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Trump Tackles Battleground States; Clinton Team Goes on Attack Against Trump; Iraqi Troops Battle ISIS to Free Mosul; Turkey Detains Lawmaker for Pro-Kurdish HDP; Electoral Map Gives Edge to Clinton; U.S. Officials Concerned Over Election Day Hacks; Russian Media Watching U.S. Elections; China Weighs in on U.S. Elections; Thousands Call for South Korean President to Resign; Melania Stumps for Trump. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired November 05, 2016 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[05:00:09] JAY-Z, RAPPER AND CLINTON SUPPORTER: I would like to introduce to you the next president of the United States, Miss Hillary Clinton.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NATALIE ALLAN, CNN ANCHOR: The stars come out. As rapper Jay-Z and his wife superstar Beyonce show their support for the Democratic presidential candidate.
GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: In Iraq, people being used as human shields. A new report says that ISIS is forcing civilians, even children, to be on the front lines.
ALLEN: What they're saying, they're saying not intimidated. That's what these pro-British supporters are saying after 11 of their party members were detained by the government. We'll have a live report from Istanbul.
Welcome to our viewers here in the U.S. and around the world. We're live in Atlanta. I'm Natalie Allen.
HOWELL: And I'm George Howell. From CNN World Headquarters, NEWSROOM starts right now.
We are in the final weekend before the U.S. presidential election. Three days to go now.
ALLEN: Just three. Are we really down to just three? We are. The candidates and their surrogates are in the middle of a frantic push through battleground states. Getting all the attention this weekend. Hillary Clinton telling supporters Trump is unfit and bad for America. Trump says a Clinton presidency would be mired in investigations.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Imagine having a president who demeans women and mocks the disabled. Who insults African-Americans and Latinos and Muslims. Who personally engages in busting unions and preventing people from having the right to bargain collectively.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If she were to win, it would create an unprecedented constitutional crisis. This will go on for years, folks. If she ever got into the Oval Office, Hillary and her special interests would rob our country blind.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: A new FOX News poll shows Clinton with a two-point lead over Trump. It has tightened up, 45 percent to 43 percent. That is within the survey's margin of error.
HOWELL: All right. Also our CNN Poll of Polls, that includes that FOX News report, the poll that they have, and it shows Hillary Clinton ahead now by five points, 47 percent to 42 percent. Keep in mind, our electoral map has her slipping just below that magic number of 270 electoral college votes.
Also let's talk about what's happened in Cleveland, Ohio. Hillary Clinton called on her A-list supporters at a rally Friday night. Jay- Z and Beyonce headlined a concert to get the crowd there excited. Take a look.
ALLEN: In a nod to Clinton, Beyonce and her backup dancers wore pantsuits. You know, they usually wear tights. The ladies in blue also wore Clinton T-shirts. The candidate told the crowd she needs them to help crack the glass ceiling once and for all. Her celebrity endorsers agreed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY-Z: And I want to grow up in a world where my daughter has no limitations. Where our daughter has no limitations. She feels like she can be whatever she wants to be in the world. And this other guy, I don't have any ill will towards him, but his conversation is divisive and that's not a evolved soul to me. So he cannot be my president. He cannot be our president. Once you divide us, you weaken us. We're stronger together.
BEYONCE: I want my daughter to grow up seeing a woman lead our country.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
BEYONCE: And know that her possibilities are limitless. We have to think about the future of our daughters, our sons, and vote for someone who cares for them as much as we do. And that is why I'm with her.
CLINTON: I want to be a president who helps everybody fulfill their god given potential. And I can't do that unless on Tuesday we decide what kind of country we want to be. Will we reject a dark and divisive vision for our future and embrace a hopeful, inclusive, unifying America? (END VIDEO CLIP)
[05:05:01] HOWELL: Now in the meantime, Donald Trump had something to say about Hillary Clinton on stage with those celebrity fans. He told supporters at his rally in Pennsylvania he doesn't need special guests to fill a stadium. He says Trump being Trump is just fine.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I hear we set a new record for this building. And by the way, I didn't have to bring J-Lo or Jay-Z. The only way she gets anybody. I'm here all by myself. I am here all by myself. Just me. No guitar, no piano, no nothing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: Yes, in many ways, Trump doesn't need a backup. That was Trump.
