, cut the number of early voting days down from 14 to eight. Might not think a few hundred votes from people walking away makes a lot of difference but clearly you do because you remember the year 2000.

According to the official count, President Bush won the 2000 election by 537 hand-counted votes. That gave him the state of Florida and that's how he won the election. They came from South Florida. So every vote really does count.

And that Florida could once again be the site of a very close election and very ugly legal battles is confounding. Carol, just one the stories we're watching. I should tell you as of Friday afternoon, 44 percent of eligible voters in Florida had already cast their ballots.

So roughly we can guess that more than half of Floridians have already cast their ballots. Anyway, I'll be monitoring the vote desk so make sure you get your voices heard. You can tweet us, @votewatch. E-mail us at votewatch@cnn.com or text us.

I'll be available to send all that information out. If you follow me on @alivelshi, I'll send that information out. We will follow up on all of these things going on. They're going on in other states, too -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Yes, they are. Ali Velshi, many thanks. We're going to talk more about this in the hours to come. The presidential election, time is running short.

As you've heard Ali say, lines are running long, at least in one state, all too famous for voting problems. Why does this keep happening in America? Shouldn't it be a cinch to vote? It's our constitutional right. We'll talk about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Good morning. Welcome to the NEWSROOM. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining us. It's just about 30 minutes past the hour. Let's check our top stories.

The term fiscal cliff has been used a lot this year. Now the Speaker of the House thinks we might be able to avoid it. Congressman John Boehner says there is a possibility Congress could approve a temporary fix to postpone the spending cuts set to begin in 2013. But he says that temporary fix could be a tough vote to get through.

The NFL's lone unbeaten team stays absolutely perfect. How about those Atlanta Falcons? They rallied to defeat the Dallas Cowboys Sunday. Michael Turner's late touchdown run and four field goals by Matt Bryant. The Falcons are now 8-0.

And on the final full day of campaigning, the race for president could not be any closer. It is what you call a dead heat. A new CNN/ORC poll of likely voters shows President Obama and Governor Romney getting 49 percent each. Both candidates have a busy day on the trail before tomorrow's election.

Oh, Florida, oh, Florida, voters found long lines and chaos especially in the southern part of the state. Imagine waiting up to nine hours to vote. Nine hours.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are up in Miami-Dade County Election Department. We are not in a school or a library or something and this is what they're doing to us?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is what they do in that building.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes exactly. And this is the way they're treating us? We need to vote. We are not in some rural district waiting on the side of the road. This is the main place. And if we are treated like that here, God help the others.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is not Cuba. This is not China. We cannot allow this to happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Seriously? Can't we do better than that or was it on purpose and isn't it sad we're asking these questions in 2012?

CNN contributors L.Z. Granderson and Will Cain join us now. Welcome, gentlemen.

L.Z. GRANDERSON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Good morning, Carol.

WILL CAIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: OK, so up to nine hours to vote. That's just crazy. Some might say that's un-American. What do you say to that, L.Z.?

GRANDERSON: I say it's going along as planned. This is not news to the officials who implemented these laws, limited the amount of hours which early voting can happen and saw this tidal wave coming with the hopes of what it would do to deter Democrats voting for President Obama. This was all part of the plan, a very diabolical plan.

And I am disturbed by the images that I've seen and I think every American should be disturbed by this.

COSTELLO: Will, Florida's Republican Governor he did fight to limit early voting and he won. He decreased the number of days. In retrospect, was that wise?

CAIN: Look, here is the deal. It is unfortunate what's happened in these three or four Florida counties, Carol.

But let me give you a couple of statistics to balance out L.Z.'s claims of diabolical. You know in 2000, 15 percent of the vote was early voting. In 2008, that was up to 30 percent. And this year, many are expecting the early voting will make up 40 percent of the voting electorate.

The point I'm making to you is this, it is getting easier to vote early and that's a good thing. But because we had some problems in a couple of counties in Florida does not reveal a diabolical scheme. I'll also add to this, in Florida, that's a 12-page voting pamphlet you get on constitutional amendment and yet the presidential election.

So should we be surprised really that that this new process of bigger voter turnout for early voting is rife with incompetence especially in Florida? No, I don't -- I don't think we should be surprised by that.

COSTELLO: Well L.Z., he is right about that. They do have a lot of issues to vote on in Florida. It's really hot there. And maybe people's temperatures were just boiling over.

