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CNN Live Event/Special
First Ballots Cast in Dixville Notch, New Hampshire; Trump Caps Battleground Blitz with Michigan Rally; Harris Delivers Final Pitch to Voters in Philadelphia Rally; Trump Caps Battleground Blitz with Michigan Rally; Harris Winds Up Campaign with Events in Pennsylvania; Voting Across the U.S. Set to Begin within Hours; Stars Endorse Harris, Trump in Final Hours of Campaign. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired November 05, 2024 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[00:00:36]
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and thank you so much for joining us. I'm Boris Sanchez, coming to you live from Washington, D.C.
And we have made it. It is election day, and election day voting is getting underway in the small township of Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, where the very first ballots cast on election day will be submitted and counted. And it should be a relatively quick process.
Let's got to CNN's Gary Tuchman who's there covering this first-in- the-nation election day vote.
Gary, I know we just had the national anthem played on an accordion by a world champion accordion player. What comes next? Walk us through this process.
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, a three-time world champion accordion player just played the national anthem and now that it's midnight the voting is beginning in this village of Dixville Notch.
We are in the living room of a beautiful home here in Dixville Notch, near the Balsams Resort which is currently under refurbishment. So this home is tonight a precinct. New Hampshire allows very small communities to ask for their own precincts and to ask and request the voting to happen early.
This town, Dixville Notch, right now you can see they are voting, they are putting the votes in the box. This town, the whole town is in this living room right now, and that's six people. Six registered voters in Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, casting their votes right now. Four of these people are registered Republicans, two of them are undeclared.
So what's allowed to be done in New Hampshire's very small towns is you can cast your ballots the first minute of election day, which it is right now. And these will be the first results. There may be 160 million votes cast in the United States. 80,000 or so voted cast in New Hampshire but these will be the first six votes that are being cast right now and they will announce the results. As you can see they're going into the voting booth, which is the red,
white and blue American flags over there. There's three booths for the six people. They have paper ballots. They have a pen and they're making their choices not just for president, but for governor, for the representative in Congress and for other local races. But of course most of the attention is being paid on who these six people will vote for for president of the United States.
Now we can tell you Dixville Notch has been doing this since 1960, for 64 years. This is the 17th election where they've had midnight voting here in this Hamlet in northern New Hampshire about 50 miles away from the Canadian border. Other towns have done it in New Hampshire, too, but no one is doing it this year. And this is the longest continuity from 1960 until 2024. So for 64 years, they've been casting early votes.
In the past, these were the first votes cast in the election entirely but now millions of us vote early around the United States but these are the first votes cast on election day, and of course they will be the first results. So they're all going into this box. This box has been used since 1980, since the election between Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter. The sign that says "Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, First in the Nation," that's been used since 1960.
There's a lot of great customs going on here, great heritage, great history. There's a lot of people in the United States right now who are upset about the political discourse in this country but I can tell you in this room you have Republicans, Democrats, independents, not just the six people who live here, but also members of the press from all over the world, and visitors from elsewhere in New Hampshire, New England, United States, who wanted to witness this.
So they're putting their ballots in the box and once they are on the box, the town moderator, who's standing next to it right now, Tom Tillotson, who opened up -- unlocked the box, opened it up, and then they'll start counting at the table. And you can see on the left here, there's a board and that board says, "First in the Nation, Dixville, New Hampshire 2024," and they will write the totals on the board.
There is a representative from New Hampshire Attorney General's Office here. Those votes will be the first official votes of the 2024 election between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
I'm wondering if you guys, Boris and Jessica, have any questions for me.
SANCHEZ: Yes. This is a fascinating window into the democratic process because, as we were hearing there from the town monitor a moment ago, he said that the effort here is to showcase what America is all about, to inspire folks across the country as they wake up later on election day to realize that some folks have already cast their ballots and to also, as he put it, point out that if they don't vote, they are missing out.
[00:05:15] They are effectively, potentially putting someone that they don't want into the White House. So it's really about not only showcasing the tradition but also the sacred right to vote in this country.
I wonder, Gary, in your conversations with folks there what they shared with you about the meaning, the deeper meaning of what this represents.
TUCHMAN: There is so much pride in this room right now not just among the six people who permanently live in the village of Dixville Notch, but among members of the news media that are here. Among other people here in New Hampshire and Vermont, Maine, and Rhode Island, and Connecticut and Massachusetts. The six New England states who are here. From other people in the country who just wanted to visit it.
I can tell you, you may have heard of this resort before or some of our viewers. The Balsams Resort. It's a very beautiful ski resort that's been closed for a little while now. They're refurbishing it and they are hope to reopen it in two years. So at the peak of the resort's existence there were more than 30 people who lived here in Dixville Notch. Now they're down to six. Ultimately when the resort reopens they hope to have more but they want to keep this tradition going.
