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Harris Makes Final Appeal to Voters in Michigan; Trump Closing Campaign with Dark, Violent Rhetoric; Path to Victory: How Harris or Trump Can Get to 270; Republican Innovate to Unlock Votes in Keystone State; Crowds Boo, Throw Eggs at Royals During Valencia Visit; International Community Keeping Tabs on U.S. Election; Lebanese Hospitals Under Threat as IDF Targets Hezbollah. Aired 12-12:45a ET
Aired November 04, 2024 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome, everyone. Appreciate your company. I'm Michael Holmes.
[00:00:20]
And coming up here on CNN NEWSROOM, just one day to go before the elections here in the U.S. Both candidates blanketing the battleground states. And with a razor-tight race, we'll look into the potential paths to victory.
Spain's kind pelted with eggs and mud and chants of murderer as anger over the government's response to historic floods boils over.
And Lebanon's hospitals under threat, many of them damaged by Israeli attacks. Even so, doctors vowing to carry on.
ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Michael Holmes.
M. HOLMES: A final push and a final pitch from both campaigns as we close in on the final day before the U.S. presidential election that's being watched closely across the country and, indeed, around the world.
Both Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and her Republican rival, Donald Trump, have focused on key battleground states ahead of Tuesday's vote. They'll both travel to Pennsylvania in the hours ahead as they try to reach voters amid a tight race whose outcome remains very uncertain.
On Sunday, Harris and Trump fanned out, hitting other key states like Michigan, Georgia, and North Carolina. The vice president looking to draw a sharp contrast between herself and Trump as he continues to turn to an even darker messaging on the campaign trail.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: America is ready for a fresh start.
Ready for a new way forward where we see our fellow American not as an enemy, but as a neighbor.
DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We had the safest border in the history of our country the day that I left. I shouldn't have left. I mean, honestly, because we did so -- we did so well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. HOLMES: The latest CNN poll of polls shows exactly why both candidates are laser-focused on the battleground states. From Arizona to Pennsylvania, the averages of recent polling in each state show no clear leader.
And with just one day to go until election day in America, more than 75 million people have already cast their vote for president.
CNN's Jeff Zeleny now. He was there when Harris made her final appeal to voters in the crucial state of Michigan. He filed this report from East Lansing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Vice President Kamala Harris closing her campaign with a note of optimism, saying it's time to turn the page.
ZELENY (voice-over): At a speech on Sunday night on the campus of Michigan State University in East Lansing, the vice president implored her supporters to take the final hours of this campaign to do all they can to make sure she defeats Donald Trump.
HARRIS: From the very start, our campaign has not been about being against something. It is about being for something: a fight for a future with freedom, opportunity and dignity for all Americans.
And so, in these final hours, let us remember that there is power in knowing that we are together. And let us remember that your vote is your voice, and your voice is your power.
ZELENY (voice-over): These campaigns are closing in remarkably different ways, as former President Donald Trump is already questioning the results of Tuesday's election.
Vice President Harris is urging her supporters to stay hopeful and optimistic, even as she tries to fight to win Michigan and these other Blue Wall states.
It is no coincidence that she's closing her campaign in Michigan before spending the entire day before the election in Pennsylvania. It is the critical Blue Wall states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin that she believes offer her best path to the White House.
ZELENY: There is no doubt this race is still a margin of error race. Every single battleground state is a coin toss. But the Harris campaign and the vice president herself believe momentum is on her side in the closing hours of the race. Jeff Zeleny, CNN, East Lansing, Michigan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Donald Trump also focusing on key battleground states in the final hours of the campaign. But his message, far different as his rhetoric on the trail has increasingly grown ever darker.
CNN's Kristen Holmes with more from Macon, Georgia.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Allies of former President Trump told me that they were exasperated after they heard his remarks in Pennsylvania earlier today.
K. HOLMES (voice-over): The former president spent the day at three different battleground states: Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and then Georgia. But it was the remarks in Pennsylvania that really stole the show.
[00:05:02]
He spent a majority of the time talking about the 2024 election, sowing seeds of doubt. He ranted bitterly about a number of recent polls that showed him trailing behind Kamala Harris.
And then he said this about his two assassination attempts and firing guns into the press or through the press. Take a listen.