Voters in battleground states know they will be key to this election. They are very popular this weekend. On Friday, one county in Nevada broke a single-day record for the number of early ballots being cast.
HOWELL: And here's why Nevada is so important. It has six electoral votes up that are up for grabs and every electoral vote could count very much in this election.
CNN's Sara Murray has more on Trump's strategy to get those votes.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 2016's toxic presidential contest, led by two deeply unpopular candidates, is coming to a close in fitting fashion.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hillary Clinton is under FBI investigation again after her e-mails were found on pervert Anthony Weiner's laptop.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How did Hillary end up filthy rich? Pay-to-play politics.
MURRAY: Donald Trump amplifying his latest barrage of negative ads on the campaign trail.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think she's unstable. She's trigger-happy.
MURRAY: Despite no new information from the FBI, Trump is still tearing into Hillary Clinton over her e-mail server, and insisting she'll eventually face criminal charges.
TRUMP: How can Hillary manage this country when she can't even manage her e-mails? Did you ever see -- hey, folks, let's forget all of the stuff. What a mess. All she had to do was follow the rules. Unbelievable. And now she's going to run the country. She'll be under investigation for years. MURRAY: All part of his final push to convince voters he's the fresh
face, and she's the face of corruption.
TRUMP: She's likely to be under investigation for a long time, concluding in a criminal trial. Our president. America deserves a government that can go to work on day one and get it done.
MURRAY: With the polls tightening, the GOP nominee is campaigning today in Ohio, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania, and aiming to drive up his election day vote in key battlegrounds.
TRUMP: We have so many great polls. But you have to get out and vote on November 8th.
MURRAY: Trump's sprint to the finish still taking shape, but the GOP nominee will campaign this weekend in six battleground states and is likely to wedge in more along the way. But stops in North Carolina and New Hampshire planned Monday. His campaign continuing to be a family affair. As Donald Trump Jr. hits the trail in Arizona and New Hampshire, while Eric Trump barnstorms Michigan.
MURRAY (on camera): Now even though the polls show Donald Trump trailing here in Pennsylvania, the margins have tightened. And this is a state you're going to see him come back to before Election Day because it's a state with no early voting. So it's a strategic move to come here and try to rev up his voters and convince them to turn out on November 8th which is exactly what we heard from him on Friday night.
Sara Murray, CNN, Hershey, Pennsylvania.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: Sara Murray, thank you.
Let's now bring in CNN's Politics reporter Eugene Scott live via Skype from Washington, D.C.
Eugene, always a pleasure to have you with us this hour. Let's talk about, first of all, where the race stands right now and a look at the map. The breakdown has changed a bit of the electoral college. It seems that states are now -- some of these important battleground states are moving toward Donald Trump.
EUGENE SCOTT, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Very much so. I think I'm paying a lot of attention to Nevada, North Carolina, and Florida. These are states with huge bases of Donald Trump supporters, but also significant urban areas. And we know that urban residents tend to vote left primarily because they are more diverse populations. And so we're seeing states become tossups that in previous elections were a little more easier to guess but we don't know what will happen yet, for sure.
HOWELL: Eugene, and also very important to point out, so Donald Trump would have to practically run the table here in order to even get close to that magic number of 270. It is a tall order. SCOTT: It is a tall order. We have Hillary Clinton still leading in
national polls as of now. And one of the states that Donald Trump is banking on, Pennsylvania, has not gone red since about 1988. So he really is climbing an uphill battle. He's certainly being aggressive in his campaigning in these final says. He'll spend tomorrow I believe or at least early part of the week before Election Day in North Carolina with the hope of bringing a win to the Republican Party like they saw in 2012.
