Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Clinton Focuses on Down-Ballot Races in North Carolina; Trump's Problems Put GOP Control of Senate in Jeopardy; Poll: Florida Senate Race Too Close to Call; AT&T to Buy Time Warner in $85 Billion Deal; Journalists Balance Motherhood and Covering 2016 Race. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired October 23, 2016 - 18:00   ET

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

[16:00:00] POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour, 6:00 p.m. eastern. I'm Poppy Harlow in New York. We begin tonight listening to drum Donald Trump speaking live at a rally in Maple, Florida. This is first of several stops that he is making in that critically important swing states in just next few days. It is also the first time today that we have heard from his campaign manager specifically admitting that their team is behind.

Here is what Kellyanne Conway said this morning on "Meet the Press."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHUCK TODD, NBC HOST, MEET THE PRESS: Where do you see this race right now? Do you acknowledge that you're behind?

KELLYANNE CONWAY, TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: We are behind. She has some advantages like $66 million in ad buys just in the month of September. Doubling her a buys from August. Most are negative against Donald Trump, classic politics and personal destruction.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: For the record, they both have been running negative ads against one another.

Just how far behind is Trump, take a look at this new poll from ABC News. It shows that Clinton has a 12 point lead. That is just one of many polls, though. The CNN poll of poll shows an average where Clinton is leading some nationally by nine points. But this is perspective. Surveys from the same period of time in 2012 had Mitt Romney and President Obama tied.

So what is Trump saying tonight? Let's go straight to Jason Carroll. He is at Trump rally in Naples, Florida.

Jason, has there been an acknowledgement by Trump, he has been on the stage for about 15 minutes, that they are behind? That he is sort of getting in line with what his campaign manager is saying.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No. And there is no other way to say it. I mean, no difference day, different rally, different message. So on Friday, as I told you before, Poppy, (INAUDIBLE) there seemed to be an acknowledgement that the campaign was behind in the polls. Trump telling the crowd, look, we have z turn this thing around. But today he took the stage. And just a few moments ago he said ignore the polls. Basically saying that he is ahead in the polls and he is doing well with women. Listen to how he put it in his own words.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Investors Business Daily, the most accurate poll from the last election and the two election before that, just announced that we are leading nationally by two points. Numbers are looking phenomenal in Florida. Don't believe the media. But even the media is giving pretty good numbers. They can't help it. The numbers are even better than what they're saying.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: Now, the numbers are not the Trump campaign. That's not just accurate if, of course, you're going to listen to some of the polls that show Donald Trump trailing Hillary Clinton by four points here in the state of Florida.

What you have here is a situation, Poppy, where you've got a crowd of people who obviously really support Donald Trump, but what you tell them. You don't want to come up here perhaps and say we are trailing behind in those polls so perhaps what you do is get up and deny, deny, deny and see if that works. Buy you can't sure that is going to work. We'll have to see. But in talking to some of the people out here before this thing sort of got under way we have been listening to some of the things they have been saying. They don't believe the polls. It stands to reason, whether or not Donald Trump believes what he I saying up there. But very clearly, he is trailing in the national polls. He is trailing here in the state of Florida but that's not what he is telling the audience here today.

HARLOW: Jason, thank you reporting for us live tonight in Naples.

As Trump continues to speak we will keep monitoring that. In the state of Florida, you know, 29 electoral votes. Very important state. Plenty of votes are already been cast on long before November 8th. You have got five million votes that have been cast early across this country. Across 35 states to be exact. That includes 3.5 million of those early votes in battleground states.

So let's talk about the message that we're getting from Trump versus his campaign manager with Hilary Rosen, Democratic strategist and Clinton supporter and Scottie Nell-Hughes, political editor of right alerts.com and a Trump supporter.

Thank you, guys, for being with me.

And Scottie now, I think I got to go to you. You heard Jason's report just now. He heard from your candidate saying the national polls are looking really good. He cited one investigators, "Business Daily" that has him u a point. And he said the Florida polls are really good. They are not and his campaign manager said this morning on NBC we are quote "behind." What's with the divide?

SCOTTIE NELL HUGHES, TRUMP SUPPORTER: Well, because I think it's what you're looking at. I mean, with all due respect to Jason, Trump right now is leading an absentee balloting in Florida right now.

HARLOW: No, sorry, Scottie. What I'm asking is what's with the divide between his campaign director and the candidate?

