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NEW DAY SUNDAY

Final Frenzy of Campaigning in Battlegrounds; Secret Service Rushes Trump Offstage at Rally; Plan to Retake Syrian ISIS Stronghold Announced; Faith Leaders Working to Get "Souls to the Polls". Aired 7- 8a ET

Aired November 6, 2016 - 07:00   ET

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


[07:00:06] ALEC BALDWIN AS DONALD TRUMP: And now it's time to get out there and vote. None of this will have mattered if you don't vote.

KATE MCKINNON AS HILLARY CLINTON: We can't tell you who to vote for, but on Tuesday, we all get a chance to choose what kind of country we want to live in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: And we didn't dress like them --

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: No, we really didn't. I didn't notice that we -- same colors. All right.

PAUL: Thank you so much for spending your morning with us.

BLACKWELL: We've got much more ahead on the next hour of your NEW DAY. It starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. Go.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Secret Service rushed Trump off the stage.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Nobody said it was going to be easy for us. We will never be stopped.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump make their closing arguments to the nation. The race has tightened even more.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We are all working out hearts out in the final sprint to this election, and we need your help.

TRUMP: We need you all to go and vote on Tuesday and we are going to win back the White House.

CLINTON: Tonight, I want to hear you roar! Are you ready?

(END VIDEOTAPE) PAUL: It is, indeed, a new day, 7:00 -- 7:01 to be exact on Sunday morning with one heck of a beautiful view in the nation's capitol behind us.

BLACKWELL: We certainly do have a great view. I'm Victor Blackwell, obviously, live here in Washington, D.C., the White House behind us.

Two days now until we as a country determine who will be the next occupant of that building behind us.

The final frenzy of the campaigning season across the country. Today, Donald Trump is making a big play in the blue states. Hillary Clinton hoping to draw more on the star power they're going to boost in those battle grounds.

PAUL: Let's talk about the latest CNN poll of polls because it has changed since yesterday. It shows the race closer in the home stretch here. Hillary Clinton leads Donald Trump 46 percent to 43 percent nationally. That's 3 percentage points difference. Yesterday it was 5.

So, here is what is on tap. Hillary Clinton in the Buckeye State. She'll be in Cleveland, joined by the king himself, LeBron James. And later, she'll head to New Hampshire for a concert event with James Taylor.

BLACKWELL: Yes, Donald Trump has five rallies in five states today in Iowa, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Minnesota, and Michigan.

PAUL: An incident at a Trump campaign rally in Reno, Nevada, last night though has a lot of people talking.

BLACKWELL: Yes, it happened during his speech there. Secret Service agents rushed Trump to safety after they say someone shouted "gun" near the front of the stage. Now when I say they rushed him to safety, there really was no threat. Police took one man into custody but they found no weapon.

CNN's correspondent Kyung Lah has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Victor, Christi, Donald Trump swinging through the battleground state of Nevada had his stump speech interrupted by someone in the crowd.

(voice-over): Secret Service rushed Trump off the stage. We know police and SWAT teams descended. They took the man into custody.

Here's why they had such a response and why there was such panic in this crowd.

SIMON COHEN, WITNESS: We're all very interested in what Mr. Trump had to say as a guy in the red shirt just brushed right next to me screaming there's a guy with a gun. I guess he saw it as the guy had a sign with Mr. Trump's face covered. As they were trying to get his sign down, there was another gentleman standing by me with an orange shirt who jumped the guy first and then right afterwards the Secret Service came down and then police shot right in.

LAH (on camera): You didn't see a gun?

COHEN: I did not.

LAH: So you didn't see any weapon?

COHEN: I was -- by that point, by the time I got in and shot my video the guy was already on the Secret Service.

MILTON ZERMAN, WITNESS: So, yeah, I was watching -- I was watching Trump speak and I heard someone scream, this guy has a gun. So I looked towards, you know, the guy he was talking about. It didn't look to me like he had a gun or at least I didn't see a gun but people were screaming that he did have a gun and immediately after that Trump was taken off the stage.

Everyone starts dispersing. I hear people saying, let's get out of here. It's not going to be good. But I just took that opportunity to get closer to the front because it seemed like the armed officers had it under control.