As I was mentioning to you before, there are other towns, for example, Hearts Landing, New Hampshire, has also had midnight voting for many years. They stopped it four years ago because of the COVID outbreak, and they haven't resumed it. But they did for a long time, too. Sort of the town called Millsfield, New Hampshire. But Dixville Notch is just continuing it through and through from 1960, John F. Kennedy against Richard Nixon in '64, Johnson against Goldwater in '68, Nixon against Johnson, go to '76. Jimmy Carter winning the election '80, Reagan against Carter. And they have been doing it continuously up to 2024.
So let's listen to the town moderator now. This is Tom Tillotson.
TOM TILLOTSON, TOWN MODERATOR: They're advised that all registered voters have voted, and according to the New Hampshire law, we are now (INAUDIBLE) if the town so chooses to write their motions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So moved.
TILLOTSON: And all those in favor? The polls are closed and we will now begin the counting.
TUCHMAN: So the official counting is taking place now like I was telling you. Tom Tillotson is unlocking the golden lock on the 44- year-old lockbox. He's going to show us that the box is now empty. The attorney general's representative is looking at it and so are we.
Tom, don't drop the box.
TILLOTSON: Why not, too?
TUCHMAN: It'll hurt somebody. TILLOTSON: It will not hurt the box, that's for sure.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One for Donald Trump and J.D. Vance.
TUCHMAN: One for Donald Trump, J.D. Vance.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One for Kelly Ayotte.
TUCHMAN: That's the senator -- that's the governor race, former senator.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One for Lily Tang Williams.
TUCHMAN: U.S. representative.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One for Joseph D. Kenney. One for David Rochefort.
TUCHMAN: So they're reading all the races from each of the ballots but you could hear there. Donald Trump has already gotten one vote.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One for John McCormick.
TUCHMAN: Four Republicans here, as I mentioned, two undeclared voters. No Democrats.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One for Terri K. Peterson and one for Ray Gorman. And yes on the constitutional amendment.
TUCHMAN: There's referendums here also.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One for Donald Trump and J.D. Vance.
TUCHMAN: It's the second ballot, another Donald Trump.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One for Kelly Ayotte.
SANCHEZ: So, Gary, if you can hear me, that's two votes for Donald Trump. He matches the total just now that he got in the 2016 general election.
You sort of went over this a bit before. Is there any historical precedent for Dixville Notch being a predictor of where New Hampshire might go or where maybe the nation might go?
TUCHMAN: And what I'll tell you, Boris, you talked about 2016, in 2020, Donald Trump got zero votes. Joe Biden got five. So it's different from 2016 to 2020. Let's hear ballot three for one second and then I'll answer your next question.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One for -- I never say her name right. I'm sorry. Kamala D. Harris.
[00:10:06]
TUCHMAN: Kamala Harris gets the third voter. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One for Tim Walz.
TUCHMAN: So it's now two for Donald Trump, one for Kamala Harris.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One for Kelly Ayotte. One for Maggie Goodlander. One for --
TUCHMAN: So, you're asking, Boris, can you draw a conclusion based on the voting here? The answer for that is an unequivocal no. What this is, there's no way to draw a conclusion but you can certainly create interest in the upcoming votes that will be happening over the next 23 hours. But there's no way to know for sure.
What I can tell you, in 1960 the first time they did this, Nixon against John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon got nine votes, John F. Kennedy got zero votes. Richard Nixon did win the Granite State, the state of New Hampshire, but he lost in the country, and John F. Kennedy became president of the United States.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One for Donald J. Trump and J.D. Vance.
TUCHMAN: Here's the fourth ballot, one for Donald Trump, so -- now it's three votes. Kamala Harris has one vote from the first four.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One for Joseph D. Kenney.
TUCHMAN: Now she's reading the rest of the races.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One for David Rochefort. One for Arnold --
TUCHMAN: It's really amazing all the attention, Jessica and Boris, in this room. It is totally quiet except for loudmouth Gary Tuchman who is trying to talk like he's at a golf tournament and someone is making a money putt right now.
SANCHEZ: Well, we appreciate that.
TUCHMAN: People are really paying close attention.
SANCHEZ: We appreciate the commentary. We know there are more reporters there than there are actual voters which is always a fascinating component of this. Let's listen now to the fifth ballot.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One for Kamala D. Harris and Tim Walz.
TUCHMAN: Kamala Harris gets number five.
SANCHEZ: So it's 3-2.
TUCHMAN: So it's three for Donald Trump, two for Kamala Harris. It's 3-2.
SANCHEZ: Confirming, Gaze, there were six total voters?
TUCHMAN: Six total voters. And that's the rule. Every voter has to be here and cast a vote in order for the polls to close immediately after this and the results to be officially read.
SANCHEZ: Got it.
TUCHMAN: So it's 3-2. One thing I want to tell you, Boris, there could be a write-in. There could be a write-in also. Nikki Haley did very well in the primary here, the New Hampshire primary. She beat Donald Trump. So we were wondering if anyone would do a write-in for Nikki Haley.
The sixth ballot about to come up. So here we go.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One for Kamala D. Harris.
TUCHMAN: And Kamala Harris gets the sixth vote. Donald Trump three, Kamala Harris three. We've been talking about how close this race is with the polls in the United States. Some people say it's 50-50. We can tell you officially in Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, population six, it is 50-50 on the nose. Three for Kamala Harris, three for Donald Trump.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And one for Ray Gorman.
