behaving one way in north carolina, perhaps the suburbs are behaving similarly in georgia or elsewhere. >> right. this is going to be the crucial thing as we are now just a couple of hours away from those first polls closing. kentucky is among them. thank you very much, david chalain. thank you for joining us. our special coverage of election night in america continues right now. ♪ >> it's election night in america and a nation in crisis as at a crossroads. >> we are counting down to the first exit polls and first results as our coverage begins now. >> announcer: across the nation in blue and red and swing states voters are delivering their verdict on two starkly different visions of america's future. >> the president of the united states lied to the american people and he is unfit for this job. >> if biden wins, your country is gone! >> reporter: tonight, president

donald trump fighting for a second term as a deadly pandemic gets worse on his watch. >> all they want to talk about is covid. covid covid covid! look, i got it and i'm here, right? >> former vice president joe biden battling to lead the country after four years of political turmoil and division. >> there is no place for hate in america, period. none. >> it's a historic clash for the candidates and their running mates. isn't that true kamala harris aiming to be the first woman and person of color as vice president. >> when we vote, things change. when we vote, we win. >> vice president mike pence, hoping to remain as president trump's loyal lieutenant. >> we will make america great again again again. >> with voters flocking to the polls after record breaking early turnout. how and when will this election be decide? >> this is the most important election in the history of our

country. >> the power to change the country is in your hands! >> this is thncnn's coverage of election night in america. >> we are going to keep on winning, winning, winning. >> the race for the white house. the balance of power. and the challenges facing the nation. >> there is not a damn thing america can't do when we decide to do it together! >> the people are choosing. the world is watching. and anything is possible until the last vote. ♪ this is a live view from high above washington as americans are deciding who will serve in the white house for the next four years.

welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer in the cnn election center. right now, voters are in the final hours of making a monumental decision for this country about who will lead us through the next four years. former vice president joe biden or president donald trump. we are counting down to the first results from our exist polls. in about an hour we will get an early read on what voters are thinking as they cast their ballots. then buckle up for a suspenseful night. voters in all 50 states are having their say in the heated fight for 270 electoral votes. the number needed to win the white house. 14 of those states are competitive battle grounds that will ultimately decide the election. georgia is the first key race of the night at 7:00 eastern when we get the first big round of results. democrats taking a shot at turning that traditionally red state blue. a half hour later north carolina and ohio in the spotlight with president trump on defense in those states that he won four

years ago. at 8:00 eastern, the last polls close in florida, the ultimate swing state and a must win for the president. with new hampshire and crucial pennsylvania also in play. at 9:00 eastern, we will be watching key races in six states, arizona, colorado, michigan, minnesota, texas, and wisconsin. michigan and wisconsin are especially critical as states that seal president trump's win in 2016. at 10:00 eastern, iowa and nevada are the races to watch as we get deeper and deeper into the night and the fight for electoral votes goes into overdrive. we are covering it all along with jake tapper and our entire political team. jake? >> wolf, we are keeping an eye on voting under way across the country and especially in those key battleground states. remember before today, more than 102 million americans are already voted in person or by mail. that is adding to the unpredictability of this election and we don't know if we are learn the winner tonight,

tomorrow or possibly after that. we will let the voters lead the way and we will be patient. jeff zel hearing from inside the biden campaign? >> reporter: joe biden had an air of confidence in his step today as he was out on the campaign trail and that was the significant part. he was out on the campaign trail. that is something that he has missed throughout this pandemic when he has decided to campaign in an entirely different way. he wanted, i'm told, to hear the chants. he wanted to see the people. that is something he loves to do. he loves campaigning as we know. this is his third bid for the presidency but he this was different. he went to his hometown of scranton, pennsylvania and a event in wilmington, delaware, before retreating with his family. that speaks to a larger point here. democrats are confident heading into this election evening. the biden campaign is confident but a question was enough done? because how they handle the coronavirus changed how they

campaigned. they transitioned this to a virtual campaign, some eight months ago and largely stuck with that until the very end here. that meant that democrats were organizing in a very different way. the backbone of most winning democratic campaigns have been door-to-door on the ground and what the white house for barack obama and the vice presidency for joe biden. talking to campaign officials saying we have no regrets how we ran this campaign but they have wonders if they did the right thing and if the pandemic will impact their turnout tonight. >> thank you. kaitlan collins is covering president trump who is at the white house right now. what are you learning about the president's thinking? >> so far, jake, he is not waiting considering giving a concession speech or an acceptance speech tonight because the president is deeply superstitious so approaching this almost the way he did four years ago in 2016 when there was no victory speech written for the president until much later into the evening and even then the president refused to look at

that speech that aides prepared for him because he was so worried it would jinx the outlook of his election. he was not on the campaign trail today and huddled with senior staff saying he is waiting to see what happens as he is updated by officials who were at the campaign headquarters here at the white house on what is going on in those critical states. what they are seeing on the ground in places like pennsylvania. somewhere the president has tried to sow doubt how those votes with going to be counted in the days to come if it's not in his favor. we do know they are some kind of event here, a celebration at the white house tonight where they have invited hundreds of people who will be tested for coronavirus at the trump hotel beforehand. the question when will they see the president and what is he going to say? >> thank you. i'm here with abby philip and dana bash. it's nerve wracking and the whole country on the edge of their seats. what is the main thing you're looking for?

what are you looking to? >> maybe the obvious which is turnout. this is one of the most fascinating things that i've been watching and in touch with sources in both campaigns as i'm sure you both have as well that so much of this is new because there was such record early voting, because we are in a pandemic election. 100 million people voting early. what each side is trying to do is maximize their day of vote because they feel like they have a pretty good sense of the chunk of the vote has come in. not a real sense because they don't know exactly how each voter if they are affiliated with a party actually voted because this is kind of a scrambled election. but that is what is going on right now. the trump campaign in particular, they have turned that get out the vote operation in a big way and they have volunteered who are coordinating and other volunteers who are each assigned 10 to 12 people and to hammer them every single

hour if they haven't voted, get out and vote we will see if it is ultimately successful. >> they have a lot of voters to do that before because so many have to follow up on election day with leach these people to make sure they get out there and makes the task for the trump campaign difficult. what we are seeing across the country the high turnout i think it really is pointing to a really important factor. people will vote if you give them the opportunity to do. >> so true. >> there is a lot of interest in this election on both sides of the aisle. and i think that we are going to see tonight something scrambling convention wisdom. >> i've seen a lot of republican operatives not affiliated with the trump campaign kind of wringing their hands at the fact the republican party this election seems to be taking the position of making it less easy to vote, making it tougher to vote. >> so true. >> how is that a republican position and how is that a

democratic position? smally democrat k. >> right. >> the idea of a major party trying to make it tougher for the american people to exercise that sacred right? >> totally wringing their hands and doesn't make any sense. it's not american. just like you said, i mean, let's say before we have any idea what the votes are going to be, we do know that there is incredible enthusiasm and how fabulous is that? i know i probably seem super corny but it's true. >> it's true. >> it's remarkable. >> if we get 70% participation? >> it should be even more but the fact we get to that point is pretty historic. >> the ideas that americans don't want to vote is not the case. they do and they are. we could have 160 million people going out and voting. the problem with what president trump did in this election in terms of trying to undermine the electoral system is the question about what happens tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. do republicans double down on some of these positions that even republicans, republican

lawyers believe are really indefensible? because they are really aimed at preventing people from having access to the ballot. but we were just talking about turn-out. president trump wants his people to come out to the ballot box. it does not make sense to make it harder for those people to vote either. so how long can that kind of position continue? >> what are you looking for from in terms of if you were at biden headquarters right now? i would be looking at really honestly you can talk about georgia and arizona all you want. i would be looking at pennsylvania, michigan, wisconsin, those three. if he wins those three and keeps the clinton states, that's it. >> it's all about the blue wall. yeah. sure. arizona, georgia, north carolina, those would all be for biden, great if he could win them but holding on to the blue wall is going to be the most important thing for him tonight. not just because of the path to 270 but also preserving that part of the country for the democratic party. it really ends a narpi ivnarrat

president trump wants. >> i'll go deeper into those states and others which is the urban areas. i would be looking and they are looking. we know this at the turnout levels in philadelphia, in pittsburgh, in detroit. >> and the suburbs. >> and the suburbs. >> yeah. >> the suburbs are so incredibly key for a couple of reasons. one is hillary clinton did well in the suburbs but not well enough not enough to counterbalance the unprecedented turnout that donald trump had in republican territories. as we know and as the trump campaign will tell you in private moments, the suburbs are not the place for donald trump any more. we saw that in 2018 and it hasn't changed in 2020. >> wolf? >> jake, thanks very much. john king is with me at the magic wall and we will be spending a lot of time here in the many hours coming up. first of all, walk us through the road to 270 first for the former vice president. >> you ready? >> yeah. >> it's a fun night. caution is the watch word tonight because results will

come in differently, right? some states count the early votes first and some count the early votes last. take your time and be patient and hang with us all night long. we will get there. solid red state and solid trump adds up to 125 electoral votes and solid blue 123. we don't expect anything on this map to change. let's go back to r67 and the stunning trump map there to walk through sort of the stakes tonight. you just heard the conversation with abby and jake and dana. if joe biden can get the blue wall barpack 1-2-3, you get tho back. in michigan quite comfortably at the end that could be it. that could be game over. but let me go back to this. we are going to be waiting for these. let's stay can the trump map. we know these will be slow tonight and could go into tomorrow and beyond. the opportunity for biden and the democrats is change this map. donald trump changed it four years ago.

joe biden can change it this year. as we wait for the blue wall states, what if joe biden can get north carolina, georgia, and florida? forget the blue wall. he is already president of the united states. if he holds the other clinton states and does well down here. if these states are truly changing at the pace the democrats think they might be, it is possible to do it here. joe biden has aspirations to win out here. again, a map changing win if you take arizona, not since bill clinton has arizona gone and with a lot of help from -- a lo a -- ross perot a long time ago. democrats have dreams about texas thinking we are in play in ohio. maybe in iowa. we will watch this play out. we will start with a conservative perspective we think trump states tough for biden to get. north carolina, georgia, florida and arizona late in the night states we expect to count pretty quickly when they do count so we will get clues early on.

this is joe biden's dream path down here and he hopes here obviously and here. look at that potential. that is the democrats seep this potential on the table tonight. capital p, potential. but underline it as a big if right now. if joe biden can do anything close to this they think he can bring the senate with him and democrats will take the senate majority. remember, donald trump surprised us four years ago. he is perfectly capable of a giant election day turnout that surprises us again. the challenge is this is a different map. the hill is steeper. he was more behind at the end than he was four years ago. so how does donald trump do it? the critical part for donald trump is holding the states that do tend to be more republican. he has to hold north carolina and absolutely has to hold florida and absolutely has to hold georgia. that is president has to start there. that would keep the president even if. even if he holds those there, let's say biden does take some of these away. if biden were to take these

back. now how does donald trump make that up? that is the problem. the problem. nothing of the clinton states that we think donald trump can change. therefore, he has got to find something up here. something up here to do it. >> what are trump's best options right now? it seems biden has more possible paths to 270 than president has. >> biden is at a restaurant with a lot of options on the menu. donald trump has a narrow path. even if he holds these and holds arizona he has to find something up here. something up here. i should have done at the beginning. the expectation we will see what happens at the end of the night. the expectation joe biden wins the congressional district in maine. the expectation is among even republicans, that joe biden picks up a congressional district here in maine. maine and nebraska two states award their electoral votes by congressional districts. if you do something like this joe biden 280 which is why president of the united states spent so much time here in the end of the campaign. it's a possibility, this all comes down to pennsylvania if it plays out something like this, michigan had a healthy biden lead at the end.