LAH: A law enforcement official tells CNN that no weapon was found. Trump returned to the stage. He continued and finished his speech taking the time to thank Secret Service -- Victor, Christi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: All right. Kyung Lah, thanks so much.

No charges were filed against that man who was detained at the rally.

[07:05:01] His name is Austyn Crites. Now, Crites claims he did not have a gun, there was no gun found but he says others in the crowd reacted negatively towards his sign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AUSTYN CRITES, DETAINED AT TRUMP RALLY: I just came with a sign. I literally just had one sign that said Republicans against Trump and when I pulled out the sign, people around me were trying to grab the sign. Somebody yelled something about a gun and so, that's when things really got out of hand. I mean, people were just kicking me, grabbing my arms, twisting them. Finally, I'm very thankful for the law enforcement to quickly come because had they not been here, it's possible these people could have strangled me, killed me right on the spot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Now, I want to point out Donald Trump released a statement after making his final Saturday campaign stop saying, "I would like to thank the United States Secret Service and the law enforcement resources in Reno and the state of Nevada for their fast and professional response. I also want the many thousands of people present for their unwavering and unbelievable support. Nothing will stop us. We will make America great again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: All right. So, let's bring in Clinton supporter and CNN political commentator, Hilary Rosen, and Trump advisor, Jack Kingston, also a former congressman from Georgia.

And let's start by talking about what happened in the moments after this incident. Donald Trump Jr. retweeted the unsubstantiated claims that his father just survived an assassination attempt. He deleted it, but by that time it had been retweeted thousands of times.

And then there's this -- someone who's introducing Donald Trump in Denver, a reverend there blamed the media. Do we have the sound from that?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REV. ANDRE MAHANNA, TRUMP RALLY OPENING SPEAKER: You attack him every time thinking he raises a speech of hate. Tonight I think the hate a lot of media raised against him caused an attempt of murder against him in Nevada.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: All right. So, Congressman, what do you make of what you're hearing there from the reverend?

JACK KINGSTON, SENIOR ADVISER, TRUMP CAMPAIGN: Actually had trouble hearing him but I think there's always some excitement and some confusion at a presidential rally. You know, we do know that there were Democrat operatives this last summer who were paid to disrupt Trump rallies. And, you know, I think it was a big scandal, but it probably didn't get covered as much but --

BLACKWELL: In this case, this was a Republican against Trump, that's what the sign said, and the reverend here said that there's been so much talk about the hate from Trump. It is the media's hate that brought this upon Donald Trump -- paraphrasing here.

KINGSTON: I would not necessarily agree that it's the media's fault. But I would say it's probably unlikely that he was just an innocent Republican with a sign. I don't think Trump supporters or anybody would react to that so negatively. I think that's probably -- you know, we don't know what the backstory is, but we do know that there were paid Democratic operatives that went out --

HILARY ROSEN, HILLARY CLINTON SUPPORTER: No, we don't.

KINGSTON: -- at Trump rallies. Robert Creamer, I think it was pretty well-documented Hillary.

ROSEN: There was some video that suggested that they want to do that, but no evidence. Look, I will just say this. First of all, there has been violence at Trump rallies before. We've seen this.

KINGSTON: From Democrats, Hilary.

ROSEN: Jack, you know, that's just not true.

KINGSTON: Robert Creamer. It was pretty well-documented.

ROSEN: There have been protests. But look at what President Obama did just last week in welcoming a Trump protest at a Democrats' rally. So, you know, Democrats I think have done the best they can in what has been a very difficult environment.

I was going to go to a different point, a bigger point, which is, you know, at the end of this very divisive, difficult campaign, it is hard to run for office. It's often scary. And people in politician's families, Jack knows, he was a member of Congress, they put themselves out on the line every day. They go to event after event after event. Secret Service can't always you.

And I do think that we ought to just step back as Americans and say, you know what, our Democratic process ought to be protecting these kinds of events. We shouldn't have that kind of threat of violence at any event.

PAUL: There was an article in "The New York Times" yesterday and they were talking about young girls and how they were affected by this campaign. I was reading even some of these young girls say I would never want to run for office because of what I see.

ROSEN: Right.

PAUL: What do you say to those people who you might want to encourage to be part of the process?

