hello, i'm wolf blitzer. it's 1:00 p.m. here in washington. wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us. looking at a live picture of the white house. a tightening race in a shrinking calend calendar. we're less than 12 days from the presidential election here in the united states. it's all about those battleground states. donald trump holds a rally this hour in one of those states. take a look at some live pictures coming in from springfield where trump will be

taking the stage shortly. we'll have live coverage of his speech. that's coming up later this hour. hillary clinton campaigns with the first lady michelle obama for their first joint rally. that's next hour in north carolina. a look at live pictures there. that's another key battleground state. we'll have live coverage of that as well. that event in winston salem. our updated election map shows florida and nevada now shifting from lean democrat back to battleground. our latest average of the five most recent national polls shows clinton maintaining a six-point lead over donald trump. 47 to 41. so how important are today's battleground state events to their respective campaigns? cnn's chris frates is covering the trump campaign. he's in ohio, standing by to hear from trump later this hour. cnn's jeff zeleny in north carolina covering hillary clinton. waiting to hear from her and

michelle obama. they'll be speaking jointly. we'll have live coverage. donald trump about to speak where you are in springfield, ohio. this is the first of three ohio events. seen some poll numbers move in his direction. how's he planning to keep up that momentum? >> yes, he's planning to keep that momentum up by doing these big kinds of rallies. if you take a look at the polling we've seen, the last few polls out of ohio shows him typed with hillary clinton. a poll that was just out shows it 45/45. he needs to get the numbers up. that's why he's come to springfield, between columbus and dayton. it's had a tough time these last 15 years. the household median income has fallen 25%. that is the biggest amount that we've seen acontroross the coun. only 15% adults here have a college education. so that is a big, big sign that this is trump country. the other thing he needs to do

is needs to spend some money. we heard from donald trump. who told our own cnn's dana bash he plans on spending $100 million. he's only spent about $60 million so far. to spend $40 million in the last weeks would be a huge investment. he told the rnc chairman, asked trump to put in some money to counter all of hillary clinton blitz, he's saying no. he's here in springfield, then toledo, then on to geneva. he needs to get numbers up here. it's crucial for him. this is a battleground. the white house for donald trump comes through here, wolf. >> chris frates, in springfield, ohio, for us, thanks very much. we're standing by to see and hear donald trump. he'll be speaking there fairly soon. we'll have live coverage. what about michelle obama joining hillary clinton where you are in winston salem? that's coming up as well. this is their first campaign

appearance together. we're hearing the first lady will offer what's being described as a closing argument for hillary clinton. what do we know about her message? >> she sure will, wolf. i'll talk a little softer here. we're in the middle of the national anthem here at wake forest university. what first lady michelle obama is trying to do today i'm told is to give more of a positive closing message for hillary clinton. we've seen her out on the campaign trail talking about why donald trump, she believes, would be a dangerous choice for president. she's been given very high covered speeches from new hampshire to as asrizona for do trump. i'll raise my voice now as the national anthem has finished. it's also significant. we're on the campus of wake forest university. this is the first day of in-person early voting here in north carolina. that is the reason michelle

obama is here. it's the reason they're trying to get students and others out to vote. you said this is the first appearance together, that's true. north carolina, also the first place that the president, president obama, and hillary clinton appeared together this summer. that was in charlotte. just shows how important north carolina is. we know president obama won it in 2008. and mitt romney won is in 2012. this will be the tiebreaker in terms of if north carolina is leaning blue or red. that's why this event here today is so important for the clinton campaign and of course using michelle obama to try to get out the vote some 12 days before the election, wolf. >> all right, jeff, thank you, jeff zeleny reporting from winston salem, north carolina. we'll have live coverage of the first lady and hillary clinton when that comes up. we're standing by for that and standing by for donald trump as well. the presidential race clearly winding down now. it all comes down to this. who can get the 270 electoral college votes needed to win the

white house. for donald trump, the road to 270 is a very challenging one. even if he were to win the six states considered battleground states right now, we're talking about florida, north carolina, ohio, utah, arizona and nevada, he would still come up short of that magic number of 270. former georgia congressman jack kingston is a senior adviser to the trump campaign, he's joining us here in washington. congressman, thank you for joining us. >> it's great to be here, wolf. >> so do you agree, this is an uphill struggle for donald trump? >> we, it's not as uphill as it was last week. we're feeling good about the trend. people are really begin to focus on the issues, obamacare most prevalently in the last day or two. the trade agreements. the regulatory environment. just jobs in general. people are now focused more on the issues and a little bit less on the noise. i'm not saying the other issues weren't as important. but they're not the pocketbook