TRUMP: I have a piece of glass over here, and I don't have a piece of glass there here. We have this piece of glass here. But all we have, really, over here is the fake news, right?
And to get me, somebody would have to shoot through the fake news. And I don't mind that so much, because I don't mind.
K. HOLMES (voice-over): Now, the campaign sought to clean up those remarks, issuing a statement from the spokesperson, Steven Cheung, that said, "President Trump was stating that the media was in danger and that they were -- and that they were protecting him and, therefore, were in great danger themselves, and should have had a glass protective shield also. There can be no other interpretation of what he said."
K. HOLMES: So again, our viewers can listen to him say what he said in that clip we just played. This is the Trump kind of clarifying statement about it.
K. HOLMES (voice-over): But when I talked to a number of his allies, they were frustrated. They at one point, one of them said how hard is it to get up there on stage and just say, Kamala broke it. I'm going to fix it.
They are eager for him to stay on message. They do believe that he can still pull off this race, that he can win the race. But in order to do so, he's got to stop talking. Or at least stay focused on the things that these Republicans believe matter --
K. HOLMES: -- particularly the economy, inflation, immigration, and crime.
Kristen Holmes, CNN, Macon, Georgia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. HOLMES: Both campaigns are focusing on seven key battleground states. CNN political director David Chalian is at the Magic Wall to break down which of them Trump and Harris need to win if they want to take the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Here it is, the path to 270. The red states are in Trump's column. The blue states are in Harris's column, for the purpose of this exercise.
And we've got seven remaining yellow toss-up battleground states. And as you know, those battleground states are razor-thin. Look at -- these are our poll of polls in the battleground states. No clear leader in any of them, in any of these battleground states. So, this is razor-thin.
So, what is the path to victory for each candidate? Well, the Harris campaign will say that their best, most direct path to 270 electoral votes is through the Blue Wall. If she were to win Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, she'd be at 270 electoral votes and the next president.
But what if Donald Trump repeats his 2016 victory in Pennsylvania? Then Harris drops down to 251, and she has to go hunting in the Sun Belt to find some more votes.
Certainly, if she were able to flip North Carolina from red to blue this time, that would get her knocking on the door to 270. And then maybe Nevada behaves like it has for Democrats in recent cycles. And that would put Harris over the top in that scenario.
What about Donald Trump's path? Well, let's reset the map. Seven yellow battleground states, and Donald Trump's most direct path is to hang onto North Carolina. That is the state he won by the narrowest margin four years ago. In fact, it's the only state he won of the seven battleground states.
And let's say he flips Georgia back. You'll recall he famously lost it by just fewer than 12,000 votes. So, let's say that ends up back in his column. And let's say he does get that Pennsylvania victory repeated from 2016. That's it: he'll be at 270 electoral votes. He doesn't need any of the rest of the battleground states.
But what if Harris does pull it out in Pennsylvania? Then, where does Donald Trump go for the next 19 electoral votes? Well, even if he were to win Nevada and Arizona out West, that still would not get him to 270. He would need at least one of the other remaining so-called Blue Wall
states, such as Michigan. And that would do the trick and get him over the top at 283.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. HOLMES: Joining me now from Los Angeles is Michael Genovese, a political analyst, president of the Global Policy Institute at Loyola Marymount University, and author of "The Modern Presidency: Six Debates That Define the Institution."
Always good to see you, sir. So, what do you make of the closing messages in the last few days? What do you think is resonating? What is a turn-off for whomever hasn't yet decided or voted already?
MICHAEL GENOVESE, POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, there's been a lot of voting already, and there are very few undecideds.
But Kamala Harris's strategy started out, right after she got the nomination, very positive message. She went darker and more negative, attacking Trump then, and that didn't work well for her. So, she's back to a positive message, and we'll see if that resonates.
[00:10:12]
Donald Trump is all anger all the time. He's had a dark message from the very beginning. A lot of violent rhetoric. Fear mongering. But that's what he's -- he's trying to get his base to get -- get excited, get revved up, and get out to vote.
Donald Trump has not tried to change voters, to lure new voters in. He's trying to rev up his base that already love him.