KINGSTON: Actually, I would take it even to a different -- I think on Tuesday America should be proud of itself. We've had a bruising campaign. We had over 20 candidates, maybe 25 if you count the minor candidates run for office. Why? Because in a dynamic country of 320 million people, it's worth fighting for, and it's worth fighting for ideologically.

And on the fringe, there are going to be the scuffles. And some of them absolutely get out of hand and we both parties and all people denounce that.

But on the other hand, if you look at the world, how do they settle their civil wars? With guns and violence and assassinations. And I think while we're all beating ourselves up as Americans, this is tough, because you know what, there has been name callings, incidents, allegations on all sides, but the reality is that we should come -- we will come together on Tuesday night and we will come together January 20th, 2017, when Donald Trump is sworn in, but it's going to be a good thing.

ROSEN: I think the point Christi made, though, is important, because words matter. In our democracy, words matter. In other countries, guns often matter. But, you know, that article said that over 50 percent of teenage girls feel shame now about their bodies based on the conversations that Donald Trump started. And that they were aware of them was so interesting.

KINGSTON: Hilary, I don't think anybody would take that --

ROSEN: I'm sorry, that was actually an objective survey by teen girls.

KINGSTON: An objective survey. And you would call that a scientific --

PAUL: They did not all support Donald Trump.

(CROSSTALK)

ROSEN: They were supporters. It wasn't a political survey. It was about the conversation we are having in this country about the election and about --

(CROSSTALK)

ROSEN: Donald Trump does bear some of that responsibility. To say he doesn't, then it's just wrong.

KINGSTON: When Hillary calls people deplorable and irredeemable, half of the supporters of Donald Trump, to me I find that very offensive.

ROSEN: You might, but you're not -- you're making a different point. That girls are affected by what has happened here.

PAUL: I think everybody has been affected because we have to understand words matter no matter what side of the aisle they're coming from.

BLACKWELL: Congressman, Hilary Rosen, we've got to take a break here. You both will be back with us throughout the hour. Thank you much.

KINGSTON: Thanks.

BLACKWELL: Can LeBron James help crown Ohio for Hillary Clinton? Or bring that to her camp? We'll take you live to Cleveland. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:15:39] BLACKWELL: We'll get back to the presidential race in just a moment. But first, there's breaking news out of Syria. The U.S.- backed Syrian democratic forces, they say they will now launch a military campaign to liberate the de facto ISIS capital of Raqqah in northern Syria. The joint operation center for the military campaign will be called Euphrates Rage.

We've got these images for you here, just coming in, released to CNN by Syrian democratic forces. It purports to show the first movements of that offensive. PAUL: We want to get more from Will Ripley who is live for us now in Istanbul.

Will, what are you hearing this morning?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know that this has been confirmed, that this final push into Raqqah is underway. And this is very significant because ISIS currently controls two major cities, Mosul and Iraq. You know about the ongoing operation there in Raqqa, which they consider their de facto capitol, a city that they've held for the past couple of years.

The people who are living in Raqqah have been living under brutal ISIS rule. And now, there is a force backed by the U.S. led coalition of Kurdish and Arab fighters, the SDF. It's significant that these are local militias and that they are Kurdish and Arab working together, because one thing that ISIS has been telling the civilians in Raqqah is that when the Kurdish fighters are coming into the city, they'll be slaughtered in the streets. That's what ISIS is telling the families, the children, the grandparents, who are terrified. They've been living with ongoing airstrikes that have killed civilians. They have been living with violence. And then, of course, all of the things that ISIS does to people who don't live within the very strict rules of their self-proclaimed caliphate.

Now, they have the terror of this force moving in that they believe, many people with little access to the Internet, radio or television might be coming in to do more harm to them. It is a heartbreaking situation. We know that Turkey, the Turkish military, while they have moved troops to the border with Syria, they will not be participating in this operation because Turkey believes that these Kurdish fighters will be associated with a group that they consider terrorists, a group of Kurds trying to carve out their own country responsible for bombing attacks that have killed people in this country.

So, a very complex situation and at the center of it, in Raqqah right now, terrified civilians who don't know what's going to happen next.

PAUL: Yes, those families and those pictures coming out of there have just been horrific to look at. I cannot imagine what those folks are going through.

Thank you so much, Will Ripley, for the very latest. We appreciate it.

As we turn it back around here to where we are --

BLACKWELL: Yes.

