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Last-Minute Election Moves; Fight for Virginia; Ohio Election Results Delayed?; Romney's Final Push for Votes; "Confident We've Got the Votes to Win"; Battle for Iowa; Campaigns on Edge in Colorado; Romney Campaigns, Obama Plays Basketball; Election Predictions; Libya's Impact on the Election
Aired November 06, 2012 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: Good afternoon, everyone. I'm Erin Burnett.
And we are live in Columbus, Ohio, today, with a special election day edition of OUTFRONT. The first polls close in just four hours. And the final chapter for this political season could be written right behind me. It's Election Day in America. Let's go out front.
ANNOUNCER: Right now, the final frantic race for president as Americans head to the polls and have their say.
CROWD: Four more years. Four more years.
CROWD: Romney, Romney, Romney.
ANNOUNCER: Mitt Romney and Barack Obama ending a long and close campaign.
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Do you want more of the same or do you want change?
ANNOUNCER: Fighting for every vote until the bitter end.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We know what change looks like. And what he's offering ain't it.
ANNOUNCER: We're live across the country, with the candidates and in the battleground states that hold the keys to the White House.
PAUL RYAN (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Together we can get this done.
JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There's only one direction, forward!
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN's coverage of Election Day in America, the fight for the presidency, the battle for Congress, and the issues dividing the nation.
OBAMA: I still believe in you. And if you still believe in me, I'm asking for your vote.
ROMNEY: I need you to go out there and find people that will come join our cause.
ANNOUNCER: It's your vote, your future, your country, your choice.
BURNETT: I'm Erin Burnett. And this is a special edition of OUTFRONT, "Election Day in America."
Just four hours from now, the first presidential election polls are going to close. And that is when we'll get the first real glimpse of who Americans want in the White House for the next four years. Now, our special coverage begins at 6:00 Eastern, the networks special. We're all going to be fanned out around the country. More people in more places than anyone else.
Right now, though, I am in Columbus, Ohio. It is a must-win state with 18 electoral votes at stake. Now, both campaigns know that the path to victory, the path to the White House almost always includes Ohio. That is why the candidates have more -- have spent more time in the state where I am today than any other state during this election season.
Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are in Ohio right now. They're in Cleveland, north of where I am, for a late scheduled stop today. They know, as we have told you so many times, no Republican has ever won the White House without Ohio.
And, surprise, this is sort of an interesting logistical issue today. In between Romney and Ryan's planes on the tarmac, Vice President Joe Biden's plane was in the distance. All literally there at the same time. He made an unannounced stop in Cleveland this afternoon on his way to meet up with the president in Chicago, where they will watch the results tonight.
Now, President Obama is the only one of these men on the ticket tonight who didn't stop in Ohio today. He had no public campaign events. He did speak to reporters during a stop at his campaign's Chicago field office though.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I also want to say to Governor Romney, congratulations on a spirited campaign. I know that his supporters are just as engaged and just as enthusiastic and working just as hard today. We feel confident we've got the votes to win, but it's going to depend ultimately on whether those votes turn out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: The polls close here in Ohio at 7:30 p.m. But we may not know the winner tonight, or frankly even in the next few days if what we've been calling the nightmare scenario comes true.
Take a look at the headlines today. "USA Today" said Ohio recount plan could take election into overtime. "The New York Times" wrote, in case of a recount, a long wait in Ohio. And a hometown newspaper with a strong headline, "The Cincinnati Enquirer," wrote, close vote would trigger complex countdown. It all really comes down to these provisional ballots. I want to hold it up. I showed this to you last night. I want to show it to you again now. It's yellow. This is the ballot that you cast when your eligibility is questioned at the polls. All right, so that can happen in several ways. Your address has changed or perhaps you requested an absentee ballot, but didn't actually file it absentee. These provisional ballots, though, are only counted if the winner's margin of victory is less than the total number of provisional ballots cast. And we have some numbers on that coming up later in the hour.
Counting the ballots will be a very complicated process. And the man at the center of it all, the man who some have called the most important person in this election is Ohio Secretary of State John Husted. And he is going to be joining me in just a few moments.
But here's what we're watching in the hours ahead. The first swing state polls start closing at 7:00 Eastern Time. That is the cutoff at most polls in New Hampshire, in Florida and in Virginia. And at 7:30, that's when polls, as I said, start to close right here in Ohio. In Wisconsin and Colorado, 9:00 Eastern is when those polls will start to close. And the last of the battleground poll closings, Iowa and Nevada, will begin at 10:00 Eastern Time.
