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New Day
Clinton & Trump Battle Into Election Day; Voters in 3 New Hampshire Towns Cast First Ballots. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired November 08, 2016 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We are finally going to close the history books on the Clintons. We will open a bright new chapter.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We face the test of our time. What will we vote for?
GOV. MIKE PENCE (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It is November 8th, the day we make America great again.
MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY: This election is on us. It is in our hands. If we get out and vote, Hillary Clinton will win.
REP. PAUL RYAN (R), WISCONSIN: Republicans need to come home.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: After eight years as your president, I'm asking you to trust me on this one.
TRUMP: We're hours away from a once in a lifetime change.
CLINTON: This election will end, but our work together will be just beginning.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. This is NEW DAY. It is Tuesday, November 8th, 5:00 in the East.
It is Election Day in America. Time to exercise the right. The franchise that has been secured in blood and is the envy of the world. In the election, the finish line is in sight where Clinton and Trump. Today, it's up to you, the voters. The candidates battling it out until the wee hours of the morning, making their final appeal.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: And the first votes have already been cast in three small towns in New Hampshire. So, we'll tell you those results in a second.
The polls in 12 other states will open for millions of voters in the next hour. [05:00:03] We have it all covered for you.
So, let's begin with CNN's Phil Mattingly. He is live in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Good morning, Phil.
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn. Hillary Clinton planned on not doing a whole lot on Election Day. But at 1:00 a.m. inside that building behind me, she was still going, trying to close the deal on what could be an historic day for the Clinton family.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTINGLY (voice-over): Hillary Clinton back home in New York, after crossing the country on her final day of campaigning, hoping to make history tonight.
CLINTON: Our core values are being tested in this election, but my faith in our future has never been stronger.
MATTINGLY: Appealing to voters at a midnight rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, flanked by Jon Bon Jovi and Lady Gaga.
CLINTON: There is no reason my friends why America's best days are not ahead of us.
MATTINGLY: Tens of thousands gathered outside Philadelphia's Independence Hall for her largest rally of the campaign.
President Obama and first lady rallying voters for Clinton.
B. OBAMA: Are you fired up? Are you ready to go?
MATTINGLY: And pleading with them to protect their legacy.
M. OBAMA: I'm also emotional because in many, speaking here tonight is perhaps the last and most important thing that I can do for my country as first lady.
B. OBAMA: I am betting that tomorrow you will reject fear and you'll choose hope.
MATTINGLY: Obama symbolically passing the torch, and pulling out Clinton step stool for Clinton to speak.
B. OBAMA: It's going to be permanently there for you.
MATTINGLY: Clinton zeroing in on her closing argument.
CLINTON: Every issue you care about is on that ballot.
MATTINGLY: Trying to move past this divisive campaign.
CLINTON: We have to bridge the divides in our country. I regret deeply how angry the tone of the campaign became.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: Not your fault!
MATTINGLY: But a deliberate move aides tell CNN what happens tonight if she should win tonight -- governing.
CLINTON: Tomorrow night, this election will end. But I want you to understand, our work together will be just beginning.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MATTINGLY: And, Chris, if you talked to campaign veterans, they will tell you today can often be the hardest day of the entire campaign. Look at Hillary Clinton's schedule, look at Tim Kaine's schedule, her running mate. They plan on voting this morning and then that's it.
Now, behind the scenes, they will be working on speeches and aides do tell CNN that Hillary Clinton will be writing two speeches into tonight. A victory speech and a concession speech. But, guys, there is a lot of idle time. The field staff will be hard at work, but the candidates alone with their thoughts -- Chris.
CUOMO: That is always tough. The two speech preparation drill. Which do you use? Most candidates don't even want to look at the concession speech.
Phil Mattingly, thank you very much.
Donald Trump ending his 24-hour campaign blitz, the same way he started it a year and a half ago. Blasting his opponent, the Washington establishment, the media. Trump warning the American working class will strike back.