PAUL: -- Washington, D.C., and what so many of you are watching in the next 48 hours, both campaigns bearing down on the battleground states. We're going to take you live to two crucial states, Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Stick with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:21:50] BLACKWELL: All right. Ohio have moved into Trump territory recently, but Hillary Clinton not giving up that ground there.

Our Martin Savidge is live in Cleveland where Secretary Clinton is bringing out LeBron James today -- Martin.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. Royalty is certainly what is the consideration of LeBron James. He is a town hero. Hillary Clinton is hoping that that star power is going to work for her.

We should point out that election officials here say yesterday they saw a surge of I guess you could call it last-minute, last-weekend early voting that is taking place. In fact, Saturday, yesterday, when you compare it to four years ago, they did much better yesterday. So, positive signs.

But overall the negative is that early voting is down about 50 percent in Cuyahoga County. Well, this is staunchly Democratic turf. It's got the most registered voters in the state of Ohio. If you have a down turn like that, that does not bode well for Hillary Clinton, because if she doesn't do well in the northern part, she's certainly not going to do well in the middle and the southern parts of Ohio because that is definitely Republican territory. Hence, why you're seeing Donald Trump up by anywhere from three to five points depending on whose poll you are looking at.

Also, I should point out, remember that federal judge that came out with a ruling here in northern Ohio on Friday. It was basically an injunction against both campaigns warning them against any interference or any intimidation of voters. Well, there was a strong list of rules that the judge said both campaigns had to follow.

Now, the Trump campaign is appealing that decision. They have filed that appeal in the U.S. Sixth District Court of Appeals down in Cincinnati. So, it's possible we may get another ruling. The Trump folks are saying that that essentially came out of Cleveland, it could be an infringement of First Amendment rights.

So, the fight for Ohio is still going on here, Victor and Christi.

PAUL: All right. Martin Savidge, we appreciate it so much. Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Let's go over now to another battleground state. CNN correspondent Miguel Marquez is in Pittsburgh, all important Pennsylvania.

Miguel, good morning.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Victor.

Yes, Pennsylvania, 20 electoral votes. Hugely important. Very big uphill battle for Trump but he has tried to make this a race all the way along. He is counting on the blue collar white working class workers here in western Pennsylvania.

Sixty-seven counties in Pennsylvania. In 2012, Barack Obama won the state with only 12 counties. So, he won Allegheny, Philadelphia, the counties around there where most of the population is in the state. Those counties alone account for about half the voters here.

So, the race here incredibly hard fought. Donald Trump will be here tonight. Hillary Clinton was in Pittsburgh on Friday. She was in Philadelphia last night. She will make her closing argument in Philadelphia on Monday night.

You think the state is important? They really want on the Democratic side, they want to win Pennsylvania because it will close off options, they say, to other states and other possibilities to 270 for Donald Trump.

[07:25:04] Donald Trump believes that he can put together the Rust Belt number of states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin that he can force his way to 270.

It is an uphill battle, but both sides fighting very, very hard for the Keystone State. No early voting here, by the way. Everything starts, all the action, 7:00 a.m. on Tuesday.

PAUL: Well then you're in the right place, Miguel Marquez. We'll be watching you throughout the week and you know who else is there of course?

BLACKWELL: I do know.

PAUL: Yes, one Ms. Katy Perry.

BLACKWELL: Yes, Katy Perry was there holding a rally for Hillary Clinton last night. She came out to Janet Jackson's "Nasty" which likely was not a coincidence. Many of Hillary Clinton's supporters latching on to --

PAUL: That term --

BLACKWELL: To the term after Donald Trump used it to describe Hillary Clinton during the last debate. Senator Elizabeth Warren saying that nasty women vote and on November 8th, nasty women are going to elect Hillary Clinton. But you see here Katy Perry holding this huge spectacle, this rally for Clinton. Let's listen to what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATY PERRY, SINGER: I admire so many things about Hillary C. I agree with many of her informed, educated policies. I think Hillary recognizes all of our voices and she hears us, she sees us, and she knows that we're stronger together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: All right. So, a little note there from Katy Perry. Now, it is 7:26 on a Sunday morning. I'm assuming some of you might

be getting ready for church. Well, guess what, a lot of churches, a lot of synagogues have people who are turning to their faith as they try to decipher how they're going to vote.