John King is at our election center.
And, John, break down the map. What are you watching tonight?
JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erin, you are sitting in ground zero of this presidential election. Often ground zero in presidential politics. Here's where we begin Election Day in America, the president at 237 electoral votes, strong and leading. That's the blue on the map. Light blue leaning. Dark blue strong. Governor Romney, 206. Dark red strong. Light red leaning his way. We're pretty safe in these assessments, we think. We'll watch Pennsylvania. We'll watch Michigan. But assuming this is the line-up going in, what happens if this unfolds.
Let me give you a scenario. The Obama campaign is especially confident about Nevada among the tossups. Then they are very confident about Wisconsin. I know Republicans watching are saying, we'll prove you wrong, but let's go through this hypothetical. Iowa as well. The Obama campaign says we're going to win Iowa. Again, we'll see if the Republicans can prove them wrong. But if the president won those three of the battlegrounds, the campaign thinks those are his best bets tonight. That gets him to 259.
Now, in the Romney campaign, they think they're going to win Florida. Again the Democrats say, no, we'll prove you wrong here. But let's, in this hypothetical, give Governor Romney Florida. Colorado, one of the most hotly contested battlegrounds. Again, I talked to Obama campaign people this morning. They say we'll get it. The Republicans say, oh, no, you won't. let's give it to Governor Romney in this hypothetical.
That gets you to 259 to 244. Then what's happened. The map is filled in except for tossup Ohio, where you are, 18 electoral votes, tossup Virginia, 13 electoral votes, and tossup New Hampshire, four electoral votes. Could come down to four in New Hampshire. But if you look at this math, if you look at this math, the president can win either one of these and he's the next president of the United States. That's Ohio and Virginia. Governor Romney would have to win them both.
So, Erin, even as we wait for Ohio, which has been right in every election since 1964. As you noted, no Republican has ever won without it. We're going to have an early clue. You noted the early poll closing in the state of Virginia. These 13 electoral votes, in almost any scenario, Governor Romney has to have them. So, before we know about Ohio results, we're going start to get results in Virginia. That's the first stepping stone. So if you're in Ground Zero in Ohio, I would call Virginia ground sub-zero. When those results start to come in, we're going to know if Governor Romney is viable as we head west.
BURNETT: And we will be watching Virginia. And as you mentioned, John, not only a battleground, but in 2008, you know, the president became the first Democrat in 44 years to win that state in a presidential race. So when you look at what you know so well, the county by county, the place it's going to give you an indicator of which way it goes, what's that?
KING: And the president did that, Erin. I'm going to switch maps. He did that because of something we're going to watch all night across the country. The changing demographics of America. This is the 2008 map. The president turned nine red states, nine George Bush states, like Colorado, like North Carolina, like Virginia, the president turned them blue.
How did he turn them blue? If you look at this map of 2008, Virginia, you say, wow, John McCain won most of the state. How did he not win the state? Well, John McCain lost the state by 234,000 votes. Guess where those 234 votes came from? Every last one of them, right there, in the northern Virginia suburbs, just outside of Washington.
Governor Romney yesterday was in Fairfax County, Virginia. This is critical. Look what happened four years ago, 60-39. Don't expect Governor Romney to win Fairfax County tonight, but he'd better be a lot closer than that if he's going to win Virginia.
If you're going to watch one county in the state, Erin, I would watch neighboring Prince William County. If you look again, in 2008, 58 to 42. Closer for John McCain, but nowhere near close enough.
Let's go back. Let me reach across, excuse me, to 2004 and you'll see that county was red. Loudon County was red. So these collar (ph) counties, just outside of Washington, D.C., all within an hour's drive, Prince William and Loudon County, if Governor Romney can keep those red this time as opposed to last time or at least keep them very competitive, then he has a shot when you go out here. Because in the rest of the state four years ago, John McCain and Barack Obama ran even.
I'll come back to the 2008 map here. Four years ago, 400 votes separated them outside of northern Virginia. All of the business was done right here in fast growing northern Virginia, where you have those college educated women, you have Latinos, you -- right here. That is the battleground within the battleground.
BURNETT: That's pretty incredible. Four hundred votes. So many people wondering if their vote counts. I think that says it more than anything else could.
KING: Amen (ph).
BURNETT: Thanks very much to John.
And there is one man who knows a lot about voters in Virginia, six term Republican congressman from that state, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor is my guest right now.