M. HOLMES: Yes. You know, talking about Trump, I mean, he was at a Pennsylvania rally on Sunday. He described the Democratic Party as demonic; said he shouldn't have left the White House in 2020; and that he wouldn't mind if a gunman aiming at him shot through the "fake news" media.
I mean, that's one rally, but that kind of messaging has him 50/50 in this election. Why?
GENOVESE: It's amazing that he has 50. I think you have to just look back on his base and how much loyalty there is; affection for him; even love for him. It's an unusually deep sense of devotion that they have to him. He has a certain magical quality that appeals to a certain segment of the population, just as it repulses the other segment.
But that's what's going on in America. We are very divided, a division that is wide and getting wider. And it's also getting darker.
And the darker is because Donald Trump loves to talk about violence and make hints and drops hints about violence. Completely unnecessary, completely uncalled for, but it works for his base. M. HOLMES: Yes. We talk all the time about the presidential race for obvious reasons, but speak to the importance of down ballot voting. I mean, who controls the House and the Senate is pretty important in all of this. How do you see that shaping up and how crucial are those votes, versus who becomes president?
GENOVESE: Well, you know, it hasn't been in the front pages of the news, but it should be, because that's an incredibly important question. Because ours is a tale of three branches, not one.
And the president, in order to govern effectively, needs Congress. And he needs to use congressional legislation to get the gold standard that he wants.
Right now, the Democrats have a razor-thin control of the Senate, but it looks like they're going to lose that. The House Republicans have a razor-thin majority. They might lose that.
And so, I think the Democrats are probably in more trouble in the House and Senate than the Republicans. But either way, no -- no president, whomever it is, will have a mandate to govern.
HOLMES: Yes, yes. Of course, most of us are on the edge of our seats about election day and the days after. But -- but just as importantly are the days and days after. What do you expect to see happen as the dust settles on the 2024 race?
GENOVESE: Well, you know, Donald Trump has already filed over 130 lawsuits. So, if he loses, there'll be more lawsuits; there'll be more chaos. There'll be more promised revenge, as he's -- he's already been -- made clear. And there may very well be violence.
I mean, Donald Trump is a bad winner, but he's a terrible loser. And so, I think -- you know, we've seen the movie before, what happened in 2020. It didn't end well. It ended in January 6th.
And Donald Trump, he will not go quietly into the night. He will -- he will go out kicking and screaming. And so, he could cause deep trouble and take the divisions that we have and drive them -- us even further apart as a country.
M. HOLMES: He's talked a lot about, you know, his little secret with the -- with the House leader, Mike Johnson. A lot of people take that to mean that there are Republican operatives in county, district, state level who are in there simply to stop the certification of various states.
You could have a situation where Kamala Harris gets the 270 on paper, and then some of those states just won't certify, which can lead to a situation of the House voting -- voting in the president, which would be insane. But it could happen.
A lot of people are worried about that. Are you?
GENOVESE: I'm worried about it only to the extent that Donald Trump will try to do whatever he can, no matter how civil -- uncivilized or how inappropriate it is. If he loses, he'll try anything and everything.
He filed over 60 lawsuits after he lost in 2020. He'll go to the courts. He'll go to the people. And you know, he just won't give up. He won't give in.
In some respects, that's an admirable quality. But you reach a point where you say you've lost. You're the loser. He lost in 2020. If he loses again, I'm not sure that he'll have much of a of a leg to stand on any longer.
M. HOLMES: All right. Michael Genovese, always good to talk to you. Thank you, my friend.
GENOVESE: Thank you, Michael.
M. HOLMES: Well, the latest CNN poll of polls from the key battleground state of Pennsylvania shows both candidates at 48 percent. And the push to win critical votes has resulted in an innovative ways [SIC] of reaching voters and encourage them -- encouraging them to cast a ballot.
[00:15:09]
CNN's Phil Mattingly looks at Republican tactics on the ground. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For Donald Trump, the path to victory on election day runs through Western Pennsylvania.
RICO ELMORE, BEAVER COUNTY REPUBLICAN PARTY VICE CHAIRMAN: It's not TV ads. It's not signs and billboards. It's that face to face --
MATTINGLY (voice-over): -- which makes Rico Elmore a critical piece of the Trump campaign's unorthodox, and in the view of some Republicans, risky voter turnout strategy.