CNN's Sunlen Serfaty joins us live at Trump Tower in New York with more.
This is the message that has gotten to people's emotion and anger and driven Trump to where he is today.
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's absolutely right, Chris. And we did see vintage Donald Trump last night on his final day out on the campaign trail. He just landed a short time ago back here in New York City after a flurry of campaign events all day yesterday, lasting well into the morning and past 1:00 a.m. this morning.
And that was the final pitch as he made the final pitch to voters, he talked about the journey it has been for him, 511 days after he first started the campaign right here in New York City.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TRUMP: It's now officially Tuesday, November 8th.
SERFATY (voice-over): Donald Trump pulling off one final campaign frenzy.
TRUMP: Today is our Independence Day. Today, the American working class is going to strike back.
SERFATY: Sprinting to the finish with the rousing midnight speech in Grand Rapids, Michigan, blitzing through five states in the final 24 hours.
TRUMP: I thought New Hampshire would my last speech and I heard that crooked Hillary Clinton was coming to Michigan. I said, let's follow it up.
SERFATY: Trump knocking Clinton's celebrity supporters.
TRUMP: We don't need Jay-Z or Beyonce. We don't need Jon Bon Jovi. We don't need Lady Gaga.
[05:05:00] SERFATY: And trying to project confidence.
TRUMP: Today, we are gong to win the great state of Michigan and we are going to win back the White House.
SERFATY: The Republican candidate even reflective in the final campaign rally.
TRUMP: It's almost hard to believe. We started a year and a half ago. We started with 17 very talented people. Now, we have one flawed candidate left to beat.
SERFATY: Earlier, Trump talking up a celebrity friend of his own -- New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.
TRUMP: He called today and he said, "Donald, I support you. You're friend and I voted for you."
SERFATY: But Brady hasn't endorsed Trump and yesterday, he denied having cast his ballot on a Boston radio show.
TOM BRADY, NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS QUARTERBACK: No, I haven't voted yet.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SERFATY: And Donald Trump will be voting at some point later this morning here in New York. And he'll be watching some returns here at Trump Tower. And then at some point, we'll move to his watch party at a hotel in Midtown Manhattan.
And, Alisyn, so interesting, his watch party is only 1.5 miles away from Clinton's watch party. Certainly, an interesting dynamic here in New York. Two candidates so close when the results come back.
CAMEROTA: Ooh, maybe they'll both run out in the street like Alec Baldwin and Kate McKinnon, at the end and grasp hands -- no, that's not going to happen.
Sunlen, thank you very much for the reporting. Voters in three tiny New Hampshire towns are the first in America to cast ballots on Election Day and polls open at the stroke of midnight.
CNN's Rachel Crane is live in Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, with more.
Hi, Rachel.
RACHEL CRANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Alisyn.
Well, the polls here in New Hampshire are opening in just under an hour now. But here in Dixville Notch, they are closed. That's because the town participates in the tradition of midnight voting. And they have been doing it since 1960.
Dixville Notch takes advantage of this weird law that New Hampshire that says -- that New Hampshire has that says if a town has less than 100 people, the polls can close early. That's easy when you have just eight residents that are registered to vote.
Now, here in Dixville Notch, Clinton won four of the eight votes, Trump taking two and Johnson with one. And one resident went and wrote in Mitt Romney's name.
Now, Dixville Notch is not the only town that participates in midnight voting here in New Hampshire. There is also Hart's Location where Clinton won 17 votes, Trump taking 14. Johnson with three. One person wrote in Bernie Sanders name. I'm sorry. Two wrote in Bernie Sanders name. One wrote in Kasich's name.
Also, Mills Field where Trump took 16 and Hillary with 4 and one person wrote in Bernie Sanders.
You see it is Trump that is beating Clinton in these midnight votes. He has 32 and Clinton has 25 -- Alisyn and Chris.