And good to see you, sir. I appreciate your taking the time. Want to talk about Virginia. As John said, sort of ground sub-zero. Nothing more important than that except for perhaps where I'm sitting right now in Ohio. Here's what Mitt Romney said about your state in an interview today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (voice-over): I believe I'm going to win, but I can't tell you which state's going to be the one that puts me over the edge. But I can say that Virginia is critical in this because, you know, without Virginia, our pathway is much more difficult.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: There are 13 electoral votes obviously at stake in your state, sir. Does Mitt Romney win the White House without Virginia?
REP. ERIC CANTOR, HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER: We're going to win Virginia. Mitt Romney is going to win Virginia. I'm here in the Richmond area, and I've been out at the polls all morning and all -- in the early afternoon. And the activity and the level of participation is very high in the suburban counties in and around the Richmond area and the district that I represent. These are counties, Erin, that went for John McCain, at least in my district. The portions of the counties that are in my district. We believe we are a strong Republican area and are going to demonstrate so, even more so this time around.
People are excited. Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan have all been here many, many times, both within the last week. Republicans are energized. They want to see a return to an economic future that has more jobs, more prosperity. And at the end of the day, that's what wins it for us here in Virginia.
BURNETT: Now, as you said, Mitt Romney's put a lot of time into that state. Six stops, I believe, in your state in just the past week alone. But the latest polls that we have show it neck and neck. The president ahead by one point. Obviously that's well within the margin of error. But that's got to frustrate you, you know, as the Republican majority leader from this state, that the voters don't seem to give that overwhelming mandate that you're looking for. CANTOR: Well, you know, Virginia has been a state, as you indicated earlier, a state that had for 44 years gone with a Republican for president and for first time had then gone for a Democrat in electing this president. But what we've seen is a state that's growing. It's increasingly diverse. It is a state whose economy has actually done a lot better than that nationally. And so we have an electorate that's very focused on maintaining the kind of economic strength that we're used to here. And people in my district and around the commonwealth are very, very concerned about the direction that we've been heading in the last four years.
That's the issue of this election, Erin. That's what Mitt Romney is going to be elected by the voters here to do, which is to get this economy back on track. People here in Virginia understand Mitt Romney's a leader who understands how to create jobs.
BURNETT: And Leader Cantor, let me ask you a question. I don't know if you saw this, but a pretty interesting thing came in from Sergey Brin, the co-founder of Google. And he said, I'm dreading today's elections not just because basically my vote doesn't count as much as someone who's from Alaska, which is a totally different topic I'd love to talk about with you at another time. But he goes on to say, no matter who wins, it's going to be, quote, "a giant bonfire of partisanship." And he says that the plea to the victors, and obviously this is going to include you most likely, Leader Cantor, please withdrawal from your respective parties and govern as independents in name and in spirit.
Is that something you would be willing to do? You who are going to be in a key, if not the most key position, to make a deal on this country's fiscal future?
CANTOR: Well, Erin, I think what voters here in Virginia want to see is they want to see results. They want to see something done about the overspending in Washington, something done to address downward our debt and deficit situation. And they want to see a reinvigorating of the private sector, the small businesses, here in this state and elsewhere around the country. It is about results.
And I do think after this election, all of us will need to come together as Americans to fix the problems that frankly we know how to fix. It's not as if we don't know the solutions. Let's get together, have the courage and confidence to lead and lead in a fiscally prudent way and get America back to the kind of economic future that all of us want for our kids and theirs.
BURNETT: All right. Well, thank you very much, Leader Cantor, appreciate your time today.
And OUTFRONT next, campaigning until the final minute. Right now, Mitt Romney is on his way to Pennsylvania for his final campaign stop. The president, though, is not traveling to battleground states in his final hours. Why? His deputy campaign manager is OUTFRONT next.
Plus, the election could come down to voter turnout. That most important thing (ph). We have a team of reporters across this country and we're going to check in with them to see what they're seeing. Who's voting for whom. What does turnout look in the battleground states.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: All right, down to the wire. Mitt Romney added last minute campaign stops in Cleveland and Pittsburgh today as President Obama spent the day in Chicago and off the campaign trail. He was playing some basketball with the former star, Scottie Pippen. Stephanie Cutter is Obama's deputy campaign manager. She is at campaign headquarters in Chicago.
Stephanie, one way or the other, you are going to get some well deserved sleep hopefully. Hopefully we'll get an answer tonight on whom ever wins.
STEPHANIE CUTTER, OBAMA DEPUTY CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Hopefully, yes.
BURNETT: But let me ask you this question about -- yes, campaign stops. Mitt Romney obviously added some today, but President Obama did not. Should he have?
