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Polls Show Election Eve Tie; Obama to Campaign in Madison, Wisconsin; Romney to Campaign in Virginia; Get Out the Vote; Housing Crisis in New York City; Getting to the Polls in New York and New Jersey; Obama Campaigns in Wisconsin; Obama, Romney in Dead Heat; Open Enrollment Season for Insurance; The Battle for Florida; Live Coverage of Obama Campaigning in Madison, Wisconsin.

Aired November 05, 2012 - 11:00   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, ANCHOR, "CNN NEWSROOM": 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.

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, ANCHOR, "CNN NEWSROOM": Thanks so much, Carol. Nice to see you and nice to see you, everyone.

It is 11:00 on the East Coast, 8:00 on the West Coast and it has come down to this. After thousands of speeches and hundreds of ads, after hundreds of millions of dollars bankrolling months and months of nonstop campaigning, the two main candidates for president in 2012 are tied.

See for yourself. The final pre-election CNN polling could literally not be closer. President Obama supported by 47 percent of likely voters. Mitt Romney supported by 40 -- excuse me, 49 percent of likely voters. Mitt Romney supported by 49 percent of likely voters.

Other late polls look very, very similar. One shows them tied at 48 percent, if you look way down at the bottom there. The others give the President somewhere between a one and three-point edge, depending on which one you look at there.

But you know what? The margin of error's everything.. The race to reach the voters on election eve is just so competitive. Mitt Romney is racing from Florida in the morning to New Hampshire tonight with stops in Virginia and Ohio in between.

The President is due to speak in Madison, Wisconsin, later this hour, after which he is off to Ohio, to Iowa and then finally he plans to settle down in Chicago for the night.

CNN's Dan Lothian is waiting for the President in Madison. And, you know, Dan, they often say that you can tell that time is short and the race is tight by the caliber of the warm-up acts. It's not all about the talking but a bit about the singing.

So, get me up to speed on who the big acts are today.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. It's Bruce Springsteen who will be here, warming up for the President. And not just a quick set, we're told he's going to be performing for about 30 minutes before the President steps onto the stage.

And then we were told that he will be traveling on Air Force One with the President as he heads to his next stop in Columbus, Ohio. Will also go to the third stop in Iowa, not on Air Force One, will make his own way there.

But the campaign sees these big acts -- last night was Stevie Wonder and other performers over the last few weeks -- to draw the big crowds to these events, but also to energize the base to make sure that folks not only get out to vote, but as they've been pushing for the last few weeks, they get out and vote early.

So, they've been using these superstars, if you will, in the music world, to provide energy to this campaign, get the voters out there, which will be critical on election day, Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: Let me ask you this. People who cover campaigns for a living and there are many of us here at CNN, they get a feel on a day like today. They get a feel from the campaign themselves. You made a lot of close ties within the Obama campaign at this point.

And what is that feel when it comes to how they are doing today? They'll all tell you they're optimistic, but do you get that sense?

LOTHIAN: Right, you know, well, I am getting the sense that they're more and more optimistic and the reason for that is because they point to the ground game.

You know, back to 2008, they had a very established ground game in the key battleground states and that did not really dissolve. So when they started building for this campaign, they weren't starting from the very beginning.

In addition to that, they've established in these battleground states, a network, a hub of thousands of volunteers to get people signed up to vote and then get them to the polls.

And then finally, the campaign says that they have made one-on-one contact throughout the course of the campaign with 125 million people. So, they view their hopes through that ground game and feel very confident going into these final hours before election day.

BANFIELD: All right, Dan Lothian live for us in Madison, Wisconsin, and funny that Wisconsin ends up being one of these final stops today, but more on that coming up.

Mitt Romney already on his second stop of the day, if you can believe it. And it's only just after 11:00 in the east here. He started out this morning with a rally in Sanford, Florida. That is just north of Orlando.

Remember where that is? Of course you do. It's the critical I-4 corridor that the campaigns really like to focus on.

