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Trump Campaigns in Florida Battleground; Beyonce, Jay-Z Push Young Voters to Support Clinton; Biden Holds Event to Push Voter Turnout in Pennsylvania; Economy Still Number One Issue in Election 2016; Polls: Clinton Holding On To Lead In North Carolina; Clinton And Trump Battle For Key Swing States; DHS Officials Worried, But Prepared For Cyberattacks. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired November 05, 2016 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:03] FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Hello, everyone. And welcome to gorgeous, sunny, the nation's capital. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. We're live from Washington, D.C. Just three days, can you believe it? Just three days away until Election Day and both campaigns are pulling out all the stops to get into that building you just saw. Swarming battleground states in a last-ditch effort to fire up supporters and get them to the polls.

Donald Trump starting his day in Tampa, Florida, where he made this pledge to supporters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In three days we are going to win the great state of Florida and we are going to win back the White House.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. That's just one of four stops he's making today as he as his surrogates crisscross the country. The Democrats are just as busy. Hillary Clinton and her top surrogates are on the ground in several battleground states including a big rally with pop star Katy Perry in Philadelphia.

So this as the map shifts slightly in Donald Trump's favor as Utah and Ohio move from battleground to Republican. And Hillary Clinton now just below that magic number of 270 electoral votes.

Our team political reporters and commentators fanned out across the country covering every aspect of this campaign. We'll hear from them throughout the hour.

All right. Let's begin our team coverage in Florida. CNN's Jason Carroll is in Tampa for us where Donald Trump is holding the first of four rallies in battleground states today.

So, Jason, polls show Florida is a very tight race. How does the Trump campaign plan to secure this must-win state?

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Trump campaign feeling good. Donald Trump this weekend fired up the crowd here in Tampa. They really feels as though the momentum is going in their favor. He's basically been staying on message. At one point bringing a baby up on the stage and having a good time with the baby, calling him one of his earliest Trump supporters. So it seems like he's having a good time here in this state.

Again, they feel as though the momentum is in their favor. The candidate doing what he can to stay on message, talking about common themes that we've heard before, Fredricka. Repealing and replacing Obamacare, talking about Hillary Clinton's stamina to be president, talking about the e-mails, the Clinton Foundation. These are some of the themes that we've heard repeatedly throughout the campaign, the themes that resonate with his -- with his supporters, with his base, if you will.

At one point he did go off topic just a little bit. We saw him do this yesterday. He did it again today, criticizing Hillary Clinton for getting celebrity support from the likes of Jay-Z.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: And we don't need Jay-Z to fill up arenas, you know. We do it the old fashion way. We do it the old fashion way, folks. We fill them up because you love what we're saying and you want to make America great again. That's about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: Fredricka, so much talk about battleground states. Donald Trump here today promising to go to traditionally blue-leaning states, states like Minnesota, telling the crowd that he is going to go to Minnesota even though that's not on his official schedule but plan for him to head for Minnesota as well -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Jason Carroll.

So Hillary Clinton meanwhile is trying to strengthen her lead by getting help from the biggest of celebrities.

All right. Beyonce and Jay-Z headlining a free concert for Clinton in Cleveland last night. And you notice the dancers there wearing pantsuits. Well, Clinton took the stage with some of Jay-Z lyrics.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And remember Jay memorably said something we should all recall, Rosa Parks said so Martin Luther could walk and Martin Luther walked so Barack Obama could run and Barack Obama ran so all the children could fly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, Clinton is certainly hoping these big names translate into votes, especially in key battleground states like Florida among millennials in particular.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny is just north of Miami where Clinton will hold a rally soon. And he's joining us right now by phone.

All right, so, Jeff, no big events, endorsements like last night hopefully for these candidates are translating into a lot of support.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Fredricka. Hillary Clinton arrived in Miami early this morning after flying from Cleveland in that concert you just saw there with Beyonce and Jay-Z and others in Cleveland. Obviously important of all battlegrounds.

But Florida is equally important as well. Perhaps more important. These 29 electoral votes in Florida are key to the Clinton campaign's effort to block Trump's path at presidency.

[11:05:06] It's why she is back today in Broward County, Florida, as you said just north of Miami. We are waiting to get into this rally here today. She is trying to fire up these, you know, voters who have not yet voted.