TUCHMAN: And they will close the polls momentarily. This precinct will be done for the 2024 presidential election. Let's hear what the moderator has to say, Tom Tillotson. I believe he'll talking next.
TILLOTSON: So we have the results. Yes, we do.
TUCHMAN: And he's going to read the official results, although I've already told you them but unofficially.
TILLOTSON: All right. We're ready. For president --
SANCHEZ: Let's listen for a few more moments.
TILLOTSON: Three for Kamala Harris and three for Donald Trump. Following the national trends. For governor, one for Joyce Craig and five for --
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: New Hampshire, the first in the nation ballots cast on election day. It is now official, in Dixville Notch, a tie. Three votes for former president Donald Trump, three votes for Vice President Kamala Harris.
It just underscores, as Gary Tuchman was saying, how divided the nation is and how close this 2024 presidential election is in poll after poll. In polls of polls, CNN has found this race too close to call and you see it illustrated there. The first results that we are getting on election day leading to a tie.
Now Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is closing the 2024 campaign with one final rally in Michigan. It's his last stop on a multistate blitz on the eve of election day which included visits to North Carolina and Pennsylvania, other battlegrounds. CNN's Kristen Holmes is there in Grand Rapids. She joins us now live.
We should note Donald Trump is taking the stage as we speak. We're going to bring you his comments.
Kristen, before he gets to the microphone, what should we expect to hear from former president Trump?
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we've heard the beginning of his closing argument in Pittsburgh earlier today. They said that because he was going to be taking the stage so late tonight, Grand Rapids obviously now after midnight, that he would be delivering a lot of those closing remarks starting in Pennsylvania. Also because Pennsylvania is a critical battleground state.
Now it's Donald Trump so the message may get a little bit muddled but what they say that he's going to talk about is those three issues they believe are going to propel Donald Trump to the White House. That's inflation, immigration and crime.
[00:15:13]
These are the things that his campaign has tried to hammer home. They also want him to focus on the messaging of, quote-unquote, "Kamala broke it, I'm going to fix it," on the fact that she has been in office for three and a half years.
Remember, one of the things that Donald Trump's allies and advisers believe that this is if they can connect Kamala Harris to Joe Biden's administration. That that will help put him over the edge and bring him back into the White House in 2024. The big question of course for Donald Trump is whether or not he's going to get in his own way. We saw yesterday was a rally, a day that started off in Pennsylvania with him completely off message and saying several inappropriate and insulting things that eventually led to allies calling both the campaign managers, the senior advisers, and Donald Trump himself, and begging him to stay on message, saying that if he continued with this kind of rhetoric that he would not win the election.
SANCHEZ: Listen. Kristen, sorry to interrupt. Let's go ahead and listen to former president Donald Trump now live in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
(CHEERS)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you.
(CHANTING)
TRUMP: Thank you.
(CHEERS)
JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. You are watching live as former president Donald Trump takes the stage there in Grand Rapids, Michigan. We have lost our audio so we're going to keep an eye on this and take you back to it in just a moment. But in the meantime Trump's Democratic opponent Vice President Kamala Harris delivering a very different closing argument to voters.
We're going to go back to Trump. We'll have more on Harris on the other side. Let's listen back in.
TRUMP: And doing four of these in one day is a little difficult but not really because the love in every one of them has been incredible. Just like this. So that makes it a lot easier.
(CHEERS)
TRUMP: And I want to say a very special hello to Grand Rapids. It's been a special place. Remember 2016. We were --
(CHEERS)
TRUMP: We were given a 3 percent chance. You remember we came to Grand Rapids, I said, how the hell are we going to lose? It was just like this. And I said, how are we going to lose? We're not going to lose. And it was a 3 percent chance and then we won a little place called Florida. And went to -- about a 7 percent chance and then it went to an 11 percent. And then it went to 17 percent. Do you remember? Went that way and it went to about a 62 percent chance. And they have somebody in there going totally crazy.
The woman, she became a -- she was going crazy. Not on our side. On the other side. She was going crazy. But we're in very good shape. I have to tell you, we're way up in terms of the vote. You know, the Republicans are never up that much.
(CHEERS)
TRUMP: And I don't want to talk too much about it because I really want you to -- I really want you to just assume that it's sort of even and you're going to turn out tomorrow and we're going to blow this thing away because, you know, we're leading.
(CHEERS)
TRUMP: We're leading going in by hundreds of thousands of votes but just pretend we're tied or losing by a little bit because we want to put on a display tomorrow of unity and everything. The progress that this party has made is incredible. It's very inclusive. It's inclusive of everybody.
(CHEERS)
[00:20:01]
TRUMP: Including our great mayor right back there. That's a great -- that is our great mayor who came through for us. But I just want to thank everybody. And a special hello to Michigan. We're going to do some great things for Michigan.
