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Harris, Trump Blitz Battleground States Three Days Before Election Day; Interview With Pennsylvania Secretary Al Schmidt; Presidential Race Running Tight With Three Days To Go; Iran Vows "Teeth-Breaking" Response To Israel & U.S.; Now: Harris Rallies Crowd In Charlotte, NC. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired November 02, 2024 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:15]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You are in CNN NEWSROOM, I'm Jessica Dean in New York.

And the marathon race for the White House is now a full-on sprint with just three days to go until election day in America. Just moments ago, former president Trump making his pitch to voters in North Carolina declaring he's doing much better with women voters than he's getting credit for.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, CURRENT PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And these horrible people back there said, well, Trump is soft with women. I don't believe I'm soft with -- they said Trump is -- he's very good with men. I don't know. Thank you, men. Thank you, men. No, I'm through the roof with men. She ain't got you those men.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: We've been saying it because the polls have been indicating that there is a gender gap and women favor Harris while yes, men have been favoring Trump.

And in Georgia, Vice President Harris making part of her final pitch to voters with promises of unity.

More than 71 million early ballots have been already cast and in a cycle unlike any other in history, this election remains a toss-up. In polling, we're seeing razor thin margins across crucial swing states. In Pennsylvania, there is no clear leader with an even split between Harris and Trump. In Georgia, where Harris held a rally earlier today, and in North Carolina, where both candidates have rallies scheduled for tonight, the candidates are neck in neck among likely voters.

Both campaigns focusing in on the battlegrounds in this final stretch. The vice presidential candidates J.D. Vance and Tim Walz also blitzing across the southwest with stops in Nevada and Arizona. But we go now to Virginia, not necessarily considered a battleground state, where former president Trump is making a campaign stop tonight, and CNN's Steve Contorno is joining us from Salem, Virginia, with the latest. Steve, Virginia tends to vote for Democrats in the presidential races

and each of the last four elections that has been the case. Why is Trump there tonight?

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, it's a great question Jessica, because this is certainly a surprise to Virginia Republicans that Donald Trump would take time out of his campaign schedule to come to Virginia of all places.

But look, Donald Trump knows that it's a difficult path to 270, especially if one of none of those blue wall states fall in the Midwest. And so he will have to find an alternative route to eclipsing 270 electoral college votes. And one of the states where they have remained bullish for months is Virginia.

Now they had a lot more optimism about Virginia back when Joe Biden was the nominee and there were actually plans to run a robust campaign here, as well as in states like Minnesota, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and New Mexico. We have seen him visit New Mexico in recent days and now he is making this trip to Virginia. Now the Republicans here acknowledge it is a longshot, but they can't leave any opportunities on the table. If this is close, they want to do what they can to gin up some enthusiasm in these final moments.

And he is coming here from North Carolina, sandwiching this stop in between two visits in North Carolina. He will also be in North Carolina tomorrow and in North Carolina on Monday so clearly just showing how important this battleground is. And of course the vice president also holding an event there. In fact, our Kate Sullivan snapped a picture of both Air Force Two and Trump's plane at the same airport at the same time.

Just showing how these campaigns are converging on each other in these critical battleground states. North Carolina, not a state the Trump campaign expected to spend so much time in, in these closing weeks. But clearly, just looking at his schedule, showing how important it is for him to defend North Carolina. Otherwise, all hope might be lost for them.

DEAN: All right. Steve Contorno, from Virginia tonight. Thank you so much for that reporting.

Let's go to CNN's Eva McKend. She actually got an exclusive interview with Vice President Harris right before her rally earlier today in Atlanta.

Eva, what did she tell you?