CUTTER: Well, the president actually did a whole lot of satellite interviews into battleground states this morning. And he's doing more this afternoon. And, you know, on Election Day, the last thing that you want to do is take your GOTV (ph) staff off of knocking on doors, making phone calls, getting people out to the polls. So when you're (INAUDIBLE), whether it's the president or Mitt Romney travel to a battleground state, your staff has to staff that person rather than doing their GOTV (ph) work. So we thought it was more efficient for the president to come here and actually to satellite in, to do TV interviews, to encourage people to come out and vote. And it's been a good -- it's been a good, productive day.
BURNETT: Let me ask you about Pennsylvania. You've talked about how it tightened. Everyone knows that it's tightened significantly over time. The president was up 12 points in the latest polls that we have. Quinnipiac had it down to a four-point margin. Are you worried that Mitt Romney's last minute campaigning there could swing that state for him? Could it make a difference, particularly, of course, in the west?
CUTTER: Well, no, I think that he's not going to swing the state. You know, the state has tightened, but we are confident that we're going to win it. In the polls, it's anywhere from four points to high single digits. We've got massive turnout in Philadelphia. I spoke to Governor Rendell, former Governor Rendell, just about an hour ago and he said our turnout in Philadelphia in the Philadelphia suburbs is probably going to exceed 2008 levels. So we're confident we're going to win that state.
You know, I understand why Mitt Romney is going there. One last ditch effort to get himself to 270. But I just don't think this pathway's going to work.
BURNETT: So, let me ask you about Karl Rove. I know you're obviously familiar with this. Let me just lay it out for our viewers. His final electoral college prediction had Romney winning with 285 electoral votes, Ohio, Colorado and Iowa all on his list went for Mitt Romney. This obviously was the guy who was dubbed George W. Bush's brain, engineered two victories for him and against some tough odds. So how do you discount his math?
CUTTER: Well, we disagree with his math. We are certainly looking at a lot of data. We've been on the ground in states like Ohio and Iowa and Colorado for some time. We have a significant early vote advantage in Ohio. We've been up in the polls there. Certainly there's people all over that state that appreciate what the president has done to turn the economy around in that state.
And in Iowa, what an amazing rally we had there last night in Des Moines to close out this campaign. It's where it all started. And in Iowa, certainly, you see the enthusiasm with the record number of early voters coming out for this president. So we are in very strong shape going into Election Day. We've got high turnout at the polls in Columbus. You know the college students are coming out at very high numbers. We're pleased with where we are. I disagree with Karl Rove's math, but, you know, in just a few hours, we'll know who's right.
BURNETT: We'll know who's right. And whoever isn't, well, you know, they'll have to go through the slog (ph) of what that means. Thanks so much to you, Stephanie. Good to see you.
And next, where I am today, Ohio, Stephanie just talking about it, it could decide the next president. This is, as John King said, ground zero for this election. That is if there aren't any problems at the polls. So, how are things going so far? The man in charge, Ohio's Secretary of State Jon Husted is OUTFRONT next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: All right, a nightmare scenario here in Ohio. That is what some are talking about if this election goes on for a long period of time. And it could do that because of provisional ballots. Earlier in the program I showed you this yellow form. That's what you have to file if you requested an absentee ballot, for example, and didn't choose to vote absentee, or if something else was amiss when you went to the voting booth, whether you had a change of address, ID issues, you file a provisional ballot, it gets counted later.
How much later? Well, they start counting in about 10 days. So it could be several weeks before we actually know who won Ohio if the margin is actually -- the provisional ballots are bigger than the margin by which the victor wins the state of Ohio.
Well, the man who's going to be in charge of deciding all of this is the Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted. And he is here with me again today. You were here last night. You are a man, as we said, some are saying the most important man in this election, not the guys running, because you really could have to make the decision here.
So let's go through this because really this is about math. Everyone in the state got an option to vote absentee, right?
JON HUSTED (R), OHIO SECRETARY OF STATE: Yes. You didn't even need to leave home to vote in Ohio. BURNETT: All right. So how many people requested absentee ballots? And of those, how many do you -- by the end of today, do you think you're still not going to know?
HUSTED: We had about 1.3, 1.4 million requests. Almost 90 percent of those have come in. And 1.8 million early votes have been cast. And we think that probably at the end of the night we're talking about maybe 4 percent of those ballots will not have been returned, in the range of 50,000 to 60,000 ballots.