(CHEERS)
TRUMP: We're going to do great things in Michigan. We're going to bring the car business blazing back, you're not going to remember what it was like. We're going to make Detroit greater than it ever was. You know, I have been hearing about Detroit for a long time. They have been talking about that miracle on Detroit. Well, I mean, look, we got to be honest, it hasn't happened but it's going to happen now.
It's going to happen and at levels that you never dreamt possible. So for the autoworkers, who have been so incredible, you have been so incredible. You are going to be very happy with the things we're doing. We killed the plant, as you know, in Mexico. The biggest plant in the world was going to be built in Mexico and I absolutely killed it.
(CHEERS)
TRUMP: But I'd like to begin by asking a question. Are you better off now than you were four years ago?
(CHEERS)
TRUMP: Because over the past four years, Americans have suffered one catastrophic failure, betrayal, and humiliation after another. Kamala has delivered soaring prices.
(BOOING)
TRUMP: And true economic anguish at home, war and chaos abroad, and a nation destroying invasion on our southern border, invasion of some of the greatest criminals in the world that are pouring into our country, and we're not going to take that. We're going to end that like immediately.
(CHEERS)
TRUMP: And I happen to think it's bigger than the economy. And I think, you know, every poll shows the economy and inflation and then the border and the horrible things that are going on there. I don't agree with that, I think we have to focus on all of it, we'll do it all at one time but to me when you allow thousands of murderers into our country, to me when you allow the drug kingpins of the world and terrorists into our country at levels that we've never seen before, to me that's the bigger problem. We're going to solve it all but that's the bigger problem.
(APPLAUSE)
(CHEERS)
TRUMP: And we're going to have it taken care of very quickly but my message to you, and to all Americans tonight is very simple, we do not have to live this way. We don't have to live this way. We're not living good. Four years, what did they do that was good? Can you name one thing? I said to a group of people, I said to a group of people, what have they done? Everything is a disaster including nobody even knows how to -- supposing President Xi of China wanted to call to ask a little question about war or Taiwan or anything, who the hell does he call? We got a little problem in America, there's nobody to call. You know,
they'll probably end up calling me. Maybe they'll call me. But --
(CHEERS)
TRUMP: But who do you call? And remember they ripped that presidency away from Joe Biden. Say what you want, we're not fans of Joe Biden. You know, I spent $150 million on him, we went through the convention, we never mentioned Kamala, nobody knew who the hell she was. And all of a sudden they picked Kamala even though she was in last place. She came in number 13, they had 12 plus Kamala. She was considered the 13th. But then they wanted to be politically correct so they picked Kamala, and they called her Harris. And nobody knew who Harris was. Like --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who the hell is Harris?
TRUMP: Call Harris. Who's Harris? Weird. You know, it's a very nice name but it's a strange name because nobody knows who she is. And so we have to call her Kamala. But she was the least popular. She got no votes. She lost in the primaries to Joe Biden and everybody else. She was the first one out, she quit, the first one, 22 people. She left, she never made it to the great state of Iowa. Never made it. And now we're running against her.
But she's been exposed. You know, she's been exposed. She's a radical left lunatic who destroyed San Francisco.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's a liar.
TRUMP: But we don't have to settle for weakness and incompetence and decline and decay. That's a nice word, decay. That's what -- that's a nice word, decay. Can you imagine? And nobody will question it because it's true.
With your vote tomorrow we can fix every single problem our country faces and lead America indeed the world through new heights of glory.
(CHEERS)
[00:25:02]
TRUMP: Think of that statement, how beautiful that is. New heights of glory. That's what's going to happen.
When we win the election and we're really -- well, look, if the ball is in our hand, all we have to do is get out to vote tomorrow. You get out to vote, they can't do anything about it. We win.
(CHEERS)
TRUMP: One of their top people just got on television as I was coming in. And they said these are not looking good, these numbers for them. This is very troubling. At least he was honest. Now all we have to do, we -- if we get out our people it's over, there's nothing they can do about it. It's nice when you have that, right? You know? (CHEERS)
TRUMP: In other words, to make you feel a little guilty, we would only have you to blame. But we put ourselves in an unusual position. Never happened for -- never happened where we're leading by hundreds of thousands of votes in the early stage, that's never happened before. We've always been losing by sometimes millions of votes, and you know, you keep catching them on Tuesday, but Tuesday comes along and you make it or you don't quite make it. You're a little short. And then they cheat and it makes it a little tougher.
Because when you know, when you have open borders, transgender, everything, high taxes.
(BOOING)
TRUMP: Very high taxes. They're campaigning on the fact that they're going to raise everybody's taxes. And you have men playing in women's sports.
(BOOING)
TRUMP: You have to cheat. Who the hell is going to approve that stuff? Who's going to prove, open borders with criminals pouring into our country by the millions? No, they have to cheat. They have to cheat and they do, and they do it very well actually. But I think we're in very good shape. We just have to show -- you show up and you're going to have the biggest victory. You know what this will be. The single greatest victory politically speaking in the history of our country.