CAMEROTA: OK, Rachel, interesting. It is always interesting to look at the votes, though they are not always a bellwether of how the rest of the country --
CUOMO: Dixville Notch got it right three of the last four. But, you know, its' interesting. Even this is complicated. It started at midnight like three towns. Imagine the rest of the day.
CAMEROTA: Let's bring in our panel and talk about this and so much more.
We have CNN senior political analyst and senior editor for "The Atlantic", Ron Brownstein, CNN political analyst and author of "How's Your Faith", David Gregory, CNN political commentator and senior contributor for "The Daily Caller", Matt Lewis, and CNN political analyst and Washington bureau chief of "The Daily Beast", Jackie Kucinich.
They're all so accomplish. It takes a long time to get through that intro. CAMEROTA: David, what did you think of the final pitches?
DAVID GREGORY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think it indicates what they're thinking about, what their big priorities are. Hillary Clinton is in Philadelphia with a kind of -- you know, that's end game. I mean, that's a lot of pageantry. You had a lot of stars.
Yes, you had Michelle and Barack Obama. You had former president Clinton. You have all of the star power.
Really an example of where she wants to close, really turn out a strong minority vote in a state like Pennsylvania, which is all voting on election day. Turn out college educated white voters and the counties of Philadelphia and ending in North Carolina where she is perhaps going to tap into the historic turn out and surge among Latino voters, which could really be divisive for in that state, where Donald Trump is in Michigan, showing he has signs of real concern, that he's got to do something that may be tough for him and try to tip the balance of working class white voters in the Midwest, that could be in his favor.
So, again, it shows you where they are nervous and focus in that last time of argument.
CUOMO: What do both campaigns need to happen today? Because this is where they are, right? They're not working it. Right now, you moved totally into your get out the vote mechanism. Everybody else is like in a cramp.
[05:10:00] You know, they wish they could do something else. But they can't move anymore.
So, what are they sitting and hoping for?
RON BROWSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Look, every four years, we say the composition of the electorate is the decisive, important factor. I think it's even more important than usual because the divergence between the groups is so large that every point in composition, by which I mean, what share of the vote are non-college white voters, what share of the vote are college white voters, what share of the vote are minorities, voters of color.
The gaps between the way each of those three groups are voting is so large that, you know, the real issue in the election and what is left this morning is, does the electorate look like what the pollsters expect or does it tilt one or two ways? Is it more diverse that they expect? Because they're not expecting a decrease in diversity, generally, which is what we've had, two points every four years basically for the last 20. They are not expecting that. And is it significantly more blue are than they expect? Either one, you know, the diversity direction would benefit Clinton. Blue collar would benefit Trump. Either one could be the basis of the surprise tonight.
CAMEROTA: Matt, we do have some information about Latinos and early voting. Let's just look at that and see if tells us anything because it is up, tremendously since the last election. So, you see in Florida up 89 percent. From the last time they
measured in Florida in 2008. North Carolina up 79 percent. Georgia up 144 percent.
Do you think this is what today hinges on?
MATT LEWIS, SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR, THE DAILY CALLER: Yes. I think what Ron just said. It's about the cliche of turnout. Pollsters make assumptions about who is going to show up at the polls.
And so, if they get those assumptions wrong, it skews everything else. And so, if there are more Hispanics or less than we assume, that could be the race. If there's a hidden white vote, a hidden white working class Joe six-pack vote, then maybe Trump surprises everybody and wins like Michigan and Pennsylvania, and it becomes a crazy night.
I'm not predicting that, but it's within the realm of possibility. I would say this, if Donald Trump loses Florida and if he loses because of the Hispanic vote, it's completely brought on by himself. That would be the amazing thing that he would have set this up, because I think he's driving turnout. Not Hillary Clinton. I think Donald Trump, voting in opposition of Donald Trump is why Hispanics are turning out in those early votes.
