Countdown to the midterms: 1 day out

By Meg Wagner, Veronica Rocha, Brian Ries, Jessie Yeung and Sophie Tatum, CNN

Updated 1:26 p.m. ET, November 6, 2018
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4:23 p.m. ET, November 3, 2018

Trump misleads crowd on Kavanaugh accusers, saying: "About rape, she lied, and we’re supposed to sit back and take it"

From CNN's Jeff Zeleny

Rallying supporters in Montana on Saturday at an crisp airport rally outside Bozeman, President Donald Trump blasted Sen. Jon Tester for opposing Kavanaugh. 

"If crowds mean anything, we're going to have a great Tuesday -- that's for sure," Trump said. 

The President dwelled extensively on Justice Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation — and repeatedly misled the crowd about the sexual misconduct allegations made against him, blaming Democrats for a "filthy, dirty lie."

He amplified the argument he made on Twitter earlier today, not mentioning the name of Kavanaugh's accusers but suggesting all have recanted their stories, which isn't true.

"One of his accusers just came out a little while ago and said it was all a lie and said she never met now Justice Kavanaugh. It was a made up story. She made up the story. It was a lie. It was a total like. It was fake. You know what fake means? It was fake. She lied about the story about rape. About rape, she lied And we’re supposed to sit back and take it."

He did not draw a distinction between Christine Ford and other women who made claims to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Correction: A previous version incorrectly used the word "recounted" instead of "recanted" in a suggestion made by the President on Kavanaugh accusers.

2:45 p.m. ET, November 3, 2018

Trump rallying in Montana for last minute push against Tester

President Donald Trump is in Big Sky Country this Saturday -- making this his fourth trip to Montana since July.

And he's there to campaign against Sen. Jon Tester.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny reports that Trump is more invested in Montana's Senate contest than almost any other, and that the President has not forgiven Tester for raising questions that ultimately led to the embarrassing withdrawal of Dr. Ronny Jackson, Trump's personal physician, as the nominee for secretary of veterans affairs.

This is the first of two rallies Trump will be speaking at on Saturday -- later he'll head to Florida.

2:13 p.m. ET, November 3, 2018

Biden on Trump: "Truth is truth. Honesty is honesty"

From CNN’s Arlette Saenz

Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images
Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images

Former Vice President Joe Biden reacted to President Donald Trump recently saying he tries to tell the truth when he can. 

“Did you hear him trying to explain honesty?” Biden asked in Parma Heights, Ohio. “No, no, no I’m not joking. He was on the air saying well honesty is — they’re trying to convince us that honesty is relative depending on where you stand. Truth is truth. Truth is truth. Honesty is honesty.”

Biden was in Ohio for the second time this week campaigning for Sen. Sherrod Brown and the Democratic nominees for governor and lieutenant governor, Richard Cordray and Betty Sutton.

Biden still seems to be recovering from laryngitis, sounding even more hoarse than days before. He joked about his raspy voice, saying he was trying to sound like Senator Sherrod Brown.

“My name’s Joe Biden and I have been in 22 states with 60 candidates, 11 cities in the last 4 days. And the reason I…tell you that is I wanted to get my voice so I could sound like Sherrod Brown,” Biden said.  

One of the moments where his voice is normally booming but instead sounded raspy and squeaky: 

“Ordinary people can do extraordinary things if given a chance. That’s what built this country. Ordinary people. Just give them half a chance to do it. We have to re-set the moral compass of this nation and we do that on Tuesday."

He seemed to save the most of his voice’s energy for his closing argument.

"We Democrats have to make it clear who we are. We choose hope over fear. We choose unity over division. We choose our allies over our enemies. And we choose truth over lies,” he said.

12:57 p.m. ET, November 3, 2018

Trump, Obama record robocalls for their parties ahead of Midterms

From CNN's Eric Bradner and Andrew Kaczynski

President Donald Trump and former President Barack Obama are both recording robocalls for their parties’ candidates ahead of Tuesday’s midterms. 

Trump recorded calls for the Republican Senate candidates in Indiana, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Nevada, Tennessee and West Virginia through the Senate Leadership Fund, per an aide to the group. He also recorded one for Martha McSally in Arizona via Defend Arizona, another GOP super PAC backing Martha McSally.

Trump also recorded calls for the Republican National Committee and some House GOP candidates. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for a full list of candidates for whom Trump recorded get-out-the-vote robocalls.

Obama, meanwhile, recorded calls for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, a county Democratic Party in Texas, Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum and a slate of House candidates. 

His office declined to provide a list of candidates and committees for whom the former president has recorded calls, but said Obama has recorded a total of more than 50 robocalls, digital spots and radio ads.

12:34 p.m. ET, November 3, 2018

Racist robocall targets Stacey Abrams, Oprah in Georgia governor's race

From CNN's Veronica Stracqualursi

A white supremacist group that targeted Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum with racist robocalls is now targeting Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams.

What is it? The prerecorded phone message features a voice impersonating Oprah Winfrey, who was in Georgia on Thursday stumping for Abrams, and contains racist and anti-Semitic rhetoric.