HUGHES: I can guarantee Kellyanne Conway is not this doom and gloom to spare that for some reason were painting (INAUDIBLE). I have been sitting here getting emails and been getting press releases from her, talking about the rigged system and how Mr. Trump wants to represent those people who feel like that they have been left by the system today and how they cannot get ahead. So I don't know where this doom and gloom picture is coming from but definitely in Florida --.

[16:05:12] HARLOW: I don't know. No one is painting a doom and gloom picture, Scottie.

I mean - guys, let's just can we re-air the sound bite. Let's just re-air exactly the campaign manager in her own words to Chuck Todd this morning on "Meet the Press."

((BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHUCK TODD, NBC HOST, MEET THE PRESS: Where do you see this race right now? Do you acknowledge that you're behind?

KELLYANNE CONWAY, TRUMP CAMPAIGN SENIOR ADVISOR/GOP POLLSTER: We are behind. She has some advantages like $66 million in ad buys just in the month of September. Doubling her a buys from August. Most are negative against Donald Trump, classic politics and personal destruction.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: These are the polls she is talking about. ABC has Trump behind by 12 points. And this is the CNN poll of polls that has Trump behind by nine points. So I think she is just speaking to the polls but the candidate is saying the opposite of what we heard from her this morning. Why is that?

HUGHES: Well, in the ABC poll skews more Democrats than independent which is more than what the national average should be. Same thing with the CNN, with all due respect, the CNN poll of polls. They are not actually going along with the registries. And that's why I think people have such doubt in the polls right now because people are skewing these polls, more Democrats than independents or Republicans and here is what you are saying --

HARLOW: Scottie, now, are saying - wait, you're saying that the media is -- am I correct in you're saying the media is skewing the polling?

HUGHES: Well, when you're sitting there and you are talking about an ABC poll that is 36 percent Democrats, 27 percent Republican, 31 percent independent, when the national Pew research poll for the last ten years has been 34 percent independent, 33 percent Democratic and 29 percent Republican. It's obvious we're skewing our polls (INAUDIBLE) more than Democrats.

HARLOW: Scottie, now, what polls do you what us to show? I mean, name a poll.

HUGHES: Well, that was the ABC poll.

HARLOW: But name a poll. Name a poll. More than one, more than the investor. We have mentioned that.

HUGHES: The L.A. Times poll has them even. Let's look at Rasmussen as well who actually are more accurately along with the national guidelines to what the polls should be and have them dead even or up just one point. Not this 11 or 12 point-spread that members of the media continue to toss which is why the people just don't agree right now and don't believe some of these polls.

HILLARY ROSEN, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Here is the issue, I think. I'm going to agree with Scottie a little bit on one point which is that I don't think national polls are really reflective of where this race ultimately going to go. This races, really, in the battleground states much closer than the national polls spread. And that's why I think it is important, though, that Kellyanne and Donald Trump get on the same page. Do we say we are ahead or do we say we are behind? That I think is the interesting thing of message of the day.

Hillary Clinton is out there saying we are not confident. We need you to be out there voting. We have a lot of stake in this election. And I think that anybody who is out there acting like they are the front- runner is making a strategic mistake. It's not what you want to be telling your voters. You want to be telling your voters, kind of what Kellyanne is saying which is there's a lot at stake. You know, we are nervous. We are behind. And we have to get on our forward foot here folks. So make sure you get out and vote.

HARLOW: Scottie, now to you, are you - you are right in saying that the polls, frankly, don't matter. All that matters is what happens in early voting now and on November 8th. All that matters is the number of votes, right. If you're right then your guy wins. If you're wrong, then are you saying -- if he doesn't win are you saying that not only was the polling skewed but the election skewed?

HUGHES: Well, no. I'm not one of those. Because what are you doing to do about it. There is no accurate. There's no people that can say hands down there was voter fraud that happened. You have to accept the election results from the election night.

HARLOW: But your own candidate has said he won't - but your own candidate has not said that he will do that.

HUGHES: Well. No, he said obviously if he wins. But also, if you win. But there's also --

HARLOW: Exactly. He's not said he will accept the outcome either way. HUGHES: Well, because look at what we have seen in the past. I mean,

both Republicans and Democrats in the past have screamed about rigged elections that have happened in a national scene. We did see Al Gore. We did see John Kerry talk about (INAUDIBLE).