But I can tell you, Fredricka, 5.3 million Floridians have already voted. Some 60 percent of the electorate already in. She is here today to try and get out more of those votes. There are about a million Democratic ballots that have not yet been sent in or dropped off at an early voting site. That's one of her missions today.

But she's also still has those sounds of Beyonce certainly ringing in the campaign's ear. Let's take a listen to Beyonce's message last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEYONCE, SINGER AND CLINTON SUPPORTER: There was a time when a woman's opinion did not matter. If you were black, white, Mexican, Asian, Muslim, educated, poor, or rich, if you were a woman, it did not matter.

Less than 100 years ago women d not have the right to vote. Look how far we've come from having no voice to being on the brink of making history again by electing the first woman president. Yes. But we have to vote.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So certainly the point of this, Fredricka, is to, you know, add a little bit more enthusiasm to a campaign that has lacked enthusiasm in some respects trying to get out the vote. No coincidence that the concert last night in Cleveland next to an early voting center as well. People stood in line for hours of course. The Clinton campaign hopes they heard some free music but more importantly voted before or will this weekend before that -- these three days finally wrap up on Tuesday -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Jeff Zeleny, thank you so much. We'll check back with you.

All right, so let's talk more about all of this. I'm joined now by Lynn Sweet, Washington bureau chief of the "Chicago Sun-Times," CNN political commentator and assistant editor at the "Washington Post," David Swerdlick, and CNN political reporter Maeve Reston.

All right, So, Maeve, it has been an aggressive push.

MAEVE RESTON, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER: It has.

WHITFIELD: In particularly these battleground states. When you have big names rolling out like that for the support of Hillary Clinton. Is it her feeling that this is what it's going to take, especially to get some rather apathetic millennials engaged?

RESTON: Yes. I mean, that clearly have been the biggest concern for the campaign for quite some time now. And there was a lot of concern, you know, earlier in the week that African-American turnout, for example, was down so they have been making a huge push to get those millennials out there, Beyonce, Jay-Z last night, you know, Clinton hitting these -- hitting these spots where they really need to drive the turnout.

And it's been interesting because in some ways perhaps the news earlier this week that turnout was a little bit down does seem to have galvanized voters to some extent. We're seeing record turnout among Latinos in a lot of states. The Clinton campaign is very bullish about Nevada, for example, because so many young Latinos got out to vote early. So I think they're feeling pretty good, a little bit nervous, but like things are working for them.

WHITFIELD: So, David, it appears that this last-minute strategy particularly for Donald Trump campaign has been to try to change the minds of anyone out there who is undecided or at least secure with this blitz of the country. Effective strategy thus far?

DAVID SWERDLICK, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think it's remains to be seen but I think that's what they have to do. Look, this has always been sort of a turnout election where Clinton's challenge as Maeve said was hold on to the Obama coalition. Millennial voters, younger voters, voters of color, voters in the suburbs that are -- have college education, whereas Trump's challenge was to expand the map.

Mitt Romney got 206 electoral votes and he needs 270. So you've got to go all around the country looking for them. They're fighting for Florida, which has 29. They're fighting for these big states. But then also, yes, why not try and nip, you know, around the edges with these smaller states like Nevada that only has six electoral college votes but could make a difference in a very close election.

WHITFIELD: So, Lynn, is this how the Clinton campaign wanted to spend these last three days before the election talking about what you don't want as opposed to this is what I could bring and this is what you do want?

LYNN SWEET, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, CHICAGO SUN-TIMES: Well, let me divide your question. I think no matter what she would have ended up as Trump in the battleground states. That's just where this election is being fought. But then you say, what's the message? Yes, she would have liked to have kind of the more joyful upbeat closing argument, more aspirational to get people to the polls. But I don't think you're working really on persuadables now. You're working on people who you do have in your camp, who haven't early voted, who you've got to get to vote on Tuesday. And all that is only taking place really in the battlegrounds in America.

[11:10:07] RESTON: And they have -- you know, the problem with the Dems' enthusiasm after the FBI Comey announcement, and clearly they are working to shore up their voters because of that and I think that's why, you know, the final ads that we're seeing are very, very hard-hitting on Donald Trump and certainly that's not where the Clinton campaign hope to be they think that's going to be most effective in driving out women voters, for example, you know, to vote against Donald Trump.