MATTINGLY: One of the things that's been hard to figure out in terms of ground game in this state is there's just a mass of Republican groups, right? It's -- it's the most important state of the election, I think.
ELMORE: We're the keystone.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): The Keystone State now ground zero for both campaigns, home to a rapidly intensifying get-out-the-vote battle, impossible to miss as Elmore, who has knocked on over 30,000 doors this cycle, added a few more to his total here in Beaver County.
But for Trump, what has long been the primary in-house domain of the campaign -- the door knocking, the ballot chasing, the voter targeting, and data -- now the purview of outside GOP groups and Trump allies that number roughly a dozen.
ELMORE: You have individuals like the Republican Committee here in Beaver County. You also have the Early Vote Action. You also have Turning Point that -- you have PA Chase. MATTINGLY (voice-over): It's a ground game gamble, an effort now
turbocharged by the country's richest man.
TRUMP: Take over, Elon.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): Elon Musk, who has poured more than $100 million into boosting Trump.
ELMORE: In Beaver County --
MATTINGLY (voice-over): Elmore is, in some ways, the embodiment of the Trump strategy. He's a councilman and vice chair of the Beaver County Republicans, who also works for one of the outside groups, PA Chase, and has ties with a second outside operation, Turning Point Action.
His county GOP office, another window into the integration. It doubles as Trump's regional campaign office.
VIVIAN FUNKHOUSER, BEAVER COUNTY GOP VOLUNTEER: I also have a little piece of paper with a QR code on it, so that they can go in to VotePA.gov and check the status of their registration. And then, if they want a mail-in ballot, I help them with that, too.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): That -- that's new.
MATTINGLY: The skepticism, though, on absentee ballots, on mail-in ballots was real, I presume, coming into this cycle.
ELMORE: Right, right.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): That skepticism, of course, driven by one person.
TRUMP: Anytime you have a mail-in ballot, there's going to be massive fraud.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): A lie with painful electoral consequences for Republicans here.
SEAN LOGUE, CHAIRMAN, WASHINGTON COUNTY GOP: We learned that you can't start an election 700,000 votes down. We learned from the Democrats. The Republicans in the past chased voters. The Democrats in the past chased votes. Those are two very different things.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): An hour South, Washington County GOP chair Sean Logue said Trump's embrace of mail-in voting, belated and tepid as it may be, has had a dramatic effect.
LOGUE: He is our leader. We follow his directives. When he said that it was a scam, yes, people did not do the absentee ballots. But now that he's on board, every single wing of the Republican Party is now on board.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): Now, the animating cause for the constellation of outside groups blitzing voters across the state, connected through a central data hub and agreements with the campaign and party; capitalizing on new federal rules that dramatically enhance their ability to share voter data. A strategic convergence driving the push to turn out voters traditional campaigns don't have the bandwidth or money to target.
LOGUE: We've now targeted the Amish, and they're getting registered, and they're going to vote. Hunters in Pennsylvania. Hunters traditionally aren't registered to vote. So, we've gone out and registered them, as well. Young people are excited.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): Trump's support among younger male voters, specifically, has been as robust as it has been consistent this year. A group historically ambivalent about voting, now crucial.
And that's why Trump rallied here --
TRUMP: We're getting to the end --
MATTINGLY (voice-over): -- on the campus of Penn State, the state's largest university. And it's also why tailgaters at last week's prime- time Pitt-Syracuse football game shared a parking lot, and sandwiches, with volunteers staffing this Trump campaign outpost.
MATTINGLY: If Trump wins this state, probably the most critical state, you say it's all because of football tailgates?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I wouldn't say all because of football tailgates, but I mean, that -- it doesn't hurt.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): An untested approach that eschews central command for concentric circles of outreach and voter contact, one that commingles the campaign and outside allies. Trump's most intense supporters, and the lowest propensity voters. Volunteers and billionaires. With the entire election hanging in the balance.
TRUMP: So, if we win Pennsylvania, we win the whole damn thing, right?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[00:20:05]
M. HOLMES: Phil Mattingly there.
Now, Spain's king and queen paid a visit to Valencia, an area ravaged by some of Europe's worst flooding in decades. But they did not receive the royal treatment. We'll have more on that.