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jess, what we see from the vice president and her team is them aggressively trying to make the case to every available undecided voter. They are particularly focused on young voters. You will see here and in North Carolina she's introduced by first-time voters. But this comes at a time when many Americans expressed dissatisfaction with the current state of the country. I asked her about this. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS (D), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, listen, I know grocery prices are still high. The folks are watching this interview right now know grocery prices are still high. We need to bring them down. We need to deal with the cost of housing. We have a supply shortage. Part of my plan is not only to work with the private sector to cut through the tape so we can build more housing in America, but also to give first-time homebuyers a $25,000 down payment assistance so they can -- just get their foot in the door.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[16:05:06]

MCKEND: So the message from the vice president is essentially I feel your pain and I have a plan for it. Part of the strategy, though, also includes employing all of these celebrity surrogates both here in Georgia and in North Carolina today. And it's part of the "When We Vote, We Win" concert series. It's aimed to get people to pay attention really here in the final hour and for those who have not voted early to get out and vote on election day -- Jess.

DEAN: All right. Eva McKend with that exclusive interview with Vice President Harris in Atlanta. Thank you so much for that reporting, Eva.

Joining us now is the Republican secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Al Schmidt.

Mr. Secretary, thanks so much for being here with us. We appreciate. We know this is a busy time for you.

AL SCHMIDT, PENNSYLVANIA SECRETARY OF THE COMMONWEALTH: It is indeed, and it's a busy time for all of us.

DEAN: It is. It is. First, let's just start with the news we got about the Supreme Court ruling allowing Pennsylvania voters whose mail ballots are rejected to have their votes counted through a provisional ballot. It's a little in the weeds, but it's important. The Harris campaign calling this decision fair, saying, it, quote, "puts an end to the Trump campaign's fight in Pennsylvania to deny voters the right to vote. "

What is your reaction to this ruling? And what are you seeing in terms of more challenges or legal challenges from both campaigns?

SCHMIDT: And the Shapiro administration is very happy with this decision and it really benefits voters. And it means that if a voter voted by mail and they forgot to sign it or date it, or include their ballot in the secrecy envelope which is required under the Pennsylvania Election Code, that if they vote in person at their polling place by what's called a provisional ballot, then they would still have their vote cast and their vote would still be counted. So it's a victory for voters which is the most important thing of all here. DEAN: Sure. And I think something that's really interesting about the

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania that you as secretary of state and all of your team has to kind of deal and the election workers in every county is that each county has a lot of latitude in how it interprets the rules. And so you all kind of have to try to get on the same page but there is a lot of latitude there.

How do you -- how have you been working with those local county officials to streamline this process?

SCHMIDT: That's right, Jessica. Elections in Pennsylvania are really devolved to the county level. We have 67 counties and in the past year I visited every one of them to sit down with their election director to find out how the Pennsylvania Department of State can be most supportive of their efforts to make sure that election day runs smoothly and that every voter's vote is counted, cast on or before election day.

So we work closely with our county partners. And if you're a voter in Pennsylvania, you should have confidence that those hard-working, professional civil servants are working night and day to make sure that your vote will be counted and that the Shapiro administration will support any effort or oppose, rather, any effort to prevent your vote from being counted.

DEAN: Counting ballots is not a partisan issue. You just want to do it and do it right and make sure they all get counted. I do want to ask you about kind of the unique position that you all -- especially in the commonwealth are in right now where you have the former president, his running mate, Elon Musk, they have been pushing election fraud claims and conspiracy theories. A lot of them specific to Pennsylvania.

Trump posted on Truth Social this week, quote, "Pennsylvania is cheating and getting caught at large-scale levels rarely seen before." Again, there is no evidence of that. But what is your response to something like that? And how are you all combating this misinformation?

SCHMIDT: Well, I was a Republican election commissioner of Philadelphia for 10 years, elected by Republicans again and again, and have investigated hundreds of allegations of voter fraud. So I have a good understanding of how it occurs and how it does not occur. And when it does occur, the extent to which it does at all.

So voter fraud in Pennsylvania is extremely rare. And when it does occur it's easily identified. Referred to law enforcement by our county partners, and when warranted prosecuted.

DEAN: But does it make it harder for you to have to continue to message out that this is being done in a legal and secure way?