issues which when people go to vote they think, okay, what about my household income, what about my tax burden, what about the opportunities for my children. i think people are really beginning to focus and that's breaking our way. hillary is considered the incumbent at this point. and that usually will in an election where people want change, it's going to help us. >> except this new cnn/orc poll we're just releasing today, americans are feeling better about the way things are going in the country now. more than hatlf, 54%, say thing are going well compared to 46% who say things are going badly. that's about the best number for the democrats in a long, long time. 54% say things are going well. 46% saying things are going badly. does it make it harder for donald trump? >> well, i think, you know, right track, wrong track -- >> this isn't the right track, wrong track, this is a different question we're asking, are things going -- b how a, - -- h

going in the country now. there's a different right track, wrong track number. a lot of those people who think it's a wrong track are liberal democrats who would like single payer, stuff like that. bernie sanders issues. not necessarily all conservative republicans who think it's part of that. >> i want to say two things about them. number one, there might not be as inclined to vote. >> who's they? >> those brerny sanders -- >> although he's campaigning for her. >> did you see the latest e-mail that came out on wikileaks showed in december 2014 cheryl mills sent an e-mail saying we have to coordinate better with debbie wasserman schultz. for a bernie sanders person who says the primaries were stacked against us. i mean, this is almost written proof. i'm not saying that's going to carry huge numbers. but i think there's still among the rank and file sanders

supporters, there's not the unnewsism they had for bernie. >> i'll just point out, among a lot of republicans, there's not a lot of enthusiasm for donald trump right now. a lot of the republican leadership. the speaker of the house. paul ryan. he's not out there campaigning for trump. >> well, he is trying to help the house members. which a speaker has to put as number one priority. >> he doesn't appear at all with donald trump. >> no, but he is good friends with mike pence and he's doing what he can to keep house members. i made a lot of phone calls to house members. they are feeling good about donald trump. particularly in the wake of his agenda that he talked about in gettysburg. a contract with america-type of approach to washington. you know, immigration, security, repealing obamacare, renegotiating some of the -- >> top advisers want him to do

that but is he disciplined enough? because, you know, he goes often message all the time. i'm sure you get frustrated. you call it noise. some of those issues that are noisy all of a sudden comes up and it undermines his campaign. >> well, we think he is going to stick on the issues the next 12 days -- >> did you speak to him directly about that? >> not directly, but i know our team has. one of the things that makes donald trump appealing to many, many voters is the excitement that he brings. part of that excitement is saying things that aren't expected. some of those things he says, everybody wish hess did not say. but the reality is, he's a different kind of politician. this is a different type of year. that's why he gets 15,000 people at his rallies. i was just looking at your b-roll of wake forest. great crowd for hillary clinton for a change. but, you know, it's also a built-in crowd when you go to a college campus. i'm not going to say the kids get extra credit for attending but there's certainly encouragement to skip class in the middle of the day. donald trump can get 15,000 people at night.

we saw that last night for example. but the intensity factor and the right track, wrong track, is still on our side. >> i will caution though bernie sanders had huge crowds, much bigger than hillary clinton had, and he had a lot of excitement on his side. >> he did, but superdelegates won't be deciding -- >> she got more regular delegates too. which you're right, are very important, in the democratic contest. >> i do think part of donald trump's momentum is getting those people off the bench. you know, the 4 x 4 voters who don't miss a vote, a primary. versus the 1 out of 4 election types. he's going to get the 1 out of 4 people vote. >> thank you very much for coming in. nice day here in washington. a little rainy. >> it's great. >> coming up, the battleground barn storm. donald trump set to speak this hour in ohio. one of three events he has planned for today. he's a very busy guy.

we'll have live coverage. stand by. also, a new wave of hacked e-mails revealed how bill clinton made millions post presidency. our panel standing buying. we'll break it all down. we'll be right back. ♪ approaching medicare eligibility? you may think you can put off checking out your medicare options until you're sixty-five, but now is a good time to get the ball rolling. keep in mind, medicare only covers about eighty percent