GRANDERSON: My question is, why would you wait until months within this time for the general elections to implement any sort of new rules, to implement any sort of new IDs to have to be shown, to initiate any sort of ideas that's going to -- from -- from all the information that we've gathered hurt minority voters? I don't understand why you would do that the year of the election.

Will's right. We've seen this trend. Why not begin addressing this in 2007, 2008 or 2009? Why did we wait until 2012, a few weeks prior to the election to begin having these discussions and began implementing these rules? That's the reason why I think it's diabolical it's because of the timing of it all and understanding what research has shown who this will impact most.

COSTELLO: Well let's talk about what's happening in New Jersey and New York. I mean Sandy might force a change in how we vote altogether. In New Jersey, they're allowing people to vote via e-mail or fax. My question is why not just move to that? It's 2012, for God's sake, Will. CAIN: Well look, there is a move, Carol, to make voting more convenient, to make voting easier. That -- that's reflected in those early voting stats I gave you -- I gave you a little earlier. And that's also reflected in compensating some of these New York and New Jersey voters who have been devastated there to make it easier to vote so -- by e-mail.

So -- so here we can tie this all together. What we need to do, though, when you make it more convenient is you need to make sure that the vote is sacrosanct. And when you talk about e-mail voting, now you're talking about opening this up to -- to quite obvious easier voter fraud. This is part of this entire effort. If we're going to make voting easier, we also need to make it full of more integrity, have more integrity.

These -- these efforts should go hand in hand. Convenient voting but real, true voting, free from voter fraud. And I think you've seen many, including many on the right, pursue that over several years and be called diabolical for that pursuit.

COSTELLO: Yes but -- but, L.Z., don't we have the technology?

GRANDERSON: Listen, there's only so many things in this country that we think it's acceptable to wait in line for, four to five hours. You know iPhones we wait in line for, maybe some concert tickets or somewhere, the DMV, begrudgingly. There is no reason why we should be waiting four to five hours to vote in 2012.

And I agree with my friend Will there are a lot of things that we need to be addressing in this country when it comes to how we vote. In terms of early voting, in terms of closing hours, in terms of limiting hours.

I'm disturbed personally that the Romney family owns voting machines. I think that's an issue that needs to be talked about. There are a lot of things going forward that we need to be addressing. And certainly using technology in our voting process, in our debates, in every step of this way of the election process needs to be implemented. And hopefully we'll have that conversation going starting November 7th.

COSTELLO: Gosh, I hope so. Will Cain --

CAIN: One thing that's unacceptable, Carol.

COSTELLO: Quickly, Will Cain.

CAIN: The one thing that is unacceptable is when -- you can't rub salt in wounds, when the Falcons beat the Cowboys, you don't co-op the Cowboys' trademark slogan, how about those Cowboys, and say, "How about those Falcons," Carol? That is a huge, huge you know sin. You can't do that, Carol.

COSTELLO: Oh Will, I'm sorry, he's hurt, he's hurting a lot.

CAIN: I'm (INAUDIBLE) with the Falcons and Texas right now so I'm -- COSTELLO: I know, Texas boy. Thanks so much.

GRANDERSON: We haven't said, "How about them Cowboys?" in a long, long time.

COSTELLO: It's true, that's sadly true for Will.

CAIN: I know.

COSTELLO: Will Cain, L.Z. Granderson, it has been fun. Thanks so much. Be sure to watch CNN's live election coverage that starts tomorrow night at 6:00 p.m. Eastern.

A group called "True the Vote" is among those sending election observers to polling places. But critics say one group will do more to suppress the vote than to make sure everything goes smoothly and not fraudulently. We'll talk about that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: With the presidential race so tight in the battleground states, tomorrow's turnout and the integrity of the vote will be crucial. Lawyers and poll watchers will be on duty. One Tea Party- backed group, "True the Vote", will have volunteers at polling stations. "True the Vote's" president, Catherine Engelbrecht, joins us from Houston. Welcome.

CATHERINE ENGELBRECHT, PRESIDENT, TRUE THE VOTE: Hi, Carol. Thanks so much for having me.

COSTELLO: We're glad you're here with us. What are your goals tomorrow?

ENGELBRECHT: Well, we've worked very hard to encourage citizens to work inside the polls. We've had training all across the country, reminding citizens that it is their obligation to uphold the integrity of the process so that we can all enjoy a free and fair election.

COSTELLO: Where will you have the most observers, which states?

ENGELBRECHT: Well you know, it's -- it's classic. The greatest -- the greatest participation levels are happening in those states that tend to have the most historic problems with -- with fraud.