Also, the U.S. election results could have major implications -- ramifications for Europe, of course. We'll look at some of the top concerns among global leaders as they wait to see who wins the White House.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. HOLMES: Spain is bracing for more rainfall in areas already ravaged by historic flooding.
Parts of the East coast are under orange and yellow warnings for heavy rain and storms. Forecasters say some places could see about 50 millimeters of rain an hour on Monday.
Meanwhile, clean-up efforts were hampered on Sunday in Valencia, which saw more rainfall just days after the region experienced the country's worst flash flooding in modern history. Dozens of people still unaccounted for, and authorities say about 3,000 homes are without power.
Spain's king and queen went to one of the hardest hit areas on Sunday to see the devastation firsthand, but they were met by an angry crowd, outraged over the government's response.
Atika Shubert is in Valencia with the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Residents in Valencia are furious with the government for the slow response to the flooding disaster.
SHUBERT (voice-over): The royal family, the king and queen of Spain, came to visit Playa Puerta. This is one of the most affected areas of Valencia.
And they came here on Sunday with Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and regional government Governor Carlos Mazon. But when they stepped out onto the streets, still caked in mud from the flood, they were confronted by an angry mob that hurled insults, eggs, and mud at the king and queen.
It was a very tense situation. At one point, police looked like they might lose control of the mob.
What ended up happening was security whisked away Prime Minister Sanchez, but the king and queen remained and insisted on moving forward and talking to members of the public.
And there are some incredible scenes of residents right up in the face of the king and queen, berating them for their -- for failing to respond to the crisis in time.
Now, the social media channel of the royal family published other video showing distraught members of the public being embraced by the king, at one point falling into the king's arms as he listened to what they had to say.
But it was such a tense situation that the visit had to be cut short and suspended.
So, it really just goes to show how angry people are. And, to make matters worse --
[00:25:03] SHUBERT: -- the weather is turning bad. Once again, Spain's meteorological agency has upgraded the red alert warning system for Valencia.
SHUBERT (voice-over): Unfortunately, for a region that has already been hit by floods, the last thing people want to see here is more rain.
SHUBERT: Atika Shubert for CNN in Valencia, Spain.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. HOLMES: The Associated Press reporting that Moldova's pro-Western president, Maia Sandu, has won a second term in office in an election marred by allegations of Russian interference.
With nearly 99 percent of the vote counted, Sandu was 55 percent, giving her an apparent victory over her opponent from the pro-Russian Socialist Party.
Sandu is a former World Bank adviser who has worked to curb Moscow's influence and has pushed to join the European Union. She says the election result is a firm endorsement of those policies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAIA SANDU, PRESIDENT OF MOLDOVA (through translator): Moldova has been under an unprecedented attack in the history of all Europe. Dirty money, illegal vote buying, the interference in electoral processes by hostile forces from outside the country and by criminal groups. Lies, sowing hatred and fear within our society. Our people have united; and freedom, and the citizens have won. Peace and hope for a better life have prevailed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. HOLMES: The country's parliamentary elections next summer should provide a fresh test of her views.
Still to come here on the program, Americans are not the only people anxiously awaiting the U.S. election outcome. We'll take you around the world to learn how other countries are anticipating a shift in tone with a new U.S. president.
Plus, many early voters in the U.S. are motivated to protect women's rights. We'll take a look at how many women are turning out in key battleground states.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. HOLMES: Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are running out of time to court voters ahead of election day polls on Tuesday.
Trump's going all out on Monday with four different rallies in three battleground states, two of them in the critical state of Pennsylvania. That's also where Harris will spend her last day campaigning. Her final pitch will come at a star-studded rally in Philadelphia.
The contest still incredibly tight. No clear leader, as you can see there. The latest CNN poll of polls showing Harris leading Trump by just one point.
Whether it is Harris or whether it is Trump, the outcome of this election will have major ramifications around the world. We have correspondent standing by in a number of countries to gauge the international reaction to what is an incredibly tight race.
[00:30:02]
Marc Stewart is in Beijing; Larry Madowo in Nairobi. But first to senior international correspondent Melissa Bell in Paris, with the perspective from Europe.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MELISSA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: American elections are always closely watched here in Europe, but this one, really, like no other.