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my mom marnie and then she died life. of lung cancer.

so i have a personal interest in helping prevent smoking. i'm tom steyer, the co-chair of the yes on 56 campaign. every year, nearly 17,000 california kids start smoking. a third of them will die from their addiction. tobacco taxes reduce youth smoking. please. vote yes on prop 56. if we can save even a few lives, it's worth it. standing w ining by, take a live pictures from springfield, ohio now. donald trump scheduled to take the stage any minute now. it's the first three rallies in the battleground state of ohio today. we'll have live coverage of his remarks. joining us, carol lee, the white house reporter for "the wall street journal." david gregory, cnn's political

analyst, the author of "how's your faith." cnn's dana, b bash, chief politl correspondent. dana, statistical tie suggesting right now ohio, a key battleground state. trump desperately needs to win in ohio. so what does he need to do in ohio in these three appearances today in order to secure a win? >> the message that he has been putting forward over the last few days on issues. the times he hasn't gotten districted by other things. on issues. on obamacare. of course on his signature issue, on trade. which plays very, very well in the state of ohio. those are the things that if he keeps pushing his advisers think will push him over the edge n places like that. sticking on the issues. he also needs to hope and pray that the enthusiasm gap on the democratic side continues. that hillary clinton will have trouble running up the numbers in the urban areas.

and that that will ultimately help donald trump. the problem with the trump campaign is the democrats do have historically -- not just this year, but historically, a really good get out the vote operation that is superior to the republicans historically and even more so this year. >> david in an interview with abc, trump again claimed the election is rigged. he also tweeted this just this morning. we'll put it up on the screen. a lot of call-ins about vote flipping at the vote booths in texas. people are not happy. big lines. what is going on. this have been apparently some individuals have complained that they voted for donald trump and mike pence but it came out they were voting for hillary clinton and tim kaine. the authorities there say there's no problem, that these are human errors, they're making mistakes, but they're generating a lot of buzz on social media. >> well, i'm not surprised there's that buzz. all this being fueled from the

innuendo from the trump campaign without a lot of backup here. in any case, if we're in a very tight election result on election night than any of these irregularities get looked at. the more trump can be disciplined on issues and talk less about rigging the election, the more he has the prospect of appealing to republicans who say at the end of the day, wow, he sounds a little bit more like me, like a conservative republican. i really don't like hillary clinton. there's the drip, drip, drip of the e-mails and the foundation and what not. i think i'm going to stay home. i think that's a good thing for him. whether that's enough, we'll see. so much is about getting out the vote that we're not going to see until election night. >> can he stay on message over these next 12 days? he's got the republican nomination. >> yes, he did. but it's a different audience. different voting group. you know, we haven't seen him be able to. i highly doubt he will be able to. dana had this interview with him yesterday. you know, he's trying.

you watch his speeches and he can't help himself. help just always has to go there with the things that aren't good for him which is the economy, trade, health care. so i'm sure we'll see a little of those. >> i'm sure hillary clinton, that's coming up in north carolina, not much after donald trump's speech, but he's got two more speeches later today. they're going to try to get under his skin so he doesn't stay on message. >> right, just to step back and look at that. you know, sitting first lady and former first lady to be campaigning together where one of them is campaigning to be president is really quite remarkable. and i think, you know, michelle's people are saying she's going to move into more of a less attack dog on donald trump. so that's kind inche line with we've seen all of the surrogates do. >> north carolina, first time obama campaigns with hillary clinton is in north carolina. a lot of early voting apparently

favoring hillary clinton. it is really the place where she says this is the end of the line for donald trump. she can lose florida. she can lose ohio. she can lose wisconsin. she can lose nevada. as long as she wins pennsylvania, north carolina, she can wrap this thing up. that's how challenging all this is for donald trump. >> they do have a little momentum right now, the trump campaign. our national poll, our poll of polls, the average of the five major polls, shows she is still up by six point also right now. some key battleground states, he has moved up, it's neck and neck. >> we've seen a lot of movement in the margin of error in a lot of these surveys, swing states. it's really hard to see. in the last couple of days, it's been a trend line in his direction. maybe that's some of the obamacare days. but, you know, overall, we were seeing some surveys showing double digit leads for hillary clinton. we don't have elections like that in this country. maybe this one will defy those trends. this is always going to get close. so the notion of 5 or 6-point