And evangelicals getting souls to the polls. How they're doing it.

Stay close.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:30:24] PAUL: Does it feel like 8:30? Have you changed your clock? Because it's not 8:30. It's 7:30 and we just want you to be on time.

Welcome on Sunday at 7:30. I'm Christi Paul.

BLACKWELL: At least here on the East Coast. I'm Victor Blackwell. Good to be with you.

And fewer now than 48 hours, yes, we are counting hours, not days now until Election Day and the polls open 6:00 a.m. on -- in some states. The candidates and their surrogates are blitzing the battleground states.

PAUL: Yes, they are trying to persuade every single voter now to get that vote in because it matters. Here's why -- I want to give you the latest CNN poll of polls numbers because they have changed since yesterday. This shows the race even closer in the home stretch.

Hillary Clinton leading Donald Trump 46 percent to 43 percent nationally, that's a three-point difference. Yesterday, it was a five-point difference.

BLACKWELL: Yes. Again, we're so close here. Far more than 36 million, probably 36.9 million -- I think that's the number we have -- million people they have already cast their ballot across 39 states.

PAUL: Anywhere from 50 to 80 million may as well have cast their ballots on Tuesday and in these final days that are remaining, we've got evangelicals, a lot of them, trying to determine who they would like to vote for. This is a motivation or I guess a movement called Souls to the Polls.

Here's Polo Sandoval.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a final push to shuttle parishioners from the pews to the polls. Today, early voting ends in a few remaining states ahead of Tuesday's general election. Faith leaders have one last chance to drive voters to polling locations after Sunday's service. It's part of the so-called Souls to the Polls movement. It's adding to already high early voter turnout.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Today is our first day of souls to the polls. We are excited to see so many people out, hundreds of people that just left Trinity, 400 people are stationed. We are on our way to vote.

SANDOVAL: Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump each fought for supporters among the faithful.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Father, we thank you in the name of Jesus.

SANDOVAL: Visits to churches and houses of worship became regular stops for the two candidates on the campaign trail.

The final stretch will keep volunteers busy, too. The Clinton campaign tells CNN they expect close to a million volunteer shifts leading up to Election Day. The Republican National Committee expects their volunteers will knock on nearly 17 million doors before Tuesday and each candidate directly spending much of their remaining campaigns in battleground states.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm asking you to dream big because with your vote, we are just three days away from the change you've been waiting for for your entire life.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I want to be the president for everybody -- everybody who agrees with me, people who don't agree with me, people who vote for me, people who don't vote for me.

SANDOVAL: It's a massive get out the vote effort as Election Day nears.

Polo Sandoval, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: Now, white evangelical Christians have been reliable Republican voters for decades. But a lot of them are at an impasse this time around.

BLACKWELL: So, how will the evangelical vote affect the outcome on Election Day?

Let's discuss now with Sister Simone Campbell, executive director of NETWORK, a Catholic social justice group. She's also the organizer behind the nuns on the bus campaign.

Sister Simone, good morning to you.

SISTER SIMONE CAMPBELL, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF NETWORK: Good morning.

BLACKWELL: So, let's start with where Christi left off there, with some of the white evangelical voters who have been reliable Republican voters who find themselves this time around struggling with voting for Donald Trump, especially after the release of that "Access Hollywood" tape.

What are you hearing? And just give us an insight into that decision- making process two days away from Election Day. CAMPBELL: Well, I was just in North Carolina speaking in different

faith settings and spoke to a man after one of my talks and he said, I'm a lifelong Republican but I feel really uncomfortable with this choice. And as we talked more, what I found is that he really cares about those at the economic margins, in my Catholic tradition, the folks that Pope Francis talks most often about. And what he told me he had decided was just not to vote for president.

[07:35:00] And then I tried to talk to him more about what his faith leads him to, and that is caring for those who are most often left out.

I don't know where he's actually going to end up, but what I sure encountered was his struggle to be both faithful and engaged in our political process and this is one election where, as we know, the normal is not predicted to take place. So, he was feeling really pushed out of his party by their choice. I hope he can find a way to vote his values, which are much more oriented to those who are at the economic margins of our society.

PAUL: So, Sister Simone, help us understand. Maybe there are some people at home watching this, and they're having the same kind of struggle he was having. How do you balance your faith with this election that is sitting in front of us right now? How do you finalize that decision?