HARLOW: No. Scottie, now you just can't do that. You cannot compare this to 2000 when an automatic recount was triggered in Florida because the margin was so close because we were talking about 530 votes. That was an automatic recount. It is like -- it's not apples to apples at all.

(CROSSTALK)

[16:10:00] HUGHES: In 2002, even Hillary Clinton in a closed door event actually said that she felt like George Bush had been selected not elected. Both Democrats and Republicans have a history of screaming about some sort of voter fraud or some sort of rigged system against them.

In 2008, John McCain released an ad warning of voter fraud which is exactly the same thing that Donald Trump is doing just two or three weeks before the election happened. This is just something we see every single election time. And unfortunately, politician don't --

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: He said that he - Scottie now, the difference is he said he will not accept the results. It's one thing to talk about it before hand and, you know, talk about the legitimacy of voting or what have you. It's another thing to say even afterwards I will not accept it. I will not -- indicating I will not have a peaceful, gracious, you know, passing of power from one to the next.

ROSEN: Again, let's look at part of our issue is that we are hearing one thing out of Donald Trump's mouth and another out of, for instance, Kellyanne Conway's mouth which is, yes, he will accept the result of the election.

I actually don't think that this is the biggest issue. I think that what it is reflective of is a ridiculous lack of discipline by Donald Trump in these closing days of this election. That he doesn't end up making news for the case he has to make for himself to be elected. What he ends up making news for is sort of undermining democracy or trying to throw Hillary Clinton in jail or just things at are not really going to encourage his supporters or undecided voters to say he is on their side. And that I think, and we have seen this again in his speech today, he is spending a lot of time trashing Hillary Clinton, those people would not be at that rally if they already didn't have negative feelings about Hillary Clinton. What they are looking for is what Donald Trump is actually going to do for them. And he steps on his own message every single time, every single day.

HARLOW: We're going to listen to Hillary Clinton in just a moment.

But very quickly to you Hilary Rosen, on your candidate, though, how does she not become complacent and think this is a shoe in for her because she need --.

ROSEN: Well, she's not. She's not complacent.

HUGHES: But she is.

ROSEN: She's not.

HUGHES: You are hearing those type of comments. It's her campaign that is not saying it.

ROSEN: Scottie, she asked me the question. I don't think she is complacent. I think that she is out there making the case for what she wants to do, for how we need to come together as a country. How we have to move past this. How the Supreme Court is at stake. How healthcare is at stake. How women's right to choose is at stake. How, you know, economic security for the middle class is at stake when you have somebody who is only looking at tax cuts for the rich.

So, you know, Hillary Clinton is out there every day now making the case in battleground states and not taking anything for granted. They are being really, really careful and aggressive about not letting her supporters off the hook.

HARLOW: All right, guys. I got to leave it there.

I do want to say one thing though. Donald Trump did talk about tax cuts yesterday for the middle class and his 100 days remarks, guys.

We were listening to Trump in Naples. Let's go listen to Hillary Clinton in Charlotte.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I was in (INAUDIBLE) earlier today and I had chance to speak to large group of people. Go to an early voting site which was mobbed. There were no many people waiting to vote. And what that says to me is that North Carolinians really do know what's at stake at this election.

I'm going to do everything I can and I hope you will as well to elect Roy Cooper your next governor. You will not find a more dedicated fighter for North Carolina candidate kids and families. He has fought to improve the schools here. He's helped kids get health coverage. He has worked to make communities safer and protect citizens from fraud. And he has real plans to create good paying jobs and protect the environment. He will move this state forward. He will stand up for voting rights, for young people, people of color, people with disabilities, the elderly. He will stand up for women's health and Planned Parenthood. And he will repeal HB2 knows that it' not only wrong, it is bad for business.

North Carolina deserves a governor who will put the people of North Carolina first, not some kind of ideological agenda that goes against the interest of the people here. And I also hope you are going to send Debra Ross to the United States Senate. Debra has spent her career working for every child in this the see chance. She did to go to great public schools with wonderful teachers. She believes that the economy should work for everyone, not at the top. She'll help breakthrough the gridlock and create more jobs with rising wages that will make a real difference to you, particularly to young people who are finishing up your education and looking for those opportunities you deserve.

And this is important when choosing your next senator. Unlike her opponent, Debra has never been afraid to stand up to Donald Trump because she knows he is wrong for North Carolina, wrong for America and people of courage and principle. Both party have stood up to reject his dangerous divisive agenda.