lead for hillary clinton right now sounds about right but, you know, margin of error could be a two-point lead too. so that's probably in a lot of those swing states is what we're seeing. a reverse back to where these elections historically end up going. >> the wikileaks keep on going, going, going. embarrassing leaks from john podesta's e-mails, the campaign chair for the hillary clinton campaign. a new batch is very awkward for bill clinton right now and the millions he's made since leaving office. one e-mail from bill clinton's top aide getting a lot of attention now. we'll put it up on the screen. he describes a setup for some for-profit deals for the former president. he writes this, since 2001, president clinton's business arrangements have yieldeded more than $30 million for him personally with $66 million to be paid out over the next nine years should he chose to continue with the current engagements. dana, the republican national committee says this is a smoking

gun, evidence of what they call pay for play. is it? >> well, it would be if he were still president. if he were still in office. he wasn't at the time and won't be anymore. however, he is -- his wife is running for president so he would be first whatever, dude, first man. you know, we'll see what it is. and so what it does, regardless of those specifics and those facts, it does reinforce, there they go again, the clintons trying to make themselves rich, trying to use their contacts and their influence to benefit themselves. all of the things that people who don't like them say about them. and those who do like them worry is their achilles heel. when it comes to voters, this just completely plays into going back to the lincoln bedroom in the '90s. it's all part of the same narrative, if you are going to the voting booth and you are thinking do i want washington to

change or do i want something new, maybe if you're that undecided, you think, oh, oh, right, it's the clintons. it's a remainder. never mind. i'm going to take my chances with donald trump. >> it's a reminder of what republicans are getting really to do. all this venom over the e-mails, the foundation, the notion it goes away if she wins november 8th is fiction. there are republicans on capitol hill, government oversight committee, that wants to basically create a permanent state of investigation into these matters. now, we'll see what speaker of the house ryan says about all of that. there's going to be a lot of energy to keep that going which will be difficult. >> they'll be able to if they maintain the majority for the house of representatives. we'll see what happens in the house, see what happens in the senate. stay with us. we're not going to go too far away. donald trump, he's back in the battleground state of ohio. once again, he's set to speak momentarily. we'll have live coverage of his remarks. we'll see if he stays on message or deviates a bit. plus, running from the republican nominee.

some lawmakers threat en to sue over ads that suggest they support trump. i'll speak to one of them. florida republican congressman david jolly, he's standing by to join us live. she's been called hillary clinton's best surrogate. the first lady of the united states, michelle obama, she's about to speak in the swing state of north carolina. looking at live pictures coming in from there. can she deliver yet another powerful speech to sway hearts and minds?

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with less than two weeks before the election, five republican congressmen are now threatening to sue tv stations across the country for running ads that suggest they support donald trump. a fact they all deny.

take a look at this ad against republican congressman david jolly of florida. >> imagine david jolly in congress supporting his dangerous agenda. >> the campaign committee paid for that advertisement. they issued this statement. i'll quote the statement. house republicans are so desperate to keep voters from discovering their ties to donald trump and their support for his dangerous agenda that they're threatening to sue television stationings. voters will see through their threats of frivolous lawsuits just as they see through their attempts to separate themselves from their standard bearer despite standing with him during his long, hate-driven campaign. the tampa bay times reported that former governor crist eventually asked the dccc to take down the ad after the paper published a editorial

criticizing it. we reached out to the dccc, the crist campaign, some television stationings that ran the ads for response, so far we've not heard back. i'm joined by the florida congressman david jolly who's featured in one of those ads. congressman, thanks very much for joining us. >> yes. >> the problem you have, the ad is no longer being run, you've never met donald trump or been photographed with him. those pi those pictures were photo shopped, right? >> they were photo shopped. it is false imagery. one of the sleazeiest ads of the cycle. look, we know why they did it. i have never met donald trump. i called on trump to drop out of the race over his muslim ban. but we know why they did it. donald trump may have inspired millions of americans but he has created great head winds politically among independents and democrats. and so in race, i'm the one republican in the country running against a democrat, charlie crist, chain gang charlie as he's known to the

african-american community, who has a 20-year relationship with donald trump. trump supported him politically. car car charlie called him gracious and hospitablhospitable. they're trying to mislead voters by tying trump to me. in a democratically leaned district in the one i have the good fortune to represent. >> your opponent charlie crist, the former florida governor, he called for the ad to be pulled from those tv stations. it seems to have coincided when the ad was scheduled to end. so what's your beef with charlie crist right now? >> that's right. well, listen, i want people to know about charlie crist's relationship with donald trump. crist called him gracious and hospitable. this is a district that president obama went out and won by 12 points. charlie has abandoned his own friend donald trump, hiding from his past and trying to attach it to me. charlie waited until the very last day of the mia buy to say he had a change of heart.