CAMPBELL: It's hard, and I want to acknowledge that it's challenging. I as a person of faith in my tradition, we care deeply about the values of life and the -- abortion is one of these hot button issues, but the challenge is is most people don't know that during the Obama ministration, the abortion rate went down in all categories except those at the very economic bottom. What we've learned through all the study is that economic support through women makes the difference in their choice about choosing to have an abortion or not.

I believe no woman should be in that position where she feels economic pressure to choose abortion because it's not a good choice. In my view, it's wrong. But what I think happens is people lose sight of the fact that economic supports for women make a difference.

So, I'm urging folks who share what's generally called a pro-life view see that as a deeper story. The deeper story is supporting all people in their life and making it possible for everyone to live in dignity. Yesterday, Pope Francis made some headlines by saying that we are responsible for everyone, that they can all live in dignity and that we need to care for those who are most left out.

And in our perspective that's the balancing point. There's one issue, there's all the other issues. How each one really works to make women be able to live in dignity, and for me, it's an economic support makes the difference.

BLACKWELL: All right. Sister Simone Campbell, great to speak with you this morning. Thank you so much for being with us.

CAMPBELL: Thank you. Glad to do it. PAUL: Sure. Take good care.

BLACKWELL: So what do Trump and Clinton have to do to win evangelical support? We're going to discuss that with our panel after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:41:24] BLACKWELL: All right. Let's talk about where the candidates are going today and their closing arguments with our panel. We've got Hilary Rosen, CNN political commentator and Hillary Clinton supporter, Amy Kremer, Donald Trump supporter and co-founder of Women Vote Trump. Also joining us, Dan Pfeiffer, CNN political commentator and former senior advisor to President Obama.

Welcome to all.

I want to start with something, Hilary, that I read in "The Daily Beast" this morning from Michael Tomasky. Let's put it up on the screen as we talk about the closing arguments from these candidates.

And he wrote about Hillary Clinton, "It would be phony for her to say that she will unite the country. The best she can do is galvanize her half of the country and get them ready for battle. And that is what she is doing."

Your perspective there?

HILARY ROSEN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think that's totally wrong. We started to see Hillary Clinton make the big picture argument over the last two days. Her two big final ads are all about bringing the country together. You know, yesterday and on the trail she started to say, I am the president -- I want to be the president for all of America. I don't care if you voted for -- if you vote for me or not, I'm going to be your president. We have to come together.

I think she's working hard. She knows that in a particularly rhetoric intense campaign like this has been reach out, that it's an extra burden on the winner to reach out, to make people feel like this country can get united again.

PAUL: All right. Let's talk about some of the specific states here, and I want to bring in Michigan. There's no early voting there. Hillary Clinton, if she does not win it, she drops to 258 in the electoral vote. And here's the thing -- this is a state that they are focusing on. Obama is going to be there tomorrow in Ann Arbor. Mike Pence is going to be in Travers City. We've got Bill Clinton, who is going to be in Lansing over the next 24 hours.

Why is -- help us understand why Michigan and what situation is going on there and why it is so pivotal this time around?

DAN PFEIFFER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Sure. There are two reasons why the Clinton campaign is spending so many resources there in the last 48 hours. First is they're cutting off one of Donald Trump's few paths to 270. If he can't win Michigan or Pennsylvania, he cannot win. Second is they're going where there is most impact. Michigan, like

Pennsylvania, where they were also spending in the last few days are states that do not have significant early voting. So, the election will be decided on Tuesday there. So, you want to put your resources to states like Florida, Colorado, Nevada, those are 60, 70 percent of the vote in. So, this is where the most impact. So, it's critical for them.

BLACKWELL: Let's talk may be about where Donald Trump is going. Let's put up the map of where Trump and his surrogates are going today. He's going to Virginia where Trump is up five in the Real Clear Politics average.

He's going to Michigan, as we said. He's going to Pennsylvania where Clinton is. He's also going to Minnesota. Minnesota has voted for a Republican three times since the 1930s. The last time was more than 40 years ago.

Why is Donald Trump going to Minnesota?

AMY KREMER, WOMEN VOTE TRUMP: Well, Donald Trump has said he's going to take his message to the people, and that's what he's doing. I mean, the guy is so tenacious. He campaigns nonstop, and I don't know why he wouldn't go.