SCHMIDT: It's absolutely a challenge to fight against the avalanche of misinformation and disinformation intended to deceive voters, whether it's to keep them from casting their vote, or to undermine confidence in our election results and our system of government. [16:10:05]

So it's why we have taken such a proactive approach. The truth is the antidote to lies here. And we need to spread the truth as far and wide as we can about how elections in Pennsylvania are free, fair, safe and secure.

DEAN: And we know the former president also specifically pointed to an investigation in Lancaster County over hundreds of voter registration forms that officials suspect could be fraudulent. Can you give us an update on that investigation and just where -- what the truth is, speaking of truth, in that?

SCHMIDT: Yes. And there were some mis-reporting about it in terms of the volume of voter registration applications, and again I'm not talking about ballots. I'm talking about voter registration applications that were received by the county. And Lancaster did the right thing, as all of our counties do, which is to investigate those applications that seem like there is something amiss further.

And remember, when you're applying to vote in Pennsylvania, you're providing a Social Security number, you're providing a driver's license number. When you show up to vote for the first time, you're producing I.D. So there's all sorts of safeguards in the process. We look forward to hearing from Lancaster about the scope of how big that issue was. But it's easily identified and in this case, as in all cases, prevent it from impacting the integrity of our electoral process.

DEAN: And so voting while underway in Pennsylvania, and then of course we have election day coming up on Tuesday. And I think nobody needs reminding least of all you and everyone that's working in Pennsylvania on this that the last go around in 2020 it did take some time to get all those votes counted. It was until Saturday that we had a winner in Pennsylvania when it ended up putting Biden over the edge so he could claim victory and could be victorious in 2020.

Walk us through what you think might be the appropriate timeline for people to kind of keep in mind. I know that while a lot of the laws are the same, there have been some changes made to try and speed up the counting and streamline it.

SCHMIDT: That's right. So one thing that has not changed in Pennsylvania since 2020 is the law that prevents our counties from beginning to process mail ballots before 7:00 am on election morning. Plenty of other states, red states, blue states, can begin that process days if not weeks in advance. So in Pennsylvania, that can only begin at 7:00 a.m. That being said, there have been some significant developments since 2020.

Counties have acquired additional equipment. They have a lot more experience than they had in 2020 when it's the first time they were dealing with this mail ballot voting on a large scale. And also, fewer voters, while still widely embraced, are voting by mail compared to that peak COVID environment in 2020. So new equipment, more experience, fewer votes to count. And one other thing that I would like to mention is that it always

comes down to how close an election is. Whether you have mail ballots, whether you don't. Whether you're in Pennsylvania or Michigan, Arizona or Georgia. It always comes down to how close an election is before you can determine who won and who lost.

DEAN: And that will just -- it's going to take the time that it takes. The Harris campaign has said it expects the former resident to declare victory early on Tuesday before the votes are fully counted. Are you all prepared to respond if that happens?

SCHMIDT: Well, it is always up to the voters who determine who won an election. And I can say with great confidence that our voters should have confidence that their vote is going to count in Pennsylvania, that the Shapiro administration is going to protect their right to vote and prevent any effort from getting in the way of that.

DEAN: And certainly, as they're counting, you know, again, it's going to be a process. In terms of safety for these public servants who are running these elections and counting these ballots and making sure that everything is done, what all have you done to ensure their safety and to make sure that those people are protected while they are doing this?

SCHMIDT: And there are certainly some lessons learned from the experience in 2020. So that's why we set up the Election Threat Task Force in Pennsylvania made up of federal, state and local partners and law enforcement and election administration. So that if any of that ugliness returns, that I and many others experienced in 2020, there are open lines of communication. Everyone knows what everyone else's role is and law enforcement can focus on its job so our election officials can focus on their job which is counting votes in a democracy in a very time-sensitive environment.

DEAN: All right. Secretary Al Schmidt, good luck to all of you as the process unfolds over the next three days. We really appreciate your time.

[10:15:07]

SCHMIDT: Thank you, Jessica.