BURNETT: All right. So 50,000 to 60,000 people who could have voted absentee and didn't and then the rest of the provisional ballots, the people who fill out those yellow forms, everyone are people with address issues, perhaps, or other things like that, right?
HUSTED: That's correct.
BURNETT: All right. And we know all know how high that number could go. I mean (ph) you were saying 4 percent, 200 to 250, something like that.
HUSTED: We don't -- I mean last time there were 211,000 provisional ballots in the last presidential election.
BURNETT: Right.
HUSTED: That number could be in between 150,000 and 300,000. It's really hard to know.
BURNETT: All right. So a lot of people are saying, though, if that provisional ballot, since you can't count them for 10 days, if that comes out as it's bigger than the margin of victory, we may not know for 10 days. Now, obviously, provisional ballots do -- especially change of address and things like that, tend to skew Democratic. Bottom line. Do you think we'll be able to project a winner tonight?
HUSTED: I really believe that we will be able to project a winner tonight. I think that people will have to stay up past their bedtime to be able to do that. But it is -- it's likely that we'll know by the end of the evening.
BURNETT: So you think -- you think we will know.
Now, when you look at Ohio and the state, what do you think is going to decide it? We're looking at, you know, big cities like where we are in Columbus. You've got Cincinnati. You've got Cleveland. All these different areas people are looking at. Stark County. For you, where do you look first?
HUSTED: You know, I really think that you look at central Ohio. This is where a growing number of the votes come from in the state. It's kind of a swing area. And if it leans -- if it leans, you know, toward one of the candidates, then I think that candidate's the one that's going to win.
BURNETT: All right. Well, that's what we'll be watching. No one knows it better than you. Thank you very much.
HUSTED: (INAUDIBLE).
BURNETT: Secretary Husted, joining me here outside the state house at the center of everything in Columbus, Ohio.
Still to come, the first polls close in just about three and a half hours. We're going to be fanning out around the country. The campaigning, though, not over yet. Mitt Romney, as we said, just was here in Ohio and he's not done. And we're going to show you how the president is spending Election Day.
Plus, we'll take you to our reporters in three battleground states. Find out who's winning the crucial game of voter turnout. Long lines mean good things, everybody. It's actually a good thing. We'll be back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Welcome back to a special Election Day edition of OUTFRONT, Election Day in America. I am in Ohio, the state capital. It is the mother of all battleground states.
Mitt Romney has put so much effort into winning Ohio that he actually made a last minute stop in Cleveland this afternoon. So let's go inside the campaigns.
Candy Crowley is at the Romney campaign headquarters in Boston. Dan Lothian at the Obama campaign headquarters in Chicago. Candy, I want to start with you. What is the campaign telling you with a few hours until the polls close?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Not very much is the short answer to that. I message a couple of them, talked to a couple of them and the best answer I got, what are you seeing, anything hopeful, anything not so hopeful?
I got back early voting looks good, but it is early. So they're not willing to go out on any limbs at this point. They are still in that phase where you are looking at those election lists, at individual polling places, looking at it and saying who of our guys hasn't shown up yet.
And pinpointing who that is and going and getting them or calling them and saying, come on down, you got to vote. They do note the heavy turnout we seem to be seeing wasn't in early voting as in before today, but also seeing today's early votes heavy as well.
So they want to make sure that it is heavy in their direction and in the places where they need to come -- need to have their supporters come out, to pull out, especially Ohio, that's why you see Mitt Romney there today.
BURNETT: That's right. Of course, we'll get those early votes and absentee ballots as much as everyone, we have them all, we'll get those around 7:30 here in the crucial state of Ohio. We'll see which way that swung. The Election Day vote comes in through the night.
Let's go to Dan Lothian in Chicago. Dan, you just heard Candy talking about what the Romney campaign is telling her. I know the president has started his Election Day tradition, if you can call it that, two election days, pickup game of basketball.
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. You know, the president always plays basketball before every election. And in 2008 in New Hampshire, he did not play before that voting taking place in New Hampshire. He lost there, so they don't want to make that mistake this time.
So the president just a short time ago went to a local rec center, where he's playing basketball with some staff and friends. They're very confident in the Obama campaign, but the president in a radio interview with Ryan Seacrest did talk about having butterflies.
BURNETT: He talked about having butterflies. I like that.
LOTHIAN: We don't have that sound. Yes, we -- right. So we don't have that sound, but he talked about how, you know, you -- OK, we have it now. He did talk about butterflies with Ryan Seacrest. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (via telephone): I think anybody running for office would be lying if they say that there is not some butterflies before the polls come in because anything can happen. That's the magic of democracy.