So please, do the right thing and elect Debra Ross to go to the United States Senate.

Now, if any of you see the last debate? You know, I got to tell you, I have now stood next to Donald Trump for four and a half hours in three debates. Now, who says I don't have the stamina to be president commander in chief. And oh my. He said a lot of things throughout those three debates. But I got to tell you there's one in particular out of that third debate that no presidential nominee of either party has ever said before. He refused to say that he would respect the result of our election.

Now, I have to admit, you know, when we were both asked the question, I assumed he would say what everybody has always said, which is hey, of course, you know. Because to say you won't respect the results of the election, that is a direct threat to our democracy. The peaceful transfer of power is one of the things that makes America, America. And as your secretary of state I visited 112 countries, and a lot of those countries are places that don't even pretend to be democracies and then there are ones that pretend to be democracies but if you're the political opponent to a powerful, strong, dictator, you end up in exile or you end up in jail or you end up dead. It is not a joke. Some people are sore losers and we just got to keep going.

But I really do want to make this serious point. Because I know probably here --

[16:18:54] HARLOW: You have been listening to Hillary Clinton talk about Donald Trump and his refusal, thus far, to say he will accept the result of the election.

Let's take you over now to Florida. Let's listen in to Donald Trump.

TRUMP: People we don't know who they are. Radical Islamic terrorists right our front door and stamping their visas approved, approved, approved on the way in. So let me state this very clearly. If I'm elected president, I'm going to keep radical Islamic terrorists the hell out of our country. We will also stop the crisis of illegal immigration. A Trump administration will defend and secure our borders. And yes, we will for you, build the wall.

We have the first ever endorsement from our ICE and border patrol officers a serial illegal 16,500 border patrol. In August, first time they ever done. In August police arrested a serial illegal immigrant rapist who had been deported five times and have been convicted of three DUIs. His victims include one 60-year-old woman with a cane who took his offer to driver her home and then he left her beaten horribly, beaten so badly on the side of the road.

A 64-year-old air force veteran, Maryland was raped and beaten to death with a hammer by a repeat offender who should have been deported by the Obama administration many times but they never got around to do it.

Under a Trump administration, this crime wave will come to a very, very crashing end. That includes the proposal in my contract for tough mandatory minimum prison sentences, for illegal immigrants who reenter the country after a previous deportation. Right now they're deported. They come back. Over and over again.

You look at so many, hundreds and thousands. You look at what's going on. They're deported. They come back. They're deported. They come back. Well, when they come back that second time, they're going to jail for a long time. When they come back to third time, you know what's going to happen, they're not coming back.

With a victory in November, everything will change. In summing up here, some of the amazing things we're going to do for our country starting in 2017. The biggest tax cut since Ronald Reagan and in certain ways even better. We are going to eliminate every unnecessary job killing regulation.

We are going to defend religious liberty. We will provide school choice to every disadvantaged child in America and we are going to end common core and wring our education local. We will support the great men and women of law enforcement. We will save the second amendment which is under siege.

And you heard that the other night at our third debate where Hillary Clinton could not say she's going to really say. If you understood what she was saying about Heller, check it out.

[16:23:05] HARLOW: Donald Trump speaking live to supporters in Naples talking about building wall. Law and order and also guns.

Let's go back to Hillary Clinton speaking to supporters in battleground North Carolina. She's in charlotte tonight.

CLINTON: They're sense of self-worth. And I don't think there is a woman anywhere who doesn't know what that feels like. So that may be who Donald Trump is. We have figured that out. But this election is about who we are. Who we are and what we stand for. And it is up to us to make clear America is better than that.

I believe that America is great because America is good. We've got to make that true. We have to stand up for the progress we've made, for our rights. For voting rights and the civil rights, for women's rights and worker rights, for LGBT rights and the rights of people with disabilities.

And we have to reform our criminal justice system so it works fairly for everyone.

And I really appreciate all the young people. In fact, people of all ages who have been marching and speaking out across our country, including here in North Carolina with Reverend Barber and the moral Monday movement. Now, all of the challenges we solved overnight. I know that. Part of the great joy of being an American is to know that you can contribute to making things better for yourselves and for young people and for people who have been left out and left behind.