DEAN: And from the first votes to the critical count, no one covers election night in America like CNN. Special live coverage starts Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. Eastern only on CNN.

Up next, will the blue wall determine the winner? Winning those key battleground states in the rustbelt could be the most direct path to the White House and Ron Brownstein is standing by to discuss.

Also, just how close are the polls with three days to go? Harry Enten is here. He's going to run the numbers for us. We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:20:17] DEAN: In the final days before election day, Vice President Harris and former president Trump are making a full-court press in the critical blue wall states where the latest polling shows incredibly tight races in each of them with a slight edge for Harris in Michigan and Wisconsin, and a dead heat in Pennsylvania.

And joining us to discuss this and more, Ron Brownstein, senior editor at "The Atlantic" and CNN senior political analyst.

Ron, it is -- you've arrived at the weekend before election day.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: That's right. Wow. Yes.

DEAN: I know. We've made it. I -- we just jumping off point with these blue wall states, which do probably represent the straightest path to victory for either one of these candidate.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

DEAN: What do you make of the state of play in those right now?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes, well, first of all, you know, I coined the blue wall back in 2009 and initially it referred to the 18 states that ultimately voted Democratic in all six elections from '92 to 2012. The most states either party had won over six consecutive elections since the formation of the modern party system in 1828.

Trump of course famously dislodged Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin from the blue wall in 2016 and now when people talk about the blue wall they're usually referring just to those three states. So in my mind these kind of the bricks that fell out of the wall have become the wall.

Now what's really important is that since 2016, Democrats have regained the initiative in those three states. I think the evidence is that the counter mobilization or the backlash to Trump has been more powerful than the mobilization that Trump effectuated in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The Democrats won the governorships in all three in 2018, they won it again by more in 2022.

They flipped three state legislative chambers. They hold five of the six U.S. senators. And of course, Biden won all three in 2020 by a combined 260,000 votes. The difference is that inflation, in particular, I think creates a tougher environment for them. But given what's happening in the national numbers, Jessica, where the erosion the Democrats are seeing relative to 2020 is primarily among non-white voters and Harris is largely holding Biden support among white voters, which was higher than Clinton's four years earlier.

Clearly I think these three states that are predominantly white and older paradoxically are considered a safer path for her at this point than the sunbelt states that are younger and more diverse.

DEAN: That's so interesting you bring up that point because in talking with people, you kind of remind that things, conventional wisdom that we've all held true for a long time, a lot of it in so many ways is getting turned really upside down in this race if it ends up shaking out in the final result. One of them being, to your point, Harris's strength with white voters. And maybe Trump's, you know, gaining in strength with voters of color especially in cities, which is an interesting dynamic.

BROWNSTEIN: Right. I mean, you know, race and age are kind of narrowing as divides in this election, and gender and education levels are widening in this election. And, you know, if you kind of look at it that way, you know, in the sunbelt states, such a high percentage of the electorate overall and certainly such a high percentage of Democratic coalition are voters of color that even small shifts away from the Democrats, particularly, you know, what we're seeing among Latino voters will have to see how much actually pans out among black voters but possibly some among black men.

Even small shifts can be really damaging their ability to win those kind of states where it is generally tougher to win white voters. Historically, Democrats have run better among white voters in a blue wall, former blue wall states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. And as I said, they are a larger share of electric. 80 percent in Michigan, 80 percent in Pennsylvania, 90 percent in Wisconsin.

So you have a scenario where it's not hard to imagine that Harris's advantage in the popular vote will erode from what Biden did in 2020. He won the popular vote by 4.5 points. Maybe she might only win the popular vote by as little as Hillary Clinton did, two points, or even less. But even if she does, if she's holding her support among white voters she will be better positioned than Clinton was to still hold Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, with a narrow advantage in the popular vote.

And, you know, Pennsylvania obviously is the toughest of the three. We've been accustomed to the idea that all three of these states vote to the right of the nation overall because they did in 2016 and 2020. But it was the opposite in the first four elections in this century. And if we have this kind of inverted pattern of racial support, it would not be surprising to me if in fact these states vote more Democratic than the country overall, or something very close to the overall national level.