Mitt Romney thanked his supporters and then admitted that there is still some significant work to do.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As soon as I answered it, I started to say, Andrea, I'm en route somewhere and I need to go. My GPS is going to mess up if I don't have access to my phone and ...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Well, that is definitely not Mitt Romney. It is just one of those glitches in the system. Let's hope there are no glitches in the Florida voting system because after Florida, this campaign is going to settle into another swing state, Virginia.

You've got a couple of events scheduled there in Virginia today before Mr. Romney and his whole collection is going to head on to Ohio and New Hampshire. So, that is one heck of a day, the day before elections.

The key for both of these campaigns is going to be that ground game. We're down to the crunch, right? So, it's on the ground. What happens? People getting out there, volunteers knocking on doors, dragging you to the polls if they need to. Buses often take voters to the polls.

Heck, in Florida, the Obama campaign was handing out pizza to people waiting in those long early voting lines.

Joining me now to talk ground game and final day strategy are CNN contributors, Maria Cardona and John Avlon.

And, John, I just want to start with you because you wrote about this a couple of weeks ago. You wrote a piece for The Daily Beast and "Newsweek" about the ground game and the significance of the comparison.

In the piece, you noted that President Obama had a massive advantage in terms of the number of field offices that he had opened up, particularly in places like Ohio and Florida.

Since you're in Ohio, do you see the effects of that? It's one thing to have the offices. It's another thing to have those offices actually working. Are you seeing the buses? Are you seeing the door knocks? Are you seeing the efforts of that ground game?

JOHN AVLON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Absolutely, Ashleigh. You're exactly right to say that the headquarters are just one metric and the real thing is that get-out-the-vote effort.

Over the last week in the battleground bus tour have been going to local counties, swing counties like Stark, talking to the Democrat and Republican chairs. They are monitoring early voting in particular very intensely. They know which of their supporters have gotten -- requested early ballots. They're trying to make sure the potential for what's called provisional ballots, which could be a major X factor in this Ohio election if it's or as close as possible.

So, there is a real focus, the phone calls, the door knocking, getting your vote out. This is all about ground game here in the battleground Buckeye State. It is very tight. It is very intense. Both sides really committed.

BANFIELD: Hold that thought on those provisional ballots in Ohio because we're actually going to have a segment on that coming up and just the criticism that's going on and the legal fact that could be going on with regard to the details. The devil's always in the details, the details of that provisional ballot in Ohio.

But, Maria, jump in, if you will, because I'm always fascinated by the last day of the election. Today alone, the President and Mitt Romney have a collective, I think, eight events in six different states between the two of them.

We always see them on television, the live news channels carry these rallies where you have hundreds and hundreds of people, all with their signs. They're so excited.

It always seems to me that the people in those rally halls are sold. You've got their vote. So, what is the point of those rallies?

MARIA CARDONA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the point of those rallies, Ashleigh, is to get not just all of those people who are at those rallies excited and out to vote, but to get the people who are hearing about them on TV, who are hearing about them on the radio, who are hearing about them from their friends.

All of those volunteers that John just talked about, are calling people incessantly, are going to the doors to knock. And if there are voters who perhaps lean Obama, are supporting Obama, but maybe think they don't have the time to go out and vote and they hear about how hard he is working, Ashleigh, the thing that voters really want to know is that this president, or frankly Mitt Romney, too, if that's your candidate, is going to go down fighting, that they want to see that this president or Mitt Romney is going to fight for each and every single vote up until the very last second when polls are closed.

And that's where I think you can get the independents. That's where I think you can get some of the low propensity voters, the people who think they don't have time. It is the enthusiasm that counts at the very last.

BANFIELD: And I tell you what. I think you're absolutely right. It's our live cameras that are the most important attendee at some of those rallies. And you can tell who's standing behind the candidate -- the kinds of people that -- guys, both hold your thoughts for a moment because just before we came up on you two, live, we aired a sound bite of probably a very nice lady who nobody recognizes. And it was a mistake because we wanted to do was show our viewers what Mitt Romney was saying to the voters in Sanford, Florida, his first stop today, when it came to how much work there's left to do in -- oh, I don't know -- 24 hours. Let's play that for our viewers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Some of you have put signs in your yard. Some of you have put signs in your neighbor's yard. And I know how many as well have talked to co-workers and tried to convince people to vote for Paul Ryan and me.