he had an opportunity in front of a college student when the ad first came out. charlie claimed the first amendment. listen, candidates can bicker over misleading ads but this has mislead voters. when i hear from african-american pastors saying, wait, you told me you don't support trump. charlie crist is responsible for that. it's a failure of leadership. it's why we are tired of charlie in florida. but we know why -- >> the democratic congressional campaign committee ran the ad, paid for the ad. charlie crist didn't. we asked for a statement from crist. we didn't get it. are you still going to sue them for running these ads? >> the way it works in a political season, the attorneys immediately recognized it as false imagery that is not protected for a political committee like it is for a candidate. that was the legal ground by which we contacted the stations. one station said they took it down for a day but it ended up going back up. look, at this point, there's no reason for the jolly campaign to

file legal action. what i want to know is make sure the voters understand the truth here. the truth is i don't support donald trump. i respect the millions of people who do. but i've been open at great political risk within my own party for the last year speaking out againstpolicy, his tone at times. running against a candidate with a 20-year relationship, listen this is a one county race. this is my home. lying to voters is personal to me when i see charlie do it because these are personal riches. and i want to make sure people understand the truth. the only candidate in my race with a relationship with donald trump is charlie crist and he's hiding from it because he knows it will hurt him in the african-american community. a community by which we're going to win this on tuesday. >> by the way, we reached out to those tv stations for comment. we have not received a comment yet from those tv stations running the dccc ad. who are you going to vote for? >> i'm one of those millions of

americans struggling. i know i can't support hillary clinton based on some strong policy differences. my reservationings with donald trump are the fact he wants to revisit our nato relationship. that he flirts with putin. he once said he wants to be neutral on israel. i disagree with renegotiating the debt. i disagree with mass deportation. for policy reasons, i can't support him. i understand millions of americans inspired by donald trump saying he wants to change washington. i've only been three two years. i i'm the guy who pulled the curtain back on the fund-raising scandal. i took a pledge to no longer raise money. i've tried to take on hard issuissue s as a republican from climate science to marriage equality to say let's fix this, let's get past the dogma of the partisanship in washington. i've got no interest in being part of a broken washington. i know millions of people are tired of it as well. which is why they find an answer in donald trump. i simply don't find my answer in mr. trump.

>> one final question, i know you've got to run, when the dccc put the word dramatization over those photo shopped pictures of you and trump, clearly that was not satisfactory? >> listen, anyone who knows washington by dccc you mean a bunch of kids in the basement of the headquarters who are laughing about this ad today knowing they got away with it. in my community, they're not going to get away with it. we're going to beat charlie crist because this ad has backfired and landed right in the lap of my opponent chain gang charlie. >> we're going to leave it on that note. congressman, thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you, wolf, appreciate it very much. >> coming up, bring in the closer. the first lady michelle obama about to make her pitch for hillary clinton. why she should be elected president of the united states. looking at live pictures coming in from winston salem, inconort carolina right now. we're also standing by momentarily. donald trump, he's in ohio right

now. and we'll have live coverage of his speech. we're here in washington. our coverage continues right after this.

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from michelle obama, the first lady of the united states. getting ready to deliver what they're describing as a closing argument for hillary clinton. you're looking at live pictures from winston salem, north carolina, where we will witness this historic moment. the first lady campaigning with her predecessor hillary clinton in an effort to get her back into the white house this time as president of the united states. the two have had a friendly relationship since president obama took office almost eight years ago. well, let's take a look back. >> speaking of hillary, are you happy with the way she's supporting your husband? >> she's been phenomenal. >> i know a little bit about the role that michelle obama is filling now. and i have to say in a very short time she has, through her grace and her wisdom, become an inspiration to women and girls. >> let me thank my dear friend