[05:10:04] HOWELL: All right. Let's talk about the headliner for the Clinton campaign, what we saw in Cleveland, Ohio, Friday night on stage with Beyonce and Jay-Z. And their focus obviously to bring in millennial voters, but also to focus in on African-American voters. Their concern, Eugene, is that the turnout could be lower than what was seen in 2012 with the election of President Barack Obama.
SCOTT: And it's not a coincidence that that concert was in Ohio. There's a chance that Donald Trump could win Ohio. But Hillary Clinton is hoping that the Obama coalition, the women, the Hispanics, the blacks, the millennials come out and support her. And Beyonce and Jay-Z carry significant parts of those fan bases. And so hearing them on stage trying to convince their fans why they should be voters for Hillary Clinton was a move that the campaign hopes will turn out a win.
HOWELL: You know, any time you hold these big rallies, these big crowds in stadiums, there's always a chance that you will hear from people who support the other candidate. The U.S. president Barack Obama did that. He held a big rally. And there was one person who was there to support Donald Trump.
I want to play two things here. We can talk about it on the other side. But first, let's hear this exchange when the U.S. president basically identified -- talked about this other person supporting Donald Trump in that particular rally, then Donald Trump, we'll hear his response to what the president did. His criticism of how the president responded to a protester. Let's listen together.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now listen up. I'm serious. Listen up. You got an older gentleman who is supporting his candidate. He's not doing nothing. You don't have to worry about him.
This is what I mean about folks not being focused. First of all -- first of all, we -- hold up. Hold up. First of all, we live in a country that respects free speech. So second of all, it looks like maybe he might have served in our military and we ought to respect that. Third of all, he was elderly and we got to respect our elders. And fourth of all, don't boo. Vote.
TRUMP: You saw it today on television. Right? He was talking to the protester, screaming at him. Really screaming at him. By the way, if I spoke the way Obama spoke to that protester they would say he became unhinged. He became -- you have to go back and look. And study. And see what happened. They never moved the camera and he spent so much time screaming at this protester and frankly it was a disgrace.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: So, Eugene, just contrasting these two people on stage talking about protesters, just your thoughts there.
SCOTT: Well, in the clip that you just showed, President Barack Obama was not talking to the protester at all. He was talking to his base trying to get them to focus on the issues that matter most, not a distraction that is a protester who has the right to protest.
I've covered many Donald Trump rallies. Ha he does not respond to protesters or even his base the way that President Obama responded in that situation.
Ultimately both sides have to focus on the policy issues at this point and try to encourage their bases to come out and vote for them. That's what matters most at this point.
HOWELL: Election Day, three days away, Eugene. And here's the thing, there are so many external factors and forces that are making some Americans concerns about how this will play outcome November 8th. External factors like the threat of, you know, Russia somehow undermining the U.S. election, drawing a -- you know, creating seeds of uncertainty or doubt about the validity of it. The threat of terror, any terror, that's a constant threat from groups like al Qaeda or ISIS. The concern about fringe groups out at polling stations, and even white national groups out there.
How does all of this play out when it comes to Americans going to the polls to make that very critical decision?
SCOTT: Well, we've seen turnout among black voters in North Carolina decrease by about 5 percent so far, at least in early voting when compared to 2012. And some Democrats say that's perhaps because of voter suppression efforts in the state. He has a strong base there, Mr. Trump, as does Hillary Clinton. And the state has had a history, very recently of some really difficult voting rights laws and policies passed to suppress votes according to (INAUDIBLE). And so what will happen remains to be seen at this point.
[05:15:06] HOWELL: And there have been some rulings lately that have been favorable when it comes to voter suppression laws, favorable for Democrats. Obviously we'll see how all of this plays out come November 8th.
Eugene Scott, live in Washington. Thank you for being with us, Eugene, as always.