(CHEERS)
DEAN: All right. You are listening to former president Trump ending his campaign there in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It is where he has ended all of his campaigns, his final stop there, so obviously a place he likes to wrap things up. But just -- in the last remarks we were hearing there, he was just talking once again about how Democrats he believes cheat and rig elections, again no evidence of them cheating or rigging elections, it must be noted. But a lot of familiar themes that we've heard from former president Trump on the campaign trail.
SANCHEZ: Yes. He sort of started out by delivering the closing message of his campaign, asking the crowd to a thorough raucous response whether they are better off now than they were four years ago and then he delved into --
DEAN: Which is the question his campaign wants him asking people.
SANCHEZ: Right. Precisely. And then he sort of veered and he started talking about Detroit. Of course remember it wasn't long ago that he was suggesting that if Kamala Harris won, the rest of the country would look like Detroit and a lot of folks found that offensive. He sort of alluded to that, talking about the miracle in Detroit which he said didn't actually take place. He said he is ready to make Detroit greater than it ever was. He then ripped into Democrats for, again pushing falsehoods, unseating
Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee and suggesting that somehow there was a conspiracy to put Kamala Harris on the ballot, suggesting that Democrats wanted to be politically correct so they picked someone, in his words, that no one had ever heard of.
We're going to keep monitoring the former president's remarks and bring you more of them as we get them tonight. Again his final stop in Grand Rapids, a major moment for his campaign.
DEAN: Certainly. And Vice President Kamala Harris, she's delivering a far different closing argument to voters in her final pitch on election eve.
SANCHEZ: Yes. Just moments ago in Philadelphia during Harris' last rally of the campaign, Oprah Winfrey and Lady Gaga were among the stars who came out to take part in the event, and Harris urged voters and supporters to finish how they started with optimism, energy and joy, telling them they will make the difference in this election.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS (D), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So, America, it comes down to this. One more day, just one more day in the most consequential election of our lifetime. And the momentum is on our side.
(CHEERS)
HARRIS: Our campaign has tapped into the ambitions and the aspirations and the dreams of the American people. We are optimistic and we are excited about what we can do together, and we know it is time for a new generation of leadership in America.
(CHEERS)
[00:30:05]
DEAN: The latest national poll showing Harris with a slight edge as the campaign draws to a close.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: We have our panel of experts ready to discuss. It is election day in America right here on CNN. Don't go anywhere. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DEAN: Welcome back to CNN's coverage of election day in America, with polls set to open across the country in just a few hours. We have arrived.
SANCHEZ: We made it.
DEAN: The final pre-election poll from NPR, PBS News and Marist finding Kamala Harris with a narrow lead over Donald Trump, 51 to 47, among likely voters nationally. That is just outside the poll's margin of error.
SANCHEZ: So, we incorporate that into the latest CNN poll of polls, Harris is at 49 percent to Donald Trump's 47 percent. This is an average of likely voters.
Of the latest five surveys, two show an edge for Harris, three of them show no clear leader.
DEAN: And we have a great panel to talk all about this and more. Let's bring them in. Democratic strategist Meghan Hays; Republican strategist Rina Shah. And over here on the other side, we have CNN political analyst and "New York Times" correspondent Zolan Kanno- Youngs; and our own White House reporter, Stephen Collinson. Plus, CNN political commentator and Republican strategist Shermichael Singleton, who's joining us from New York.
Welcome to all of you. We're glad you're going to stay up, I think, late. That's what I was saying to someone earlier earlier. I think this is just late. Early, late. I don't know.
Shermichael, let's just start first with you, because I know we've got you in New York. We just saw the former president making his final pitch to voters there in Grand Rapids. That, of course,
Shermichael let's just start first with you Shermichael let's just start first with you because I know we've got you in New York. We just saw the former president making his final pitch to voters there in Grand Rapids. That, of course, is where he's ended his last three campaigns. Superstition or strategy to end it in Michigan tonight?
SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I mean, look, it's an important state. I don't know whether or not the former president will win the state. Perhaps he's attempting to drive up his numbers as much as possible to make him more competitive at the last minute for the Harris campaign.
I think this ultimately comes down to Pennsylvania, particularly for Donald Trump. If he can win North Carolina, regain Georgia, win Pennsylvania, he gets to 270. If you're Vice President Harris, you would like to win Pennsylvania, because it makes your road map to 270 a heck of a lot easier than losing Pennsylvania and having to win some of the other battleground states.
So, I've got to be honest with you, I'm not surprised, Jessica, by how close this thing is. You see some incredible strength from the vice president as it pertains to women, younger women, women 65 and older.
You're seeing some interesting strength for the former president with men, younger men. I think the question ultimately becomes, for the vice president, will those women increase her odds, basically providing a buffer for the men that she will lose?
For the former president, will those low-propensity voters, those younger men, sort of provide a buffer for him for the women he's going to lose?
You're at a tie situation. I have no clue how this thing is going to work out.
SANCHEZ: Everyone is looking for -- for signs, including in Dixville Notch, where we had a tie --
DEAN: Yes.
SANCHEZ: -- as Gary Tuchman told me a few moments ago. Dixville Notch not indicative of anything.