wisconsin a decent biden lead at the end. if he can hold those two and trump hold the other trump states. if these are the only two he gives up it could come down to a long fight for pennsylvania by i say a long fight because we know there will be court challenges and a lot of the early votes, the absentee votes won't be counted late tonight and some counties say not until this morning. a scenario it comes down to one state. the big question tonight. do we have sort of a boxing match state-by-state or is there a late break? is there a way-of-wave to biden or is this massive election day turnout that surprises us in terms of one of those keeps one of those red and not turn one of those red. >> florida we should know soon. >> that is key. we have to ask your patience and our team will be patient and cautious. this is 2000. start filling this in in a couple of hours. back to the 2016 map. i mentioned north carolina is one state. a bit of a delay there in the reporting the results because

they have left some polling places past normal hours to make up for glitches this morning. a good thing. you're giving people more time to vote. north carolina's results we think they will come in quickly. florida, donald trump's path to the presidency to re-election has to include florida. >> we are getting live pictures of biden in wilmington, delaware right now his hometown. you can see him there. i don't know if he is going to speak to reporters or not speak to reporters but maybe we should listen in and see what he has to say, if anything. >> well, because we are getting overwhelming support from women voters. >> why do you think that is? >> well, i think it's because -- two reasons. one, all that i've done from -- women in my activities relating to access for women opportunities and to donald trump. >> is this an precedeany lesson

learned any regrets? >> no. there is not. as you guys know, you've had to cover me for a long time. i haven't changed what i've been saying since the day i announced. and the day i announced, everybody thought that i was way off base. and, by the way, i don't mean that i'm not being critical of anybody else. i'm just saying that i believe very, very strongly and i really mean it that we have to restore decency and honor in our system or it's going to fall apart. secondly, i believe extremely strongly and i know you've all watched it from the very beginning that we have to rebuild the middle class and have to give ordinary people a fighting chance. they can do anything when you give them a chance. thirdly, we have to unite the country. all three of those things reviewed as either too much of a reach or not a reach enough. and i haven't changed my view. and so, you know, this is, for example, i didn't realize this

was here. the reverend herring who was one of the five major leaders in the black community when i got started in wilmington back when i was a kid, when i started off as a where i started. we will go by it by places by the swimming pool and it was -- you know, the leadership in the community from here, from riverside all the way up to -- on the east side was overwhelmingly african-american but it all was in a black church, a black church that was the heart and soul of the entire movement for people here. and so it's -- when i started off as a kid getting involved, i had a job with a nice country club kind of pool as a

lifeguard. i wanted to work on the east side because i knew i played ball with a lot of great black athletes but i knew, you know, i didn't know them. we knew each other, they were friends but i didn't know them. it was a great education. it was like the green mile, you know? seen the movie? well, it's like that. you know? you began to realize that the people i've known for a long time, that, you know, they lived in the middle of a city and a county that was white but they didn't know anybody. they knew but they didn't know anybody. it was really education for me. i'm not being melod dramatramat it really was. i've told men who were all lifeguards at that time the guys who got the jobs were usually the well-known athletes who they

hired. there were people all being 13 lifeguards i worked with all of them became really successful in their lives. but it was interesting that we would sit and talk and they would ask me questions that stunned me that were asked like i think i've told you before. you know? jamie asked me do you have a jerry can being a five-gallon can for gasoline. what do you need that for? i'm going to see my grandmother. what does she need it for? wheelbarrow? no, she lives in north carolina. i can't stop at any gas stations. we can't stop. things like that that were sort of eye opening for me. >> do you think things are better now or worse? >> i know better now. you see things happening here that are changing the way in which people interact. there is a lot more i got

involved running for the county council because i thought it was unfair that there was red lining in the county, people weren't able to move. that changed a lot. and so the whole ranger of things have changed but there is still a great need. but what is happening is that there is people who are -- there is people who are in a position that are getting engaged now and it's mainly, like i said, you know? when you had reverend herring, i would go to mass and sit in his church and we would talk about what we are going to do. we are going to desegregate a movie theater and i'm not making myself out to be something special. it was just a lot of folks my age got engaged and that is how i got engaged. >> what do you know about america? what do you think about america you didn't know in 1982 or 1988?

looking back over the course of your career and the moment you're at right now? >> there is a whole lot. hopefully, with age comes a little bit of wisdom and what i know is it hasn't changed is my absolute belief in the american people. you give them an even shot, they can do anything. they really can. >> [ inaudible question ] what is your plan if you have not won? via tweet or otherwise? we know on our reporting what you plan to do? >> well, look. like i said you heard me use the line several times. presidents can't term what votes counted are not counted. voters determine who is president. this isn't going to -- no matter what he does, no matter what he says, the votes are going to counted. >> do you feel a responsibility to respond? >> no. it depends on what he says and how he says it but i don't feel the responsibility to respond.

by the way, as you've seen some of the articles written, i mean, this talk about thereanrassinng from him. but look. like i said, i'm superstitious about reporting an outcome and how i've always run but i'm hopeful. >> thanks, guys. we have to go. thank you! >> early returns what are you hearing? >> what i'm hearing is that there is overwhelming turnout and overwhelming turnout particularly of young people, of women, and there is an overwhelming turnout among african-americans, for example, in georgia and florida over the age of 65. so, i mean, the things that are happening bode well for the base that has been supporting me. but we will see.

we will see. >> thank you. that's a wrap. we have to go. >> positive that you are on the path to winning? >> well, look. i don't know. we don't know how this is going to -- for example, if florida came in and i won, it's over. if florida doesn't come in, what happens is early votes occur in some other states i think we will do well -- we will reestablish that blue wall. i feel good about that. we will see. just so uncertain. look. you can't think of an election in the recent past where so many states are up for grabs. the idea, texas, georgia, north carolina, florida. come on. i mean, texas. >> ohio. [ inaudible question ] because of win in ohio? >> there have also been other

traditions and haven't been able to win unless they win pennsylvania. all kinds of traditions. traditions are made to be broken and so much in play and such overwhelming vote out there. we will see. if there is something to talk about tonight, i'll talk about it. if not, i'll wait until the votes are counted the next day, 0? thank you. >> thank you so much. >> joe boyden answering reporters questions and been doing that a few times during the course today saying he is superstitious and doesn't want to make any predictions what is happening later tonight. we are getting closer to our first exit polls including insights how the coronavirus pandemic is influencing voters and as we watch the election day turnout in pennsylvania and other key battle grounds, we are going to tell you how soon we expect to get results from states that will decide the election. it's all ahead. i'm looking for my client. i'm his accountant.

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when you bundle with us. look at that. we are back in the election center. awaiting the first exit polls on the voters -- for the reporters on the issues they care about most. we are also standing by for the first results, actual votes of the night as voters are still casting ballots right now in those all-important battleground states across the country. let's check in with our battleground correspondents first to florida. 29 electoral votes. randi kaye is outside of ft. lauderdale. how is voting going there? >> voting was going pretty smoothly here, jake. in fact, one election official here in broward county where we are called this election day boring. that's how well it was going on. but certainly not boring any more. we are getting record from a federal judge in u.s. addict

court asking them to sweep processing facilities. they are looking for ballots. we know a record number of mail-in ballots this election season. here is what is happening. the united states postal service apparently told the judge that they had received about 300,000 ballots, received them but never scanned for delivery. what this it means is the post office got them but no record they were ever sent out to be delivered. it doesn't mean that thon of knows 300 ballots were delivered but simply no record of them. this judge has ordered the united states postal service to sweep these facilities starting by 3:00 p.m. today and then he wants a report on that sweep by this afternoon some part and it does include many battleground states that don't allow ballots to be counted after election day. so timing is of the essence. >> randi kaye, so much in broward county,

kate, what is happening at your location. >> i'm at salem high school. it is a busy day. i'm told voters started lining up here at 5:30 for the polls to open at 7:00. through the county, we have heard reports of wait times three or four hours. according to the county commissioner not because of problem but turnout. at this location they have seen double what they normally get in terms of turnout and there are hours left to go. here is where ythis matters so much. bucks county is the most competitive of the suburbans counties outside of philadelphia. president trump here saturday and joe biden was here before that. this is a county and these are voters that both campaigns desperately want to secure this state. hillary clinton barely won this county four years ago. we will have to wait and see exactly what happens. no big lines now but if you look behind me way down there towards those windows, the line was all

the way down there this morning and doubled back. turnout here has been huge. we will see what the next hours bring. >> kate bolduan, thank you. irks so some states faster than slower than other states with the results. pamela brown is at our voting desk and which states are reporting more quickly than other states? >> we do expect speedy results in key battleground states starting with florida. one of the biggest prizes in florida and some results are expected in the 7:00 p.m. eastern hour. mostly counting is typically finished on election night so we should be finding out results in florida tonight. let's move over to georgia here. polls close at 7:00 p.m. eastern and most votes are expected to be counted on election night. turning over to north carolina now. the state is delaying results. we learned today for at least 45 minutes after extended voting at four locations but they still

expect to finish most counting on election night. the deadline for mail-in ballots to arrive later than usual november 12th so that could come into play tonight depending how tight it is. ohio, the state typically finishes on election night and the next day and still the hope. in texas we expect to find out resu state typically finishes most vote counting on election night. then there is arizona. we have been talking a lot about arizona. the results are expected in the 10:00 p.m. hour. the state typically has large numbers of ballots to count after election night but also it's a state has a lot of experience with mail-in ballots. >> which states do we expect to be reporting more slowly? >> three crucial states that could swing this election one direction or the other. starting with wisconsin here. we know this is a state that didn't start opening up their ballots until today. they expect to finish counting by wednesday, november 4th. in michigan, michigan had a little bit of a head start.

some results are expected in the 8:00 p.m. eastern hour there and the state expects to finish counting by friday, november 6th at the latest. pennsylvania could keep us on the edge of our seats. they didn't start opening up those ballots until today. we know some counties are going to wait until tomorrow to open up the mail-in ballots and some starting today. the secretary of state said expect the results by friday of this week. >> very interesting, indeed. we are watching this very closely together with all of our reporters, our analysts, our experts. still ahead at the top of the hour, the first exit poll results. an early snapshot of who is voting and why. we will be right back. ♪

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1600 pennsylvania avenue, the white house, americans are deciding who will serve in the white house the next four years. we are standing by for our first exit poll results around the top of the hour. we will get an early sense of how the coronavirus crisis may be shaping this election and we are also monitoring the final hours of voting in key battleground states that will ultimately decide the next president of the united states. let's go back to john king here at the magic wall. what can we expect when the results first start coming? >> i think expect the unexpected in terms of the color you're used to seeing on this map and absolutely nothing wrong with this and say this throughout the night and be patient.