And for our viewers in the United States and around the world, you know the best place to watch election coverage, it is right here. CNN, Tuesday night. Got to be here with us. We'll have all of our correspondents, our anchors, reporters on the ground bringing you the very latest details as we tick down to the moment that the United States picks its next president.
ALLEN: It's really almost here. Hard to believe.
HOWELL: Three days.
ALLEN: Three days.
Well, coming up here, an Iraqi soldier says ISIS is putting up, quote, "crazy resistance" in Mosul and that's putting it lightly. We'll tell you what ISIS is doing to very young boys here coming up.
HOWELL: Plus, Turkey continues to crack down on dissidents following July's failed coup attempt. We'll tell you who the government is targeting as NEWSROOM continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ALLEN: Iraqi troops continue to drive ISIS out of neighborhoods in eastern Mosul. The Iraqi forces are inside the ISIS stronghold for the first time in two years. And the CNN team on the ground in Mosul's outskirts has heard the sounds of fighting, bombing, and artillery fire.
HOWELL: One Iraqi soldier says there has been, quote, "crazy resistance by ISIS." There are reports of rooftop snipers and militants firing from civilian areas.
ALLEN: CNN international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson is in Irbil, that's in northern Iraq for us.
HOWELL: And that's where we get the very latest about the drive into Mosul -- Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, George, what's happening yesterday, the government went into about six different neighborhoods on the eastern side of Mosul. These are the neighborhoods on the sort of eastern outskirts of the city. They're in the city, but they're right on the edge of the city.
Today the picture appears as if sort of in half of those neighborhoods the government is now sort of trying to consolidate the ground that it has taken. And in the other half of those districts, ISIS is still putting up a fierce fight. In one of those neighborhoods, yesterday, the army was quite literally forced to withdraw.
[05:20:03] They're still in a position that they -- in some of those neighborhoods, they're still sort of, if you will, struggling to keep the toeholds that they managed to get -- managed to get yesterday. ISIS claims a suicide bomber has targeted one Iraqi army position. But the Iraqi army also says that they managed to intercept two suicide bombers on motorcycle. Shooting one, the other one escaped.
So ISIS is putting up a very strong resistance to the south of Mosul Hammam al-Alil, a town just to the south of Mosul. The government forces, Iraqi forces are approaching that town trying to go into that. This is the town just over the past 24, 48 hours where reports where ISIS in there was forcing civilians to go to Mosul. They're also trying to take young boys, as young as 9 years old, trying to take them from their families and force them to go and fight on the front lines. So the government there pushing up from the south, but, you know, in the east of the city, we talk about them being in the neighborhoods of the city.
In the south, the government forces are still quite some distance from Mosul and this last significant town on the river, they're just beginning to try and penetrate that and push ISIS out of there this morning, George.
HOWELL: But again, children are being used on the front line here as human shields.
Nic Robertson live for us. Nic, thank you for the reporting. We wish you and our teams there continued safety. Thank you.
ALLEN: ISIS is claiming responsibility for a blast that killed nine people in the Turkish city of Diyarbakir on Friday. Turkey earlier blamed the attack on the Kurdistan Workers Party. State-run media report a car bomb targeted a police station killing seven civilians and two police officers. The bombing came hours after about a dozen lawmakers from a pro-Kurdish political party were detained by authorities. State-run media say members of the People's Democratic Party or HDP have been detained in a terror investigation.
For the latest on these developments in Turkey, we're joined now from Istanbul by our Will Ripley.
Will, what more can you tell us about this?
WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Certainly a complicated situation here, Natalie, because that claim of responsibility by ISIS, the first time we believe that ISIS has actually claimed responsibility for one of the many bombings that they are believed to be tied to here in Turkey. It's very rare because this is a recruiting ground for them. This is where they oftentimes recruit jihadists. And therefore they don't want bombings that kill other Muslims to deter them from getting people into the fold.