Abrams' Republican opponent, Brian Kemp, strongly denounced the automated call, calling it "absolutely disgusting" in a statement Friday.

Here's what Abrams' director of strategic communication, Abigail Collazo, said in a statement on Saturday morning:

"Over the last few weeks we've seen increasing desperation from many dark corners trying to steal the election, cheat, lie, and prey on people's fears rather than having the respect to listen to voters and speak to their hopes," Collazo said. She added that it was "pathetic" that Kemp "has only now suddenly decided to find a conscience as polls are tightening and Georgia voters are making it clear that they reject the kind of hate he and his allies have been spewing around the state. These automated calls are being sent into homes just days before President Trump arrives, reminding voters exactly who is promoting a political climate that celebrates this kind of vile, poisonous thinking."

Read more here.

2:18 p.m. ET, November 5, 2018

The Trump factor: 2018's real test

From CNN's Lauren Dezenski

Everything we know about midterm voters -- including that there will be less of them and they'll hail more from the parties' bases than in a presidential cycle -- means that the Trump factor will be on their minds at the polls.

"Both of these sides have been waiting for this moment since January 2017," professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University (and CNN contributor) Julian Zelizer told me about this year's midterm voters.

"These are people who have been encouraged or most aggravated by what's happening in the news." 

Because of that, for campaigns this year (and increasingly over the last few cycles) it's less about how to win voters over, but how to get the ones you want to the polls. Case in point: Trump's hard pivot to the immigration issue in the last week of the election in an attempt to rile up Republican voters.

"It's clear he's trying to activate his base," UNI political science professor Chris Larimer told me this week.

But will that strategy activate his base, or encourage those who dislike him? 

At least nationally, we have a picture of just how polarized voters are on Trump, thanks to polling from CNN and SSRS earlier this month. Among Democrats, 92% disapprove of Trump -- while 87% of Republicans approve of the President.

In key states like Florida, Arizona, Nevada and Georgia on Election Day, the difference will ultimately come down to which side is bigger -- and who makes it to the polls.

10:43 a.m. ET, November 3, 2018

Dems dig in on "the last weekend" as Trump goes cross-country

From CNN's Gregory Krieg

Saturday morning began on Friday night for Democrats.

Glued to their televisions and Twitter feeds, they watched as former President Barack Obama lambasted his successor for the second time in six hours at a rally for Stacey Abrams, the former state House minority leader running for governor in Georgia.

Obama, at Morehouse College in Atlanta, answered Trump's jab from earlier in the week, when the Republican President said Abrams -- owner of an estimable political résumé -- was "not qualified" for the job that she and GOP Secretary of State Brian Kemp are at about even odds to win next week.

"Republicans -- they keep trying to diminish Stacey's remarkable accomplishments," Obama said, without mentioning Trump by name.

"She is the most experienced, most qualified candidate in this race. She's got an incredible track record of fighting for working families."

As Obama divided his day by boosting the Democrats, first in Miami for gubernatorial hopeful Andrew Gillum and incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson, and chopping away at Trump, Republicans eagerly returned the favor — and gave a preview of what to expect on Saturday. Trump's plans include campaigning for Senate challenger Matt Rosendale in Montana in the afternoon before returning to Florida for his second trip there in four days after spending Wednesday night in Fort Myers. This time he'll be in Pensacola, another traditionally Republican stronghold up in the state's Panhandle.

Trump then gave a howling hint of what to expect this weekend during a campaign stop in Indiana on Friday.

Keep reading.

8:57 p.m. ET, November 2, 2018

Trump emphasizes the "H" in Barack Obama's name

From CNN's Jim Acosta and Aishvarya Kavi

President Trump emphasized the "H" in former President Barack Obama’s full name as he criticized him during a rally in Indianapolis.

"It’s no surprise that Joe Donnelly is holding a rally this weekend with Barack H. Obama. Barack Obama," Trump said, prompting someone in the crowd to yell "He sucks!"

Trump, who before running for office had raised birther conspiracy theories about Obama, did not elaborate on his reference to his predecessor's middle name.

He continued: “I watched him speak today. He had a very small crowd, they don’t talk about that. And they never talk about how big our crowds are.”

Watch the moment:

8:40 p.m. ET, November 2, 2018

Trump continues his attack on Democrats at Indiana rally

From CNN's Matthew Hoye

President Trump attacked Democrats, pushed his immigration message, and touted a new jobs report at a rally in Indiana Friday.

Trump was in Indianapolis to campaign for Republican Mike Braun, who's running against Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly.

During his speech, Trump attacked what he called "radical Democrats," saying they would "take a giant wrecking ball to our economy and to our future."

He also seized on his immigration message again, telling the crowd that "Democrats want to invite caravan after caravan."

"A blue wave would equal a crime wave, very simple," Trump said.

He added "a red wave" would mean jobs and prosperity.

Trump went on to hail the latest jobs report. (The US economy added 250,000 jobs in October, significantly exceeding expectations. The unemployment rate remained at 3.7%, a 49-year low.)

"In the last month alone, we added 250,000 jobs and another 650,000 Americans returned to the workforce," the President said, adding "We have now the hottest economy in the world. When did you hear that last? "