let's pick georgia. we don't know how they will end up tonight, right? biden say they are competitive and believe african-american turnout could make georgia blue. say georgia out of the box first votes is overwhelmingly mail-in early voting. that we know is sdlt disproportionately democrat. you might see blue on the map but other states in places normally red.you might see blue but other states in places normally red. the flip side of that is we know at least half dozen counties maybe more in pennsylvania said they are overwhelmed on dlelectn day and not count the early mail-in voting until tomorrow morning. donald trump had a lot of red here to begin with. you may see the margins lopsided. you may see -- let's see how many turned out today. you may see places in pennsylvania but even in states

that are just not traditionally battleground. you might see blue in states are normally red. you might see red in places that are normally blue. perfectly understandable. we have to talk through this and be transparent what we know. are these early ballots? why a lot of blue. is this all election day count? we have to walk through the night and be like no other and just get through it but we also will get clues. everything you see once the polls closed is live real votes but may come in in an odd order that make things interesting. ohio closes early and kentucky remember in 2016 the first signs that donald trump was turning out republican voters beyond expectations came right along here when we first got the results in kentucky. ohio border, tiny right? this county 106 out of 120 counties in the plopgs. we knew kentucky was going red. people were coming out of the wood work and he was

overperforming past republican nominees inroads in blue collar white rural american that helped donald trump to his victory. we knew kentucky would go red four years ago but voters like in that southern ohio. if you follow it over voters just like that in southwestern pennsylvania. that was the first sign of the night. that is what we are looking for tonight when we get votes out of kentucky, indiana, ohio, match those counties up especially the small rural places and one of the key tests can donald trump surge turnout on election day? we will get early clues in those results. pam was talking earlier about other results. we expect north carolina a delay in reporting the results because they are keeping some precincts open longer but once the results come this is a key test. we know in 2018 suburbs revolted against president trump and does that continue? donald trump narrowly carried the suburbs four years ago one of the reasons he won north carolina pretty close election there so what are we watching? watch this county that is

essential for the democrats. does that the african-american turnout in charlotte go higher than that? this also a ton of growing suburbs around here. what is donald trump's number in the suburbs? another place to look fastest growing areas of america up here raleigh/durham. wake county here. this is critical. you see 58 to 38. right? 20 points four years ago. how is joe biden doing here compared to hillary clinton? or the flip side of that. how is donald trump doing this compared to donald trump? the fast growing suburbs here are more diverse and younger and more college-educated and the voters who revolted against the republican party in 2018 and we will get these early states north carolina among them early clues and just watch it out as we follow across the country. >> even in kentucky will get early results coming in. will we get a sense of how biden is doing based on the early results we are seeing in kentucky a red state? >> yes. back to kentucky.

every expectation that kentucky will stay red this year. let's see. we are opening to surprises. always open to surprises in elections. remember the senate majority leader mitch mcconnell is running for re-election in kentucky and has every expectation to win. this is why we are here. we get surprised sometimes. i just mentioned smaller counties here. here is cincinnati. northern kentucky counties here is cincinnati suburbs over the state line into kentucky. watch. 59, 33. if you move over here campbell county 59-34. is joe biden doing better across the border here? if so probably tells you he'll do better in southern ohio and house district at play in the suburbs around cincinnati as well. plus when you come into places like fayette county, lexington. hillary clinton won it but ten point margin and nine point margin if you round and critical to see. it may not swing kentucky but is african-american turnout up and the suburbs around here?

a lot of suburbs around lexington and a lot of suburbs around louisville. is joe biden overperforming hillary clinton or flip it is president trump underperforming especially in the suburbans areas? kentucky will give us an early test even though we do not think it's a swing state. >> their polls close at 6:00 p.m. eastern. the big reveal of our exit polls is coming up. we will get insight how the night will potentially play out. it's an important time to save. with priceline, you can get up to 60% off amazing hotels. and when you get a big deal... ...you feel like a big deal. ♪ priceline. every trip is a big deal.

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president trump is in the white house. potential hits of the direction of the presidential race and we a lot to watch for in 9 early hours especially. david axelrod, we await exit poll results we were talking about bracken county in kentucky and mecklenburg county in north carolina are early indicators of enthusiasm for trump or biden. what do you watch early on? >> i think you choose counties you think will give you some tea leaves and new hanover county in north carolina is a city that --

a county is not voted for a democrat for decades but become closer and closer. trump won it by four. it's around wilmington. there is a burgeoning film industry and it's changing in character. interesting to see if donald trump can carry that county. counties in every state like this that are right on the edge that he won but not by that much and if joe biden turns these counties, i think that gives you a sense which way thee elections are going to go. >> i think a question of win or lose, is donald trump removing the republican party from places that are shaping the next century? and -- this century sort of the larger more urban areas, areas with younger demographics, areas with more mixed and diverse populations. we will be looking at that. tonight, right now, we all looking at florida, of course. >> yes. yes. >> because that reports early.

florida is always an issue. we know it's a tight race. and we know if the president were to win florida tonight, that his road to 270 gets easier and that joe biden's gets harder. joe biden doesn't need florida. donald trump needs florida to win this election and so that is kind of my first choice. theron north carolina. >> the truth he needs them all. he needs to run the table. if he loses florida or north carolina or georgia or arizona this becomes very difficult and florida the biggest piece but all of them are necessary if he keeps this thing in order so he can get over rick's place in pennsylvania. >> unless he can pick up a michigan or a wisconsin. >> right. >> you're right. i think to me florida is the one you look at. the earliest one we get votes from. miami-dade is different than four years ago. it may be a place donald trump i

think he will do better than he did four years ago. it will be because hispanic vote there in we might pick up a congressional seat in miami-d e miami-dade. >> cuban venezuela area and socialist area. a lot of the republican means on conservative media we are talking about the immigrants from these countries are passionate and i think one of the reasons you're seeing oddly enough that trump is doing well among immigrants because immigrants who have had this experience with socialism are very concerned about what they are seeing from the democratic party. >> i think why trying to tar biden in something he is not a big part of the strategy. what is interesting there are some troubling size in miami-dade but then in broward county you're seeing a massive outpour. there's some constituencies we don't talk about. the west indians and jamaicans love kamala harris because her

dad is from jamaica so a big push there. formerly incarcerated folks who got their rights back and at first biden was a mass incarcerator and they pushed them back toward the democrats and not very smart and puerto ricans are biggest climate refuges and had to leave their islands because of the storms there. a big democratic base there and now you have this thing. miami-dade versus broward county is a big deal. >> no doubt that miami-dade is important and it's important to democrats and he has to -- joe biden has to perform at least close to what hillary clinton did and he doesn't have to do what she did but the state is more diverse than it was four years ago and joe biden is doing much better with white voters and i think that is a theme throughout this night.

you know, he is at, you know, polling -- donald trump beat hillary clinton by 20 points in this country among white voters. joe biden has cut this to single digi digits. in florida he has cut the lead in half. you look at a county like pinellas county where st. petersburg is and that is a county that barack obama won in 2012 and trump won in 2016 largely white retirees and trump is not doing as well with seniors he did four years ago. >> it's a swap. like biden is getting more white folks than democrats usually get and trump is getting more african-american men and latinos. but the math of that may wind up favoring biden. >> 60% of the state is white.

>> he is losing seniors by 20 points. that may be part of the increase with white voters. a lot of that may be seniors but you want to look at broward county where my dearly departed mother was a poll worker in broward county and you look what is happening there and i guarantee you you'll see a large shift among the seniors. >> we are back in a moment. just over a year ago, i was drowning in credit card debt. sofi helped me pay off twenty-three thousand dollars of credit card debt. they helped me consolidate all of that into one low monthly payment. they make you feel like it's an honor for them to help you out. i went from sleepless nights to getting my money right. so thank you. ♪

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we are live in washington. a look at the picture of the white house right now. a truly historic contest to win the white house and lead this nation. this is cnn's coverage of election night in america. we want to welcome our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i'm gowolf blitzer. americans are making their choice twbetween biden and trum. we look at the first exit poll information will be revealed just minutes from now. we are only about an hour away from getting the first votes of this night. stand by for that. as well as our first chance to make projections in this presidential race and that would happen in the 7:00 p.m. eastern

hour. when voting ends in georgia, indiana, kentucky, south carolina, vermont, and virginia. those states have a total of 60 electoral votes. that is a little less than a fourth of the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency. the first key race we will be watching is georgia to see if that traditionally red state turns blue. lots going on. let's about diamondbaback to ja >> we are keeping tabs on nevada, michigan, florida and staying on top of what is going on behind the scenes of the campaign. let's go to jeff zeleny covering team biden. what are we learning about the former vice president's plans for this evening? >> reporter: jake, we know that joe biden is heading home to his home in wilmington after making a couple of stops here after a day long stretch of campaigning and question about what he plans to do this evening. he told reporters just a few moments ago that he will address the country tonight if the

numbers are indicating something -- if there is some type of a result, he will. but his campaign manager said earlier today that he definitively would address the country tonight regardless of the outcome, regardless of where they are in the process. you can see behind me here they are setting up a stage here at the chase center in wilmington, the exact place where joe biden accepted the democratic nomination and walked out to that drive-in rally so we could see him here this evening if he decides to address the crowd but they are keeping a close eye on what is happening in all of the states. they have a war room set newspaper wilmington and believe turnout was high today in several battleground states but that cuts both ways. republicans were planning on voting in person but florida, of course, is one of the first battleground states we are going to see. there is pessism, at least early from key biden advisers about the uphill lift in the state of florida but votes are still cast in florida so we will keep an eye on that and see if we hear

from joe biden tonight or perhaps wee hours of the morning. >> thank you. kaitlan collins is covering the trump campaign. president trump is breaking norms by spending election night at the white house. >> yeah. he is. we haven't seen an incumbent spend the night at the white house on election night in sometime. but with covid restrictions happening here in washington, d.c., that thwarted plans to have an event at the trump hotel nearby the white house and other questions raised about the political activity happening at the white. there is always political activity that surrounds a one-term president who is trying to become a two-term president. but the white house and trump campaign are now kind of converging forces and there is a war room set up in the executive order building just a short walk from the oval office at the white house and war room is political aides campaign staffers watching television and monitoring social media and watching the returns as they are coming in and filling in their

bosses who are filling in president trump. the idea it's hang at the white house in instead of campaign headquarters in virginia is raising questions whether it's blurring the line between political activity and official government business. the trump said its fully paid for by the campaign and including the wi-fi and computers and no white house staff is involved in that but goes to show you they have been blurring the lines for several years including the press secretary appearing on television with the campaign adviser but starting with the war room we are see on the grounds here tonight. >> thank you. the first exit poll results and david chalain is here with that. what do you have? >> we are learning what sort of a top issue driving voters choices today. this is nationally. these are early numbers. they are likely to change as we get more information throughout the day from voters. the most important issue for your vote? 34% of voters in this election say the economy.

followed by racial inequality, 21% said that. followed by coronavirus 18%. crime and safety and health care policy further down a little bit. take a look when we asked what is more important to you to do right now? contain the coronavirus or rebuild the economy? look at this. 52% said contain coronavirus. that beats out the importance of the 42% that say rebuild the economy. how about a coronavirus? look at this. a split electorate. 48% said u.s. efforts to contain the coronavirus are going well. 51% say efforts to contain the virus are going badly. we asked finally what do you think about wearing a mask? public is that more of a personal choice or a public health responsibility? nearly 7 in 10 voters in this

election tell us it is more of a public health responsibility. only 30% of voters in this election say it is a personal choice. jake? >> thank you for that fascinating results. also 48% of the country, dane in, saying that handling of the pandemic is going well. that is a very high number considering that empirically it is not going well! no health official say it's going well at all. >> it's a different number than what we have been seeing in the polls up until now. this is a poll, the exit poll is of those who have voted. if i am in the trump campaign, i am looking at that and saying, well, that is better than we thought it would be because despite -- exactly right. >> as bullish as the president and his aides have been in public about the coronavirus that's not how they feel in private. they understand this is a

referendum on the president and in large part because of the coronavirus. in that sense, maybe it is surprising and i'm guessing if i'm going to contact people in the trump campaign, they are gotin going to say the same thing. >> some of the other numbers were not that great in terms of the president at 42% in terms of people who think the economy is the number one issue. that is what he has been trying to convince people that they should believe that they should put the economy before managing or controlling the coronavirus. >> right. >> that is 42%? that is the president and his base. is that enough to win a presidential election to be re-elected? we don't know but that is where the president's problems start. it is with this virus and the fact that americans even his supporters 68% of americans say wearing a mask is a public health priority. >> right. >> that is president's supporters and then some. people who support the president want him to be a little bit more responsible on --