CUOMO: Florida, Jackie, went from high ignominy in 2000, right? The system didn't make sense. They couldn't get the count right.
And now, at latest numbers of early voting, they had 50 percent participation before the polls even opened this morning. And so, they're going to have, maybe, maybe, the most participation of any state we've ever seen in modern history. It's a big turn around.
JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Absolutely. And you've heard -- you heard the RNC over the last couple of days tout their absentee ballot, tout the early voting in places where they think they're doing well. But, you know, the other thing with Latino vote that we're seeing in terms of pollsters, there aren't a lot of polls that have bilingual questions. And so, that's another reason why you are seeing this surge that they weren't expecting. So, that's something that we're definitely watching.
But one of the things I thought was interesting what Hillary Clinton said during her speech last night in Philadelphia. She said if you are in line at 8:00, stay in line. They have to let you vote.
You know, part of that was, think, because of -- in Nevada, where you saw a long line of people waiting to vote. They kept the polls open at 10:00. They were supposed to close at 8:00. You had Donald Trump say that is irregular. And it's not. That is legal.
GREGORY: To Matt's point, too. I mean, look, in early voting in Florida, the numbers are that you've got 36 percent of Latinos voting for the first time in early voting. Think about how far we have come. In 2000 when I covered then-Governor Bush, his line was family values don't end at Rio Grande River.
BROWNSTEIN: Yes, right.
GREGORY: And now, in 2006, the Republican candidate is saying, we're going to build a wall, it's going to be a beautiful wall, and we're gong to send illegal immigrants home.
The high water mark, George W. Bush, 44 percent of Hispanics in 2004, here, the non white vote will be south of 20 percent, maybe south of15 percent for Donald Trump. This is a huge deal.
LEWIS: It could reorder the whole Republican Party.
(CROSSTALK)
GREGORY: It has already been reordered because of this.
KUCINICH: But the party messaging has been different in different parts of the party. You have the Republican autopsy that we talked about so much after the last election. So, they needed to expand the base with Hispanic voters. And that has been thrown out the window.
BROWNSTEIN: Here is the gamble. Ronald Reagan in 1984 won white voters without a college education by 32 points. He got to 59 percent of the total vote.
In the final NBC/"Wall Street Journal" polls, Trump was winning white voters without by the same 32 percent. That got him to 40 percent of the vote. There is a pathway through the Midwest where these voters are concentrated and Democrats have to worry about defending Ohio, Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania.
But in the kind of big picture, the country is changing. It is becoming more diverse. And a party that's winning 15 percent of the growing group of the population, depending on a shrinking group, that isn't a long term recipe for success.
[05:15:04] CAMEROTA: Panel, stick around.
CUOMO: The good news is we've really laid out what matters. The bad news is, it is only 15 minutes in the show.
(LAUGHTER)
CUOMO: It's a long day. You're going to hear a lot of things. What we are trying to do on the show is really dig down into what this dynamic is going to be, so you don't just give buried in headlines for instance.
You know the campaigns are doing their deal. This morning, you're going to have the whole vote parade. We're going to have vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine to talk about how important this day is for him on the Democrat side.
On the Republican side, we're going to have family member. His kids are the best surrogates. There's no question about it. Don Jr. is on with us this morning. CAMEROTA: I never though I'd say this, but the campaigning is done.
Now, it is time for the voters to have their say. Which states will decide this historic election? We have the battlegrounds to watch next on NEW DAY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAMEROTA: Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton barnstorming several key states in the final hours of their campaigns.
[05:20:05] Which states does each candidate need to win to get to that magic number of 270 electoral votes?
CNN political analyst David Gregory is at the magic wall to break down the numbers.
What do you have, David?
GREGORY: OK. Well, this is all about the voting. It's all about looking at the wall. Let's take a look at where the candidates end and why they end it there.