And I so appreciated what Thurston said because everybody has a role to play. And the choice in this election really is about what you want, what you believe for yourself and your future. See, I believe when the middle class in America thrives, America thrives. I believe we build the economy from the middle out and the bottom up, not from the top down.

That's why I want us to have the biggest investment in new jobs since World War II. Now, what are those new jobs going to be coming from? Weave a lot of work to do to repair and build the infrastructure we need to have a competitive 21st century economy. Our roads, bridges, transit systems, our ports, our airports, our water systems. There's so much work to be done. It's also some new ideas and to finish offer some unfinished work. We need a new modern electric grid to be able to take and distribute clean renewable energy across America.

There are millions of new jobs associated with clean energy. And some states are doing better than others. And you know what? In North Carolina, I also think is now number two in solar power in America. States across the country are beginning to understand that it's not only about fighting climate change. It's about crediting new jobs and new businesses. I'm talking about Precision Machine. Half a billion new solar panels in the first four years of my administration.

I want us to be the clean energy super power of the 21st century because I think it's either going to be Germany, China or us. And you know what, it should be us. We have invented most of the technology. We should be making the products. These are jobs that can't be exported. They got do be done right here in North Carolina. I also want to see us do more in advance manufacturing. People say we can't compete in manufacturing. Well, that's probably true if you're talking about low wage manufacturing. I'm talking about high wage Wag, manufacturing. I'm talking about high-wage precision. I'm talking about 3-D printing.

You have no idea how much we can do if we put our minds to it and if we have plan bringing together business and workers and universities and colleges and everybody to say what are we going to do to make sure we own the future of advance manufacturing not Germany, the United States of America.

HARLOW: Hillary Clinton speaking about advanced manufacturing jobs in charlotte trying to lock up the battleground state of North Carolina in her favor.

Let's hop back to Donald Trump trying to make end roads in battleground Florida where he is trailing Clinton by four points.

TRUMP: We will make America wealthy again. We will make America strong again. We will make America safe again. We will make America great again. Thank you and god bless you. Thank you. Thank you everybody. Thank you Naples. Get out and vote November 8th. Thank you.

HARLOW: Donald Trump wrapping up his remarks there. So why not go back to Charlotte and listen to Hillary Clinton.

CLINTON: This is not a woman's issue, my friends. This is family economic issue. If you have a mother, a wife, a daughter or sister who is working, it's your issue. It is way past time for women to be paid fairly for the jobs that we do. Now, we're also going to invest in education from preschool through college and university.

I want us to have universal pre-kinder garden because two kids show up school unable to really being learning. And I want good schools with good teachers and every single zip code in American.

I want to bring technical education back into high school, because too many kids show up to continue to be learning. I want good schools with good teachers in every single zip code in America. I want to bring technical education back in to high school and do everything I can to support our community colleges.

A 4-year degree should not be the only path to a good job in a middle class life.

And besides. there's going to be a bunch of job for machinist and welders and computer coders and health care technicians.

[18:30:00] want that pipeline filled with young Americans who are going to get those jobs and have a good future.

(APPLAUSE)

CLINTON: And we're going to bring down the cost of higher education.

(APPLAUSE)

CLINTON: I'm going to make public colleges and universities tuition free for any family whose income is $125,000 or less per year. Now, that's the vast majority of Americans, but if your family is above that, I want it to be debt free. So pay what you can afford but don't go into debt. I consider it an investment in young people, and I don't want you burdened with the debt that you have.

I think it's great to work. I worked through college. I worked through law school. I believe in that, but I don't want people coming out burdened by debt and having a difficulty paying it back. We're going to change the way that debt works. We're going to bring down interest rates, and we're going to let you pay it back as a percentage of your income. And if you do certain public service or national service jobs, we're going to forgive a lot of or all of the debt in return for you doing that.

(APPLAUSE)

CLINTON: I worked on this plan with Senator Sanders after he finished the primary.

(APPLAUSE)

CLINTON: That's how I want people to work together. We had a great primary. It was about issues, not insults. And then when it was over, we sat down and said, how can we bring our ideas together and come up with a plan that we can work on to get past?

And if you want to see what it would mean to you, you can go to HillaryClinton.com/calculator and you can actually see how much you and your family will save if we pass this plan come next year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Hillary Clinton speaking live tonight in battleground North Carolina as her rival, Donald Trump, rallied his supporters in battleground Florida. A busy night, to say the least, on the campaign trail with just 16 days left until you go to the polls.