Meghan, I'm curious, from your perspective. We saw Trump in three different battlegrounds today: North Carolina, Pennsylvania, now in Michigan.
Harris decided to spend all day in Pennsylvania, five separate events there. What do you make of that strategy?
MEGHAN HAYS, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I think it's a smart strategy. If she doesn't win Pennsylvania, she doesn't win. So, I think it's a smart strategy.
I also think that she has a lot of surrogates and -- and she has Governor Walz also in different states. I think he was in Michigan today. Yes, in Michigan and a few other places. So, I think that they are covering the map.
But I think it's a smart strategy for her to spend time in Michigan.
DEAN: And Rina, we heard, again, there's not -- we're not short on contrasts between these two candidates. I think we can all agree on that. But -- and not surprisingly, in their closing messages, we're seeing quite a contrast there.
Vice President Harris at times not even mentioning Trump's name in one -- in one closing argument that she made.
Trump obviously going right after her very personally.
What do you make of those two? Obviously, he's really trying to gin up that base. She's trying to make a wider reach. What do you make of that?
RINA SHAH, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: From a strategic standpoint, Trump failed at the assignment tonight. I mean, simply put, there's no other way to call it.
Calling Harris a lunatic is not winning with anyone. I mean, there's this fringe voter out there that still wants to fight, still wants this incendiary language.
But in general, what do you talk to you about with people who've lost their jobs or who are nervous about the economy? You talk to them about how you're going to keep more money in their pocketbook. And he has not done that.
He's not stayed on the script for economy. He's not talked about geopolitical tension in a way that I think is responsible: ending wars, not sending people into conflict zones.
And he could talk to women, but he chooses not to really go there, because he knows that he's not trusted there. Whether you're talking a national ban or IVF, that's no good.
But guess what? Women want talk on other stuff than their reproductive rights, although that's so important and the galvanizing issue, I believe, in this election.
He really could have gone so many steps further on the economy in Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Nevada, Arizona. I haven't heard it. And he's failed the assignment for me, because he oscillates between cheating and then lunacy and all else.
SANCHEZ: Zolan, a critique that we've heard frequently from frustrated Republicans that would wish Trump would stick to his message.
He did get in that line about, Are you better off than you were four years ago? But then he starts weaving.
ZOLAN KANNO-YOUNGS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, yes, he calls it the weave, right? I mean, I've heard from different Republican strategists who have said there are two clear political vulnerabilities of sort of the Biden administration that they wish the former president would continue to focus on.
Inflation, which persisted for, you know, many -- for much of this administration, as well as the record number of illegal crossings at the Southwest border. But he doesn't do that. Right?
Instead, you have two candidates that are very much portraying the country in two starkly different ways.
You have the former president with this -- with increasingly dark sort of language around the country, and also just very much leaning into the retribution that he is seeking against his political enemies, even labeling his political enemy as the "enemy from within."
On the other end, you have the vice president, who has been sort of almost -- in an attempt to extend an olive branch to Republicans that cannot bring themselves to vote for the former president, she is trying to portray a message of unity. Right?
[00:40:04]
And that's a little bit of a shift also from earlier in her campaign, where she really focused on addressing that political vulnerability of the economy by talking about lowering housing prices, as well.
But I do think, to take a step back, it is worth noting it's not just like two different messages. It's describing two different realities of America that these two candidates are describing right now, which I think reflects just how divided the country is.
And I was just in Pennsylvania this weekend, and you would talk to voters who would also relay those two different descriptions. One minute, you would have one person saying this country is in the wrong direction, which polling actually backs up many people in this country think is true.
The next minute, you'd have somebody that would affirm the vice president and say, I cannot bring myself to vote for -- for the former president because of abortion restrictions, as well.
DEAN: I mean, Stephen, that's the thing that's -- that's so striking. I think you've really hit the nail on the head, which is we are in America.
Americans are living in very different realities, depending on what they're reading, what they're watching, what they're consuming online.
And yet, we -- we all live in one country. And there is going to be one winner to -- whenever that person is named. Is it tomorrow; is it today? Is it three days from now? We don't know.
How -- how do you kind of -- what do you make of all of that. And just how we do live in different realities? So many people live in different realities.
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: So, I've never covered an election in which the people on each side think their very way of life is under threat, should the candidate that they don't support wins.
Democrats are worried about democracy, reproductive rights, et cetera, et cetera. Republicans see in the Democratic Party, which they think has gone far to the left culturally and socially, a decaying of traditional American values. And the country is changing, and some Republican voters feel threatened by that.
Those two speeches were like a microcosm of this short campaign tonight.
Harris was disciplined. There wasn't a great deal of substance, but there was a lot of emotion being expressed, calling on America's better angels. It was aspirational, optimistic.
Trump gave that line about are you better off, which any normal Republican probably could have used to win this election, if it was any other candidate.
But then he veered off into the extremism. The extremism and the outlandishness and breaking convention was the thing that made him a popular candidate, first of all, in 2016. It would be very ironic if that darkness is what finally ends his political career.