senator -- secretary clinton. i almost said president clinton. >> all right, let's bring in our panel. carol lee still with us from "the wall street journal." david gregory, our political analyst. chief political correspondent dana bash. and zeke miller of "time" magazine. dana, i'm told, this could change, the first lady will stress the positive nature of why she wants hillary clinton to be the first woman president of the united states and avoid too much of the criticism let's say of donald trump. >> well, right. she's the one be who said first when they go low, we go high, right, so she's got to stick with it. she went off a little bit in one of her most recent speeches, really going after donald trump. yes, it's going to be a moment. i think the fact if she does follow through on that, the fact she's going to be emfa iz seeing the gender issue it's not talked

about, the fact she would be the first female president. to sort of bring it back to that. to sort of pull on those heart strings among men and women about the historic nature of a potential clinton candidacy is quite interesting. just the fact we saw the little clip, series of clips you just played of them praising each other. remember, they were very, very fierce rivals because of course michelle obama's husband beat her the last time hillary clinton -- >> eight years ago for the democratic presidential nomination. the fact they're appearing together in north carolina, a key battleground state. right now the polls show it's pretty close in north carolina. if trump doesn't win north carolina for all practical purposes, it looks like it would be over. this giant appearance is designed to get that base out, that barack obama base that got him twice elected president of the united states. >> it's young people, minorities, particularly african-americans. it's women. it's the fact they're early

voting. so they're already voting. they're trying to strike while she's in such a commanding position. so much of this race has been about donald trump. i think we have to make a pivot. i think the clinton team feels they have to make a pivot to really make it about her. what she'll do for the country. but get people thinking about voting for her. and not just against him. >> voter turnout is going to be critical right now. she's got to really generate what we're talking about, that base to get out there and actually show up. >> right, it's critical. michelle obama is a good tool for them to get out the vote. particularly in a state like north carolina. with african-american women. and one of the things that's interesting, if you look at all of the big surrogates for security clinton. they came out and did her initial event with her.

now they're campaigning together and it just adds this extra punch to their appearance today. >> it's interesting, president obama's approval rating is about 50%, maybe 55%. that's sort of in line with where ronald reagan was at this stage at the end of his second term. where bill clinton was at this stage at the end of his second term. does that translate automatically into a boost for hillary clinton? >> absolutely, a much better position for her to be in than say john mccain coming after george w. bush where his approval rating was quite awful. don't recall the specific number there but barack obama is one of the most popular politicians in this country right now. michelle obama is not a politician per se but is certainly far more popular than her husband. and, you know, that's an asset. >> it also says something about the democratic brand. the democratic coalition. whether if you have young people, minorities, women and college educated voters. that that's an expansion of that democratic band. that's part of what barack obama

ushered into his victories. she's in a position to seize on that. >> i think everyone's been impressed with how effective michelle obama's been out there on the campaign trail for hillary clinton. she's really fallen into it and seems to enjoy what she's doing. >> look, even republicans will say she's a rock star. she can get out there, deliver a speech pretty much better than anybody at this point. even maybe including her husband. he was of course known for his great orator skills. there's no question about that. i do think it is interesting, obviously one of the big reasons they're in north carolina is because of early voting. but north carolina actually did not go their way four years ago. it was one of the -- >> narrowly. >> now, the obama campaign at the time just kind of gave up on it because they saw other paths from other states. the fact they still think there is a reservoir of good will and

love for the obama, which obviously there still is, that they want to tap in to that before it's too late, because they're still in the white house, is quite telling. >> she's got really, hillary clinton, a strong bench, a reservoir of surrogates like the first lady, the president, who will go out there and actually try to help her. >> she does. also the vice president. she -- and trump doesn't have that on his side. it's just really him. and hillary has a number of people she can go to and they've deployed them in strategic ways. about michelle obama, it's really remarkable to see her doing this because she came in as not wanting -- does not like politics. the president, i was traveling with him. he was telling stories about how it would be great if you -- i think you'd be a great president. she's really leaned into it.