BLACKWELL: He's got two days left. Would it be more realistic to go to maybe a New Hampshire, a state that realistically is so tight he could flip a blue state that's moved actually to the battleground?

KREMER: Yes, but he's got two days left and if he goes to five -- if he does five events in one day, just like the event that happened last night where the guy was escorted out, he still had another event after that one. He went to Colorado. So, he has been doing a large number of events and so, if he's said he wants to take his message to the people, then absolutely that's what he should do. And we know that the people in Pennsylvania and Michigan, those are people that have been affected by NAFTA.

[07:45:04] And when you're talking about the TPP and he's not going to do it and Hillary -- you know, she says she's not, but we know she is, I mean, that is a message that's resonating with those people throughout that Rust Belt. And it's an important message. He has support there and that's why after the hundreds of millions of dollars that have been spent attacking him and they are still right there neck in neck, I mean, that says something.

PAUL: This is --

BLACKWELL: You think Minnesota's in jeopardy?

ROSEN: No, Minnesota is not a reach for him. It's crazy for him to spend time there.

It would make sense for him to do three stops in Michigan or three stops in Pennsylvania, some place where there may be some undecided voters but, you know, to go to -- and waste time in Minnesota makes no sense to me.

PAUL: Minnesota, though, I mean, they have been independent, let's say. They've had a couple of independent votes. You've got Jesse Ventura, who they had elected, Al Franken.

What do you say about Minnesota?

PFEIFFER: There is -- I am as likely to win in Minnesota as Donald Trump is. It is not going to happen. It makes no sense.

Romney did the same thing in 2012. They made a last minute play in Minnesota. They lost by the same usual margin.

So, there has been a lack of strategy in this campaign -- in the Trump campaign from the beginning. It is evident in Minnesota in the last two days.

PAUL: Talk about --

KREMER: But this campaign said -- he said he was going to go to these blue states. He said that from the beginning and he's following through on it.

BLACKWELL: All right.

ROSEN: At some point you want to win.

BLACKWELL: Thank you, Amy. Hillary --

ROSEN: He said a lot of things he hasn't followed through on. So why this one?

BLACKWELL: Dan, thank you so much.

PAUL: Always good to have all of you here.

And as we're leading up to election day in America, we have got every race, we have got every result for you. Stay with CNN until the last vote is cast as we are now less than 48 hours to those polls opening.

BLACKWELL: If you're up with us at 7:46, yes, it is 7:46 because we went back an hour then, it's a good chance you weren't watching "Saturday Night Live." So, we have the best for you. Using the last weekend to get in a few jokes before everyone votes on Tuesday.

But the humor came with a more positive message about this election. We'll have that for you after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[07:50:45] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How are you both doing this week?

ALEC BALDWIN AS DONALD TRUMP: Really, really great, Erin. They're also buying it. KATE MCKINNON AS HILLARY CLINTON: Yes. It has been a great week for

me, too. My fave part was when I lost that big, huge lead I had.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: "Saturday Night Live," taking advantage of this last Saturday before all of you head to the polls, o a lot of you, if you haven't already, the cast getting that one -- I say one last jab at both candidates but I'm thinking this is not the last of it.

BLACKWELL: No, both of these characters will be back even after the election, because we've got to get through the transition, and inauguration. So, we'll see --

PAUL: And they're just so good --

BLACKWELL: Yes, and they're both really good at it.

You know, after all the name-calling and the insults, these two characters at least had a change of heart on the show. Let's watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: When I am president, I will assign a special --

MCKINNON: No, no, no, no, no, no.

BALDWIN: -- prosecutor to make sure that she never --

MCKINNON: No!

BALDWIN: I'm sorry, Kate. I just hate yelling all this stuff at you like this.

MCKINNON: Yes. I know, right? This whole election has been so mean.

BALDWIN: I mean, I just feel gross all the time. I mean, don't you guys feel gross all the time about this?

MCKINNON: You know what I think can help us? Let's get out of here.

BALDWIN: What? Where will we go?

MCKINNON: You'll see.

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Good TV, but that ain't gonna happen. We know that ain't gonna happen on Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.

PAUL: Wishful thinking.