>> the question -- the question and the exit poll -- this is not complete and people still voting. what is the highest priority containing the virus or rebuilding the economy. if i'm at the trump campaign or the white house i think a lot of people saying rebuild the economy is more important than containing the virus especially when every credible health expert says you need to contain the virus before you do rebuild the economy. >> exactly. that's what joe biden's campaign has been all about. you could probably start a drinking game to how many times he has said you can't do one without the other they are completely intertwined and a different message you've heard from the president. we will see what this means and if this is kind of mimicking what one or the other is saying. thor the other thing i thought was interesting in the priorities was racial inequality and how high that was in with the economy and in with coronavirus.

i don't remember seeing that -- obviously it is because it's 2020 and we have seen the horrors this year and the way that people have protested because of it but that was pretty amazing. >> we are trying to -- any sort of significance what these numbers mean when it's preliminary data. if i am with the trump campaign and looking at these numbers i'm thinking this is an electorate than what we have been saying and what joe biden is saying in general but mour re so than we thought they would be. >> this reflects the american electorate only increased the last four years, a lot of issues are determined by what team these voters are putting the shirt on for. and so we are going to see that reflected in the numbers. the president being at -- the president's view of the economy

being a priority being a little bit higher than his approval rating is fine. but i don't know that that tells you anything. it just continues to tell us that we have a really tightly split electorate this year. >> food for thought. wolf? >> a lot of food for thought, indeed. john king is here at the magic wall. let's get more on the political impact of the coronavirus pandemic that is still so powerful and ugly in the united states. >> early exit polls as the panel just discussed. should are wear a mask or not wear a mask? we just know without a doubt we know without a doubt no matter where you live and no matter how you voted today, coronavirus is in your community. this is a map showing confirmed cases per 100,000 residents. the deeper the red is the deeper the pain. up here no expectation that joe biden is carrying north dakota or south dakota. look how deep the red is in those states. the fall surge.

the fall surge average case county 80,000 new infections and way in excess of the summer surge. battleground wisconsin a state the president won four years ago. look at this deep red right here. not only is the president been saying we have rounded the corner, the vaccines will are here soon saying frankly sorry -- saying thing that are not true. the point that dr. anthony fauci, dr. deborah birx are critical of him in the recent days and president trying to sell this wisconsin a hospitalization spike and death record in the final week of the campaign. you just see this going up. this is one of the questions of the campaign. the president has been open about this. criticizing the democratic governor here. criticizing in another state he wants to win. michigan. you see not as deep red as wisconsin but pain here early. michigan was hit early in the first wave and criticizing the democratic governor there. pull the map back. criticizing the democratic governor in the commonwealth of pennsylvania. the president has made this a

rallying cry and many say why? because those governors whether it's governor wolf, whitmer or evers on popular if you look at the polls. what the president's people tell you this motivates his supporters and what today is about. will the trump voters come out in massive numbers? look at other battleground states. one of the things we have seen in this campaign is that senior citizens, donald trump won voters 65 and over four years ago. all of the polls show late in the campaign joe biden leading with that constituency which is critical everywhere. reliable voters but absolutely essential in battleground florida. out in arizona, makes a difference in pennsylvania. that is one of the older states as well. look at the paint. especially up here. this is trump country. this is trump country. this is georgia and alabama. across the florida panhandle. these voters vote like the south. that is trump country and where he needs to run it up and look at the pain of the coronavirus there. what has the president been here? very supportive of the republican governor a trump-like governor ron desantis who opened up early. a big controversy in his state. the governor at war with some of

the mayors in his state about it. you just see this play out. another state we will watch is texas. texas is a fabulous case study throughout the coronavirus in that republican governor abbott among those early to reopen and resisting mask mandates and fights with the mayor of houston. you've spoken to him many times, wolf. with the mayor of austin and dallas about restrictions. governor abbott during the summer spike pulling back saying we need to do things like masks more. you see the paint. this fascinating to watch harris county, houston. fastest growing county in the state and land mass the size of rhode island and if it broke out the 25th largest stated in the country harris county. look at the paint deep red. a lot of suburban voters and latino vote here latino in south texas where beto o'rourke urgeds democrats urged texans to get out the vote. it's punished by the coronavirus

and arizona has been another case study in that this is another republican governor who took the cues from the president and reopened early. you see the red, all of the deep red here. how does it play out politically? we don't know and sometimes it seems awful to have a conversation about this in the context of politics but that has been just unavoidable throughout this year because of the collision between the coronavirus and campaign. presidential elections are about leadership and joe biden has a different approach. no matter where you live, you have lived this for eight plus months now. the question how important when people vote? i don't mean to minimize it. the coronavirus is everywhere but in several of the big battleground states whether talking georgia, florida, pennsylvania, michigan, minnesota, wisconsin, arizona, it's painful throughout the last eight months and in some of them with the fall surge, especially wisconsin for example, iowa right now, very painful. >> we have gotten two very different perspectives from the

two candidates as far as the coronavirus pandemic is concerned, what to do if you're president of the united states. it's been a big issue. >> it has been. that is why the swing states are so important. pull up the commonwealth of pennsylvania. you have governor wolf who has had restrictions in place. president trump campaigned against him. this is a key state that both campaigns thinking could switch the presidency. joe biden said not a national mask mandate but i will push governors to put mask mandates in place and not lock down the country. he says we will surge in. in recent days the president responds to go a rally crowd saying he would consider firing dr. anthony fauci. joe biden said he would keep dr. anthony fauci. in these battleground states the kidnapping plots against governor of michigan gretchen whitmer in part because of her coronavirus restrictions and lockdowns. in wisconsin as well. the governor has been at war

with the state supreme court and legislature on these issues. this has been a political divide and pandemic in a public health crisis that has been very political and votes today will reflect it's a choice. >> huge issue in this campaign. >> absolutely. >> will continue to be so. we are counting down to the first results of the night in the next hour where we will have more exit poll results soon including a read on the candidates' qualities that mattered most to voters. it's ahead. still a father. but now a friend. still an electric car. just more electrifying. still a night out. but everything fits in. still hard work. just a little easier. still a legend. just more legendary. chevrolet. making life's journey, just better. chevrolet. did you know cliberty mutualir. customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need? just get a quote at libertymutual.com. really? i'll check that out.

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we prefer organic, and which ones have 6 times more vitamin d and 25% less saturated fat? only eggland's best. my family deserves the best, and which egg is the best in so many ways? only eggland's best. better taste, better nutrition, better eggs. welcome back to our election coverage. more exit poll results now. david chalain has that for us. david? >> we are taking a look at how much of the electorate first-time voters. 13% of this year's electorate says that they are first-time voters. that was 10% four years ago so that is a slight increase of first-time voters and makes sense with the explosive turnout we have been seeing. we asked folks how is the vote

process going in your state. so many people are voting different than before. 6% say it's very easy to vote. 25% somewhat easy. only 6% saying it's somewhat or very difficult not to vote that their state. we asked about people's confidence in the counting of the confident. it's extremely confident electorate. 68% of them add up the top two lines are very or somewhat confident their votes will be counted accurately. only 8% said not very confident and 4% not confident at all. we asked voters when did you el? fascinating. only 4% said in the last week. three time size that group was four years ago. it was like 13% of the electorate that made up mayor mind the last week. so late few deciders. 93% said they made up their mind before the last week. anderson? >> we will get more from you in a minute. david axelrod and gloria borger,

what do you think? >> it is that 93% of the people said i knew who i was voting for and why we have sort of seen these stable polls for the last month it seems to me. not only nationally where biden is hate 8 to 10 points but also in state polls. we have seen maybe the margins is closed eight about and whether they are accurate or not is the question. it seems people haven't changed their minds so you had the first presidential debate which was when we saw the greatest movement away from donald trump but after that? not much. >> i'm interested in these new voters and in voters who didn't participate in 2016. one of the theories of the trump campaign is that they are going to energize a whole bunch 7 of people who didn't participate in 2016. in polling that hasn't been the case. in the early vote, the data that has been accumulated that hasn't been the case. that has leaned toward biden but

a big thing where these voters who didn't vote in 2016 or who voted for third-party candidates break in this election. >> that number for early voters it could be just young people on who are entering the race for the first time who had now of legal age or didn't vote the last time? >> yeah. it's kind of interesting. everybody sitting there in a few hours we are going to know the answer, right? everybody is trying to read the tea leaves. what does that mean if they are confident in the voting process? does that make them more biden people or does it make them more trump people? i don't think we know. >> or american people? >> earlier we saw numbers on coronavirus and its impact on the electorate. >> that was an interesting number. i saw rick smile across the table there. because, obviously, you know, the more people feel that the job is being well done, the better i would think the trump feel they might be predisposed because we know this has been a major issue for him, at least in

polling. so that was an interesting number. >> i want to go back to david chalain and do. we are taking a look at candidate qualities. what were voters looking for in these candidates today when they cast their ballot in this election? 32% of voters in this election say they were looking for a strong leader. 24% good judgment. down here sort of empathy factor cares about people like me 21%. 19% unite the country. bottom two are key joe biden issues but the strong leader that seems to be the top candidate quality that people are looking for. then this i think is fascinating. sort of how trump voters in this election were they out there voting for their candidate or against joe biden? 81% of trump voters in this election tell us their vote was a vote that affirmative and for donald trump and only 14% out there voting against joe biden. this may be the most surprising

number i've seen so far tonight about biden voters. 64% of biden voters in this early exist poll say they are out there voting for joe biden. only 31% say their vote is motivated in opposition to donald trump. i thought that last number would have been much higher. >> interesting. did you think it would have been higher, ben? it's actually a big number 31% is a big percentage. >> i think a lot of people are in the democrat irparty are tired of donald trump. the level of anxiety, the level of just emotional fatigue from people. look. if you're a muslim family, if you're from immigrant community this is a horrific four years so people i think would vote for kermit the frog over donald trump. i think what you're seizing biden is actually one people over who were skeptical of him.

i was one people. i don't think biden will be able to make it. they have seen the consistency. the first thing he did this morning he went to mass. he is a catholic and man of deep faith. his message today was the same as it was when he started the campaign and his message that we need to come together i think has really broken through. i think that number is less now anti-trump party and more of a probiden unity message party and i think you'll see that tonight. >> i would make the argument that most decent americans, which i think the vast majority of americans are, don't like to say they are voting against somebody. >> right. >> i think that number -- like republicans. only 14% say they are voting against biden because they don't want to go in there i'm voting against somebody. the fact 31% were willing to admit they were voting against donald trump? that is a big trump. >> says a lot about trump. >> it does say a lot about trump. >> rub this country wrong and people are rubbed raw by disrespect and consistent

outlandish behavior and by the lying and i think it says a lot about donald trump. >> i think this election is about two emotions. one in common with the party and one different. both are playing to the america's fears of what the other is going to do -- is doing or will do. fear is a common. the difference is loving donald trump or hating donald trump. there fear is an equal motivator but which one is more powerful? >> or change. what about change? >> i think people loving the communities that have been disrespected by donald trump. one thing interesting about this campaign, this politics of joy that is coming as you see people standing in long lines, the young people are bringing a different spirit. not angry spirit from the young people. it was angry this summer. the vote mob group and student power network and these people are bringing music and joy. why? because they are tired of being tired and they want something

better and it shows in their politics. >> first votes of the night are coming up at the top of the hour. we will have more exit poll results soon. much more ahead on this election night in america. countant. i'm so sorry. [ sighs ] hey! hey man! you're here. you don't trust me here is vegas, do you? well... i thought we had a breakthrough with the volkswagen. we did. yes. we broke through. that's the volkswagen! that's the cross sport. wow. seatbelts. ♪ please, just tell me where we're going. ♪ so are we. prudential helps 1 in 7 americans