WHITFIELD: And then, Maeve, here we are, we're talking about what's leading up to the election, and you've got "The Washington Post" talking about the mindset of many post-election, particularly if it is a Hillary Clinton win of a piece talking about Republicans now vowing total war, the consequences would be immense, the writer Paul Waldman saying this, quote, "So now they are making it very clear that from literally the day Hillary Clinton is inaugurated they will wage total war on her. There will be no rule or norm or standard of decency. They won't flout if it gets them a step closer to destroying her, no matter what the collateral damage."

Is this fear in a different way on the campaign trail?

RESTON: It is. But I think that -- you know, I think that we have to wait and see what happens on Tuesday. You know, what -- potentially what the margin of the win is. I mean, I think that there -- Democrats do feel that they're under a sustained attack. You know, everything from the institutions of government, the FBI, to, you know, potentially keeping the Supreme Court tied into the near future. But I -- you know, I think that a lot of that could potentially change once we figure out what happens Tuesday.

SWEET: And here's a point when you ask like what's different because of the FBI and the ending?

WHITFIELD: Yes.

SWEET: One of the things that Hillary Clinton camp wanted was a mandate, a commanding mandate, so, one, you get rid of the talk that the election was rigged and that maybe somebody won only because of a finagling. You wanted a commanding win in order to try and tell Congress let's not have this polarized atmosphere.

WHITFIELD: But now as a result in large part of the FBI letter and --

SWEET: Yes, to maybe make the Senate Democratic, which is still a potential out there.

WHITFIELD: Yes. SWEET: Because you have some viability of getting those four pick-up

seats. And that's some of the difference. Now instead of just saying I got to get out there and get 270 electoral votes to become president.

SWERDLICK: Right.

RESTON: Right.

SWERDLICK: I think you're right, Lynn, that if Clinton were to win with a mandate that would allow her to assert some control, especially if Democrats gain control of the Senate. I don't think the House is realistic for them at that point. But to a certain degree maybe in terms of Paul Waldman's article, my "Washington Post" colleague, I think that the fact that Republicans have been so explicit about this is maybe a little bit of surprise but I don't think it should be a surprise to anyone.

WHITFIELD: Right.

SWERDLICK: The Obama era was marked with government shutdowns, threats of government shutdowns, and this was not some positive healing election that was somehow going to bring people together. Clinton may win but people aren't feeling like sort of uplifted by anything.

WHITFIELD: So if there's a way to classify this election, if that was the healing election, this one would be what?

SWERDLICK: I'm not even saying that the Obama election in 2008 was the healing election but this one certainly was not.

RESTON: Was the election of division and two of the most polarizing candidates we've ever had.

SWERDLICK: Yes. Right.

RESTON: I mean, I think, you know, that the bigger question for all of us is whether there really is going to be, you know, any kind of mandate for governance after this election, particularly if it comes down to the wire and is as close as it is, as it looks right now.

SWEET: Right. So we've had -- going into this with gridlock. We're going into this with acrimony, we're going into this with a Congress that hasn't functioned, we're going into this with a Senate that won't deal with the Supreme Court nominee. And if you're asking us to predict, will any of this change after Tuesday? I don't see it.

WHITFIELD: So that's certainly not promoting a feeling of, you know, relief after all of this excitement leading up to -- people are saying I can't wait until Election Day and now it's going to be the trepidation, the worry post-election?

SWERDLICK: No, because, I mean, even if Clinton, as you say, have a fairly nice margin in terms of the electoral college, in the popular vote this is still going to be a fairly close election. You're going to have 50, 55, maybe even 60 million people vote for Donald Trump and if he does not win, or similarly you'll have 60 million people vote for Clinton, whichever side doesn't win their supporters are going to be disappointed.

If there's a silver lining for Clinton if she's in the White House is that she was in the Senate longer than Barack Obama. She knows how to work the levers of Congress in a way that maybe he didn't. And so there may be an -- and she didn't promise that much in this election.

SWEET: Right.

SWERDLICK: She promised some very manageable --

WHITFIELD: Which at first was a mistake.

SWERDLICK: Yes.

WHITFIELD: At least that was, you know, the criticism and now?

SWERDLICK: Right. But now that --

(CROSSTALK)

SWERDLICK: Could help her out. Yes.