It is up to the people to decide. But at a certain point, you get calm because you know if you've done everything you can do, then the process is working the way it is supposed to, which is power now resides with individual voters.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LOTHIAN: I just got an e-mail short time ago from a senior campaign official who was listing off all the efforts by volunteers in key battleground states, Hispanics, veterans, young people, seniors, who are either giving people rides to the polls or knocking on doors or working the phones. That's how they believe this race will be won by getting out the vote so they're pushing that very hard in the final hours there -- Erin.
BURNETT: Turnout and it is great when they say it is getting out the vote, means every vote matters. Thanks so much to Dan and to Candy.
Now let's go to the battleground states, outside the one where I'm sitting right now, let's go to Iowa, where the latest CNN poll of polls shows the president ahead by three percentage points. Again, these are polls not based on any of the voting that you've seen today.
Poppy Harlow is live in Urbandale. It's a suburb of Des Moines. And Poppy, so you're looking at turnout. You've been watching the lines. Who has been most effective in getting out their base today that you've seen?
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM CORRESPONDENT: It depends which campaign you ask, Erin. I talked to both of them within the hour and they've said we have been very effective. The Obama camp telling me, you know, turnout is solid where we need it to be in this battleground state.
The Romney camp saying we feel very confident. What was really key here, Erin, was what happened before today. That's the early vote, a record early vote in the state of Iowa. That's what we're hearing about, 40 percent of total votes have come in early.
I want to show you the numbers because these count all the way through the end of early voting yesterday. So these really are totals from the secretary of state's office.
It has Democrats registered Democrats leading by about 66,000 in early voting, 282,000 almost of early votes from Democrats, about 215,000 from Republicans and about 174,000 from no party affiliated voters, so those key independent voters.
But I do want to qualify this by saying, first of all, Democrats have a more narrow lead this election than they have in past elections here in terms of early votes and also Democrats historically are better at getting out the early vote in Iowa than Republicans are.
That said, the turnout here neck and neck, voters I've talked to, two key issues, whether they voted for Romney or Obama, one when it comes to the economy, they're very concerned about debt and deficit, more so than jobs here.
And when it comes to social issues, you've got a huge Catholic and Evangelical base here in Iowa. They're voting on those issues as well -- Erin.
BURNETT: Thank you very much, Poppy Harlow. Now let's go to Colorado where Ed Lavandera is standing by in the town of Lakewood. Different issues, I know, there, Ed, that are driving things, perhaps, in the Evangelical story in Iowa. There is a pot measure on the ballot. How is the turnout?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Turnout is high. In fact, 1.9 million of the 3.6 million registered voters in the state have already voted. They voted earlier through the mail-in process that seems to work so well here.
That's why voting locations like this at the green Mountain Recreation Center in Lakewood, a suburb of Denver, you really haven't seen serious lines here at all throughout the day, things running very smoothly.
It is all about turnout at this point as well. We have been talking to Republican and Democratic strategists, talking about the ground game operation in turning out the votes in every corner of this state.
And everyone on both sides seems to think they are doing it well. But in the end, we won't know what the final numbers are until 7:00 Mountain Time, 9:00 Eastern. So far there has been high turnout and the early voting numbers, Republicans have a slight edge in the number of registered Republicans that have voted over registered Democrats.
But the -- you can register as an independent in the state and those numbers as well are very high and that's why we're in Jefferson County, Colorado, one of the western swing suburbs of Denver and all eyes will be on this on this county as soon as the polls close here as one strategist told us, as Jefferson County goes, very likely the rest of Colorado will go that way as well.
Here you have an equal number of Republicans, Democrats and independent swing voters that make up this county and that's why it is going to get so much attention here in the next few hours -- Erin.
BURNETT: Going to get a lot of attention there. All right, thanks so much to Ed Lavandera. OUTFRONT next, last minute moves on the campaign trail. When every second counts, what do you do?
Are you the kind of person that, you know, you have a test, do you say I've done all I can do, take a break or you keep studying? Well, that's the difference we're seeing with the two men running for the White House today. Will it make a difference?
Plus, predictions on when we're going to know a winner. The former governor of this state joins me with his prediction along with members of the best political team.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Right now, Mitt Romney is headed to Pennsylvania for last minute campaigning, a mad dash to rev up supporters and get the last people to the polls. You know, you heard John King saying 400 votes is what mattered in Virginia last time.