We'll start with Hillary Clinton. She had her big rallies last night where? In Center City, Philadelphia. That's about turning out the minority vote. Relying upon all of her fire power in the Democratic Party to do that. It is also about the collar counties of Philadelphia where the college educated white vote that could propel here to victory are. That's very important.
She's also, of course, in North Carolina. We have been talking about the Latino vote. The highest percentage increase in the Latino vote is in North Carolina. That becomes important.
If you are Donald Trump, he ends last night interestingly in Michigan. That's really about insurance. If he runs the table of some of these swing states that he has to win, not just holding the Romney states of '12, but flipping Democratic states from '12 that Obama won, he may still need an insurance of a Michigan if she stops in Florida or North Carolina -- guys.
CAMEROTA: Ron?
Let's bring in our panel again.
BROWNSTEIN: Look, I actually have a big take on the Electoral College and how this kind of a map, how this fits in. The first point is 40 states have voted the same way in every election since 2000. OK. That is a remarkable level of consistency. Even when Franklin Roosevelt won four straight times, or the Republicans won four straight times, 1896 to 1908, it was not at 80 percent of the available states.
CUOMO: So --
BROWNSTEIN: There's a lot of continuity. And the question is, how much can they change the map? And I think we are going to see a new map.
CUOMO: Give us an answer. You give us a Trump path that could be different.
BROWNSTEIN: The Trump path that's different is winning all of the Romney states which is holding North Carolina and then adding to it, Florida, Ohio, Iowa --
CAMEROTA: Slow down.
CUOMO: Gregory is nowhere.
BROWNSTEIN: And Michigan, right? And Michigan and probably New Hampshire. New Hampshire or -- and Nevada would be the next one. You see how it's hard.
CUOMO: Just one.
BROWNSTEIN: Right.
But that includes two states that are very hard. The problem for Trump is that every road and ever pathway ends with having to flip one state that is pretty reliable in Hillary Clinton's corner.
CUOMO: Is he just one state away?
BROWNSTEIN: If he can win all of the swing states, right? If he can win the ones they are treating as swing states, Florida, North Carolina and Iowa. If he can win Pennsylvania at that point, then he would be OK. But short of that, I think he needs more, he needs more than one.
LEWIS: I think the electoral map, forget about the natural polls. It was always really hard to imagine Hillary losing, because she had so many built-in advantages.
My map, I actually have a narrow race with Hillary winning. I assume that there is a hidden working class white vote that Trump is going to surprise some people. I have them winning Florida, and I have him winning North Carolina.
But the problem is I don't see how he wins Pennsylvania or Michigan. So, that last step where he has to go into her turf. I just think she's got more money. She's got more organization. That's --
CUOMO: All right. But, Jackie, if Clinton wins Florida and North Carolina.
BROWNSTEIN: Go to bed early.
CUOMO: It's over no matter what?
KUCINICH: There would have to be states that we're not talking about.
GREGORY: Plus, you're in a scenario, what is Clinton thinking about this morning? She is thinking about trying to claim a mandate. If she has an opportunity to win these states and tack on Nevada, she gets up into 318. Even closer if she can get New Hampshire, then she's up into the 320s. That's the kind of night that she wants to have, not just to win clearly, but to say, this was a strong rejection of Donald Trump.
KUCINICH: But this is when, this is why they're -- to Matt's point, their operation matters. They've been contacting these voters and basically stalking them to get to the polls, calling them. If they don't pick up, they -- you know, that -- those fundamentals matter on a day like today, particularly in states without early vote.
LEWIS: I wonder, if Trump had run sort of the populist nationalist campaign that is getting a lot of support in the Midwest, but if he also had a campaign apparatus, you know, this would be different.
BROWNSTEIN: You know, the pattern -- look, the other pattern worth watching is this election could accelerate what we expect to unfold over the next decade into one election cycle, because if you look at, you know, you look -- if you look over the last five, six elections since 1992, the five battlegrounds in the Midwest, what are they?