Much more on this tonight including Trump's troubles that have some Republicans worried about more at this point than the White House. They're looking at control of the Senate and wondering if they're about to lose their state. Donald Trump knows how crucial it is to win Florida. He is speaking and just wrapped up speaking in Naples. We'll bring you much more straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:36:07] HARLOW: Republicans started this campaign season hoping to win back the White House. That could still happen, but with their candidate trailing in most of the polls, GOP Party officials and their allies are now taking measures to protect what they already have. And that is control of Congress.

A stunning new political ad aiming to help Republican members of Congress suggests that Hillary Clinton will win the presidency. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: America's future is far from certain, but no matter who the next President is, New Hampshire needs a strong voice in the U.S. Senate. That senator, Kelly Ayotte. She works across the aisle to get things done.

Maggie Hassan's record, passed and voted over 100 times for more taxes and fees. Just imagine what she'd do unchecked in Washington with a new President. Maggie Hassan, too risky for New Hampshire.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is responsible for the content of this advertising.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Again, you just heard that ad is from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and it is trying to help Republicans down ballot. It is urging voters in New Hampshire to help protect the GOP Senate majority by reelecting their senator, Kelly Ayotte, in New Hampshire.

A WMUR Granite State Poll shows the incumbent Senator trailing her Democratic rival, Governor Maggie Hassan, by eight points. Meantime, Clinton is leading Trump in New Hampshire by 15 points.

Let's talk it over with -- no one better to do this with than former CNN Political Editor Paul Steinhauser. He's now the political director and anchor with New Hampshire 1. Paul, so nice to see you, my friend.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, ANCHOR AND POLITICAL DIRECTOR, NEW HAMPSHIRE 1 NEWS: Hey. Yes, great to be here. Great to be here.

HARLOW: How unusual is that ad? I mean, just weeks before the election, the Chamber of Commerce, usually a huge supporter of all the Republicans on the ticket, comes out and basically says, yes, Clinton could win, and that's why it's so important that you vote for Kelly Ayotte.

STEINHAUSER: That ad making huge headlines. I believe also that ad, first reported by your good friend and mine, Dana Bash.

HARLOW: Yes.

STEINHAUSER: Here's the thing. The Chamber of Commerce, never big fans of Donald Trump in the first place when you go back to the primaries. Though they stayed out of it, but they were never big fans of his. But they're basically conceding that, yes, Trump is not going to win the election, and we need to hold on to the Senate. That ad is starting to play a lot up here.

You mentioned the MUR Polls. Some other polls up here --

HARLOW: Yes.

STEINHAUSER: -- showed a much closer race. You average them all together and Hassan, the Democratic challenger who is our governor up here is maybe ahead by two or three points if you average everything together or all the polls together.

I got to say, Poppy, we have the biggest battles, most expense, most negative Senate race in the country with two very popular women, our incumbent Republican Senator and our incumbent Democratic Governor. And that's why this race is getting so much attention not just here in New Hampshire but nationwide.

HARLOW: And we know that Hillary Clinton will rally in Manchester, New Hampshire tomorrow with Senator Elizabeth Warren. She's got a big lead, as we know, at least in that latest national polling, at least, looking at New Hampshire for the presidential race that has Clinton 15 points ahead.

The fact that she's going to be there with Senator Warren, is that her way of focusing down ballot trying to help, you know, the Democratic nominee for the Senate, Maggie Hassan? Is that her acknowledgement that maybe this isn't such a wide spread between the two?

STEINHAUSER: Exactly. And we're going to see the Governor Hassan there at that rally tomorrow. We'll probably see Jeanne Shaheen or other U.S. senator here who's a Democrat as well. And this past week, we had former President Bill Clinton here. We had Vice President Joe Biden as well.

And they were not only campaigning for Hillary Clinton because it's still somewhat of a close race in the state. If you average all of our polls, it's probably a single digit lead for Clinton over Trump here in New Hampshire. But they are also reaching out and campaigning for the down ballot candidates, especially Maggie Hassan but also our -- we have a wide open race for Governor so they're campaigning for Governor as well and Congress. So you're seeing these surrogates come in here and campaign for down ballot races.