But the ISIS -- the ISIS founder put out a video message saying that Turkey is a new target. But here's the thing that makes it unusual. All of the characteristics of this bombing fit Kurdish militants. It was in southeastern Turkey, in a city that has been targeted before, Diyarbakir. It targeted a police station, not civilians. Nine people did end up dying and 100 were injured.
The Turkish government put out a statement saying that Turkish militant group, the PKK was responsible and the timing makes sense because this is just coming after a major crackdown against a political party believed to be tied to these Kurds. Many here in Istanbul say this is a sign of instability as a result of their heavy- handed government.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RIPLEY (voice-over): A dark night for democracy say many here in Turkey. Police forcing open the door of Figen Yuksekdag, co-chair of Turkey's People's Democratic Party, the HDP.
"You don't have the right to enter my apartment like this," she says. "Your prosecutors are thugs, so are you."
A shocking overnight roundup about a dozen HDP lawmakers detained, some now under arrest, including both party leaders.
The Turkish prime minister says the government is only following the law. If those who are elected involve themselves in terrorism, he says, they must pay the price.
The pro-Kurdish HDP is accused of being a front for the Kurdistan Workers Party or PKK, the militant group locked in decades of conflict with the government.
Outraged members of Turkey's third largest party deny terror ties saying they only want equal rights for millions of Kurds, shouting, "you can't intimidate us."
FILIZ KERESTECIOGLU, HDP LAWMAKER: This is happening because of Turk totalitarian. Totalitarian regime of Erdogan.
RIPLEY: In May, pro-Kurdish lawmakers lost immunity from prosecution. In July the failed military coup. Since then, Turkey remains in a state of emergency amplifying President Erdogan's power, diminishing the role of parliament.
GARO PAYLAN, HDP LAWMAKER: The city was a police state. Iraq was a police state and they have the civil war going for years. We have -- and everybody is suffering in Turkey.
[05:25:00] RIPLEY: Friday morning, a deadly car bombing in southeast Turkey, in the same mostly Kurdish city where just last weekend police detained two mayors and shut down 15 pro-Kurdish news outlets. They also detained the editor-in-chief and a team of journalists from opposition newspaper Cumhuriyet.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They've been oppressing all opposition newspapers, teachers that these people have lost their jobs and with no solid evidence relating them to any crime.
RIPLEY: Protesters accuse the Turkish government of using post-coup politics to purge political opposition, outrage is growing and so is fear of what could happen next.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RIPLEY: So you really see the simultaneous battles happening here. On one front, Turkey is fighting Kurdish militants. And by extension, they are also taking in Kurdish politicians which could create more unrest. There's a protest that could happen here in Istanbul later today. And then at the same time in the past 24 hours, the Turkish military claims they and the allied coalition launched strikes against 71 ISIS targets in northern Syria, killing 13 militants. They're fighting ISIS, they're fighting the Kurds, and caught in the crossfire of all of this are the Turkish people in fear really about what's going to happen next.
ALLEN: Yes. Well, actually, Will, are people there afraid their city could be targeted again?
RIPLEY: There is an unsettled feeling here. People were still out last night, enjoying their Friday evening, going out to dinner and whatnot. But everybody is keeping their eyes open, looking around. They remember the bombing in Sultanahmet Square. The other bombings in tourist areas that are tied to ISIS, that are targeting civilians.
People are fearful, at the same time wondering what action the -- what action the Kurdish militants might take as a result of this political crackdown that's ongoing. So definitely an unsettled feeling. The people here trying to move on with their lives being cognizant of their surroundings.
ALLEN: Well, thank you for explaining it. You're right, it's a complicated and unfortunate issue going on there -- issues I would say. Will Ripley for us.
Thank you, Will.
HOWELL: Complicated indeed.
Still ahead here on NEWSROOM, we'll show you how the U.S. electoral map is shaping up as the race for the White House comes down to the wire.
ALLEN: Plus, the U.S. election is news all around the world. But as you will see, the coverage in Russia is especially noteworthy for the way the two candidates are being portrayed. Wait until you see the graphics from Russia. We'll have that next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:30:53] HOWELL: Welcome back. To our viewers here in the United States and around the world. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. It is good to have you with us. I'm George Howell.
