live from washington, this is bbc news. election eve in america. donald trump and kamala harris make theirfinal push in the key swing states that could decide the next president of the united states. we stand on the verge of the four greatest years of american history. it's really something. with your help we will restore america's promise and we will take back the nation that we all love so much. i see the promise of america in everyone who is here, in every of you, in every of us. we are the promise of america. and more heavy rain hits spain, less than a week after devatasting floods around valencia.

hello, this is bbc news. well, we're almost there. the campaigns are into the finalfew hours. tuesday is election day in the us — the final day of voting. and in 2a hours, the first polls will close and results will start arriving soon after. and one extraordinary development we already know about is the scale of early voting. already more than 80 million people have voted — far exceeding early voting records from before the pandemic. one of two people will replacejoe biden. the winner may be vice president kamala harris — someone who only entered the race whenjoe biden gave in to calls for him to step aside, who wasn't formally confirmed as the candidate until august, who levelled up the polls after she entered the race and was enthusiastically embraced by democrats, who by her own

admission has had to help americans to get to know her better, and who is trying to offer change while being in power and defending the biden administration's record. the winner may be donald trump — someone who in the last four yearshas continued to falsely claim the last election was stolen from him, who rallied his suporters before some of them attacked the capitol onjanuary 6th, who won the republican nomination with ease, who in a hush money trial became the first former or sitting president to be convicted of a crime, who was found legally responsible for a sexual assault by a jury in a civil case — trump called that accusation a lie. this year, he was struck by a bullet in an attempted assassination. he's continued to routinely make a range of false and misleading claims and he continues to reshape the republican party, to the delight of his many supporters. both candidates, in very different ways, have taken unusual and sometimes unlikely routes to this eve of election day in america.

now, both have a chance of reaching the white house. and for either to win the presidency, they will need to win some of the crucial seven swing states. the voters in georgia, arizona, nevada, wisconsin, michigan, north carolina, and pennsylvania will go a long way to decioding this election. and kamala harris is spending herfinal day of campaigning to pennsylvania. this was her message. so, allentown, this is it, just one more day, one more day, one more day left in one of the most consequential elections of our lifetime, and momentum is on our side. momentum our lifetime, and momentum is on ourside. momentum is our lifetime, and momentum is on our side. momentum is on our side. can you feel it? we have momentum, right? because our campaign has tapped into the ambitions and the aspirations and the dreams of the american

people. we are optimistic and excited about what we will do together, and we on here know that it together, and we on here know thatitis together, and we on here know that it is time for a new generation of leadership in america. our correpondent tom bateman is in philadelphia, where harris will deliver her final campaign speech a short time from now. i asked him about the optimistic tone harris has been hitting in these final days. absolutely, and we have seen that switch over the last week and it has really hit its crescendo tonight with the campaigners say they believe they are on course to winds the so—called blue wool states, those three states including pennsylvania here. the biggest prize of all because it holds 19 college votes. and what the campaign is saying is that they think that tactic has been successful in trying to persuade those voters that still hadn't made their minds up. that is a diminishing number of people in this

country but they have targeted it in pennsylvania and elsewhere, particularly going after those moderate republicans, particularly suburban women and particularly on the issue of abortion and reproductive rights. now, the stage has been set, we have had some of the line—up begin already, kamala harris is due to arrive here in the next few hours and make that final campaign sprint downtown philadelphia, and very much on that theme what they have been saying is that messages about warning and negativity, they want little to a positive pitch. i want little to a positive itch. . , want little to a positive itch, ., , pitch. i was also interested in that clip to — pitch. i was also interested in that clip to hear _ pitch. i was also interested in that clip to hear kamala - pitch. i was also interested in | that clip to hear kamala harris talking about aberration of leadership, it is a phrase she has used before and one of her challenges is to offer something new when the current administration... something new when the current administration. . ._ administration... absolutely, and i think— administration... absolutely, and i think within _ administration... absolutely, and i think within that - administration... absolutely, and i think within that is - administration... absolutely, and i think within that is the l and i think within that is the fact that she has had a

challenge throughout this campaign of trying to break from the record of the biden administration because remember, the key elements of that have angered many voters and donald trump has capitalised on many of those things, critically the gust of living, we saw inflation saw under the biden presidency, and that has been a very strong theme for donald trump, as has what he will describe and his supporters will see as unmanaged migration under the biden administration. so, it has been both a useful tactic both by mr biden and kamala harris herself to talk about this idea of a new generation of leadership. he used that expression when his party basically ousted him as the candidate for the reason he said he was handing the torch on to, hurry so i think we will hear much more of that. but obviously they like that idea, it makes it sound very forward—looking, very future —looking, and i suspect we will hear that tonight.

as well as north carolina and michigan. former president trump is holding one of his final rallies in pittsburgh tonight. there he is addressing the crowd, let me play a little bit of what said earlier. i crowd, let me play a little bit of what said earlier.- of what said earlier. i will fiuht of what said earlier. i will fight for _ of what said earlier. i will fight for you _ of what said earlier. i will fight for you every - of what said earlier. i will fight for you every single | of what said earlier. i will. fight for you every single day with every breath in my body. together, we will save this country, we will defeat the corrupt system in washington and america's future will be an absolutely incredible one, that is what it is. but we've got to start immediately, it can't wait any longer, it is not going to be possible. this is all you really need to know, it's simple, not particularly beautiful, as a statement, but very simple, it is kamala broke it, iwill fix it.