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we are getting closer to the first votes on this election

night in america. folks are still voting out there right now. david chalain has more insight what is going on with our exit polls with more information. >> about the economy specifically. remember in these early exit polls when are polls of the entire electorate whether you vote early before election day or on election day. the economy is the number one issue 34% of voters in this election told us the economy is their most important issue. i want to show you a condition of the nation's economy. how does the country, how do these voters rate the economy? we are pretty divided country on this. look at the numbers. it's that middle chunk there, the good and not so good is where the bulk of the voters are and pretty evenly divided. we also asked about whether or not the pandemic has caused you financial hardship. 55% of voters in the election say, yes, the coronavirus

pandemic has caused them financial hardship. 44% say no. then the classic question appeal? a re-election year for a president. you know, are you better off than you were four years ago? financially? is your family situation better off? 41% of voters say yes, better off than four years ago. 38% roughly even group says about the same. only 20%, 2 in 10 say they are worse off than four years ago. >> very interesting numbers, indeed. jonk ki john king, what do you make of these exit numbers? >> shows you the pretty even divide when you have numbers like that throughout and reflection how are you voting? are you voting how you feel right now and optimistic about the future or voting a couple of months back when the coronavirus really hit? go back to february. this was president trump's calling card. the lighter the map the lower the unemployment rate. this is what the president thought he was running for

re-election on. maybe you don't like my tweets on or don't like me. then the pandemic came along. you bring this up. marp gets darker and look at april. start to see the pain. look at this. the darker the colors here the higher the unemployment rate. look at nevada. that is 20% plus unemployment. michigan a key state to the president of the united states. nevada. clinton state but one the president hopes to flip tonight. you see all across here. not quite 20% plus but in the teens. that is when it started to hit and the president's calculation about re-election changed dramatically. that is april. then you look at may. starts to get better, right? remember in may is the reopening. some businesses reopen. as you follow it through this is what the president hopes you forget april and may and you start to come through here and you see june and gets lighter. july lighter still. august. and september. so the president's hope is that you still see nevada, tourism

industry still hit very hard. can the president make his case? most of the rate the country is coming down. stock market had a rough last week. the president is hoping you look at the stock market' what he is talking about the last several weeks on the campaign trail what he calls the v? it's not a v. economic recovery is uneven. but growth in the last quarter was quite significant. president is hoping you look at the statistics now and say, the spring was horrible. things are getting better. i trust this president. i don't want my taxes raised by joe biden and what the trump campaign is hoping. what biden tells you if you look at the economic lingering where is it? small businesses and disproportionately latino owned business and exit polls show uneven divide and when we count the votes interesting to look at certain states with certain industries and see how it breaks down. >> let's switch gears, john. in 25 minutes we will start getting actual poll results from the eastern part of kentucky, from indiana right now.

what are we looking for? >> turnout, number one. how is president doing? bring up 2016 map and go through that. we had a conversation very early when the results started to come in in 2016 about these counties first in kentucky. that is when we saw not only was donald trump doing well in republican red areas here but you come up here and you look up along the border. significant. we knew donald trump was going to carry kentucky four years ago but this is ohio. pennsylvania is just to the east. i just want to go through the things we saw here. this vote started to come out. 77% for donald trump. you know back to 2012. 62%. saw early evidence that donald trump was overperforming previous republican nom niece in the -- nominees in these small counties. here.you find the sam

southern ohio. up along here. these were democratic counties and blue collar democratic counties in southern ohio and switched to republicans before trump but he put it on steroids if you will. in kentucky a red state and you think no big deal but the same people in southern ohio and come along the river and come over here and the same people live here in southern pennsylvania. you start seeing donald trump getting 68, 69% if you round up there versus ten points better than mitt romney in places that matter. we talked about this earlier. we first get the results out of kentucky right now. we fully expect donald trump is going to carry kentucky. but we want to look at the suburbs and lexington and look at louisville. this is where we saw in 2018 the revolt against president of the united states by suburban voters particularly suburban women.

this is 2012 here. 2016. hillary clinton carries this area in 2016. 2020 where we look in louisville. come back and look at it. 54-40. right? hillary clinton is going to win louisville. the question is the suburbs here. affluent suburbs around louisville. these voters have turned against the president. we don't expect kentucky to be in play tonight but joe biden is he doing places in jefferson county one of the early states to close when the votes come in? is donald trump doing worse? is biden overperforming her or trump underperforming himself if you will? one of the key tests as we move through demographic areas. kentucky we don't expect to be much of a conversation but we do expect whether it's african-american turnout, suburbs, or trump performance in the rural areas up here or early clues. >> we know the suburbs going democratic two years ago in 2018 helped the democrats get the majority in the house of representatives. jake? back to you. >> thanks. while john is going to be looking at kentucky and indiana,

those congressional districts at 6:00 eastern. at 7:00, abby, big states. georgia is a hot competition and two different senate races and some of the congressional districts in florida. >> what is so important about north carolina and arizona and states president trump has to hold on to. these are his equivalent of the blue wall tonight is the sun belt states. he has to figure out how to hold on to those states have a long history in the red column but they are really up for grabs tonight. >> that is exactly right. one of the issues donald trump is having in those states in particular florida less so but north carolina and georgia for sure is the dynamic that john was explaining about the suburbs and voters fleeing from donald trump in the suburbs is a problem for him in those two states because the suburbs have been expanding. they were already expanding four years ago but they have been expanding even more.

the demographics are changing rapidly in those two states which is why the president and his team are trying to get as many votes as they can in rural areas and areas they have no doubt lots of trump voters. the question is whether there are enough of them. >> it's interesting you say that less so about florida because i think you would agree that of all the those sun belt states we are talking about north carolina, georgia, florida, and arizona, i would say that it is most likely that president trump is able to hold on to florida. we don't know what is going to happen. it's been very competitive but the biden people seem least confident about that one and of the opinion most that unthat one is really a coin toss. >> you heard that intersected in jeff zeleny's reporting a while ago. he is hearing the same kind of pessimism. i was talking to democrats all weekend what is going on in south carolina and their turnout operation.

they were honest saying they felt they lost time due to the virus and may not have had enough time to make it up so a tough state for joe biden. >> we are closing in on the first actual results of the presidential race that will come at the top of next hour when voting ends in the eastern parts of kentucky and indiana. stay with us. [typing] i had saved up some money and found the home of my dreams

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welcome back. we are closing in on 6:00 p.m. eastern and the first actual votes of the 2020 presidential election. polling places close soon in parts of kentucky and indiana and we are standing by for that right now. let us go to our battleground correspondent miguel marquez in detroit, michigan. what are you learning how soon the state will count the vote and release some of the numbers? >> reporter: it sounds like it's going to be a lot faster than they were predicting early. the secretary of state earlier on saying take three days to do it and it looks like it's sooner than that. we are in the convention center here in detroit. this is where they are count -- hundreds and hundreds of poll workers counting the absentee votes here. it's been a record number of absentee votes come in and they have just announced they

tabulated and the center that is all of the tabulation machines that is where the rubber meets the road here and where the votes are being counted. they have now tabulated 107,000 votes in many room alone. in places like detroit, the largest city in michigan. we have spoken to clerks around the state today and to the secretary of state, everything here is going as smooth as possible in towns and cities like detroit, if they can report early, the expectation that this idea of a red mirage early on where the state looks much more conservative at midnight, say, tonight, that that may not happen because once polls close, they not only will have day of votes but these large sort of numbers of absentee votes that will start to come in very quickly from places like detroit and kent county and flint and genessee county will start to come in fairly quickly and usee sort of the vote come in across

the state pretty equitably. they expect it will be much faster than three days. >> thank you, miguel. now to pennsylvania and there is sara murray in harrisburg opinion the capital of the commonwealth. you're looking about disinformation and other problems in pennsylvania? >> reporter: the philadelphia district attorney's office saying only 52 incidents that they heard of today. the vast majority of those were taken care of peacefully and were resolved. they are saying most of it had to do with election airing near the polling sites and some with voters being recorded and felt uncomfortable or harassed but those are being investigated. calls to their hotlines they say is misinformation circulating online and what we are hearing generally in this state today. when you talk to these counties they say the voting has gone pretty smoothly, things going pretty well and not a number of

incidents but we have seen a lot of things floating around online that have just not panned out and a good reminder to check in the on things you may see on twitter and not everything you're seeing is true. >> sara murray, amen to that. thanks. wolf? >> over to pamela brown. we heard about michigan, pennsylvania. what are you hearing? you're taking a close look. how soon do you think we could start getting results? >> all eyes on the battleground states and look at the three red states that president trump won in 2016. wisconsin, pennsylvania, and michigan. these three important states could keep us in suspense perhaps past tonight. we have to wait and see. you look at wisconsin. they started opening those more than 1.8 million preelection votes cast. that is 139% increase from four years ago. a big test due to the sheer number of early votes and the fact that wisconsin is not accustomed to all of this. look at milwaukee county.

the bulk of democratic votes are in the state. the milwaukee county clerk tells cnn they want to have the unofficial results we'd between 3:00 and 6:00 in the morning. then you go to pennsylvania. look at the preelection vote there. 2.4 million and just started working on those today. the state's largest city and democratic stronghold of philadelphia has a history of counting relatively slowly but officials there are expressing confidence that they can get through 100,000 absentee ballots by 8:00 p.m. tonight and they think 50% of the total philadelphia vote will be reported by 11:00 p.m. tonight. all eyes on michigan. more than 2.8. preelection votes have been cast there. up 161% from 2016. and the state just started counting today and detroit where we just heard from miguel marquez, they are already tabulating 107,000 absentee ballots there, a large chunk what they have received and they should have more than two-thirds of the absentee vote tally by

the time polls close at 8:00 p.m. michigan secretary of state tells cnn she expects the state's vote will be counted sooner than previously expected so we could have a partial picture of michigan tonight if everything goes as planned. >> that is pretty encouraging news. thank you. david chalain, you're getting more exit poll results. what is on the mind of voters when they were actually voting? >> we asked voters are you more casting your ballot because of the position on issues that your tenant takes or a candidate's personal qualities? take a look at this. 73%, overwhelming majority said it's the cane candidate's positions on the isheds that was most important to their presidential vote so dig into the issues. on obamacare should the supreme court overturn obamacare? 53% said keep it as is. a majority. only 42% say overturn it. on the issue of supreme court appointments. how important is supreme court appointments as a factor in your

vote? 61% of the electorate says it's an important factor. 37% say it is not. climate change. we asked voters in this election is it a serious problem? two-thirds of voters say the view of the federal government. this gives you the mood of the country right now. a majority of the country, 58% are either dissatisfied or angry. that is their view of the federal government anderson. >> all right. we will come back to david with more. how are you feeling about the exit polls? >> i think the exit polls are great. >> you like what you see? >> i like, just the last graphic. >> the climate change thing. >> the government, you know. >> 53% liked obamacare. ask you you are the president of the

uned states, you are the head of everything, right. you are in charge. 60% of the country or whatever it is says they are dissatisfied with the federal government. you know, this is an interesting thing. donald trump is the leader of the resistance to the federal government at the same time he is the president. can you pull that off? >> yes because donald trump has experienced throughout the course of his presidency the deep state, washington, attacking him. >> but he is the president. >> i understand. >> he is attacking everybody at the same time. >> whether it is leaks or disinformation or other things, you know, not willing to go along with his directives. there is a battle in washington d.c. between the president and bureaucracy. that is playing out here. overall the numbers on the exit polls is an electorate in my mind saying we are going to be here all night. >> 2/1 on climate change.