Look, we have one job left and that's to make sure that on election day, we get -- make certain that everybody who's qualified to vote gets out to vote. We need every single vote in Florida.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Yeah and he's already on to his next stop already.

Guys, I'm flat out of time, but, John in Columbus, you're going to have a heck of a night, I guarantee you. I will be talking to you very late and very early.

And Maria in D.C., that's going to be a fun place as well. Thanks to both of you.

CARDONA: Absolutely.

BANFIELD: Do appreciate it.

CARDONA: Thank you, Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: We'll talk soon. I promise.

CARDONA: Absolutely.

BANFIELD: And remember to stay with CNN for all of the action on election night. Man, do we have you covered.

Our special coverage gets under way at 6:00 p.m. Eastern time. Two words, Wolf Blitzer. That's all I need to say, but he is at with all the expert news analysis that you've come to expect from CNN. We really have it made here, guys, election night in America here on CNN. Don't miss it.

Back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: On this election eve, the picture remains pretty grim for millions of your fellow Americans who are Hurricane Sandy victims. This superstorm is now blamed for 110 deaths in this country, 1.5 million customers still no power, seven days later. And it is cold, folks.

For the hardest-hit states of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, this is another brutal day of struggling to recover.

New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg was mincing no words when he spelled out one of his most urgent concerns.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, MAYOR, NEW YORK CITY: The magnitude of the problem is we think could have between 30,000 and 40,000 people that we're going to have to find housing for. We are working on it. We will continue to get this done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Another very serious problem, finding gasoline. Look at the lines. Cars, home generators, a lot of them just don't have it.

Many stations don't have power, so they can't pump the gas even if they do have it. The storm damage is keeping a lot of tanker trucks from getting to where they need to fill up those stations and the demand is emptying those stations' tanks when they do get filled.

You can also expect Sandy's aftermath to disrupt the voting tomorrow, as well. Mayor Bloomberg saying as many as 143,000 New York City voters are going to have to find new polling places and fast.

Facing a similar problem, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie extended hours at early voting sites over the weekend and he also ordered election officials to allow displaced voters to cast their ballots by submitting a mail-in ballot application via e-mail or via fax.

Now, as we've also mentioned, CNN's latest polls show that there's a dead heat between President Obama and Mitt Romney, right now, a day before the choice has to be made. And after months of campaigning, the outcome could very well be decided and more than likely, will be decided in a handful of battleground states.

And at the top of the list, I know you're sick of hearing of it, but it's Ohio. Both President Obama and Governor Romney are on the stump there today. It's no surprise. They're making their 11th hour pitch for voters.

Our latest poll for the Buckeye State shows President Obama with 50 percent of the voters and Mitt Romney with 47 percent. That is still well within the sampling error, though.

And right smack dab in the middle of all this, a legal battle over a move by the Republican secretary of state, John Husted, which Democrats say could invalidate thousands of provisional ballots.

Our Martin Savidge is also smack dab in the middle of it. He's coming to us live from Cleveland now.

So, Marty, if you would do this for me, explain what it is about the provisional ballot because it seemed pretty normal when you look at it, but sometimes the devil's in the details.

So, explain what it is that the problem -- what the problem Democrats have.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is a complicated one, but here we go.

The provisional ballot, of course, is the ballot that people would fill out if they do not file or cast a regular ballot. Let me back it up a bit and just say that there were 1.3 million absentee ballots sent out. One-point-one million have come back.

That means there's about 200,000 absentee ballots still floating around out there and the concern is those people are going to show up and actually vote in person. If they do, they can't cast a regular ballot. They're going to have to use the provisional ballot, the one you're looking at.

And the debate has been, who fills out the very important information such as your social security number and your driver's license, because that identifies who you are?

In the past, that's been done by a poll worker. They fill out the form for you. Now, according to the secretary of state in a ruling that he made on Friday, the work will have to be done by the voter themselves.

The worry is, the voter, not used to doing this, it's different, they make a mistake. If they make a mistake, the ballot doesn't count. That's how you get these concerns that people are saying could be thousands that simply will be negated by errors.