president trump is also appearing at a rally in the key state of michigan in a few hours. news correspondent ione wells is speaking to people there. there is a big crowd waking —— waiting outside, donald trump fans, i have been speaking to them and the things that come up them and the things that come up time and again our economy and immigration. many have said they want donald trump to close they want donald trump to close the borders, that they are tired as what they describe as an influx of immigrants coming to the us, they have also talked about things like wanting to lower inflation, and specifically when it comes to the state of michigan, some of them have and should show me them have and should show me the decline of the auto industry which has seen job losses in large numbers over the years that i think they argue that donald trump is that person to try and restore jobs, potentially quite like what he has to say about for example not been a big fan of electric vehicles and had to transition to a greener economy, but also some of what he has to say

around introducing tariffs on foreign imports, so i think we are going to hearfrom him i am sure on immigration, on economy, on those core messages he has been repeating throughout this campaign but specifically to speak to some of the concerns of the people in this crowd. let's take a look at some of the final polling we're getting in ahead of tuesday's vote. first, this is at the national level. you can see kamala harris just ahead of donald trump by one point. well within the margin of error. and then here are the seven swing states. again the differences are within the margin of error. in polling terms, this is effectively a dead heat. last hour, i was joined by the polling editor last hour i was joined by the polling editor for the new york times, ruth igielnik. she gave me her analysis of where we're at with the polling. this is a remarkably —— a

remarkably tight race. it is the tightest raised we had seen in decades in this country. find in decades in this country. and often within — in decades in this country. and often within the _ in decades in this country. and often within the commentary around the selection, and this has been going on for weeks, if not months, you will have a sense that one candidate is doing better or another candidate has got momentum, and in the last couple of days i have seen a number of people saying that harris is having a better couple of days, and i have been struggling to square that when i look at the polls. is this momentum more people just looking at the situation and drawing their own conclusions?- and drawing their own conclusions? , ~ conclusions? yes, i think there is some squinting _ conclusions? yes, i think there is some squinting and - conclusions? yes, i think there is some squinting and a - conclusions? yes, i think there is some squinting and a bit - conclusions? yes, i think there is some squinting and a bit of. is some squinting and a bit of wish casting, there is really not a lot of evidence that there has been a strong gain for harris. they have been some good pulse for her but also some good pulse forjump. it was a tight race two weeks ago and it is a tight race now. there has been tightening from say a month ago when harris did have a bit of an angel in the polls but i has really tightened and in the last week

or two, tightened and in the last week ortwo, it tightened and in the last week or two, it has been remarkably tight and we have not really seen a change. i tight and we have not really seen a change.— tight and we have not really seen a change. i am definitely interested _ seen a change. i am definitely interested to _ seen a change. i am definitely interested to ask _ seen a change. i am definitely interested to ask you - seen a change. i am definitely interested to ask you how- seen a change. i am definitely interested to ask you how you i interested to ask you how you and your colleagues at the new york times are approaching the number of people voting early, and how that impacts on the polls on what we make of them and how the selection goes. yes, so we conducted polls of seven swing states of the last week and one of the things we askedit week and one of the things we asked it was whether people voted early and we found 40% of voters in those swing states voted early. it is a pretty big group, and kamala harris does have an edge with that group but it is important to remember it isjust a but it is important to remember it is just a slight edge, a lot of people still voted for trump and that is different from what we saw four years ago when the early vote was overwhelmingly democratic, so now we are looking at this massive group of early voters and kamala harris is ahead with them but only by a narrow margin. people are watching _ only by a narrow margin. people are watching all _ only by a narrow margin. people are watching all around - only by a narrow margin. people are watching all around the - are watching all around the world and in different countries there are different

rules around polling, and the polls through the us come through election day or have you got the last of the data in? , . . ~' , you got the last of the data in? ~' in? they cant keep coming throu~h in? they cant keep coming through election _ in? they cant keep coming through election day - in? they cant keep coming through election day but . in? they cant keep coming through election day but i | through election day but i think we had that last of the real meaningful data in, the final polls have been put out in the last day or two so we can get more polling in over the next 2a hours but i don't expect it to change a lot and i don't expect us to get a lot of polling in. don't expect us to get a lot of polling in— polling in. i've had a few conversations _ polling in. i've had a few conversations in - polling in. i've had a few conversations in the - polling in. i've had a few conversations in the lasti polling in. i've had a few - conversations in the last few months, i imagine you have as well, where i have referenced polls and they say the polls always underestimate the trump vote, this has happened in previous elections, previously —— presumably the pollsters have tried to change their methodology because of that. yes, the pollsters have adjusted their methodologies and lots of different ways, they have adjusted their waiting to account for different demographicjute groups, we have adjusted the way we reach out to people, lots of different methods, everybody is trying these ways

to make sure we can be correct, and i think it is interesting to know that while in 2020 there was a big polling error where polls overestimated biden support, in 2022, in the mid—term elections in the us, the polls were almost exactly accurate, our poll had everyone within one to two percentage points so i think there are a lot of reasons to believe we have made strides and improvements with have made strides and impro