WHITFIELD: All right. Stick around. We're going to talk --

RESTON: The level of disgust among the American people, you'd think that there would be pressure to actually work together, do something at the end of all this.

WHITFIELD: Hold it right there, Maeve, David, Lynn. We're going to be right back. We've got much more to talk about with our magnificent panel here in this glorious backdrop. Is that not killer? The nation's capital.

All right, still ahead, taxes, jobs, health care, the economy, still number one.

[11:15:05] It's the issue among voters that is in large part dictating which way they go. So which candidate is better for American's wallet? We'll debate that straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield in the nation's capital. Just three days now before Election Day and President Obama has been hitting the trail hard for Hillary Clinton in this final sprint of the presidential race with just three days away. Listen to what he told Bill Maher on what could be making him nervous.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The stakes are high. I know we're -- you know, we're getting the --

BILL MAHER, HOST, "REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER": We're getting the --

OBAMA: We're getting the gong, but the -- but I will say this, the choice in this election should be really clear.

MAHER: It's so clear.

OBAMA: And anybody who's watching your show and was a supporter of mine, was a supporter of Bernie's, you know, is a progressive generally, this idea that somehow, well, you know, both of them have problems and nothing will change either --

MAHER: Yes. Ridiculous.

OBAMA: Listen, I have worked with Hillary Clinton. I know her. And she is somebody who cares about these issues. She does her homework. She cares deeply about ordinary folks. Her policies are aligned with yours and mine.

[11:20:07] And, yes, she is somebody who believes in compromise and that you don't get 100 percent of what you want. But you know what? That's the way this democracy works.

MAHER: Yes.

OBAMA: Anybody sitting on the sidelines right now or deciding to engage in a protest vote, that's a vote for Trump. And that would be damaging for and it would be damaging for the world. So --

MAHER: Yes.

OBAMA: No complacency this time.

MAHER: So get out there.

OBAMA: Get out there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. In just a few minutes, Vice President Joe Biden will be holding an event near Pittsburgh. And it's part of the get-out-the-vote effort to drive voters to the polls. He will be there in full force. That's where we find CNN's Miguel Marquez. He's joining us live now.

So, Miguel, Clinton edging Trump out by just four points in Pennsylvania. What are you hearing from voters there?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Voters are ready to get to the polls on Tuesday and ready for this election to be over, to be sure, on both sides, although certainly both sides want their candidate to win.

Enormous efforts here in South Allegheny County, south of Pittsburgh. The vice president of the United States will be here at Union Steelworkers 227 in West Mifflin, this is way south of the city. This is the area they want to be competitive in. It is in Allegheny County, Philadelphia, and the suburbs. If you add those up, you're talking about 50 percent of the voters in the entire state in just those counties alone. For an example, President Obama won only 12 counties in Pennsylvania in 2012 and he took the state by about five points. He lost 55 counties of the 67 here, only one, 12 he was able to win. So Allegheny absolutely critical to the effort here.

WHITFIELD: Sorry about that. We lost that signal. We'll try to get back to him there in Pennsylvania. Vice President Biden making his way to that stop soon.

All right, Miguel Marquez, thanks so much.

All right. Up next, it's the number one issue for voters. We're talking about the economy and the strategy that each candidate is touting to boost growth. Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:25:07] WHITFIELD: Welcome back to beautiful Washington, D.C. We now have the last monthly employment report before the presidential election. 161,000 jobs were added in October. Slightly below Wall Street estimates. The unemployment rate ticking down again to 4.9 percent.

Let's talk about the impact of jobs and the economy on Tuesday's vote. Lynn Sweet is the Washington bureau chief for the "Chicago Sun-Times." Back with me, David Swerdlick is a CNN political commentator and the assistant editor of the "Washington Post" and also with us the CNN Money correspondent Cristina Alesci.

All right, good to see all of you back again.

All right, so, Lynn, Hillary Clinton has been riding the coattails of Barack Obama particularly in the economy. How has this best served her?

SWEET: Well, it servers her because it shows that there's growth in the economy. It is a rebuttal, a powerful rebuttal to Donald Trump's argument that the economy is stagnant or losing. And by the way, these are numbers that in 2012 Barack Obama would have loved to have had in his battle against Mitt Romney. Back then every first of the month we were looking for numbers just to be eight or below. So this is very good news for Hillary Clinton.