Not only because of the likely economic consequences of a second Donald Trump term, given his pledges --
BELL (voice-over): -- of tariffs on imported goods and what that would mean for the global economy.
BELL: But also, from this continent's point of view, for its security --
BELL (voice-over): -- remember that the last time Donald Trump was president, there had been all this talk in Europe of needing to achieve greater strategic independence. The fears are now on the continent that that hasn't gone far enough --
BELL: -- with the war in Ukraine not helping either.
A lot of questions. A lot of attention, then, on what happens Tuesday in the United States.
MARC STEWART, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Marc Stewart in Beijing. Here in China, the government is being very deliberate about not making any public statements about the election, though Beijing likely expects tension to remain high and may see pros and cons in the candidates.
For example --
STEWART (voice-over): -- former President Trump, while at times unpredictable, has been critical of alliances such as NATO at a time when China is trying to establish itself as the leader of a new world order. Vice President Harris may bring some continuity from the Biden
administration, focusing in on alliances, and trying to control China's access to high tech.
STEWART: Regardless, China will likely have to confront the issue of tariffs as U.S. lawmakers demand a level playing field in the global marketplace.
And as far as Chinese citizens, there is certainly curiosity. I get questions all the time. But people seem to be more concerned about their families and their struggles, as opposed to what's happening overseas.
LARRY MADOWO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Larry Madowo in Nairobi, where a lot of people here in Kenya and across Africa are watching the U.S. election with interest.
They know that whoever sits in the White House has an impact even here in Africa.
And speaking to people, even while I've been here on the street, a lot of them tell me they like Donald Trump.
MADOWO (voice-over): They like that he speaks his mind. They're aware of his more controversial comments, reportedly having called some African nations (EXPLETIVE DELETED)-hole countries. But they like that they know where they stand with him.
MADOWO: And for many religious Africans, as well, they're attracted to his opposition to abortion, to LGBT rights.
Many Africans also know that Kamala Harris has Jamaican heritage. Therefore, her roots trace back to Africa. But they even know that she's been traveling in Africa --
MADOWO (voice-over): -- as V.P. to Ghana, to Zambia, and to Tanzania. But there's just a certain attraction to Donald Trump.
MADOWO: The myth of the successful businessman. And that is just another reason why they're more attracted to the candidacy of Donald Trump, and they think he'll be a better president for Africa.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. HOLMES: Well, this election appears to have galvanized American women. With Republican attacks on reproductive health care, including abortion care and in vitro fertilization, many female voters see their rights and freedoms at the center of this campaign.
In the seven most contested battleground states, women have cast 55 percent of the early voting ballots. Recent CNN polling showing Vice President Kamala Harris with an edge over Donald Trump among women, 50 percent to Trump's 44 percent.
Take a listen to the candidates about what they have to say about women's rights. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I'm through the roof with men. I'm great with men, but I'm sort of like soft with the women stuff. Women have to be protected when they're at home in suburbia.
I consider myself to be the father of fertilization. Remember?
HARRIS: Ours is a fight for freedom.
Freedom of a woman to make decisions about her own body.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. HOLMES: Some early voters are making their voices heard and celebrating with a pioneering women's rights icon, Susan B. Anthony.
They're placing their "I voted" stickers on her headstone and memorial statue in Rochester, New York.
Susan B. Anthony was one of the best known early suffragists, campaigning for equal voting rights for women in the 1800s. She died before women were granted that constitutional right, but modern women recognize her groundbreaking work.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now I'm a mom of two daughters, and I want my daughters to be engaged citizens. I want them to vote. And to be able to do that here today. And then just to come and honor the work that Susan B. Anthony did to give me the right to do that was beyond important.
JANE CARDEN, VOTER: The fact that she took this stand over 100 years ago, that I could do this and that my daughters can do this, it's a privilege. I wouldn't be anywhere else. I wouldn't vote anywhere else this year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. HOLMES: American women gained the right to vote in 1920, 14 years after Anthony's death.
[00:35:07]
And do be sure to tune in to CNN's live coverage of election night in America. It all starts right here, Tuesday, 4 p.m. on the U.S. East coast. That's 9 p.m. in London.