there are mixed results here. >> supreme court. >> it is good parlor talk. >> some of the questions, saying the supreme court could go either way. >> could go either way. >> i guess let me say this, maybe that is not the right thing. i am looking at this and i do not see a democratic landslide in the exit polls. a lot of people think joe biden could get 400 electoral votes. i i don't see that. >> exit polls do not tell us -- we have all had a lot of experience with this. exit polls do not tell us what will happen in this election. they had to do exit polls differently this year because of the pandemic. >> in this next hour, the first states, what should we look for? >> florida. georg georgia.

kentucky. >> i think that you look for areas that have cultural kinship to states like ohio for example. you want to do that. >> also by comparing enthusiasm about the president in some areas that he did very well in in kentucky. >> you also want to look at how mitch mcconnell is doing versus donald trump. for me as a republican, i am equally concerned about holding the united states senate and making sure that whatever happens at the top of the ticket, we at least have a check on joe biden if joe biden were to be the president. looking at how mcconnell runs vs. trump and whether senators are running better than trump would be encouraging. >> we will be seeing what is going on.

>> covid having consumed thousands of them. donald trump may win the state of ohio but he won it handily last time. he may win iowa, but he won it handily last time and that has been uniform across the country. what implications are there for states that are closer. that is one of the things we need to watch. >> i think the issue that is motivating people, at least on the democratic side is none of the issues. it is are we going to have a democracy. people feel a threat from the way that donald trump conducts himself. he seems to be running against the election. seems like trump is running against the election. i think there is a thread and dread that i am doing fine on the economy. you know, supreme court. he still won't get to why they are going to stand for four hours to vote against donald trump. you know, i think we are in a

completely different situation. >> what was interesting to me is of course the numbers on the economy. because when you ask people if they were better off, 41% which we don't see as a predictor, they said they are better off. >> but that is half of silicon valley and most of those people are against trump. billionaires are better off and they want trump out. >> election night in america continues after this. ♪ limu emu and doug. and if we win, we get to tell you how liberty mutual customizes car insurance so you only pay for what you need. isn't that what you just did? service! ♪ stand back, i'm gonna show ya ♪ ♪ how doug and limu roll, ya ♪ ♪ you know you got to live it ♪ ♪ if you wanna wi... [ music stops ] time out! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

♪ we want to welcome our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i am wolf blitzer and we are minutes away from the first results. the first big round of poll closings happened right at the top of the next hour, 7:00 p.m. eastern when voting ends in georgia, indiana, kentucky, south carolina, vermont and virginia. some polling places in the eastern time zone in indiana and kentucky, they are closing right now. and we expect early results from those two states at any moment. a total of 60 electoral votes

are on the line in the next hour. remember, 270 are needed to win the white house. georgia, 60 electoral votes could be pivotal as the reliably red state is now a battleground. jake, we are in uncharted territory with a record number of breaking voters already having cast their early ballots. >> many more are voting right this minute. we have been seeing steady streams of people showing up at polling loekds ining locations iowa, michigan and georgia where voting is ins it final hour. our correspondents are getting new information about the campaign strategies in the closing hours. jeff, what is team biden doing right now? >> reporter: well jake, throughout the day the turn out reports have been extraordinary. the biden campaign has been watching these with great interest. the trump campaign has been as

well. it is the high turn out numbers giving a sense of optimism to the biden campaign and also doing this. i am told at this hour the biden campaign is working to get more votes out and more supporters to the polls in south florida and in jacksonville and in the st. pete/tampa area. they believe florida is a challenge at this point. it started shortly after the workday. democrats historically voted more between the 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. hour. who knows if it holds during the pandemic with early voting and work schedules. but they are working to get the last vote out in these areas. the biden campaign still feeling optimistic but feel florida, georgia, more difficult than the blue wall of pennsylvania, michigan, wisconsin. they are more optimistic about the north than the south. the polls are open and they are still working. >> now to the white house. how does the trump campaign see

the night playing out? >> reporter: it really depends who you ask. publicly the press secretary moonlighting as a trump 2020 campaign advisor said they believe it could be a landslide. the president predicted potentially a blowout. but they are obviously not that confident. when you talk to people about what they are seeing in the numbers and what they are looking for. they are not even confident the president is going to win yet. they are waiting to see what happens in the critical states that jeff is pointing out. mixed messages on what exactly they are expecting. we heard from the white house communications director who said the president will be watching the returns coming in in the east wing with senior staffers and his family there and they are expecting delays in the results coming out of pennsylvania as they are counting the mail-in ballots and tab lading those. we could hear from the president tonight. it is not clear what form we will hear from him in or when it could come but the white house

said they do expect us to see the president at some point tonight. >> thanks so much. now more information from the exit polls. >> reporter: these exit polls are going to change. but they are representative of the electorate no matter how you voted, early, in-person or voted by mail and absentee or voted on election day today. as we get more and more surveys in, it is early but it represents everyone voting. let's look at the key demographics, the makeup of the electorate. 53% according to the early exit polls are female, 47% male. that is precisely what it was four years ago. you don't see a big change in the share of the electorate for either gender. look at the racial breakdown. 65% of the electorate in the preliminary results is white.

four years ago it was 71%. we are seeing a pretty significant drop in the share of the white vote as part of the overall electorate in the numbers. 13% latino and 12% black, 6% something else and 3% asian. look at the age breakdown inside the early exit poll. 16% in the electorate, 18-29. exactly what it was four years ago. 30 to 44, 23. 38% of the electorate, 45 to 60. and 23, 65 and older, a slight tick up. four years ago it was 20%. we seem to be a bit more college educated. 45% say they are college graduates in the electorate today. 55% say no four years ago we saw that it was 40% who said they were college graduates. a few more college graduates in

the electorate. party i.d., how they are split by party. 38% democrat. 35% republican. 28% of the voters in the 2020 campaign refer to themselves as independent. >> david, thanks so much. when we talk about reading the tea leaves, again, i am seeing an electorate based on the early, early exit poll results, not definitive that suggest an electorate that one could say is more amenable to the biden message. a less white electorate. it has more older voters and seniors that are in favor of biden and a more college educated. early results and looking at what i am seeing here, that is what i am taking away. >> i think that is exactly what to take away on all of this. one of the most interesting things is that it is less white.

the country is less white. why p came once you saw the republican party nationally trying so hard to expand beyond a white base. and then came donald trump. and everything that came with the trump campaign and the trump presidency. it has been a lot harder for him to reach out beyond and in order to keep the republican party from being a really shrinking party. the question is whether or not this shows us that the demographics are really shifting in a rapid way. >> it will matter in the sun-belt states we were talking about. interestingly, i was talking to a republican. we were talking about the gender gap and even the issue of race. this republican said the most important thing is the college and non-college split. with women it is whethers not a

the places that it matter we will see it tonight. >> it is such an important point. four years ago donald trump won michigan and he won wisconsin and he won pennsylvania on the margins. >> 77,000 votes in three states. >> exactly right. when you are looking at the demographics shifting, even if it is just a little bit, that could make a difference. >> it is about the turn out of those people and the margins. one of the things that is interesting, pennsylvania, 47% of the electorate is non-college educated whites. trump won them by 32% in 2016. again, polls are not facts. polls are not votes. >> that is absolutely right,

jake. let's look at the path to the all important 270 electoral college votes you need to be president. >> what is the electorate, what is the composition of the electorate in which states. joe biden is trying to do two things. he is trying to get back what president trump took away, pennsylvania, wisconsin, michigan from the democrats. joe biden is trying to get back the blue wall. all right. he is trying to hold all of the clinton states, colorado -- there you go. that would be nevada. that would be minnesota. that would be new hampshire. there you go. you get the clinton states back and 278. just get pennsylvania and michigan and wisconsin. you get those back, you are the next president of the united states. get the clinton states back and get back those three. then he is trying to do what abby, dan and jake were talking about. if you get the diversity of the

electorate. georgia, eventually will be our state. we are growing in the suburbs, african-americans, latinos. arizona will eventually be our states. texas will eventually be our state. has trump put that evolution on steroids. you look at the demographics you would say two, four, six years. but has trump but that electorate transformation, especially in the suburbs. can joe biden do things like that in the north carolina suburbs, african-americans plus the suburbs plus young people. in florida, african-americans, latinos. can he do something like that? he is in reach. this is what the democrats dream of tonight. they do have the opportunity. opportunity is one thing. execution and finishing is something else. >> what about georgia. >> i left georgia on the table. if you are an incumbent, you start with this. we know president trump is obsessed with this.

he has copies of the map. this is what he talks about. if you are trump, you have seen him spending a ton of time here, here, here. he loves this map because it made him president. this is how he won four years ago. his point is defending. we know his approval rating is in the middle 40s and that coronavirus pandemic is across the country. he is likely to lose something. how much can he afford to lose. late in the campaign biden leading michigan was steady and consistent. does not mean how that will go tonight. donald trump has to be prepared to lose michigan and wisconsin. if you are in the trump campaign in the final days, you need to be prepared those two get away and be prepared maybe you will lose this. joe biden is favored to win in

maine handily. maine allocates it electoral votes by congressional district. the president needs to be prepared to lose that one and this one. that is the expectation inside the trump campaign based on everything they have looked at in the final weeks. then what happens? donald trump would still be at 278 if he can hold this. if he can hold pennsylvania. now 278 if you can hold pennsylvania. he still has to hold north carolina. he has to hold florida. he has to hold georgia and arizona. the president is on defense on this map. wolf, we are moments away from getting some votes. >> we will be watching it very, very closely. we are getting closer and closer and the first chance to make projections at the top of the hour. ♪

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we got our first alert of the night in the state of indiana where a lot of the polls closed at the top of the hour. very, very early but joe biden is ahead of joe biden 68.3% to 29.7%. it is very, very early in indiana. we will get results from kentucky fairly soon as well. >> let's see what we are looking at.

the united states of america, 68% for the president. this is one county. one of the things we will do throughout the night is going back. we will see, donald trump got 75%. you round it up 10,000 votes. you count to 2020. we are not done counting. if that is half it is roughly equal. one thing you want to change the incumbent matching or exceeding. nobody should be getting stressed or happy at home. we are just getting started. indiana is the first thing to come in. we have our little quirks about election night. this is greene county. all the way back to 1956 this county always has got ten right, vigo county. 2016 voted for donald trump. 2012 voted for barak obama even

though indiana was going back to the republicans. goes all the way back to 1956 they had it right. back to 2020. here we are in the here and now. just one county here right now. you come up here to lake county, gary, indiana, african-american turn out there and they know joe biden is likely to lose. are they turning out? one other thing that you want to pull out here is coming up through here. there we go. i am in the wrong place. you come up here to suburban counties. one of the things we will look at tonight are the gray areas. suburbs. one of the things you want to look at going back to 2016.