Who knows if there's really time for this to be absorbed into the electorate because as we've been talking about, voting has been going on for days right now. And you want to bake this into a conversation but some people have already finished. But it's still --

CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT: Although people don't feel like they have a chance to get a job, like their wages aren't --

SWEET: Exactly the point.

SWERDLICK: Right. SWEET: That is out there. If I could just quickly finish my thought.

And so while it's good on the macro, if you're appealing to individual voters right now, especially those people that think they still need more information to cast their vote, all they care about is themselves, their family and their friends. Right?

WHITFIELD: But, David, you know, Donald Trump has ascended in large part criticizing the economy. So that when you have numbers 4.9 percent from 5 percent, does that mean his criticism is empty?

SWERDLICK: No, the criticism is not empty. As we're saying, right, if you're one of the particularly blue-collar workers who may be worked in a manufacturing sector, was making solid, you know, $30, $35, $40 an hour, to have a middle class lifestyle without a college education in years past, you are hurting right now in a lot of places in the country, particularly in the rust belt.

If you're looking more at the unemployment number overall, if you're looking at the stock market, which is 18,000 at the beginning of 2009, it was down at -- like something like 7, it's gone up tremendously in President Obama's term, unemployment has gone way down. But that doesn't tell the whole story.

WHITFIELD: So, Christina, how does Donald Trump try to fill in the blanks and say here's the whole story?

ALESCI: It's not the disaster that Donald Trump says it is. Right? This is a strong jobs report. 161,000 jobs. Strong number. But it is not a sign that the economy is taking off as Hillary Clinton would like most voters to believe. Right? Because there is a deceleration this year versus last year and job growth. And there are still too many underemployed people in this country. And that is what is concerning economists and that's what's causing these feelings of anxiety.

On the bright side you did have one indicator that was lagging for a long time since the financial crisis, which is wage growth. That was the fastest growth that we've seen since the financial crisis. That means that more people are getting jobs and perhaps employers have to pay people more because there is less unemployment out there. So definitely a positive on that front.

WHITFIELD: But isn't the Obama administration as well as Clinton trying to remind people that we're talking about in comparison to 2008. That's a comparison that when you talk about improvements, it's from that level.

SWEET: But that actually in political years is a long time and if you're talking about getting out the millennial vote, it's probably it's just a --

[11:30:03] ALESCI: They have no reference to that.

SWEET: That's why it's a hard one And I think in the very end, people, if they're truly undecided, and my dear colleagues here, I don't know what facts are still out there that people need who are undecided that they don't know, but if you sometimes in the end you vote then in your self-interest, which goes to the point, do you think there's an argument out there that either of them are making to help you and that could help you decide.

SWERDLICK: That's the problem. Wage growth is up. Stock market is up. Unemployment is down, and even though it's sort of small, there is GDP growth. The problem for Clinton has always been trying to say to people this is good news and not everybody sees all of that as good news if they're not feeling the benefit of it.

SWEET: Right. If you don't have a job, if your neighbors don't, if you're feeling the burden. It's hard to tell people we're still in an era of historically low mortgage interest rates. These are good things for the economy. But if you can't even get money for a down payment, what good is it?

WHITFIELD: These are the closing arguments these candidates have to make in now three days, Cristina, how does Donald Trump use this to his favor, how does Hillary Clinton distinctively use it to her favor?

ALESCI: I don't think anything is going to change from a policy discussion, right? All of the candidates are making the case that their policies are going to generate growth. Trump wants to do it by cutting, getting rid of government waste.

Hillary Clinton wants to do it by social programs and other things that will alleviate some of these very major problems like the cost of college tuition going up, which appeals to millennials, child care costs going up, which also appeals to young voters.

And at the end of the day what's really important here is how are these candidates going to impact your wallet, right?

WHITFIELD: Have either of these candidate, David, made a good sound argument on any of those issues of taxes, day care, college costs, that concretely are being received by these voters come Tuesday?

SWERDLICK: They've both made good arguments. The problem is in Trump's case he's saying tax cuts are going to stimulate the economy, but at the same time, he's actually promised to increase the social safety net. Not something that Republicans normally do.

ALESCI: Yes.

SWERDLICK: And then secretary Clinton's side, she has promised and gone along with the Bernie Sanders line of increasing the minimum wage, which is popular and people want that and that maybe simulative, but that's kind of thing is she going to be able to get that through a Republican Congress?