And still to come on the program, a CNN investigation uncovers how close some Israeli airstrikes are hitting -- are close to hitting hospitals in Lebanon, as people there face bombardment nearly every day.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) M. HOLMES: Despite claiming to target Hezbollah, Israel's recent attacks in Lebanon have also damaged the country's hospitals, even forcing some to shut down altogether, according to health officials.
A CNN investigation discovered the Israeli military has dropped massive bombs within a lethal range of at least 19 hospitals. CNN's senior investigations writer Tamara Qiblawi reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TAMARA QIBLAWI, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIONS WRITER (voice-over): A ball of fire lights up the night sky. Seconds later, loud booms reverberate through Lebanon's capital.
One of many explosions rocking Beirut's Southern suburbs, nearly every night for the past month.
In Lebanon's largest public hospital, glass shatters, and there's panic as an Israeli bomb hits the vicinity. E.R. nurse Mohammad Fouani was there when that explosion came without warning.
MOHAMMAD FOUANI, E.R. NURSE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: When the explosion happened, the ground shook, and I fell over my patient. We have been through a lot, but this event was the worst thing we ever experienced.
QIBLAWI (voice-over): In the day, the horrors come to light. Meters away from the hospital, the epicenter of the Israeli strike.
A desperate scramble to dig men, women, and children out of the rubble.
This is Hezbollah's seat of power, a major flashpoint in Israel's bombing campaign.
But this is also home to some one million people, most of whom are now displaced.
QIBLAWI: Israeli strikes across the country have damaged 34 hospitals, according to health authorities. Eight of these have been forced to close.
Now, while the majority of these hospitals weren't directly hit, they were inside a blast radius known as a kill zone.
QIBLAWI (voice-over): Let's look at this more closely. The bombing campaign focused on three areas: the Southern suburbs of Beirut, the Bekaa Valley, and the country's South, which borders Israel.
We analyzed over 240 Israeli airstrikes in the first month of Israel's countrywide offensive.
Our team measured the potential reach of fragments from each one of these attacks. Experts call this a kill zone: a 340-meter radius around the target, where shrapnel can tear through buildings and people.
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This calculation is based on the types of bombs we know Israel is using in Lebanon today.
In the Southern suburbs of Beirut, our analysis found that every single hospital was within the kill zone of an airstrike, and health authorities say every single hospital has been damaged as a result.
In the Bekaa Valley, two hospitals were found within these kill zones. In the South, where whole villages have been flattened by Israel's bombardment, there were six.
CNN was able to verify 19 hospitals that fell within these kill zones. Health authorities say a fifth of Lebanon's hospitals have been damaged.
Many fear this is only the beginning, with dozens of Lebanese health and emergency workers killed in just a month, according to the health ministry. There are echoes of the apocalyptic situation that is still playing out for hospitals in Gaza.
DR. THAER AHMAD, PHYSICIAN: We can't let that happen.
QIBLAWI (voice-over): Doctor Thaer Ahmad is an American doctor who was working in Gaza earlier this year. He's in Lebanon now, and he says he's getting flashbacks.
AHMAD: There are no red lines. There is no respect for international humanitarian law. We saw that in Gaza for the past 13 months, and we're seeing it in Lebanon. Are we heading in that same direction? Are we actually going to see this repeat itself?
QIBLAWI (voice-over): Responding to CNN's findings, the Israeli military said it operates "in strict accordance with international law."
It accused Hezbollah of being "deeply embedded in civilian areas," deliberately close to medical facilities.
Lebanon is no stranger to war, but its health workers say they've never been more vulnerable. And yet, they say they feel they have no choice but to carry on.
Tamara Qiblawi, CNN, London.
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M. HOLMES: And finally, China's Shenzhou-18 spacecraft has successfully returned to Earth.
The capsule, containing three astronauts, landed as planned in inner Mongolia. There it is, touching down.
The three-person crew spent several months in low orbit and conducted China's longest ever spacewalk. The crew's April launch marked more than two decades of Chinese human spaceflight.
Thanks for spending part of your day with me. I'm Michael Holmes. You can follow me on X and Instagram: @HolmesCNN.
Stick around. I'll have more news for you in about 15 minutes or so. WORLD SPORT coming your way in the interim.
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