[16:25:05]

DEAN: Yes. It's so interesting to kind of watch this emerge. The other thing I want to -- you mentioned the gender gap, which we've talked a lot about. But we have still not seen Nikki Haley on the trail for Donald Trump. And she said she's waiting by the phone for his phone call but we haven't seen her. And both campaigns, certainly the Harris campaign, has said they would love to pick up some of those Nikki Haley voters. And Trump would need them as well in some of these places. I'm thinking a lot about Pennsylvania and those color counties.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

DEAN: What do you make of him not bringing her out on the campaign trail? Because we're showing video right now of her with Dave McCormick who is the Pennsylvania Senate candidate -- Republican candidate in Pennsylvania.

BROWNSTEIN: Well, I think it's kind of indicative -- first of all, it's a real signal of how Trump views the rest of the Republican Party at this point. You know, he was president the first time, he felt that he had to kind of make concessions to other power centers in the party. Now he feels like he has to make no concessions to anyone. And that, you know, the party really -- that he has broken the party, and broken their will to resist him on anything.

It's a mistake. I mean, there's no other way to describe it. I mean, you know, Nikki Haley-type Republican voters, probably independents who lean Republican rather than people who identify as partisan Republicans, are the most logical place for Harris to grow relative to Biden in 2020. I mean there are a lot of parts of the electorate you look at, young men, Latino men, maybe black men, where she's probably going to struggle to match what Biden did and may lose a few points.

Where can she offset that? I mean, the most logical place are these big, racially diverse, well-educated, populous inner suburbs around Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Detroit, Atlanta and Phoenix. And, you know, the Nikki Haley voters broadly described are I think a very attractive target for her. It is -- I think if you look at -- we talked about this before. If you look at the 2022 election results in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and also Arizona, they show you that Biden's performance in 2020 among white women with a college degree was not the ceiling for Democrats.

After Dobbs, after January 6th, the Democratic gubernatorial candidates in those states did better among those women than Biden did two years earlier. All four of them. And Harris probably is going to have to do better among those women. Haley could help Trump, but Trump will not pick up the phone.

DEAN: Yes. It is such -- that is such an interesting dynamic that we of course are going to watch. Just quickly before I let you go, we -- since last weekend when we saw you, we had the Trump rally on Sunday night. We have seen what has transpired in this last full week before voting. Kind of how would you categorize the moment as we head into these last three days?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes. I mean, I can't remember if we said this last weekend. But, you know, someone said to me, I'm paraphrasing, months ago that in the final days of the election, the real question is, what's the question? Right? Is the question going to be, are you better off than you were four years ago? Which is what most Republican professionals would want voters to be thinking about as they go into the booth because most voters, despite all of the success of Biden in the job market and the stock market and in the investments in the manufacturing, will say no because of inflation.

But that really isn't the question we've been discussing in the last few days. We've been discussing island of garbage. I will protect women whether they like it or not. RFK Jr. will get control of federal healthcare policy. Vaccines and women's health. Liz Cheney should face rifles on the other side. I mean, Donald Trump has been almost on a crusade to remind people of

everything else that they didn't like about his presidency, aside from the fact that at that point gas and groceries were cheaper. Now this may or may not be enough to get Harris over the top. It looks like Pennsylvania is the Battle of the Bulge, you know, in this election and someone is going to win it by a tiny amount and very likely be the president.

But in terms of what we are discussing in the final days, the construct certainly would seem to benefit Harris more than Trump because it is so focused on all the hesitations people have about Trump even if they consider him better for their bottom line.

DEAN: All right. Ron Brownstein, we will see you soon. Thank you so much as always. We appreciate it.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me. Yes.

DEAN: While we do keep saying this race is close but just how close? Harry Enten runs these numbers for us next.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:34:09]

DEAN: Neck in neck, razor thin, a toss-up, however you put it, almost no respectable pollster is willing to predict what will happen on Tuesday.