BANFIELD: So, I -- we were just looking at it as you were explaining it. Let's put that back up because there's some fine print that says, note, at the bottom, if you fail to provide identification at this time, you must go to your county board of elections on or before the 10th of November.

And what it comes down to, as I understand it and it seems rather simple, but, again, the devil's in the details. If you fail to check one of those boxes, Marty, that ballot goes in the garbage?

If you just forget -- if you show your i.d. to the guy at the poll and then you just don't check a box to say which i.d. you're going to show or what choice you're going to make to identify yourself, your ballot's garbage?

SAVIDGE: That's what the worry is, certainly, of many Democrats or others who brought this forward.

This applies, of course, whether you're Republican or Democrat, so how it's going to specifically pick up one party, we don't know, but there are campaign -- not campaign officials -- election officials inside helping people looking at their ballots to make sure they've filled it out properly, we're told.

BANFIELD: Martin, five seconds left, but I've got to know, is there some advantage that Republicans would have with a provisional ballot which is why there's a Republican challenge to this? SAVIDGE: You know, it could be, one, Republicans more likely use absentee. That's one possibility. In other words, they voted early.

Right, provisional ballots don't get counted for 10 days after the election, 10 days, Ashleigh. So, if it comes down to the wire, those votes may make the determination. We would have to wait 10 days until they're counted.

BANFIELD: Well, you and I have done that before, in the year 2000, I believe we had a lot of overtime that year.

All right, Martin Savidge, keep an eye on it for us, if you would. Thank you.

And remember to stay with CNN for all of the action on election night. Our special coverage starts at 6:00 p.m. Eastern. All the news and expert analysis that you've come to expect, election night in America, right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: At this point in the game, it is all about the political calculus, eight key swing states, 270 electoral votes, but with this race so tight, does this election come down to a vote for the guy that you like or a vote against the guy that you don't?

Here's how it could shake out tomorrow based on our new CNN/ORC poll. An overwhelming number of voters who plan to vote for President Obama say they're doing so because they like him, to the tune of 86 percent of them.

And that compares to about 12 percent of them say, no, no, no, I'm just voting against Mitt Romney.

But on the flip side, when you ask Governor Romney supporters, 62 percent of them are voting for him because they want him to win, they like him, as opposed to 37 percent who just don't like the President. They want him to lose.

And as the campaigns push to get out the vote, what about those key voting blocs? Let's bring in CNN contributors Errol Louis, who's the politics anchor for New York One News, and Erick Erickson, who's the editor-in-chief for Redstate.com.

Erick, let me begin with you and let's talk tea party a bit because, two years ago, they were just the darling of the Republican campaigns. And I'm not just talking about them tipping control of the U.S. House, but also a lot of state legislatures.

But it just feels to so many of us who work this business that they've been relatively quiet this time around and I'm wondering what you think the implications are for Mitt Romney?

ERICK ERICKSON, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, REDSTATE.COM: Well, I think it goes into the polling that you showed for Mitt Romney that so many people are voting against Barack Obama who are casting their vote for Mitt Romney.

Frankly, I'm one of those people. I've come to terms with Mitt Romney. I didn't support him in the primary. I'm happy to vote for him now and support him, but it's largely against Barack Obama.

And the problem for any candidate -- I used to run campaigns for a living -- it's very hard for a campaign to sustain the against vote as opposed to the "give me a reason to vote for you" vote. He's been able to do it largely so far, largely because of the President.

Now, as for the tea party, I think they're still there. It's just they've kind of morphed into a Republican voter. The CNN poll has Romney ahead by 22 percent with independents. There's where your tea party is, people who aren't affiliated with the Republican party, but are voting against Barack Obama.

BANFIELD: So, Errol, jump in with me and let's talking early voters. I think you can almost call them a bloc because they're really significant and they had a huge impact on President Obama's campaign four years ago.

It looks by the number that much of the early voting has been going in President Obama's favor, but nowhere near what it was in '08. Is that a problem?

ERROL LOUIS, POLITICS ANCHOR, NEW YORK ONE: Well, it may or may not be a problem. We'll find out tomorrow, of course.