you see a lot of red. donald trump narrowly won the suburbs in 2016. in indiana, especially around indianapolis here. this is one thing we will study around the country tonight. even though indiana is likely to go red in the end is donald trump, no votes there yet. what does he get this time. this is one thing we will announce throughout the night. kentucky comes up soon. the lexington suburbs in here. >> we have numbers coming in. >> let's come out of this here and close it up. the first votes right here. south of lexington. north of bowling green. 0.4% of the population of the commonwealth of kentucky. 85%. donald trump got 85% there then. in the early results, he is essentially matching what he did

in this county here in kentucky and that county there in indiana. the president matching at the moment. is that significant, i don't know. >> going back to indiana. there is a second county. >> there it is. >> it is a relatively small county. >> 35th -- top 1/3rd. 70%, 68%. you look at it here again, you go back 71% then. we are early. people at home will think we are nuts for doing this. that is what we will do all night long to see where is the president compared to 2016, over performing or under performing and that is how we will know if the map is shifting. even in places to wins he getting red counties and red

cities and red states closer in 2020 than they were in 2016. that will be one of the things that we watch tonight. indiana and kentucky are early examples. we expect donald trump to win indiana and kentucky but do we get clues about the rest of the country about tighter margins by under performing in states he won in a walk. >> we will watch for that coming up in the final run-up to the first big round of poll closings at 7:00 p.m. eastern and the first chance to make projections. we will be back in a moment. ♪ limu emu & doug

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maintain healthy blood pressure with a custom blend of ingredients. i'm taking charge, with garlique. we have another key race alert in indiana and kentucky. both early but trump has a very significant lead so far leading by almost 12,000 votes over biden in indiana. 66.7% to 31.4%, fully expected in kentucky. similarly, 65.7% to 32.7%. kentucky and indiana. the votes are coming in very, very early, but totally expected in the two red states. >> they are, wolf. this is kentucky. you can see the counties coming in. for the democrats, the first time tonight we see blue. is it significant? this is anderson county, south

of frankfurt. suburban area here. more rural as you go south. this is an early vote count. other states are going to count the mail-in first or absentee first. others will flip that. we will bounce around throughout the night and ask your patience. anderson county, kentucky will be donald trump red at the end of the night. joe biden back to 2016. this is a county donald trump carried by a huge margin, 50 points four years ago. it is one of the things that we will watch when we see aberrations on the map. when you see blue when there is traditional red or red where there is traditional blue. you go and study it. something to watch because it is an of the suburban counties.

we know the suburbs turned on donald trump in 2018. we will see if it is a clue to what might come in other states as well. you can see it in kentucky, donald trump opening the lead. you see 67% there. 62% is his lead back in 2016. we will keep an eye on that. senate race in kentucky as well. mitch mcconnell on the ballot, expected to win but sometimes we get surprises on election night. indiana, no blue on the map here. you are coming up here in the top quarter. these are tiny, tiny counties. 0.5% of the population. this is something you want to watch throughout the night. are the margins basically the same, is the president over performing, under performing or breaking even. about half the vote we think,

sometimes this number matters. we focus on the percentages. the math can matter. the raw math in the context of that's 2020. you look at 2016. twice that many votes in the county. let's see, is turn out about the same, down, is the trump vote down is that a clue? that is a dynamic, wolf, that we track throughout the night. we are now just essentially looking at the first early votes, comparing them to 2016 to see if they give us any clues going forward. we expect them to be red at the end but they might teach us something. >> we are told at least half the vote in kentucky is early vote coming in and the other half is today vote. indiana, mostly all early. it is almost all early in indiana. >> right. that will be key, especially

moving on to other states where we expect more battleground states. if you are getting early votes, we know. in most states the early votes, the people that voted by mail or showed up in-person, democratic. you will see some places that are blue that are not normally blue. sometimes that is just what it is. once the polls closed they released the numbers and as election day comes in, it evens out and reflects whatever the community is. did the president turn out his votes? we might see places traditionally blue that are red because they have not counted the mail-in ballots yet. we will explain it as we go through the night. it is going to be different because this year is very

different. >> go back to indiana for a moment. i want to see if any votes came in. not really. trump has a significant lead with 1% of the vote in. >> it is mike pence's home state. it has been in the news, amy coney barrett was on the notre dame law school. indiana gets a lot of national attention because they have a vice president and because the supreme court justice spent a great deal of time in indiana because of the work at the notre dame law school. this is no expectation to be anything but a red state. there are things to learn. you are not sure how they are going to end up how they are go to land at the end of the night. >> gary, indiana, not too far from chicago. >> you might remember in the 2008 primaries we had conversations about the obama/clinton race, yeah. i got a few of these from that.

>> i remember that well. >> thanks, wolf. now to two more of the battleground states that are so important in the election. first to the tar heel state, north carolina. diane gallagher is in raleigh and state election officials say results will be delayed a little. >> yeah, jake. i know everybody was waiting for the swing state because battleground states are reporting at 7:30 p.m. because north carolina sees to it that each precinct has the same amount of time open, there were issues opening up in certain counties in the state and they extended the time. one of those in sampson county they are extending until 8:15 p.m. because north carolina holds all of their state-wide results until the last poll closes, that means we won't get any of the early vote totals until 8:15 at the earliest. they are in another meeting right now.

i have been following along by listening to you now. it does not appear it will extend past 8:15. >> i want you to look behind me. this is what we had going on all day, the slow and steady pace. 4.6 million early votes were cast in the state of north carolina, more than 95% of the total 2016 turn out and more than 62% of all registered voters. they had decent turn out among democrats and the republicans in the state and it is tight here. polling has shown former vice president joe biden is just a little bit ahead in the polling, but it has been neck and neck. they are also focused on a very close senate race. 8:15 those numbers. >> all right. let's go to wisconsin. on to wisconsin.

bill wier is in the state capitol. the national guard is playing a role? >> yes, jake, otherwise smooth as butter here in the dairyland. but allegheny county, big republican stronghold. due to a printing error, they thought they had 13,500 ballots that had to be transferred on to a clean ballot. but the problem isn't as bad as they thought. they decided to handle it yourselves, hire more people and they brought in 20 national guardsmen that are helping to transfer things but it did not sound like as many of the ballots were transferred. meanwhile here in madison which is kind of like a blueberry and bowl of tomato soup. it will be bright blue tonight. things are going so smoothly.

as one veteran poll worker told me the reason it is going so well, they finally figured out how to use the county machine. it is like a baby boy, if you don't know your way around it, it will pee all over you. >> all right. i will leave that one where it is. david is breaking down more of the exit polls. david, what are you learning? >> reporter: we are looking at the profile of biden and trump voters. i want to remind everyone these exit polls are representative of the electorate, no matter how you voted. if you voted early, in-person, absentee, by mail. if you voted today on election day in-person, all of that is included in the exit poll and these are preliminary numbers that are likely to change as we get in more surveys throughout the night. take a look here and you can see among trump voters that voted

for donald trump, 82% said the candidate's positions on the issues was more important to the presidential vote than the candidate's personal qualities. only 15% of trump voters said personal qualities were more important. biden voters but less of a margin. 66% said the candidate's position on the issues was most important next to 30% of the voters said the personal qualities. now let's look at it by which candidate they support. among trump voters, the economy is the dominant issue. 62% of trump voters say the economy is the most important issue. 17%, crime and safety. obviously that was a big message in the last several months from donald trump. coronavirus, only 5% of trump voters said that coronavirus you was the most important issue to their vote.

look at biden voters. among biden voters racial inequality is the top issue, 36% of biden voters said racial inequality is the most important issue for their vote followed by coronavirus at 27%, crime and safety 6% and the economy 11% said that was the most important thing. >> fascinating, because it is a real reflection of what the candidate's messages are. donald trump hammers home the point he is best at the economy and joe biden, the streets will run red with blood. and the electorates they are appealing to. i am surprised that coronavirus is not a top issue for either trump or biden voters in terms of being the top issue. >> it is clear that bidens voters are much more split than trump voters heavily skewed in the

of the economy. it tells me that biden voters are worried about a lost things. a lot of them are worried about people of color. they are worried about racial inequity. even through the coronavirus, jake. >> yes. part of that. yes. >> a disproportionate impact on people of confidential. >> for the biden voters, it is not just that racial inequality is a big issue but it is the big issue. 36% over coronavirus and health care policy which was the driving issue in 2018. the economy, crime and safety. that is a remarkable number. that is a remarkable number. 36%. the top issue biden voters say they are going to the polls focused on is racial inequality. >> especially when you consider that normally health care and the economy are the number one. >> the bread and butter issues. >> it is a very 2020 reflection

of where biden's voters are. >> take a look at this. 8% of the vote in kentucky is in and biden is up by 55.3% to 43.1%. biden ahead in kentucky right now. and in indiana right now, trump is way ahead. he is up by about 25,000 votes. kentucky, john a pretty reliable red state. i would not say this is the bottom line. let's take a closer look at kentucky. >> i would not say it is the bottom line. if you are a democrat at home in the commonwealth of kentucky, if you want to catch a quick screen grab, go ahead.

but we do not expect kentucky to end blue at the end of the night. doesn't mean it won't or can't but we don't expect that. 77% of the screen right now is early vote and joe biden voters were much more likely to vote by mail. you are looking at 54 to 55 if you round it up. 44 if you round it up. remember, in 2016 president trump won by nearly 30 points. this is not expected to say where it is. we are looking at early votes. in states that are competitive and not so competitive. just we have to walk through transparentally with people. >> you mentioned the cincinnati suburbs. northern kentucky there is one blue county. >> again, 77%. if it holds blue, this would be a huge deal. if it holds blue by that margin

it is a ginormous deal. this is a county president trump won in 2016. why? we expect kentucky to be red. covington is in covington, kentucky. cincinnati, ohio is right here. this is a cincinnati suburban area. if the president will do well in ohio and anywhere with the suburbs, north carolina, florida, arizona, michigan, wisconsin, pennsylvania we will see if the suburban revolt against the president continues. this is 2016. democrats see this, this is early vote. we have a long way to go. >> 28% of the estimated vote is in. >> if it is all early vote, we will see. we will see. frankfurt, we expect to stay blue, right.

lexington, kentucky. 73%. back in time to 51%. this is one of the things we will look at but we need to be careful early. this is early vote meaning we believe it is lopsided in favor of the democrats. we need to be calm and not think it is a final total. remember where we started, we how much it changes. is joe biden, even in places he is losing, is he running ahead of hillary clinton in urban and suburban areas. you can find towns like this in north carolina and georgia. let's pull back out to the rest of it. it is early on. 78% of the estimated vote in tiny casey county. pretty consistent. that is one of the tests we will

have throughout the night. it is early. what are you watching? donald trump, where is he compared to 2016. about the same right here and now. let's look at it. lincoln county, 2020. 76 if you round up, 77. it is early. we don't know if it will hold. we will check back throughout the night. we expect the state to be red in the end. but there are places like this in ohio, pennsylvania, georgia, towns just like that. we will learn lessons here. anderson county, 58-39. 2020. going back to 2016, the president wins with 72% of the vote. democrats would be optimistic but this is disproportionately early vote. we will be transparent with you. this is not contextual yet but

they are places we will watch. this would be significant if it holds because the suburbs are the key if joe biden is going to win north carolina it will be because african-americans turn out and because of the suburbs. we talked about it earlier. we expect it to be red in the end. let's watch out. it is blue right now. we expect it to be red in the end. >> we certainly do. all right. we will stay on top of kentucky. in the meantime, let's go back to anderson. >> thank you very much. >> i mean how much of what we know about early voting favoring democrats is because of president trump going after early voting and going after the election in general saying it is rigged? >> i think that has a lot to do with it. there were republicans that are very uncomfortable about it. republicans traditionally have used absentee voting and particularly older republicans.