SWEET: Only Hillary Clinton and the Democrats are really talking about things to do to help students pay for college. You don't hear that in the Trump stump speech at all.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks to all of you. Appreciate it. Thank you so much. We got much more straight ahead. Up next, North Carolina by the numbers, it's a state that has emerge as a must win for Donald Trump and his path to 270. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:35:50]

WHITFIELD: Welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield in Washington, D.C. So Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, they're crisscrossing battleground America in these final three days of the election. Our reporters are scattered across the country.

CNN's Martin Savidge is in the all-important state of Ohio and CNN's Gary Tuchman is in Charlotte, North Carolina, a state that has become a must win for Donald Trump. So Gary, let's go to you first. What's happening there?

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, good morning to you. The number of the moment here at this early voting polls place is 610, 610 being the number of people I just counted in line to vote. There are 11 voting machines inside this library in Charlotte, North Carolina, doing some math.

Some of these people could be waiting up to five hours to vote. But it shows you the enthusiasm, awareness of this election that so many people want to be here. How long have you've been waiting in line right now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: About two hours.

TUCHMAN: A little over two hours. OK, but this is the middle of the line. It gives you an idea. The line has gotten longer since we've been here. This early voting polling place open from 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time to 1:00 p.m., but if you're in the line by 1:00 p.m., you can still vote.

If there's a four or five-hour wait, it could be open until 6:00 tonight for people here in North Carolina. This is incredibly an important state. It's very close to the polls right now. The math is not kind to Donald Trump. If he doesn't win here in the state of North Carolina.

Hillary Clinton doesn't need to win here that's why she's working so hard to try to win because if North Carolina is projected to go her way after the polls close, it could be over for Donald Trump.

So President Obama has been coming to North Carolina to campaign for Hillary Clinton, to try to get out the Democratic voters. This state more than 21 percent of the people live in North Carolina are African- Americans, traditional part of the Democratic base.

And President Obama has been working hard to try to get out African- Americans and the rest of the Democratic base. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TUCHMAN (voice-over): The lines are long for this Hillary Clinton rally, except Clinton isn't actually here.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Hello, Charlotte!

TUCHMAN: Instead, it's her surrogate-in-chief, the nation's first African-American president.

(on camera): Are you here more to see Barack Obama or more to show your support for Hillary Clinton, which one?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: More for Barack Obama.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): It's not a big surprise many people say that.

(on camera): Are you here more to see Barack Obama or to support Hillary Clinton?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I say Barack Obama.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): Seeing a president in person is often a once in a lifetime opportunity. But with early voting polling numbers showing African-American votes down in several swing states compared to four years ago, the Clinton team is battling an enthusiasm gap within the African-American community.

(on camera): Are you as enthusiastic for Hillary Clinton as you were for Barack Obama, when he ran?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Honestly, I would -- no, I'm going to be honest.

TUCHMAN: Avery Miller voted for Barack Obama twice.

(on camera): Are you voting for her?

AVERY MILLER, UNDECIDED VOTER: I'm still undecided at this point.

TUCHMAN: Who might you vote for?

MILLER: I really don't know.

TUCHMAN: Donald Trump?

MILLER: No, definitely not, but I just --

TUCHMAN: Third party?

MILLER: Maybe.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): But his indecisiveness does not appear to be the norm here while many aren't as gung-ho for Clinton as they are for Obama.

(on camera): Are you as enthusiastic about Hillary Clinton as you were about voting for Barack Obama?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, not really. TUCHMAN (voice-over): Almost all of the African-American voters we talked to said they either already voted or will vote for Hillary Clinton and some voters --

(on camera): Are you here more to see Barack Obama or to support Hillary Clinton?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Support Hillary Clinton.

TUCHMAN: Are more enthusiastic about 2016 than they were in 2012 or 2008?

KENYA SMITH, CLINTON SUPPORTER: I'm very excited about female getting into office and I think she has a lot to offer our community and the nation.

KENNETH FRAZIER, CLINTON SUPPORTER: Well, his term is ending. So he had his spot in the limelight. I'm very pleased with his time in office and I'm here to support her.

TUCHMAN: Maxine Goodson came to this rally with her grown-up twin daughters, all eager to see the president. Does her enthusiasm for Obama carry over to Clinton?