So every single vote does matter obviously more so when you live in a state that matters. President Obama is out visiting campaign workers and apparently right now playing a pickup game of basketball. It is something he does on Election Day, but is it a mistake?
OUTFRONT this afternoon, Ohio's former Democratic Governor Ted Strickland. He's here with me in the state capital of Columbus. John Avlon, senior political columnist with "Newsweek", "The Daily Beast," Reihan Salam with the "National Review," and chief political analyst, Gloria Borger.
All right, I want everyone to know. First, we're going to tackle the smarts or not of Election Day behavior for both men and then we'll tackle when we're going to know and who tonight. That's the gig. And the winner gets a million dollars or Mitt Romney bet 10,000 in something.
All right, let me start with you, Governor Strickland. Today, the decision of Mitt Romney to go out, I mean, he's the challenger. So it would make sense. The president, though, did some interviews, but decided to stay home and play basketball. Is that good optics or bad optics?
TED STRICKLAND (D), FORMER OHIO GOVERNOR: Well, I think the president may have really touched more people through his calls if the concern is how many voters can you reach during these last few hours of the campaign? But, you know, election days, I think, are very special events and I think every politician deals with them sort of differently.
BURNETT: Yes, it is all about your psyche and your psychology. You heard him say, he has butterflies in his stomach, John Avlon, the president, going for the younger voter obviously with that interview.
JOHN AVLON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, apparently. Look, I think at the end of the day politicians could be superstitious people. We have been at this for two years. You know, it may make candidates feel better to feel they have left no stone unturned.
But it is like trying to will a foul ball fair at this point, holding another rally. I think the strategies either worked or it hasn't. And that's where we are with Election Day. The voters get to decide. It is somewhat out of the candidates' hands at this point.
BURNETT: Reihan Salam, smart for Mitt Romney to campaign today? You know, Stephanie Cutter of the Obama campaign made the argument today that by going to a swing state, you take staff away from knocking on doors and driving people to the polls when you come and visit. That's why she said it wasn't smart.
REIHAN SALAM, WRITER, CONSERVATIVE MAGAZINE, "NATIONAL REVIEW": Well, I think that could be true for President Obama. But for Mitt Romney, I think he has to go out there to demonstrate to his core supporters he's out there, he's fighting, he's going to put blood, sweat and tears in the last day.
Because the truth is that if Mitt Romney does win, it is going to be very, very narrow. Certainly when you look at a lost t lot of the state polls, Mitt Romney has something to prove. He has to show scrap. He's the one who has to energize his supporters to be sure they turn out for the polls.
BURNETT: Gloria, quickly, final word to you. Sorry about that. Who had the better strategy today?
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, two words for you, Joe Biden. They said, OK, we're not going to send the president, but we did send at the very last minute in the 11th hour, they sent the vice president to Ohio.
And the reason they did that is they clearly made a decision that they didn't want Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan taking up all the local news time today, getting a lot of uninterrupted coverage for their events.
So while they didn't send the president, they did send Biden. They clearly understand it is a very close race in that state and so they sent the president's top surrogate. So, you know, it is clear --
BURNETT: All right --
BORGER: -- that they decided not to sit back on this one.
BURNETT: All right, we're going to hit pause, the prediction of when we're going to know and who it's going to be coming up after the break plus Rudy Giuliani.
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BURNETT: Welcome back. We're just a little more than three hours from the first polls closing. So I want to bring back my panel and get the predictions of what every single one of you want to know tonight, right?
Who is going to win and at what time will we know that? The former Democratic governor of this state, Ohio, Ted Strickland with me along with John Avalon for "Newsweek," "The Daily Beast," Reihan Salam of the "National Review," and our own Gloria Borger.
Governor Strickland, obviously you're a Democratic governor so I'm going to bet what you're going to guess. But go ahead and tell me, who will win?
STRICKLAND: Ohio is going to vote for the president. He's going to be re-elected to a second term and Ohio's results will be announced at 11:37 p.m. that's my prediction.
BURNETT: I love a man who is unafraid to come out with a real prediction, none of this hedging.
STRICKLAND: And confident.
BURNETT: That's right. OK, so, he has set the standard here, Reihan. Who and when?
SALAM: At 2:00 a.m., we're going to know, because if we don't know then, I will go to sleep anyway. And, yes, I think that Mitt Romney is going to win Ohio, very narrowly. It is going to take a long, long time.
BURNETT: So you think Mitt Romney will win Ohio narrowly and will he win the presidency?
SALAM: Yes, I think he will. I think it will come as a shock to many people.