BLACKWELL: We can, yes, it's good TV. PAUL: We can wish for it.

BLACKWELL: All right. Let's talk about this. We've got Brian Stelter, CNN media correspondent and host of "RELIABLE SOURCES" with us. And also, Eric Bradner, CNN politics reporter -- to kind of talk about what we saw last night.

I mean, this is when SNL is at its best, but they took a moment here to make a point.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Yes, actually, I saw something that was uncanny. Can we pull up the compare and contrast between last night and this morning? Look at this. Were you all dress the part? Were you all try to play --

PAUL: Did you really?

(LAUGHTER)

BLACKWELL: No, we really did not plan this.

PAUL: Look --

STELTER: That's uncanny.

PAUL: We get up at 2:00 in the morning or 1:00 today.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

PAUL: We don't watch. We would love to but --

STELTER: I thought that was inspired.

Listen, I love that Alec even chose the blue tie. They were going for some harmony last night on "SNL". I think they were out of jokes and just wanted to be serious for a moment. That's where the country is right now even, too.

BLACKWELL: Yes. We just had Sister Simone Campbell on and talking about the difficulty so many people are having because of the vitriol that was spewed during this election from both sides and from supporters of both candidates that really for this to be done.

ERIC BRADNER, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Boy, thank goodness for "SNL" and the Chicago Cubs.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

BRADNER: We need something to bring this country together. Seriously, a lot of people are sick of this. It's been exhausting, negative for a year and a half now. And, yes, I think, everybody, especially people who cover it, those of us who have been watching this every step of the way are sort of exhausted by the negativity. This has not been a typical election. So, yes -- STELTER: Yes. I think more possibly, though, this election has

exposed some of the fault lines that existed well before 2015 or 2016. There is truth to the idea that Trump supporters felt ignored, felt overlooked all across this country, and that's including by the media. And I think it's been a silver ling that the reporters and commentators have had to pay more attention to all of America as a result of this election.

PAUL: Do you feel at the moment, where at the end of all of this, when all the votes are counted, that there will be a collective exhale?

[07:55:00] BRADNER: It's hard to tell.

STELTER: He doesn't want to say yes. Cynical.

BRADNER: So much, it depends on how the candidates act after the election. It's going to be incumbent on the loser to do something, to try to bring the country together and also people on Capitol Hill, right? Because transitioning into a new government is a difficult thing. It's going to involve a lot of confirmation hearings, that sort of thing. And whether the new president can get people confirmed.

STELTER: You know, we heard from Jason Chaffetz of the House Oversight Committee that he has enough information to investigate Hillary Clinton for two years with or without a win on Tuesday night.

PAUL: Whether she loses or not.

BLACKWELL: But let me ask you this, after the Al Smith dinner, Cardinal Dolan said there was a moment we did not see when these two candidates saw one another and Hillary Clinton said, you know, Donald, after this, we're going to have to do something.

Do you expect that there will be even that photo-op meeting where the winner calls the loser and they sit and talk? Are we expecting that after this?

STELTER: I've been thinking about Tuesday night and how important Tuesday night is. Maybe Wednesday morning if this drags on into the morning hours. Clinton and Trump will be a mile, two miles away from each other in midtown Manhattan. Clinton will want to speak whether Trump concedes or not. Once she is confidence she has won, assuming she pulls this off on Tuesday night, she still wants to come out to speak.

PAUL: And if she wins.

STELTER: If she wins, right, if she pulls it out Tuesday night, she will want to give Trump a grace period and then she will go and speak whether he concedes or not, because once campaign is confident they've won, they're not going to let Trump delay it for days and days and days. The flip side of that, of course, is if Trump is able to prevail, if he comes out on the Hilton ballroom, what Clinton says is going to be very, very important, reaching out to the other side. I think Tuesday night, the dynamics and the visual is going to be fascinating, because it's going to set the tone for the next four years.

BLACKWELL: All right. Brian Stelter, Eric Bradner, thank you both.

PAUL: Thank you both so much for being with us. And thank you.

Don't forget, catch Brian Stelter on "RELIABLE SOURCES". That's 11:00 a.m. Eastern today, it's going to be right here in these seats on CNN.

And we want to -- hope you make some great memories today. Thank you for sharing your morning with us.

BLACKWELL: "INSIDE POLITICS" with John King is up next.