(on camera): Are you as enthusiastic about casting your vote for Hillary Clinton Tuesday as you were for Barack Obama?

MAXINE GOODSON, CLINTON SUPPORTER: Absolutely. I work for her every day. Every day I go to the office or I give out literature or do something that's going to help her win. I want her to win.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TUCHMAN: Long wait but people here are very patient and the shout out to a local Domino's that just came by with pizzas giving slices to everybody, whether they're a Democrat or Republican or independent. Fred, back to you.

[11:40:05]WHITFIELD: All right. Some dedicated voters there. Thank you so much, Gary Tuchman, there in Charlotte.

All right, now to Martin Savidge in Cleveland, Ohio. This is a state that has been decided by less than five points in every election going back to the 1990s. So what are voters telling you today, Martin?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Fred. Well, the polls open here around 8:00 this morning. Already people in line standing in the dark and in the cold. First couple of hours, they were voting at a rate of about 400 to 500 votes an hour. It's been very brisk.

They expect the numbers here today to be up for a couple reasons. Number one, last weekend of early voting and, number two, it was a big endorsement for Hillary Clinton, that coming from Jay-Z and Beyonce that held a free concert last night. It is designed to get out the vote and it's designed to get out voters in favor of Hillary Clinton. That kind of effort is going to continue tomorrow. Hillary Clinton was at that event last night. She's going to be back in town tomorrow.

This time the king is going to be here, Lebron James of the Cavaliers. The reason being, Hillary Clinton has to get a strong turnout of Democrats and in this county it's 30 percent African-American.

They need a strong turnout of the Obama coalition because that is the only way she's going to offset the vote she's not going to get, which are the farther south you go in the state of Ohio.

One of the key aspects of Donald Trump that has allowed him now to at least according to polling have a five-point lead is the fact that he has appealed to blue collar or former blue collar workers.

As a result of that you've got crossovers usually solid Democrats. Now moving over in his direction, it's the economy, it's the issue of trade, and right now it apparently has him in the lead -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Martin Savidge in Cleveland. Thank you so much. We'll check back with you. Appreciate it.

All right, North Carolina and Ohio are just two of the critical states in play. Up next, Colorado, Utah, and the other battleground regions that could shape Tuesday's results. We'll be right back.

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[11:45:36]

WHITFIELD: All right, live pictures we mentioned just three days away from Election Day and these candidates are campaigning hard. Hillary Clinton right there at an early voting site in West Miami, pressing the flesh there, getting one-on-one time with people who are potentially voting today. At least right there we can see, they want to take pictures. That's what's happening there. We're going to continue to watch.

All right, meantime, polls are showing a tightening presidential race and new battleground states are emerging now. Let's bring back our political panel to discuss.

Joining me again, Lynn Sweet from the "Chicago Sun Times" and David Swerdlick, assistant editor for the "Washington Post." All right, good to see you again.

Florida, always so important. Lynn, is it different this go around? Is it that much more important for these candidates to really get in their campaign and get those last-minute support votes?

SWEET: It's always important to achieve. It's even more important, but the Florida of 2016 is different than Florida of 2012 and 2008.

WHITFIELD: Why? What's going on? SWEET: You have shifting demographics. It is not homogeneous when you talk about the Hispanic vote in Florida. There is multiple, political factions, variations, ethnic alliances on it. So there's different voting blocs between the different parts of Florida, above and beyond that I-4 corridor where people go.

The senior vote, the Jewish vote, you've got the whole. You know, you've got the whole loaf, many love loaves and it's trickier for candidates and you have Marco Rubio in the Senate race who if we roll back time a little bit was one of the biggest critics of Donald Trump during the primary.

One who never got it out effectively, but did attack Donald Trump on some of the themes that Democrats would much later pick up on. From Trump University, from the business dealings, to just his treatment of small business vendors.

WHITFIELD: Real estate with his name on it, but then people don't necessarily -- there are some residents who are campaigning to try and get it off certain properties in Florida.

SWEET: Rubio never mounted the argument and now they're all -- challenge for Republicans in this crucial last weekend. We can't say it enough. A lot of people are ready in the camp, but if they haven't voted you've got to get them out to vote.

And so they have -- within Florida you have to get your Republican family together to get your voters out. Clinton has to just get out the votes, which they can identify. They're not trying to turn out votes for Trump. They have to get out the people they know who are there only they could get them to the polls.