BURNETT: We got -- we got an Obama, we got a Romney. John Avlon?
AVLON: I hate predictions, but I think at the end of the day it will be Obama, Dem keep the Senate, Republicans keep the House, lose some seats, probably by midnight unless Virginia breaks away from Romney in which case it is an early night. If Romney can pull away Pennsylvania, it is a long night.
BURNETT: All right, I know you can only give it time, Gloria. In a word, what time do we know? BORGER: I'm not sure exactly when we know. But I'll tell you the first time I'm going to know something, which is going to be at around 7:30 tonight, when we see what happens in the state of Virginia because, of course, that's very tight.
We have to look at Loudon County in Virginia, and if the president were to win Virginia, obviously the path to 270 is a lot easier for him. But if Mitt Romney wins Virginia, it could be a much longer night.
BURNETT: Longer, but exciting, of course, no matter who wins. Thanks to all.
OUTFRONT next, one of the most vocal critics of the president, not only does he think the president should not be re-elected, he thinks he should resign. Rudy Giuliani next.
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BURNETT: Poll after poll has shown that voters overwhelmingly say the economy is the most important issue to them. But former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani says the deadly attacks on the American consulate in Benghazi, I'll quote him, may be the most important thing in today's election.
He called the president's handling of the situation incompetent. Fair or going too far? He's here now to answer the question. Mayor Giuliani is OUTFRONT.
Sir, great to see you as always. I want to start off with the attacks on Benghazi, obviously politicized by both sides. I wanted to play John McCain and Robert Gibbs, what Robert Gibbs said to John McCain last night on our show. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: I've been traveling all over the country, and veterans are angry. They're angry. They're upset. They don't trust Barack Obama.
ROBERT GIBBS, SENIOR OBAMA ADVISER: Obviously people have a lot of respect for somebody like John McCain. But for somebody like that to go out there and say that people in the military don't trust the commander in chief, that's one of the more shameful comments I've heard in more than 20 years of being in politics.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Mayor Giuliani, do you really think Benghazi is going to turn this election?
RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: No, I don't. But I do think it is the most important issue in the election. I think Gibbs is being outrageous in attacking John McCain. John McCain just expressing what hundreds of veterans told me in the last four or five days. And here's totally indefensible part of it, Erin. That consulate was attacked twice before September 11th, 2012. The second time in June, 14-foot hole drilled in the wall of that consulate. The British consulate had to leave.
The Red Cross had to leave. The people in the State Department that worked there were begging for help and the president just ignored them completely. Never provided the security that I believe a President McCain or a President Reagan or a President Romney would supply.
A competent president would have supplied security in advance. Forget about all the confusion after, once the attack began, which I also think is outrageous and the White House is lying about, but put that all aside.
There is no answer to why didn't the president supply security to that consulate when it was getting systemically bombarded for months.
BURNETT: And what -- I know you're frustrated about Benghazi, you make your case there. What about with Hurricane Sandy? You know, the public approval's of the president's handling of that is 67 percent. Obviously, we're at the very beginning of a long and painful recovery. But I know that you are going against Chris Christie who said the president earned his praise.
GIULIANI: Well, Chris Christie gave him that praise the first two days. President got a big tap on the back. Then we go through four or five days of no water in New York, not enough generators, no water by FEMA, no help for the people in the streets, I've been in Staten Island.
I've been bombarded with calls from people. I just have the man who is chief of my security has been working on this four or five days telling me that there is really no help coming from FEMA. The president left behind a feeble effort.
Feeble so that if this had been George Bush, all of you in the media would be criticizing, like crazy, just look at these people in Staten Island. Look at the people in Breezy Point. Look at the people out in Long Island. Look at the people in northern New Jersey.
This is eight days later and they're still without power and they weren't getting water. What the heck do we have FEMA for if they can't fly water here from various parts of the country? I think the president got his praise, he got his -- he got his photo-op, and it helped him a lot.
I agree with that. But since then, he's basically been AWOL or FEMA really hasn't done what I know FEMA can do, because Fema was at my side from within four hours after the attack of September 11th, and when I need search and rescue teams, they were flown into New York in four hours.
When I needed extra generators they came in two hours. I don't see that happening here. I sure don't see that happening for my people and this is not a political point. This is me angry as the former mayor who really is very, very close to these people and these parts of the city that were horribly affected by September 11th and now being ignored in the wake of this hurricane.
BURNETT: All right, well, Mayor Giuliani, thank you very much. Some moments were very hard for any of us to see. We're going to be right back.
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