But I think, for the President's folks that I've talked to, they're very happy with the early vote because the number that they've been able to poll and the sense that they've gotten from what are de facto exit polls is that the early voters put them -- have given them a pretty big lead in Ohio that the Romney campaign must now match or catch up on.

Something similar is going on in Florida as well. The long lines are a tribute to that.

So, you know, their whole ground game was built around the notion that they've put early leads, points on the board and then go ahead and try and reach out to independents or occasional voters or new voters or immigrants and so forth and so on.

So, they're pushing very hard and they're relying on this early vote. That's partly why it's going to be so contested when we get into court around what's happening right now in Ohio and in Florida.

BANFIELD: Erick, when you put some of these blocs together and actually make mega blocs, we have a couple of mega blocs for both of these candidates. Let me just list out where Obama finds a lot of his support and that's young voters, women, black and Hispanic voters.

But when you look at Mitt Romney's blocs, he's got a lot of white voter. He has a lot of men. That gender gap is really significant. And he has a lot of seniors, as well.

I'm not going to ask you to do a lot of math right now ...

ERICKSON: Please don't.

BANFIELD: ... -- live on television -- but maybe you can give me a feel for where you think that advantage falls when you combine those two sets of blocs.

ERICKSON: Well, you know, it depends on how you look at this election. Is it a 2004 election? And if so, the Obama campaign clearly if you read the "GQ" profile a couple of days ago of what the campaign's been doing, they're really gambling that this is a 2004, base election and that the Democratic base is larger than the Republican base.

And when you look at those demographics, it tends to suggest that we have fallen back into standard profiles of the demographics of each campaign. The question is how much more energized one side is than the other and a lot of the polls suggest that those Republican voters are much more energized. We'll find out tomorrow who it is.

If you look at the CNN poll, it was Democrats, plus-11, 22-percent advantage point for Romney. A lot of those 22 percent have to really be Republicans in there who classify themselves otherwise.

But if you come down lower than a D-plus-11 race, you're no longer a tied race, so it comes down to who is the most impassioned to get out tomorrow.

BANFIELD: Look at you, D-plus-11. I love it.

And, by the way, I do get "GQ" for the articles.

Erick Erickson and Errol Louis, thank you both. Nice to see you both and I'm looking forward to hearing from you more after tomorrow.

All right, so this is what President Obama and Governor Romney's final campaign hours are going to look like today, with stops in Florida, Virginia, New Hampshire, Ohio, Iowa and Wisconsin.

And this does not even include the campaign stops by their wives, their running mates and some of those big-time surrogates as well.

Back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, SINGER: Hello, Wisconsin.

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, hello, Wisconsin. That's Bruce Springsteen's voice you're hearing as he takes to the stage in Madison. This is the warm-up act, you could say. The President will be joining that crowd a little later on. But let's listen to the Boss.

(BEGIN LIVE FEED)

(SINGING)

(APPLAUSE)

(END LIVE FEED)

BANFIELD: OK, that Jersey boy is made of steal. He is in Madison, Wisconsin, in shirt sleeves. That is one tough guy, no matter what you say, where you lean, he is Bruce, no matter what you think.

So here's the deal with Bruce. He's going to do another campaign stop for the President in Iowa today. Hope he gets a coat. Cold there. And Mitt Romney has Kid Rock, another awesome performer. He's going to be performing in New Hampshire later on today. So down to the wire. You can tell by the A-listers, who are the warm-up acts. And that was downtown, by the way, too. Downtown on Martin Luther King Boulevard.

A four-point lead the President holds in Wisconsin -- 10 electoral votes. That is important. Day after day, week after week, year after year, you have been hammered by poll after poll telling you who's ahead, who's trailing, and why this race is all knotted up. Today is the day all that comes to an end.

Paul Steinhauser joins me live with the very last set of poll numbers showing where this race stands --

(LAUGHTER)

-- one day before the nation decides who our president is going to be.