so there was a concern that he was discouraging people from voting the way they normally vote. it did create disproportionate participation by republicans on voting day. but the question does the republican surge in the states overcome the advantage democrats had in early voting. donald trump, one last time by putting overwhelming support in the rural areas together with a slight win in suburban areas which are the largest segment of the country, where half of america lives. we have seen it in 2018 in polling a big drift towards democrats in the suburban areas and particularly among women. the question if it continues

tonight, where does donald trump make up the votes and we have seen college educated voters are participating, non-college based less participating. these are the numbers that would concern me. >> more than they were in -- >> in 2008 and 2016. you know, it is now drifting towards more participation by college educated voters who favor biden. >> and that was so interesting to watch during the biden campaign. biden would venture into previously red areas in a state like ohio and try to chip away at what he saw as the advantage of donald trump. he did it over and over and over again and so did the campaign. they understood if you could chip away at the edges that would be really important.

trump voters rated it 5% saying it was the most important issue to their vote. racial inequality was the only thing that was less, 3%. however biden voters, racial inequality, issue number one. 36% and covid, 28%. and then came health care. the only thing voters have in common is that they care about health wear and that is an issue that as we know the biden campaign talked about over and over again, during the confirmation of amy coney barrett and what the supreme court would do. it is a divided country and electorate. i guess it goes without saying. >> the age of voters, i think, for younger voters the existence

of racial inequality rated much higher as a priority because you are dealing with the most diverse american generation ever. even if you are white you have a best friend that is not or boyfriend or girlfriend. you look in kindergarten and it looks like the united nations. if you take all of it all together, the initial issues that we were talking about made me nervous. i was having rumblings in my tummy. i don't like the issues because it looks like it is more favorable to trump. as you look at the demographics, much more favorable to biden. >> what do you point to? >> such a big drop in the number of white voters compared to last time. that you do have a lot more -- seems like the young people are hanging in there.

the older votes are breaking more towards biden as usual. you are go to get sea sick tonight. there is something out there happening that we don't know yet. we will have to wait to see. >> i am going to agree with van. i was feeling much more confident with the early exits. >> you guys are going to be basket cases. >> i didn't realize it was two guys on the other side. >> no. the college educated -- first off these are early exits. you know, i witnessed it in my own elections that blue collar workers and non-college educated vote after work and don't vote during the day as seniors do. up tick in seniors, you would expect that where workers do. i think the number will change. the fact it is more college educated, not good for donald

trump. 71% white to 65% white, not good for donald trump. both things give me pause as to whether this electorate is actually lining up. the final thing is to just look at the votes. covington county, suburban cincinnati and the kentucky side. i understand it is early and mail-in. i don't want to read into it too much. but those are not good numbers for donald trump. i don't think anyone expected him to do as well this time but those are still not good. >> the early exit polls are not just things showing up today. they are for those that voted early. cnn election night continues right now. we are standing by for the first big round of poll closings, but right now more early votes are coming in.

we have a key race alert. let's take a look at kentucky right now, 11% of the estimated vote is now in and it is very close. 1,400 vote lead for biden over trump in kentucky. 49.5% to 48.9%. a lot of electoral votes in kentucky. very early. indiana, 5% of the vote is in and trump has a significant lead already, 41,700 lead over joe biden. 62.9 to 35.1%. we are about to get our first chance to make projections in the historic race for the white house and we are counting down to the top of the hour. that is when the last polls are scheduled to close in georgia, indiana, kentucky, south carolina, vermont and virginia. a total of 60 electoral votes are up for grabs in those states. it takes 270 electoral votes to win this election. georgia is the key battleground in the hour ahead. it could give us an early sense of how the night is going.

if joe biden appears on track to turn georgia blue or if president trump holds on to that traditionally red state he won four years ago. georgia is competitive for the first time in decades. >> that's right, wolf. we're watching the voting in georgia and other battleground states. we're watching them turn out for polls cross in norcross, georgia in suburban, atlanta. voting is being extended in at least two georgia counties. let's check in with our reporters covering the campaign. jeff zeleny, it's crunch time for the biden campaign. >> jake, no wquestion about tha. joe joe biden is surrounded by his family getting ready to watch the returns and early projections. i'm told he's taking in the weight of all of this. before the returns come in, he would be the oldest president ever elected if he should win tonight. and it wraps a career starting out his presidential campaign run. this is his third run.

he ran in the 1988 campaign, throughout the day he's been st nostalgia, starting with a visit to his son beau's grave and the late wife and baby daughter. that's become a central part of his narrative as he has campaigned for president. he moved on to his boyhood home in scranton, pennsylvania. we're told that he signed one of the wald of the home. from this house to the white house with the grace of god. joe biden, november 3rd, 2020. so it is with this nostalgia as joe biden is settling in to watch his fate in this presidential campaign tonight, jake. >> that's right, jeff. he wrote a similar message in 2008 when he was running for vice president, except instead of the living room, he did it in the bedroom of that scranton house. let's go to kaitlan collins covering president trump. what are you hearing from the trump team tonight? >> we haven't heard that president trump has written anything on the walls of the white house, but we did just hear from the campaign manager

bill stepien who held a call with reporters. before the polls have closed across the u.s., they are expressing optimism in what they're seeing. of course, just from the trump campaign. this is their view of things but so far they say they feel good about it. and the question is, what are they seeing in these states? they did say one thing, jake. they believe in florida if these early votes are counted, they believe it's going to be in biden's favor but will later shift to their favor. one thing jason miller said is they, the campaign, including the president, feel better at this point than in 2016. of course, jake, if you were at that election night party for donald trump four years ago, at this point they didn't even think they had a chance of winning the election. that's not really saying much. one thing bill stepien said is what we heard from the press secretary early. they believed it would be a landslide. he conceded it would be a tight race. >> caitlyn collins, thanks. let's go to david chalian with some exit polls. >> looking at georgia and virginia, it's fascinating how much they look like the nation

overall. in georgia, the most important issue to voters, the economy. 36%. racial inequality, 22%. coronavirus, 14%. and which is more important to do now? containing the coronavirus or rebuilding the economy. in georgia, a slim majority says containing the coronavirus. 42% say rebuilding the economy. virginia looks similar and i have to remind you, these early exit polls are representative of the whole electorate. if you voted early, by mail absentee or in-person today on election day that's all included in these preliminary exit polls. the economy again, the top issue for virginia voters today. 35%. racial inequality, 23% say that was the most important issue. and coronavirus places third here again in virginia. 17%. again, we asked, which is more important, containing the coronavirus or rebuilding the economy? this is what we see nationally.

it's what we saw in georgia. a slim majority, 53% of virginia vote ghers in this election say containing the coronavirus is higher than the priority who say rebuilding the economy. >> fascinating. thanks so much. we're waiting for at the top of the hour some key florida counties are going to start reporting actual votes. florida, obviously, hotly contested as the former senator and -- current senator, former governor rick scott said to me on sunday. it's a 50/50 state and it's just a matter of who gets their voters to the polls. >> sources in both campaigns are telling me it is so incredibly tight. democrats i'm talking to say that they feel better about the post work democratic vote. that more democrats have been coming out in their key counties. but it looks like it could be like florida usually is. we'll see, though. look, this is exciting. this is the first time we'll see results from the swingiest of swing states. >> this is the fun part of the night. florida will tell us a little bit, but especially they will

have an earlier count. they know how to do mail-in votes, how to do early votes. and it will tell us a little bit more about whether we'll have a long night or a shorter night tonight which will be good. coming back to what rick scott told you, turnout, obviously, in florida is so key. what is so hard for democrats is that their voters are some of the hardest to turn out in that state which is why democrats i speak to are optimistic but they know it is tough. it's hard what they have to do especially with the coronavirus. >> people on the biden campaign are far more optimistic about michigan, wisconsin, pennsylvania but also arizona, georgia, north carolina, florida is actually rather far down on their list. wolf? >> jake, thanks very much. let's get a sense of how soon we expect to get votes from two crucial states coming up. pamela brown is at the voting desk watching this closely. >> this is an exciting part of the night. we're about to find out results in those two important states in the south. florida and georgia. we turn to florida and look at the process there.

we expect it to be fast. we expect the first results to be a big chunk of early votes with some election day votes mixed in because georgia had a two-week head start prepping ballots. georgia has been using high-speed scanners. all they have to do when polls close is press a button. they'll get the results. polls are open later and one county there in georgia. we're going to be finding out the bulk soon. look at florida. it's a well-oiled machine when it comes to counting early votes. they've had a five-week head start there. they've also counted most early in-person and absentee votes. what hasn't been counted are election day votes and the pre-election day votes. election officials in both states are saying right now it's been smooth and steady today. bottom line, wolf, as far as georgia and florida of concerned, election nigh should be off to a quick start. >> that's good to hear. john king, indiana and kentucky, both red, at least right now. >> smooth and steady.

let's hope we keep seeing those throughout the night. we'll keep counting them. kentuckys but blue early on. it's moved to red. here's something we don't expect to be the case. donald trump leading in the popular vote. 73,000 votes ahead. we know he lost it in 2016. we're going to two of the most interesting laboratories of the night. two states that will tell us a ton about who is going to win the presidency. let's start in florida. the first wave of votes here. this is one state the democrats had a slight edge but not as big an edge as in early voting. we know the history here. let's go back to the 2016 map to do it. florida is always close. a point or two either way. 49 to 48. if you round up four years ago, critical for the democrats down here. palm beach county, broward county, miami-dade. democrats have to run it up, up there. president trump has to repeat what he did four years ago. we've been talking about this in the earlier counties. georgia and alabama.

northern florida votes like the south. you move over here as you come across 63% here. small counties. not a lot of people but this is the key to the president. it comes down the i-4 corridor. what we're going to see is democrats in the suburbs. think of orlando as a recreational place. it is. but latinos, growing suburbs. orange county. hillary clinton carried four years ago. what does the president do here tonight? you move over here. wolf, remember, election night 2016 in the middle of our count early in the night, i had a call from a democrat working the ground in pinellas county who said we are bleeped. i won't say the word on television. it went red. not by a lot. if you go back to barack obama's wins, right here. so do the democrats get the suburbs back and retirees on this side of the coast back. we'll stay on the 2016 map. florida, 29 electoral votes.

the president cannot win re-election without it. a state we had not talked about in presidential politics in election night because it's been so red. not since bill clinton have democrats carried this state. the big test here, do african-americans turn out in atlanta and how do they do in the suburbs around atlanta, around columbus, in augusta. you see all of this red down here. absolutely critical to the president in florida and in georgia and north carolina. run it up in the small rural counties because he knows democrats are coming out to vote in the cities and republicans are suffering under his leadership in the suburbs, wolf. >> just moments away, john, from the first, the first big round of poll closings. voting is about to end in six states with 60 electoral votes at stake. we're watching all of these states, especially the battleground state of georgia for early clues about where the race may be heading tonight. we have our first projection of the night. cnn now projects president

donald trump will win indiana. trump beats biden in indiana. wins its 11 electoral votes. the first projection of the night. it's too early to call in these states right now. too early to call in georgia. a key battleground state with 16 electoral votes. too early to call there. in virginia, too early to call there. 13 electoral votes at stake in virginia. also, too early to call right now in south carolina. 9 electoral votes in south carolina. too early to call in kentucky. eight electoral votes there. too early to call in vermont. three electoral votes right