[18:40:00] HARLOW: Let's talk a little bit about Florida because, you know, you've got the same dynamic going on in Florida with a little bit different numbers. You've got Senator Marco Rubio and his reelection battle. President Obama, this week, went down to Florida, and he called out Rubio for supporting Trump. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Marco Rubio said this was a dangerous con artist who spent a lifetime, spent a career, sticking it to working people. Now, that begs the question since we're in Florida, why does Marco Rubio still plan to vote for Donald Trump? And there are a lot of politicians like Marco Rubio who know better, but they just look the other way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: This, Paul, as a new Quinnipiac Poll shows Rubio in a statistical dead heat with his challenger Patrick Murphy. You got Rubio at 49, Murphy at 47. Do you think that Rubio will stick with Trump, you know, for the next 16 days or possibly pull away from him in an effort to save his own Senate seat?

STEINHAUSER: He may have to pull away because, you know, Donald Trump is doing no favors to people like Marco Rubio. We remember those Republican primary presidential debates when Rubio trashed Trump, and now he's still supporting him and he's getting crucified by Democrats for doing that.

It's the same story up here in New Hampshire where Ayotte, she danced this delicate dance, Poppy. She said she would vote for Trump, but she kept her distance and said she would never support him. She finally broke with Trump two weekends ago after, of course, the audio recordings --

HARLOW: Right.

STEINHAUSER: -- of Trump's lewd conversation. But she's still getting blasted by Democrats for her previous support. So Trump is really pulling down a lot of these Republican Senate candidates in Florida and here in New Hampshire.

HARLOW: I mean, we'll see what happens. It would be stunning, though, if he -- I mean, he obviously defeated Rubio in the primary there in Florida and if Rubio loses this election potentially because of his tie and being, you know, loyal to Trump. You know, it will be stunning. We'll see if that what's happens.

Paul Steinhauser, thank you.

Coming up next, we're going to switch gears and talk about one of the biggest media mergers in history. $85 billion tie-up between AT&T and Time Warner, the parent company of CNN. What does it mean for you, the consumer? Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:45:17] HARLOW: It is one of the biggest media mergers in history. AT&T and Time Warner, the parent company of CNN, tying up in a media deal valued at $85 billion. It broke last night on this show as you saw. "CNN MONEY'S" Cristina Alesci is back with me now to talk about more of what it means for you, the consumer.

When we do talk about what it means for the consumer, I thought it was, Jeff Bewkes, obviously our boss, the head of Time Warner, came out with this statement to, you know, everyone and, you know, the headline here is it's not about -- it's not a cost saving move. This is a consumer driven move. What does it mean for all of us?

CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, it's not like I know the consumers -- consumers broadly will wonder, will my bill go up? Does this mean that my bill goes up? And the bottom line is, no, it shouldn't unless you add more data or features, right?

According to the executives, this is a move to respond to consumer demand for more video on your phones, right? So, hypothetically, we'll have more video on your phones. Also, Poppy, the suggestion here is that there will be mobile bundles of content that maybe are more customizable than what you would get, let's say, with a traditional television package, right?

The main complaint from millenials has been, we don't watch all these channels. We don't want all these channels. So maybe, on the mobile bundle, you'll have a little bit more optionality to customize and buy the content you want and not the content you don't want.

HARLOW: I mean, that would make sense, right?

ALESCI: So you would think that that maybe --

HARLOW: That would make sense.

ALESCI: -- is consumer friendly.

HARLOW: And Randall Stephenson, right, the CEO of AOL came out and said something akin to --

ALESCI: AT&T, yes.

HARLOW: What did I just say?

ALESCI: AOL, that's all right. It's so long --

HARLOW: It was a long time ago.

ALESCI: We've been here for a long night, yes.

HARLOW: AT&T. And said, basically, the future of mobile is video and the future of video is mobile. So walk us through why this makes sense for AT&T, not AOL.

ALESCI: Well, for AT&T, look, it's got to grow its customer base, right? And anything it can do to distinguish itself from its competitors will help it do that.

HARLOW: Right.

ALESCI: So if you look at Verizon, one of its chief competitors, they are going to buy digital content, right? So AT&T can say, hey, not only do we have some digital content but we also have this premium content. We have Warner Brothers content, we have CNN, we have all of this other stuff. So the more that it can differentiate itself, the better for AT&T.

That said, AT&T can't make the content exclusive to its own platforms --

HARLOW: Right.

ALESCI: -- because that would be anti-consumer friendly.