>> everybody stand by. a lot more coming up. donald trump, he's about to take the stage we're told in the battleground state of ohio, one of three events. this is the first one he's got planned today. we've got live coverage of that. also, live pictures from north carolina right now. hillary clinton, she will be speaking there with a very special guest as we pointed out, the first lady of the united states, michelle obama. we'll have live coverage of that as well. we'll be right back. "driving my life away" by eddie rabbit ♪ well, the midnight headlight blind you on a rainy night ♪ ♪ steep grade up ahead slow me down makin' no time. ♪ but i gotta keep rollin', for the mornin' ♪ introducing the new turbocharged golf alltrack with 4motion® all-wheel drive. ♪ ooh, i'm driving my life away. ♪ soon to be everywhere. ♪ lookin' for a better way.

hillary clinton: far too many families today don't earn what they need and don't have the opportunities they deserve. i believe families deserve quality education for their kids, childcare they can trust and afford, equal pay for women, and jobs they can really live on. people ask me what will be different if i'm president? well kids and families have been the passion of my life and they will be the heart of my presidency. i'm hillary clinton and i approve this message.

take a look at live pictures coming in. donald trump getting ready to speak in ohio, a key battleground state. hillary clinton getting ready to speak in north carolina. she's got first lady of the united states, michelle obama, with her. we'll have live coverage of all of that. dana, i'm going to be anxious to see and hear donald trump and see if he sticks to teleprompter or deviates and just starts speaking sort of off the cuff. >> you and his aides both, we'll

be waiting to see that. look, i think that they -- that even he -- i mean, i spent a little bit of time with him yesterday about i get the sense that even from listening to the remarks he did make it was mostly about his hotel. but he talked a little bit about the race there that he -- it's becoming more clear to him this is potentially getting closer and that a lot of whether or not he can pull it off in some of these key states is banking on, relying on, whether he can focus on some of the things he has been talking about. the obamacare issue, we talked about it over the past few days, the fact premiums are going up so much nationally and more so in some swing states, you cannot underestimate how powerful a message that is considering how power it feel obamacare message was going back to 2010, allowed remembers to get the majority, if they can keep it up and show, look, we told you so. >> david, what will you be

looking? >> direct appeals to conservatives to come home to the party is real dynamic to look for is where hillary clinton is campaigning and how she's playing a more sunshine state strategy. florida, north carolina, arizona to expand the map. it says something about how the democratic party can reshape the electoral map and give the rest bult to more white working class voters who a candidate like trump can appeal to. >> we saw a lot of the clinton campaign moving towards we need to not just win but win big, there was a lot of confidence focusing on down-ballot races and i wonder if they're worried about complacency and if you'll see that reflected in her remarks. >> and it's the discipline for donald trump, how does he make that message about bringing republicans home? we've seen his running mate make that argument. donald trump hasn't found a way to do that, he's still taking spot shots at party leaders. can he stop? >> is there an update, donald trump told you he's going to spend $100 million of his own

money, he spent so far close to $60 million. is there word that money is being transferred? >> not yet, no, no. he still claims at the end of the day he's going to do that, there is pressure on him to do so. i was talking to more strategists who are familiar with what's available in terms of airtime and these key states and that the markets are saturated and if he wanted to go big he could do a national buy for millions and millions of dollars but that would be going b big. >> in these final days it looks like the democrats have a better ground game and more money, right. >> they have money, ground game, surrogates and the best entertainers in the country willing to go out there and sing for hillary clinton. >> 12 days to go. we'll be watching every step of the way. remember, we're standing by, donald trump will be speaking in ohio momentarily, we're getting ready to hear what he has to say, hillary clinton is in north

carolina, she has a major jmajo supporter, the first lady michelle obama. that's it for me, thanks for watching, i'll be back 5:00 p.m. eastern in the situation. for our international viewers "amanpour" is coming up next. for our viewers in north america "news room" with brooke baldwin will start right after this. oh no, that looks gross whoa, twhat is that? try it. you gotta try it, it's terrible. i don't wanna try it if it's terrible. it's like mango chutney and burnt hair. no thank you, i have a very sensitive palate. just try it! guys, i think we should hurry up. if you taste something bad, you want someone else to try it. it's what you do. i can't get the taste out of my mouth! if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geico. it's what you do. shhh! dog, dog, dog.

here we go, top of the hour, you're watching cnn, i'm brooke baldwin. thank you for being with me. in moments we will be seeing -- we'll call them the candidate and the closer, hillary clinton side by side with michelle obama where the pictures of the left side of your screen are coming from from winston-salem north carolina. she really needs to rally voters, especial bill in the final stretch. the this will be the first time these two women