WHITFIELD: Florida critical this go around, very different in part of what Lynn was talking about, but North Carolina is vitally important. Perhaps North Carolina could be what people saw in Florida back in 2000 in terms of it being a very important race going in to. No one knows what the outcome will be. Why is it that North Carolina has become a neck and neck race for Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton?

SWERDLICK: So North Carolina, my home state, I think it's the most fascinating state in this race right now. Ohio in my view, Fred, is sort of starting to slip away from the Clinton camp. Florida, I think there's some encouraging signs for Clinton. With 29 electoral votes that might be the key. North Carolina, a state that Obama won by a mere 14,000 votes in 2008 that he lost --

WHITFIELD: Michelle Obama likes to remind people a difference of two votes per precinct.

SWERDLICK: Right. In 2012, Mitt Romney won it. Now as you're saying, right, there's a different demographic shift. There are a lot of transplants, college educated white voters. The Latino population is growing. There is a motivated progressive movement in this state. Reverend Barber who is on CNN from time to time, that is driving people out. There are some numbers --

WHITFIELD: Donald Trump in Wilmington, North Carolina, today.

SWERDLICK: Latino votes at this time in 2012, 1.2 percent of votes cast with Latinos. This time right now, it's 1.8 percent of Latino votes already cast. It's not a huge increase, but it's an encouraging sign for Hillary Clinton.

WHITFIELD: Is there an overarching message that North Carolinians want to hear that Donald Trump could deliver on when he's in Wilmington, North Carolina today or that Hillary Clinton can press three days ahead of this race, Election Day.

You know, it is this intangible thing that you have to get out there to figure out what is it you really don't know this late in the game? And it could be that you just need to be motivated, that you really were kind of in a camp, you didn't want to confirm in some ways this negative campaigning that you are hearing in the end is trying to say, you might not like me, but I'm better than my rival.

[11:50:08]WHITFIELD: All right.

SWERDLICK: I was going to just say that the negative message against the other candidate has been the best message for both candidates.

SWEET: Because if you can't make the sale for yourself, say I might not be the best thing, but this person is totally unacceptable, which is why you are hearing Donald Trump say that more. Hillary Clinton has been on it.

WHITFIELD: All right, Lynn, David, we'll be back with much more on this. So much more live from the nation's capital after this.

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WHITFIELD: Welcome back. The Department of Homeland Security is very concerned about the possibility of a cyber-security incident on Election Day. But DHS officials say they are confident that no cyber breach would affect the outcome of an election. Our justice correspondent, Pamela Brown, has details.

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PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Heightened concerns over Russian-led efforts to undermine the U.S. election. U.S. officials warn that hackers could tamper with local data bases of voters' names and addresses to cause confusion at the polls.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't know what we don't know. There may be hacking tools and software in election systems around the country just waiting to be used on Election Day. It would be hard to detect.

BROWN: Already the Department of Homeland Security has uncovered signs hackers from Russia tried to penetrate state voter registration systems.

[11:55:07]Though, there's no indication they have been tampered with. DHS has been coordinating efforts with every state in the nation to prevent hack. Scanning computer systems to identify vulnerabilities.

DHS officials at the Cyber Command Center in Washington are also monitoring networks for denial of service attacks. Officials say such an attack on Election Day could take down websites voters use for news and information.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you shut down or disable or undermine the communications people are using to figure out where to vote and to actually deal with traffic and things like that, you could create massive delays and lines.

BROWN: U.S. officials say Russia has been waging an information operation for months with doubts about the votes including e-mail hacks of the Democratic National Committee. Widespread hacking in the voting machines in the nation's 9,000 jurisdictions would be a tough task since they are not connected to each other or the internet. But officials will be looking for trolling operation disseminating fake news of tampering and vote rigging.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's almost impossible to actually to hack this election, but it's certainly possible for someone to claim attack and hack and try to influence the public that way.

BROWN: Law enforcement also on heightened alert for potential terror attacks around Election Day. CNN has learned officials intercepted overseas chatter among al Qaeda adherence about targeting three states, Texas, Virginia and New York.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not specific. We are addressing the credibility of it. We are geared up to go all the time.

BROWN: Pamela Brown, CNN, Washington.

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WHITFIELD: All right, the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM begins right after a short break.

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