CNN senior data reporter, Harry Enten, joins us now with his take.

Harry, let's run it back. How close is this race? I know I ask you this every weekend.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: You ask me every weekend. And every weekend, I feel like I have to get out my thesaurus to find out another way to put that this race is too close to call. I'm looking at my SATs.

Look, we've got three days left to go. And I put it right here. This race is way, way too close to call. Why is it? Well, let's take a look at the polling aggregates across those seven key battlegrounds that we've been talking about, right?

In the Sunbelt, you see a little bit more red than blue. In fact, there is no blue in the Sunbelt. But again, it's way too close to call.

Trump by three in Arizona, two in Georgia, one in North Carolina and a tie in Nevada. Come over to the Great Lakes and a little more blue here.

[16:35:03] But look at this, just a point and Michigan. Less than a point. But when you're breaking out this simply, Jessica, the less than, you know how close the races is.

And them, of course, in Pennsylvania, all important Pennsylvania tied. T-I-E-D. That is the bottom line of this election.

Way too close to call at this point. All of the key states within a couple of points and arguably the most important one, Pennsylvania, T- I-E-D.

DEAN: Just tied.

Put that in terms of the electoral math for us. How does the electoral map bear out?

ENTEN: Yes, how does the electoral map bear out? Well, if the results match the polling averages, guess what? Neither candidate gets to 207 electoral votes.

(LAUGHTER)

DEAN: Ay-yi, yi.

ENTEN: I do not even -- I don't know what other way to put it. Because Pennsylvania becomes the all-important key state. Whoever wins Pennsylvania wins the election.

We've been talking about it week after week after week. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, just to the southwest of me here in New York City, becomes the all-important state.

If you can figure out who wins Pennsylvania, you probably know who will win the election. Because at this point, the polls can only tell you both candidates are short of the 270 electoral votes needed to win.

That is, of course, if the polls are actually right on the money, which they probably will not be.

DEAN: OK, explain that to us. Because they are not perfect.

ENTEN: No, they are not perfect.

So let's go through history, right? Let's go back since 1972, at look at the key battleground states and say how off were the polling averages/? The polls are not perfect. They are a tool. They get you in the neighborhood.

But when the race is this close and all the key battle states are within three percentage points, that is within the average error band. The average error band for state polling averages since 1972 is -- get this -- 3.4 points -- 3.4 points.

And then if you talk about a margin of error, right, like a 95 percent confidence in a poll, we are talking more like plus or minus nine points.

All of the key battleground states are within this error band. And they are actually within the average error band as well.

So let's look talk about what happens if you have average error and apply it to the electoral map, right? Well, if we have an average error and Donald Trump benefits from average error, guest what? He gets way past 270 electoral votes. He gets to 312.

Why? He carries all of the Great Lake battleground states. He carries the southeast battleground states of North Carolina and Georgia. He carries Nevada and Arizona out west.

Of course, Jessica, there is no guaranty that the polls necessarily benefit Donald Trump, even though they did both in 2016 and 2020.

Because they could, in fact, the polling could benefit Kamala Harris, like it did the Democrats in 2020. If there was a polling that benefited Kamala Harris, in average polling, she would get north of 300 electoral votes. She would get to 319.

Why? She carries the Great Lake battleground states. She carries Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania. She carries the southeast battleground states of Georgia and North Carolina. And she would carry the southwest battleground states of Nevada and Arizona.

So the bottom line is this. The polls, at this point, point to a race too close to call. But an average miss in either direction could turn into an Electoral College block. We just do not know at this point.

DEAN: Right, that's kind of the interesting thing. It could be one on the margins, but it looks like an Electoral College blowout if it went one way or the other.

ENTEN: Correct.

DEAN: I think this is the question I get the most. When will we know who actually won?

ENTEN: When will we know who actually won? Well, if you recall last time around, in 2020, we did not call Pennsylvania until Saturday morning. I went down the exact time. It was 11:24 a.m. Wolf Blitzer came out and we projected that, in fact, Joe Biden was going to win the 2020 election.