They're Ohio, Iowa, Michigan, Iowa, and Pennsylvania. They're the Rust Belt States. Democrats have won them 27 out of 30 times.
You look at the five battlegrounds in the Sun Belt. North Carolina, Virginia, Florida in the southeast, Colorado, Nevada in the southwest, Democrats have won them 13 out of 30 times. And yet, it is entirely possible in this election, as a group, that Trump will be better in those Rust Belt battlegrounds. He is blowing the doors off.
(CROSSTALK)
[05:25:07] BROWNSTEIN: The future, because not only will you have Clinton relying more on places like Florida, Virginia and Colorado, probably than she is on Iowa and Ohio. But you have Arizona and George coming into play. And, by the way, even if the states don't fully tip, if Donald Trump goes minus nine Romney to minus two in Michigan, that tells you something.
CUOMO: This will be the determination we will see reflected down ballot as well.
So, let's talk about some of the close races that we're expecting on the Senate side. What do we need to keep an eye on today, Gregory, that's reflective of this? Put him up on the screen here. We have Florida, Illinois and Indiana. How do you see this?
GREGORY: Well, Illinois is one that looks like it is on the verge of tipping going to the Democrats. Indiana was one where Evan Bayh who have come back into the race, looks like he's in a little bit more trouble now.
So, we look at this race, New Hampshire is particularly participating because Kelly Ayotte has been ahead of where Donald Trump has been in a state and that's a state the could go --
CUOMO: She is the great example of the struggle of how to define yourself. She endorsed Trump.
GREGORY: She endorsed Trump and she pulled back and unendorsed him after the "Access Hollywood" tape. North Carolina is tight. Pennsylvania, Toomey has been down a little bit.
KUCINICH: He's running a great race. Toomey is running a great race --
(CROSSTALK)
GREGORY: He set himself apart from Trump.
LEWIS: I think the Comey news is one of the under appreciated stories.
CUOMO: Which piece of news? The nine days ago news or the news --
LEWIS: The nine days ago, because I think that -- I still have Hillary eking out a victory here, narrowly winning. But I think Republicans will hold the Senate with 51 votes. And I think it goes back to the nine days ago Comey story.
KUCINICH: Yes, and that's why you hear Nancy Pelosi that Comey cost her the House essentially, because everyone stopped talking about the House flipping after the first Comey news because of that down ballot.
LEWIS: It is a check and balance. Republicans can argue we are a check and balance.
KUCINICH: Yes.
BROWNSTEIN: A good way to talk about the Senate is dividing them into the states that Clinton is likely to win and Trump is likely to win. I mean, the Democratic targets are the states, are Illinois, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire. The states where she is strongest. Those are the top targets.
Republicans are also defending places like Indiana and Missouri that he is likely to win. That's going to make it hard. And North Carolina and Nevada out there, is very close states. And I think the winner of the presidential race in those states will also win the Senate race.
CAMEROTA: Panel, thank you so much. We'll rely on you throughout the morning and the day. Thanks so much for being here.
CUOMO: I'm watching your hair swell with knowledge as they come in. All these numbers.
CAMEROTA: It does have a chia pet quality to it.
CUOMO: It is a good hair day.
CAMEROTA: Stay with CNN all day and night. We have every race covered. You can join us on NEW DAY tomorrow. Guess what? We are starting at 3:00 a.m. CUOMO: What?
CAMEROTA: Yes, Chris, we are. For complete election results.
CUOMO: You told me that was a joke.
CAMEROTA: No, it's for real.
CUOMO: Voters in three small towns in New Hampshire. This is a big part of the culture. They cast ballots at midnight. The rest of the state heads to the polls in about 30 minutes. The race has been tightening in this critical battleground race. We're going to take you there live for the latest developments.
CAMEROTA: And you want a chance to be featured on CNN's election day coverage? Tag your voting Instagrams with #myvote. Let us know who you voted for and where. We'll be showing some of them throughout the day on CNN.
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