ALLEN: And I'm Natalie Allen. Here are our top stories this hour. We want to take you live now to South Korea.
Thousands are gathering in Seoul right now for a rally. Critics are calling for the president to step down over an abuse of power scandal. President Park Geun-Hye apologized to the nation for the second time in as many weeks, saying she takes responsibility.
HOWELL: Getting inside Mosul for the first time in two years. Iraqi troops are trying to drive ISIS militants out of that city. Out of the eastern most neighborhood, officials say that the battle for Iraq's second largest city will be waged street by street, house by house. The U.N. warns that ISIS is using young boys as human shields at the battlefield as fighters.
ALLEN: Donald Trump's campaign office in Denver, Colorado, was vandalized twice on Friday. Police say they have one person in custody after a rock was tossed to a plate glass window Friday evening. Earlier, someone had painted anti-Trump graffiti on the exterior brick wall.
HOWELL: And all right, we are in the final push. The presidential candidates trying to head to the -- trying to get voters out to the polls come Tuesday. Again, three days away before Election Day. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton also hitting those swing states all weekend. New national polls give Hillary Clinton a slight lead over Donald Trump.
Again, national polls showing -- polls showing Hillary Clinton with a slight lead, but the final outcome of this election will depend on a handful of swing states. That is the big focus right now as this election gets close. Three days away.
ALLEN: That's why you'll see both campaigns hitting those states that are popular right now hard over the next three days.
CNN's John King takes us through the electoral map.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So we're into the final weekend. Hillary Clinton at 268, Donald Trump at 204 in the electoral votes. The gold states are the tossups. Donald Trump is in the hunt. Advantage Hillary Clinton.
Let's ask this question. How does she look compared to President Obama four years ago? Is she in the position the president was in when he won a big victory back in 2012. Well, let's look at some way to judge. First way to judge is the national polls. That's much better than where the president was four years ago. A lot of people forget this because of the outcome, the finish on Tuesday. But heading into the final weekend, this race was a dead heat, 47 percent to 47 percent. That's the national perspective.
But we pick presidents by states. So let's go back to the map and think about the key battleground states. Compare Clinton then -- Obama then, excuse me, and Clinton now. Let's look at the states. In states where Clinton is running just about even with where the president four years ago, they include Nevada and Arizona, they include these important blue Midwestern battlegrounds, Wisconsin and Michigan, and they include one of our tossup states, New Hampshire.
Now the gold states are tossups heading into this final weekend. President Obama won one, two, three and Nevada, four of these states. Hillary Clinton in the same position the president was heading into the final weekend. She thinks she can win all four of these, too. We'll see what Tuesday brings. But she heads into the weekend about even with four years ago.
These are the states Clinton has to worry about. She's underperforming President Obama significantly in big battleground Ohio and a smaller but important Midwest state, Iowa. We lean these to Donald Trump because he is running much better than Mitt Romney did four years ago. He has a lead heading into the final weekend. Clinton is underperforming Obama in those two states, and just by a bit in Pennsylvania. She still has a lead in Pennsylvania, it's just not quite as big as President Obama's was heading into the final weekend four years ago.
But even though she's underperforming in those, she's over performing, she's stronger than the president was heading into the final weekend in Colorado by a little bit. In Virginia by a bit. And significantly in North Carolina and Florida. This is very important. President Obama trailed in North Carolina in 2012 heading into the final weekend. He trailed in Florida by a bit heading into the final weekend.
He ended up winning Florida by a tiny margin. The closest race in the country, state by state perspective. He lost North Carolina a bit. But again, he was trailing heading into the final weekend. One of those two, she's ahead in both of them. And that's a big deal as we go back and look at the map and say, how does Clinton get to the finish line? How does she compare to the president four years ago. Well, she thinks she's going to hold these blues up here. She hopes to turn Ohio. Let's see what happens. We still lean that one in favor of Trump.