So that I think is probably the worst case. Obviously, the race is even closer than that. Remember Florida back in 2000, and that was at 37 days.

But there is a chance that, if the election ends up being at little bit wider, you go back to 2022 in Pennsylvania, that Senate race was called at 12:00 a.m. on Wednesday.

Now, of course, the key point there is the Senate margin in 2022 was five points in 2022 versus a point back in 2020. But with fewer mail-in ballots, a chance of counting those mail

ballots people are more used to in a couple of states. Now Pennsylvania has changed the laws. Michigan makes it easier to count the ballots before the election actually is completed.

On Tuesday, you can back it up and get closer to when the polling times actually close. Not actually have to wait until Saturday.

But at this point, Jessica, all I can say is, who knows?

DEAN: Who knows?

We will all get through it together. So here we are the Saturday before the election. I'm going to put you on the spot. 0Make a bold production right here, right now. Dolphins or Bills?

ENTEN: Oh, come on, that is not a tough prediction.

(LAUGHTER)

ENTEN: Bill's mafia is going to warp and have some wonderful Dolphin for lunch afternoon. No doubt about it in my mind. Josh Allen is going to march up the offense up and down the field. And we will crush them.

[16:40:02]

And Wolf Blitzer and are going to root for our Buffalo Bills together.

Boris Sanchez, I'm so sorry. You're Miami Dolphins are going adios, Amigos, tomorrow.

DEAN: Our executive producer Tim, too, are all going to be disappointed with that prediction.

(CROSSTALK)

ENTEN: Sorry, friend, you are going down.

DEAN: All right, Harry Enten, as always, thank you so much.

ENTEN: Thank you.

DEAN: Up next, President Trump will soon take the stage in Salem, Virginia. Vice President Harris will take the stage at a rally in Charlotte, North Carolina. We'll keep an eye on both of those for you.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:45:14]

DEAN: A stark warning from Iran today. Iran's supreme leader submitted a, quote, "teeth-breaking" response to Israel and the United States after Israel targeted Iranian military sites in retaliatory strikes last month.

Chief global affairs correspondent, Matthew Chance, has details from Jerusalem.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Well, Jessica, a new threat against Israel tonight from the Iranian regime. The supreme leader vowing a crushing retaliation against Israel and the United States for actions against Iran.

Speaking at a meeting with students ahead of the anniversary of the 1979 seizure of the U.S. embassy in Tehran.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei threatened what he called a "teeth-breaking" response for what they are doing in Iran on the resistance front, a reference to the embattled militant group like Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Khamenei added that Iran has the right to respond to Israeli strikes according to Iranian state television.

Now Iranian officials have played down the Israeli strikes last week on missile production and defense sites in the country.

But in recent days, that language appears to have hardened. Earlier this week, a high-ranking Iranian source told CNN that Iran would carry out, quote, "definitive and painful responses" for the attacks, probably before the U.S. election.

An Israeli source told CNN that Israel was on a high state of readiness for an Iranian response.

Jessica, back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: Matthew Chance, in Jerusalem, thank you so much for that.

Up next, Trump supporters are doing what they can to win the election. And what they can do to undermine the election if he loses.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:51:46]

DEAN: You are looking live at Vice President Kamala Harris at a rally in Charlotte, North Carolina, of course, a battleground state that is too close to call right now.

Let's listen in to what she's saying.

(CHEERING) KAMALA HARRIS (D), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, CURRENT

PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And I pledge to you that if you give me the chance to fight on your behalf as president, there is nothing in the world that will stand in my way.

(CHEERING)

HARRIS: And look, we know who Donald Trump is.

(CROSSTALK)

HARRIS: So, right, we do, don't we?

(BOOING)

HARRIS: Here is one of the things we know about him. This is not someone who is thinking about how to make your life better.

(SHOUTING)

HARRIS: And this is someone who is increasingly unstable.

(CHEERING)

HARRIS: Obsessed with revenge. Consumed with grievance. And the man is out for unchecked power.