SANCHEZ: Another thing he mentioned in the speech that struck me, Shermichael, was this line about how the Republican Party has changed, and as he described it, become more inclusive.
I don't remember a Republican presidential candidate doing quite as much to try to court Latino voters and African-American voters as Trump has on -- on this cycle. Notably, though, with some missteps. And I'm obviously thinking of the
Madison Square Garden rally just a week or so ago, where you had that comedian talking about Puerto Rico as a floating island of garbage.
Obviously, Trump trying to court Puerto Rican voters today. I believe you had a number of folks, as he visited communities that were compromised largely of Latinos. I wonder what you make of that effort, what grade you would give that effort, seeing as how I noted that he's had some missteps.
SHERMICHAEL: You know, that's been the fascinating aspect of Trump's candidacy, his persona as a political creature.
You look at the 2012 race, where he increased his margins with black men in particular. I think the largest margins a Republican received since Richard Nixon, of all people. Mitt Romney couldn't do it. John McCain couldn't do it. George W. Bush couldn't do it.
But somehow, Donald Trump, despite the rhetoric that may turn a lot of people off, was somehow able to do it.
You look at the current number of African-Americans in the House right now who are Republicans, a large number we haven't seen in quite some time. You look at the Senate.
I mean, so -- so it's interesting to see how the party has moved in a fascinating direction in terms of reaching out to men of color. I think there is an opportunity for the Republican Party whether Donald Trump wins or loses ultimately, in this race, to target those individuals, specifically men.
I think women is a bit difficult. Rina pointed out the reproductive issue. I think she's 100 percent correct there. The Republican Party has to figure out a way to maneuver.
But for men, I think there are a lot of younger men of color who are looking at an America and a future in this country that doesn't really include them in terms of economic attainment.
And so, the question becomes, for the former president, for the Republican Party in the long run, is there a conservative message that sort of appeases [SIC] to the discontent that many of those men are feeling?
[00:45:03]
And if you're going to go in that route, what do you do about the women? Some of those suburban women who may like Republicanism because of the economic issues. Or maybe they like Republicanism, because they generally believe that limited government is a better way to -- to run the country.
Can you get over that hurdle with Dobbs being overturned? I'm not convinced of that yet, Boris, to answer that question. But I think there's a possibility. If you change your position and say, you know what? We've gone too far
on this issue. It's not enough to just say states can vote, or states, rather, legislators can vote on this. We should give it to states and say the voters in those states can vote on it via a referendum.
So, I'm looking at a couple of ways where the party can expand its current base with men of color but also reach back to some of those suburban white women and say, wait a minute here. We understand we way overcorrected. We're going to try to correct this.
DEAN: That's been kind of one of the more fascinating dynamics about this election, Meghan, is that we've seen things that were the conventional wisdom for a long time kind of get -- they're getting upended. And this is -- this is unique. This election is unique in a lot of ways.
But -- but Shermichael was getting at one of those trends, which is seeing Trump and Republicans making, really, inroads with -- with voters of color, particularly men, and seeing Kamala Harris running historically well, potentially, with white women and suburban women, especially, that have historically been pretty Republican, started to come back or have swung back, swung to Democrats, post-Trump.
But -- but it is kind of upside-down in a way.
HAYS: But I think that -- that lends to where we are in our country and being so divided. I think you pointed out, I think both things can be true. People can think we're going in the wrong direction but still not want to vote for Donald Trump.
And so, they could want, you know -- her whole slogan is a new way forward, a new generation of leadership. And I think that's so key here, because I do think that there are changes that need to be made. But I think that people are just tired of the chaos.
And I think that's why she is attracting a new -- new subset of people and attracting women, suburban women especially, because they're -- they are -- they just want to get their kids to school and to put food on their table.
They do not want this chaos. They do not want to open the newspaper every day or turn on the TV and see all the chaos that he created, like he did in the four years he was president.
KANNO-YOUNGS: The issue, though, is going to be it's not just men of color or any voter slides to Donald Trump. It's if they stay home for the vice president, as well.
And I have, you know, just in reporting, come across many voters who feel that for decades that they've remained at sort of the bottom of the totem pole and been neglected by government, as well.
I think you saw that her campaign recognized that and tried to issue an economic policy specifically for black men. But it's not just if they move to Donald Trump. It's also if they, you know, feel this --
(CROSSTALK)
SHAH: -- coalition build, I think you bring up a good point. You're seeing a swath of voters that's broad in coalition and who care about this elitism that's on display.
The great irony is that Donald Trump exhibits it every day of the week for the past nine years. We see him as an elite. Yet, there's these voters out there who are frustrated with Washington and the sense that Washington does never -- never speaks to their problems.
I speak to women like that all the time. Childcare isn't addressed. The fact that we don't have enough money to take care of our children and also plan for the future. And we are the sandwich generation. There's only one candidate who's spoken to that well, and it's been Harris so far.
SANCHEZ: A lively conversation for the panel. We appreciate all of your voices. Thanks so much for being with us.
And Shermichael, to you in New York, as well.
DEAN: Meantime, some of the biggest names in entertainment have been making one final push for Kamala Harris on the eve of the election.