Is this the last time you're going to tell me it's all knotted up, Paul?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Yes, I'm starting to sound like a broken record. By, yes, you want "close," Ashleigh, we've got "close." Let's go right to the numbers. Take a look at these numbers. Five national polls out Sunday, live operator, nonpartisan. Look at that. We'll, start with our own. Deadlocked at 49. ABC News and "Washington Post," basically dead even. Same with NBC/"Wall Street Journal." And Politico/G.W. University, dead even. At the bottom, Pew Research Center, they have the President with a three- point edge, but that's within the sampling error. Those are the top lines.

Let's go beyond the top lines and talk about enthusiasm. That could be so crucial. Do you get your supporters out to the polls? Our poll, our survey indicates, when it comes to enthusiasm, Republicans are just as enthusiastic about voting as are Democrats.

And one other number from the nationals, from our poll, Ashleigh, only 4 percent said they could still change their mind. Their mind is made up but they could still be persuaded to change. It sounds like a small amount but it could be crucial if a very close contest.

BANFIELD: What about those swing states? It's all coming down to the swing states, as everybody says. STEINHAUSER: It is all about the swing states. The battle for those states and their electoral votes, 270 needed. Let's start in Ohio, Ohio, Ohio, Ohio. Take a look at the latest numbers. Our poll from last week had the President with a three-point advantage.

Let's go to Florida. 29 electoral votes at stake here. Two very different polls here. NBC/"Wall Street Journal"/Marist has the President with a slight two-point edge. But look at Mason Dixon, which was done for a bunch of Florida newspapers. Romney with a six- point lead. And new numbers in Virginia, such a crucial state as well. Look at these. Very, very close in Virginia. NBC/"Wall Street Journal coming out just a few hours ago -- Ashleigh?

BANFIELD: I'm surprised you didn't throw the Redskins rule in there. I'm going to say it quickly because we're out of time. That's when the Washington Redskins lose, usually, the incumbent loses, too. They lost to the Carolina Panthers. But 17 out of 18 times that's been accurate.

STEINHAUSER: Yes.

BANFIELD: Kerry/Edwards bucked that trend, I guess, back in '04.

But, Steinhauser, you're awesome.

STEINHAUSER: Thanks, Ash.

BANFIELD: Thanks very much. Nice to see you.

Back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Electing a president is not the only big decision a lot of Americans are making this month. It is open enrollment season at companies across the country and the decisions that you make about your health insurance and other benefits could end up saving or costing you plenty in the coming year.

Our Alison Kosik is live at the New York Stock Exchange with today's top tips.

I'm going to ask you in a little bit about how politics is actually playing into this, and what you do at the polls tomorrow could affect you. But first, I'd like you to help some people maybe get through what they need to do to take full advantage during open enrollment season because it's really complicated.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It really is. I know everybody is probably getting inundated with e-mails about open enrollment. There is a new study out from MetLife that says only 56 percent of employees eligible for benefits feel confident they're going to make the right choices for themselves and their families.

We spoke with Lynnette Khalfani-Cox, the founder of the financial advice blog askthemoneycoach.com. She says, first, you need to think through your existing health care benefits, keep an eye on any new offerings for 2013m and think about any changes you expect to have in your health care spending, like if you plan to have a baby.

Next, consider a health savings account. If you already have one, evaluate your balance. That will help you decide if you're putting too much in or you're not putting enough money in. Remember that next year -- this is the point you were trying to make. Next year, a federal limit is going to be kicking in, putting in place Obama-care, making the maximum contribution, $2,500.

Finally decide to get healthy. Lynnette suggests asking about economic perks for healthy workers. Many employers offer incentives like reduced premiums and lower deductibles for workers who make positive changes. It can motivate people trying to quit smoking to go ahead and do that or maybe lose a few pounds. Not you, of course. You look great, Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: Oh, I half to hit the treadmill, sweetheart. This has been a brutal election season.

(LAUGHTER)

A lot of time at the McDonald's drive-through.

Real quickly, this choice we make at the ballot box tomorrow between President Obama or Mitt Romney. Mitt Romney has said a lot about repealing Obama-care. That would affect what you're doing when you make these choices.

KOSIK: Right. The limit on that flex care that we were talking about is $2,500. That actually went down from $5,000. But that flex plan in place would give you a tax savings -- you put money into the flex account, $2,500, max -- Ashleigh?