So, look, in less than 90 days, it's either going to be him or me sitting in the Oval Office.

(SHOUTING)

HARRIS: We are going to do this.

(CHANTING)

HARRIS: Thank you. Thank you.

(CROSSTALK)

HARRIS: Ok. All right.

(CHANTING)

HARRIS: OK, OK, thank you.

(LAUGHTER)

(CHEERING)

HARRIS: OK, but how about sharing with your friends, right? So this is a thing we want to share with folks. Just to imagine what this means and the choice in front of us.

Imagine, and let's ask the friends not here, to imagine the Oval Office. You have seen it on TV, right? Imagine the Oval Office. And if he is elected, Donald Trump, on day one, would be sitting in that office stewing over his enemies list.

(BOOING)

HARRIS: But, when I am elected, I will work on your behalf, working on my to-do list.

(CHEERING)

HARRIS: And at the top of my list is bringing down the cost of living for you.

(CHEERING)

HARRIS: That will be my focus every single day as president. I will get a middle-class tax cut to over 100 million Americans.

(CHEERING)

HARRIS: I will enact the first-ever federal ban on corporate price gouging on groceries.

(CHEERING)

[16:55:03]

HARRIS: Fight to make sure that hard-working Americans can actually afford a place to live.

(CHEERING)

HARRIS: And, if you are caring for an elderly parent, my plan will cover the cost of homecare under Medicare.

(CHANTING)

HARRIS: Ok.

(CHANTING)

HARRIS: You know what?

((CHANTING)

HARRIS: One of the reason's -- one of the reasons we are here is because we are fighting for our democracy.

(CHEERING)

HARRIS: And the right for folks to speak their mind. But right now, I am speaking.

(CHEERING)

HARRIS: So bringing down the cost of living for you includes making sure that we are caring for those that are caring for others. It is OK, you all. Democracy can be complicated. It is all right. It is all right.

(CHEERING)

HARRIS: It's all right. This is what democracy looks like.

(CHEERING)

HARRIS: Included in the work we will do, is ensuring that Medicare covers the cost of home health care for seniors. I will tell you, a lot of how I think about these policies is based on my own experiences.

When my mother was -- when my mother was sick, I took care of her.

(CHANTING)

HARRIS: OK, OK.

(CHANTING)

HARRIS: It is all good. Hey, listen, it is all good.

And look, we all want the war in the Middle East to end. We want the hostages home.

(CHEERING)

HARRIS: And when I am president, I will do everything in my power to make it so.

So much about what I care about on your behalf is truly about dignity. It is about dignity. It is about the importance of lifting people up and not trying to tear them down.

(CHEERING)

HARRIS: Which is why my plan will lower the cost of childcare. Cut taxes for small businesses. Do we have small business owners in the house?

(CHEERING)

HARRIS: Yes, we do.

(CHEERING)

HARRIS: I love our small businesses. You are all part of the backbone of Americas economy. Keep doing what you do. I love our small businesses.

(CHEERING)

HARRIS: And our work will include lowering health care costs. Because where I come from, in terms of how I think about this, access to health care should be a right and not just a privilege of those that can afford it.

(CHEERING)

HARRIS: On the other hand, Donald Trump's answer to the financial pressures you face is the same as it was last time. Another trillion dollars in tax cuts for billionaires and big corporations.

(BOOING)

HARRIS: And this time, he will pay for it with a 20 percent national sales tax on everything you buy that is - imported, clothes, food, toys, cellphones.

A Trump sales tax that economists have estimated will cost you an additional $4000 per year.

(BOOING)

HARRIS: On top of that, Donald Trump still wants to get rid of the Affordable Care Act --

(BOOING)

HARRIS: -- which would throw millions of Americans off their health insurance and take us back to the time when insurance companies could deny people with presenting conditions.

[16:59:58]

Do you remember what that was?

(BOOING)

HARRIS: Well, we are not going back. We are not going back.

(CHEERING)