COSTELLO: Such as?

ENGELBRECHT: You can certainly say Ohio, Florida, historically close elections. It's very important that the process is observed there.

COSTELLO: So you'll have people -- like what exactly will they be doing? What will they be observing?

ENGELBRECHT: That's a great question. The goal of a poll watcher is simply to watch the process of the election to help protect the rights of the voter. So making sure that -- that check-in is handled correctly, that -- that the votes -- the audit during the day stay even. It's -- it's just making sure that the state law is being followed.

COSTELLO: As you well know, civil rights leaders have said your program is more about voter suppression than voter fraud. Let's listen to what Congressman Elijah Cummings said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ELIJAH CUMMINGS, (D) MARYLAND: True the Vote has consistently challenged the voting rights of legitimate voters. We must address anybody who tries to deny anybody that right to vote. And I consider it criminal. I consider it unpatriotic and highly offensive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Those are really strong words. Criminal. And what's your reaction to that?

ENGELBRECHT: Well, first reaction is that his allegations are absolutely false. But I appreciate you giving me the opportunity to address it because Congressman Cummings has chosen, despite our repeated attempts to sit down and visit with him he has chosen to continue to spread misinformation.

The fact is I believe he's trying to change the debate. In his own home state of Maryland, there was a congressional candidate that just had to withdraw because she admitted having voted twice in the same election in two states. Pew Research indicates that is there's one in eight of our voter registration records that are wrong. In the last 18 months, there have been 31 states that have prosecuted vote fraud crimes. And 70 percent of Americans agree that it's time to do something to improve the overall integrity of the process. Why? Because fraud is real.

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: Yes and I hear you. I hear you but there are other organizations, the Brennan Center, for one in New York. I mean, its mission is to study voter fraud. It says there is -- there really isn't such a thing as a huge voter fraud problem in this country.

The other thing that's out there that I'd like to ask you about is, there are reports that your organization sent letters to African- American voters just confusing them about whether they're able to vote or not.

And you're not really affiliated with a state government, a locality. You're just a watchdog group. So why is it your role to send letters to voters that might confuse them or keep them from the polls?

ENGELBRECHT: True the Vote has never sent a letter to a voter. That's the responsibility of the county government. It's not something we would ever want to be a part of. Citizens are there to observe and report. And that's where our responsibility ends.

COSTELLO: So you won't actually be going up to voters and talking with them and telling them -- ENGELBRECHT: No, absolutely not. A poll watcher does not speak to voters. Poll watchers are there to observe the process, to make sure that it's conducted fairly and not to engage with voters in any way.

COSTELLO: Catherine, thank you so much for being with us this morning. We appreciate it.

ENGELBRECHT: Thanks.

COSTELLO: Tomorrow, it's all over, or is it? One thing is certain we'll get plenty of laughs thanks to these guys for a long time to come.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Oh, tomorrow, there's much more at stake than just choosing a president. We could put someone out of work. If the President holds on to his job, this Mitt Romney impostor, Jim Bachelor, could find himself looking for a new job. That's Romney on the left, by the way and Bachelor on the right.

If Mitt Romney finds himself victorious, this Barack Obama impersonator, Maxwell Price, could be on the unemployment line. That's Obama, of course, on the left and Price on the right.

Jim Bachelor and Maxwell Price join me now. Welcome to you both.

MAXWELL PRICE, BARACK OBAMA IMPERSONATOR: Thank you. Thank you very having me.

JIM BACHELOR, MITT ROMNEY IMPERSONATOR: Thank you.

COSTELLO: I want to start with you, Jim. When did you first realize you looked like Mitt Romney?

BACHELOR: A friend from high school found me on Facebook and came to Las Vegas and met with me. And the whole time we were visiting, he kept saying how much I looked like Mitt Romney and he said, dude, you should make a video. So we made a video, we put it on the internet and less than a week later, Dustin called me and now it looks like I might have a change of a future.

COSTELLO: Wow. So Maxwell, I'll ask you the same question. When did you realize you looked like Barack Obama?

PRICE: I discovered the look when at the time Senator Obama was running against Hillary in the primaries. And I ran with it as a whole look-alike thing until I found Dustin Gold, politicalscomedy.com and got really heavy into the impersonations.

COSTELLO: So if Mitt Romney wins the election, Maxwell, tell Jim how his life is likely to change.