[05:35:03] There's some talk in the Democrats they can pull back in Iowa. We're going to leave that one leaning Donald Trump. We'll see what she does on Tuesday. But significantly, they believe especially because of early voting they can win out in Nevada. Most Republicans in Nevada are starting to think that, too. That would get Clinton over the finish line. That's enough. But they also think again because she's in better position than the president was four years ago, they think she can possibly win both of these.
And they still think, even though this one has become very close at the end, and Trump is closing here, they think they can win that. If that were to happen, if Clinton could win Florida and win North Carolina, and add New Hampshire, that puts her in the ballpark of where the president was four years ago. Now is that guaranteed? Absolutely not. Donald Trump is fighting in those states to the end. But if you're asking the question, how does she look now compared to the president then, especially because of these two states as she enters the weekend, sure. In a contested race with Donald Trump, but confident the outcome will look a little bit just like it did in 2012.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: John King, very used to doing that part of the story. He'll be in front of that map all night on Tuesday, on voting day.
Well, there are concerns about whether Russia will try to tamper with the U.S. election. Another thing, though, is how our election is being reported in the Russian media. It's no secret and you're about to see this, which candidate is favored.
Here's how Russia is looking at our election. Clarissa Ward reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TRUMP: The American dream is dead. Bing, bing, bing. Bong, bong. Ding, ding.
CLARISSA WARD, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Russia's media is relishing every minute of this U.S. election, presenting it as an epic failure of American democracy.
And it's not hard to see who the favorite is here. The Republican candidate is presented as a maverick underdog, a political outsider, who speaks truth to power. Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, is cast as a dangerous Russia hater, whose election could lead to World War III.
Russian media frequently labels her a witch, with one tabloid even calling her, "Evil Incarnate." State TV anchor, Sergey Brilev, says it's a response to Clinton's aggressive attitude.
SERGEY BRILEV, RUSSIA TV ANCHOR: They've been on the streets over the course of years. Clinton is someone hostile to Russia because, while she's being hostile, she's done all those anti-Russian statements be it about hacking or about Putin or Russia, just rhetoric statements.
WARD: President Putin has dismissed allegations that Russia is playing favorites in this race, but as the polls have tightened Russian media is now suggesting that the election is rigged and that the establishment won't let Trump win.
One channel has predicted bloody social unrest if Clinton becomes president, followed by the overthrow of the corrupt regime.
KONSTANTIN VON EGGER, RAIN TV ANCHOR: It is a very effective message for the Russian audience because Russian audience is very suspicious of America, is very suspicious of Western democracy and American democracy. And someone who rebels against the system definitely is very good in the eyes Russia.
WARD: Which is why media here is happily milking this election for all the propaganda value it can get.
Clarissa Ward, CNN, Moscow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: And it's not just Russia that's watching the U.S. presidential election. Matt Rivers gives us a look from Beijing at how China views the race for the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): I'm Matt Rivers in China, one of the countries most mentioned on the campaign trail, though one candidate certainly uses stronger language than the other.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We can't continue to allow China to rape our country. And that's what they're doing. (END VIDEO CLIP)
RIVERS: It's rhetoric like that and China's consistent mentions in the debates that have people talking about Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERIC HUANG, HILLARY CLINTON SUPPORTER: Regardless of Trump's slogan of "Make America Great Again," I think Hillary definitely will be a better leader.
HUNG RONG, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER (Through Translator): I prefer Donald Trump because he's funny and interesting. But it really doesn't matter to China. We're just outsiders.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIVERS: A Pew Research report released in October found that 37 percent of the Chinese public viewed Hillary Clinton favorably. For Donald Trump, it was just 22 percent. And while the Chinese government doesn't officially comment on foreign elections, state-run newspapers said the campaign proves Western democracy is dangerous. In October, the "People's Daily" wrote in part, "All this weirdness points straight at the corrupt practices of the U.S. political system."