BANFIELD: For anybody who's curious or confused about it, get it because, if the President wins, it stays. If the President doesn't win, it's going to go away anyway. You're choice should be, what, don't risk it, do it?

KOSIK: Possibly. Some say it would be tough to overturn the health care policies put in place, that that would take a while to overturn in the first place. It could kind of go either way -- Ashleigh?

BANFIELD: Alison, great advice. Those e-mail do drive you nuts when you're under deadline and you're so busy. But you're right, read them and do the job. It's critical.

Alison, thank you.

KOSIK: Right.

BANFIELD: Once you enroll, make sure to double-check your health plan because you won't make any changes when you do that until the next open enrollment period. But if you have a life-changing event, like you have a baby, change your job or you're getting a divorce, you can make those changes. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(SHOUTING)

BANFIELD: You can call that chaos and anger. What you really can call them is voters in Florida trying to cast ballots, trying to cast anything they can in some kind of early voting mechanism. Would it be an election without a battle like this, a problem in Florida? Our latest poll shows the fight between President Obama and Mitt Romney for the Sunshine State is basically a dead heat. Look at the margin of error. Probably why people have been lining up like this. Look at all these people. That's in Florida they're doing this in droves. Yesterday, people waited in line for up to seven hours, seven hours in early voting. And the lines are several hundred deep this hour. So the burning issue, a new law that was passed by the Republican- controlled legislature which cut the number of early voting days from 14 days down to eight days. The state's Democratic Party said, nuh- uh, they filed a lawsuit yesterday in a bid to force the Republican Governor, Rick Scott, to extend those early voting hours and days in the southern part of the state, which is very heavily Democrat.

Our John Zarrella is outside the Office of the Supervisor of Elections. I don't think I'd want to be in that office right now.

But, John, give me a feel for why on earth this is happening, and specifically right now. It's late in the game to be bringing this up now.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exactly what happened was that, right along since last week, the members of the Democratic Party, members of the League of Women Voters, the Democratic Senator Bill Nelson, all appealed to the Governor to extend the hours. In fact, former governor -- Republican Governor, Charlie Crist, said it's unconscionable that Rick Scott did not extend the deadline. So what you have right now is, in order to try and get around that lawsuit or sort of head it off, Miami-Dade County decided they would go ahead and allow people to file an absentee ballot. It's not early voting. File an absentee ballot today.

What you see here, Ashleigh, and what our viewers are seeing are actually two lines. The line on the outside, closest to the street, are people with absentee ballots. That's moving about an hour to get through that line. We've already got the absentee ballots and are just turning them in. There is another inside line that comes all the way back past where I am standing, makes a left turn -- and I don't know if we can really see it -- down the corner there. And that line, all the way down there, are people who are coming in to pick up an absentee ballot today, fill it out and file it today. And they're going to hope to keep this office open until 5:00 this afternoon in order to allow as many people who want to exercise this right today to come out and do that. If they're in line at 5:00, they will be able to get the absentee ballot and go ahead and fill it out.

BANFIELD: Wow. Wow.

ZARRELLA: It is going to be a very, very long day here today. BANFIELD: Oh, wow.

ZARRELLA: Yes, absolutely. Wow.

BANFIELD: It's Florida, Zarrella. Good golly.

Thank you. We're going to keep tabs on you --

ZARRELLA: Sure.

BANFIELD: -- and all those people behind you trying their best to exercise their right to vote.

Thank you.

Also, folks, remember to stay with CNN. We have all the action covered for you on election night. We have special coverage. It all gets underway at 6:00 p.m. eastern. And you know Blitzer and the gang have it covered, all the news and the expert analysis that you come to expect right here. "Election Night in America," do not miss it, right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Anybody who remembers Bush/Gore, 2000, knows elections don't always work like "Schoolhouse Rock" tried to teach us. We have talked about legal challenges already underway in voting in Ohio and Florida.

Who better to help us understand than CNN's senior legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, who very hard on the problem in 2000, along with many of us.

Jeff, it's good to see you.