PRICE: Well, for better or for worse, some people call it a blessing. Some people call it a curse. But it's the American dream. You have to capitalize on every little opportunity that you're handed down. COSTELLO: So, Jim, you're hearing that, you're taking his advice and you're thinking what?

BACHELOR: Well, I've read stories about how people get discovered, like Marilyn Monroe or somebody would get discovered in an elevator. The next thing they know, they've become a movie star. And I've always been the kind of person who wanted to lead my own life and now I find out my life's taking a new direction because I look like somebody else.

COSTELLO: OK. So I'm going to ask you one political question. Maxwell, just because you look like Barack Obama, does that mean you're going to vote for Barack Obama or would you rather keep that under wraps?

PRICE: I plead the fifth.

COSTELLO: How about you, Jim?

BACHELOR: Well, I am partial to Romney, not for my own personal benefit, but I'd like to see the country move in a direction where someone who has a lot of fiscal knowledge at that level can take our country back and start getting jobs created and because that's something that will benefit the entire country, regardless of what political affiliation. So I think Romney has the resume and the experience. And I think he's a good man.

COSTELLO: Do you have as many children as many Romney?

BACHELOR: No. I'm still unfortunately living up to my last name. I'm still a bachelor.

COSTELLO: OK. Thanks to both of you guys. I sure appreciate it. Maxwell Price, Jim Bachelor. Thanks for joining us.

PRICE: Thank you very having us.

BACHELOR: Appreciate it. Thank you.

COSTELLO: There are five endangered Republican seats in the Senate and the Democrats want them. Dana bash explains the balance of power.

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COSTELLO: The balance of power over which party controls the House and Senate could shift. Republicans have the House now but would love to take over the Senate. Democrats control the Senate and, of course, would love to take control of the House. But does either side have a chance for a political gain of power?

Let's ask CNN's senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash. She's in Washington. Explain to us how this power could shift.

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, let's start with where the Senate stands right now. Republicans have 47 seats. Democrats, if you add the two independents who caucus with them, have 53. Republicans need a net gain of four seats to get a clear-cut 51-seat majority.

Now I want to show you a map of the universe of competitive races. There are a lot -- look at that. Over a dozen where both parties have been spending heavily and candidates are fighting hard. The problem, Carol, is that Republicans aren't just playing offense. They're playing defense on many of their seats.

COSTELLO: And that is a problem for Republicans. As you just said, they're not playing offense to take the Senate. They're playing defense. What does this mean?

BASH: Well, you know, there are five endangered Republicans seats. I want to show our viewers the map again but just showing those red seats. Look up in New England there, sources in the Republican Party tell us that they're not just endangered, that they believe that they're probably going to lose.

And we're talking about Massachusetts, Senator Scott Brown. The polls there now are neck and neck. But Republicans (INAUDIBLE) say they don't think he's going to eke it out. And in Maine, that's an open seat vacated by moderate Republican Olympia Snow. They are -- everybody, Democrats and Republicans expect to lose that as well.

So if you take a look back at the map, if you take away those two seats, now you're down to 45. So that means Republicans actually have to get six seats in order to take back the majority and go back to the map that has the competitive blue seats. There are eight that we're really watching closely.

So for Republicans to take control, Carol, they have to basically almost run the board. They only can lose two of those in order to take back the Senate. And that is not easy at all. Not easy at all.

And before I let you go, I have to show you one thing, Carol. You live in Virginia, this is what you're getting. Our Lisa Desjardin (ph) lives there. This is just mail from the congressional races for two days. And that just shows you what it's like to live in one of those competitive blue states that has a tough Senate race.

COSTELLO: Yes, we're all in a lot of misery like that together, especially if you live in those swing states or states with really competitive senate and congressional races. Thanks so much, Dana Bash, reporting live for us.

"Talk Back" question for you today: "Defining moment, what was it in 2012?" We'll be right back.

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COSTELLO: "Talk Back" question for you today. "Was there a defining moment in the 2012 election that maybe changed your mind?"

Don says: "So many defining moments, so little time. One, the 47 percent comment; two, the Jeep commercial; three, horses and bayonets."

This from Sharon: "The defining moment was realizing that we don't have to settle for another four years of the same."

From Jeff: "Binders full of women. Romney is toast."

From Charles: "Where's Obama's balanced budget he promised?"

And from Debra: "Oh, please, is it Tuesday yet? Enough."

That does it for me today. Thank you so much for joining us. I'm Carol Costello. CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Ashleigh Banfield.