HARLOW: And, now, it does have a year-long, at least a yearlong, negotiation process and sort of vetting process from Federal regulators, from the Department of Justice, from FCC. I mean, what are you hearing from your experts in field, if it's going to make it through, if it's going to pass muster?

ALESCI: It's bad timing because we're in a political environment.

HARLOW: Yes.

ALESCI: And everybody's politicizing this, right? I think Bernie Sanders came out today and said, "The administration should kill the Time Warner/AT&T merger. The deal would mean higher prices and fewer choices for the American people." So you have Bernie Sanders out there saying I'm the defender of the people. This is a bad move for the consumer. Trump is saying the same thing.

But at the end of the day, reason the company executives believe will win out and at the end of the day, these two companies have very different businesses. One is a content business, the other is a distribution business.

HARLOW: Yes. ALESCI: So there isn't the traditional overlap that would make

regulators very concerned. That is the logic and they will apply that logic to hopefully win, from their standpoint, approval.

HARLOW: We'll watch. Thank you, Cristina. We appreciate it.

ALESCI: Of course.

HARLOW: Full coverage, obviously, on CNNMoney.com if you want to look there. All right.

Oh, how times have changed for journalists covering presidential elections. Forty years ago, nearly almost all the reporters on the campaign trail were guys, men. Not anymore as you know from watching CNN. Women, a lot of them, covering the 2016 race with expertise and a whole lot of skill.

Up next, our National Political Reporter Maeve Reston talks to us about what it's like to a girl on the bus.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:52:53] HARLOW: Back in 1972, the book -- you may have read it -- "The Boys on the Bus," introduced us to the mostly male journalists on the campaign trail. Four decades later, the faces have changed and that's a new CNN series, "GIRLS ON THE BUS." Here is our National Political Reporter Maeve Reston.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAEVE RESTON, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER: I've never wanted to be anything other than a journalist. This is my fourth presidential campaign, so I'm as bristled, better and -- at this point.

As women in this profession, you're so used to working crazy hours, juggling so many different things, that I thought motherhood would just be -- it would be easy. And it's not easy.

This campaign was kind of different for me because it's so hard to shut out the campaign once it is going on. And even in the early stages of 2016, there was just something happening every minute, especially with Donald Trump driving the news cycle.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ten seconds.

RESTON: I had to really discipline myself and learn how to shut it off and set it aside because for the first time, I had a baby --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RESTON: Bye, Jess.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RESTON: -- who was just a couple of months old when I started covering the campaign. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RESTON: Quack, quack, quack.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RESTON: I definitely had to learn a lot of discipline by taking care of Lila and trying to be present with her in the moment and not get distracted by every little thing that happens on the campaign trail.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RESTON: What's that? Oh, look at that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RESTON: Figuring out that balance is really tricky. In 2004, when I was covering the campaign, I remember being on the bus and listening to this mom call home, having this conversation with her kid about gymnastics, and what she had eaten for dinner and all that. And it kind of blew my mind in the moment. I was thinking, oh, that's just so hard. It must be so hard to be away.

Campaigns are really tough because they are so all-consuming. Being on the plane, filing the six paragraph blog item literally as the plane's taking off, but I think one of the most important things in covering a campaign is to get outside the bubble.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[18:55:04] RESTON: You guys just have a second to talk about why you're here. We're just doing like a --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go ahead.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nope, I'm going to let you talk this time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RESTON: -- going into a state and sinking in and talking to people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RESTON: OK. You're good to go. OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Gosh, so close.

RESTON: Where are you guys from?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RESTON: Spending lots of time in parking lots talking to voters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RESTON: Have you made up your mind on who you are supporting? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely.

RESTON: What is the biggest issue for you right now? What do you like about Hillary Clinton?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She has a lot of strength in her heart.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RESTON: This year, when it' a crazy campaign and there is a lot of travel and you have a new baby, you kind of end up feeling like you're doing everything badly. I think that was the hardest thing for me, was I didn't realize that you would have this gut punch every time you take off on the plane.

There are times when I say to myself, why am I doing this? I just want to be home with my daughter but I love my job, so there is this crazy tension between those two things. And I think so many mothers feel that and aren't sure what the right decision is.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: We certainly do. You can check out the full web series, "GIRLS ON THE BUS." Just go to CNN.com.

Coming up, President Obama expected to take the stage at a campaign rally in Las Vegas, Nevada. Next hour, you will hear from the President live. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)