Let me start with the Sandy factor, the superstorm. New York is talking about giving people an extra day. New Jersey is looking at planning to let the storm victims vote by e-mail in a convoluted way. But how much real leeway is there in postponing an election, even in portions of the country?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR ANALYST: Congress sets the Election Day for president and the members of Congress. That is a federal law and that is not going to change. Obviously, Congress is not in session today. They are not going to extend the deadline.

Now, the question is, what leeway do states have. And that's frankly an open legal question. It appears likely there could be leeway in regions that were affected by the storm. But this is all unchartered ground. And if you have close elections, and that includes down- ballot elections, not just presidential elections, there could be legal challenges about any votes filed late. The states are trying to do it, but it is not entirely clear they have the legal authority to do it.

BANFIELD: I'm glad you mentioned the down-ballot issues because for anybody who didn't think, look, New Jersey and New York aren't gong to decide this election. How about all those people in New Jersey and New York who want to decide their local races and they can't get to the polls.

(CROSSTALK)

JEFF TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR ANALYST: There are Senate races in both states, members of Congress. Every member of Congress is up. There are some very competitive races in both New York and New Jersey. This stuff really matters.

BANFIELD: It doesn't. I hope they can figure it out.

I only need to cut you off for a bigger guy than you, and that would be the President. And I'm so sorry, Jeff Toobin. Thank you for joining us.

I want zip you out to Madison, Wisconsin. You saw Springsteen there, and now you see President Barack Obama as he begins last-day effort. Have a listen in.

(BEGIN LIVE FEED)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: -- campaign so that's not a bad way to end things.

(LAUGHTER)

This is an incredible crowd, and it's good to be back.

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: The weather is cooperating.

(CHEERING)

OBAMA: It sort of feels like Chicago.

(LAUGHTER)

Nice and brisk.

There are a couple other people I want to thank before we get started. Your next Senator from the great state of Wisconsin, Tammy Baldwin is here.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: She'll follow in the footsteps of two other outstanding Senators, Herb Cole and Russ Feingold, who are here.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: Your next Congressman is here.

(APPLAUSE) OBAMA: And let's give it up for the mayor of Madison, Wisconsin, Paul Soglin.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: Fro the past week, even in the midst of all this campaigning and electioneering, way too many TV commercials --

(LAUGHER)

-- all of us, including Bruce, have been focused on one of the worst storms of your lifetimes. And I had a chance to visit New Jersey. End every day I have been talking to mayors and governors and local officials and families, and we mourn those lives that have been lost. Whenever I talk to folks in the region, I tell them the same thing I say whenever a tragedy besets the American family, and that is the American people come together and make a commitment that we will walk with these folks whose lives have been upended every step on the hard road ahead and the hard road to recovery. We'll carry on. No matter how bad the storm is, we will be there together.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: No matter how bad the storm is, we recover together.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: We're all in this together.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: We rise or fall as one nation and as one people.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: You know, Madison, that spirit has guided us along our improper journey for more than two centuries. It's carried us through the trials and tribulations of the last four years. In 2008, we were in the middle of two wars and the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Today, our businesses have created nearly 5.5 million new jobs.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: The American auto industry is back on top.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: Home values are on the rise. We're less dependent on foreign oil than any time in 20 years, and we've doubled the production of clean energy across America.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: Because of the service and sacrifice of our brave men and women in uniform, the war in Iraq is over. The war in Afghanistan is coming to a close. Al Qaeda is on a path to defeat. Osama bin Laden is dead.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: We've made progress these last four years.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: We've made progress these last four years. But the reason we're all gathered here, in addition to listening to Bruce --

(LAUGHTER)

-- is because we know we've got more work to do. We've got more work to do. As long as there's a single American who wants a job but can't find one, our work is not yet done. As long as their family is working harder and harder and still falling behind, we've got more work to do. As long as there's a child anywhere, in Madison, in Wisconsin, in America, who is languishing in policy and barred from opportunity, our work is not yet done. The fight goes on.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: Our fight goes on because this nation cannot succeed without a growing, thriving middle class and some sturdy, strong letters for everybody who is willing to work to get into the middle class.

(END LIVE FEED)