SANCHEZ: Yes, ahead, we're going to speak with our chief media analyst on what role, if any, the star power could play in the closing hours of this race.
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[00:52:20]
SANCHEZ: Vice President Harris is spending the final hours of her campaign in the must-win state of Pennsylvania. And she's bringing with her some serious star power.
Oprah Winfrey joined Harris's final stop of the night in Philadelphia.
DEAN: And the performances rivaled that of any music festival, with Lady Gaga heading -- headlining a stacked roster of performers.
SANCHEZ: Meantime, Donald Trump's team is celebrating what it's touting as a major win in the final hours of his campaign.
DEAN: Popular podcast host Joe Rogan officially endorsing Trump late Monday. Rogan credits billionaire and top Trump surrogate Elon Musk for making, quote, "the most compelling case for Trump you'll hear," with Rogan saying he agrees with Musk, quote, "every step of the way."
SANCHEZ: So, how will all this play out once the polls open.
DEAN: That is -- that is the big question. And for more on that were joined by CNN's chief media analyst, Brian Stelter.
Hi, Brian.
BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Good morning.
DEAN: Good morning. It's almost 1 a.m. on -- we have officially made it to election day, though.
Walk us through how big an impact these celebrity endorsements or appearances have. I -- you know, I think we can all agree, and we all understand. It's not that they maybe are moving the needle so much about changing minds but maybe motivating turnout. What's your take?
STELTER: Yes. And instead of celebrities, I think the best word is validators. Who are the validators on each side?
And I think the most important validators for Donald Trump were RFK Jr. and Elon Musk. Musk, because he poured so much money into this election; and RFK Jr., because when RFK pulled out of his own campaign and threw his weight behind Trump, it did have an impact, and it may have an impact again later today. Of course, very hard to say.
But those are the validators surrounding Trump.
Joe Rogan, a last-minute endorsement. Not surprising, though. And frankly, most Rogan listeners are already with Trump. So, to your point, it's more about motivation than it is about persuasion.
But I think the validators on the Harris side -- you know, you think about the celebrities we've heard from, like Lady Gaga tonight, the validators matter most when they are reinforcing a message that Harris needs people to hear.
And that's what we've seen from Harris celebrity endorsers in the past few days. Olivia Rodrigo. And then, you know, tonight, Lady Gaga. Cardi B talking about the role of women in society and the rights of women in America.
That's been the message I've been seeing on these Instagram feeds, where tens of millions of people are following these celebrities.
So, those -- those validations are, I think, why this matters. By the way, the most interesting endorsement I read in the past week was from Harrison Ford, who did endorse Biden in 2020 but rarely does get involved in politics.
You know what Harrison Ford said about Harris? He said she'll protect your right to disagree with her. That is a really interesting turn of phrase, and it reminds us how much is at stake in the next few hours.
[00:55:07]
SANCHEZ: Brian, we've been listening to a lot of Donald Trump's rallies lately, and some of it is on message.
Some of it makes me want to ask myself, like, whatchu talking about, Willis? Like, it's hard -- it's hard to keep track of, right?
Both at his rallies and -- and in his TV ads, though, he's been pushing this message of fear. How effective is that? Especially when some of the country doesn't necessarily reflect that fear, and it's contrasting with Harris's approach.
STELTER: But let's face it, it is oftentimes the most powerful appeal in politics. And I think, frankly, it's the -- one of the main things I've learned in this decade of covering Trump and watching him and observing him up close.
It is amazing that we're at this point, by the way, where he is now wrapping up his final rally, what he says is his final rally of his life.
Now, we don't know what will happen in the post-campaign period. Will he be on the road? Will he be challenging the results? We don't know.
But tonight in Grand Rapids, this is it. This is his final rally as a presidential candidate. He says he's never going to run again.
This country has been living with Donald Trump now for eight, nine, ten, you know -- eight, nine years as a candidate for president. For many people, exhausting, right, as an experience. For others, very exhilarating. But we've all been through this together. And now this chapter is actually over.
The appeals to fear have been a big part of it. And I think we all have to remember, as we -- as we hear Trump wrap it up tonight, what people -- some people hear as hate, others hear as love. What others -- some hear as hope, others hear fear -- hear as fear. You know, it's very different messages.
And honestly, it's going to be interesting to take a break from the game we've all been playing, Boris, of what did he say versus what did he mean? Right? Because that's -- that's the kind of game that's twisted people into knots for basically a decade now.
DEAN: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
DEAN: It's amazing, isn't it?
SANCHEZ: An exhausting game to play, no doubt.
STELTER: It is.
SANCHEZ: Brian Stelter, appreciate the perspective, as always.
DEAN: All right. Well, it is 12:56 here on the East Coast. We're coming right up on 1 a.m. It is officially election day in America.
SANCHEZ: Yes. We made it.
DEAN: We did.
SANCHEZ: Sort of. We still have a while to go before we even know who won. But we appreciate you being with us.
DEAN: That's right. Stick with us. We're going to take a break. We'll have more election coverage when we come back.
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