can you believe it? i like to say there's always a bull market somewhere. i promise to try and find it ju there is one core question for you to consider -- do you want america to be ruled by the corrupt political class? or do you want america to be ruled by you, the people? that's what it is, by the people. >> love trumps hate. let's get out and vote. philadelphia, tomorrow! let's make history together. thank you and god bless you. >> hillary clinton and donald trump make their closing arguments and now it's time for voters to decide at the polls. >> it is election day, 2016. a special edition of "early today" starts right now. >> good election tuesday, everyone, i'm ayman mohyeldin.

we've made it, election day is upon us, it's been 18 months in the making. this morning, millions of americans prepare to head to the polls to pick our nation's 45th president, just hours after trump and clinton wrapped up their final campaign events in michigan and north carolina. it has been 510 days since donald trump rode down his fifth avenue trump tower escalator to announce his candidacy for president. and 507 days since hillary clinton her race for the white house. and hillary clinton returned home before she casts her own ballot this morning it came to a head as the campaigns held their final rallies, trump taking to michigan as clinton amassed her largest event yet in front of philadelphia's independence hall to cheer her with former president bill clinton, president obama, the first lady, jon bon jovi and bruce springsteen. she and trump delivered their

>> today is our independence day. when you step into that voting booth, today, it's now today there is one core question for you to consider -- do you want america to be ruled by the corrupt political class? or do you want america to be ruled by you the people. >> tomorrow you can vote for a hopeful, inclusive, big-hearted america. i really believe it's the most important election of our lifetimes because we've never had a clearer choice. never. it is a choice between division or unity. between strong, steady leadership or a loose cannon who could risk everything.

through the battleground states of michigan, new hampshire, florida, and north carolina. this morning the first election results, the small town of dixville notch, new hampshire. with a total voting population of eight. continued their midnight voting tradition. clinton captured the most votes with four, followed by two for trump, one for gary johnson and one write-in for mitt romney. now since 1960, the town has accurately predicted seven of the last 14 prediction our final battleground map has clinton leading with 274 electoral votes to trump's 170 electoral votes, there are 94 votes in the toss-up category of course. this is just a prediction. clinton also spoke to millions of tv viewers during two minutes of prime ads on the major network where she laid out her vision for the nation. >> i think we can all agree it's been a long campaign. but tomorrow you get to pick our

hope you'll think about. first, it's not just my name and my opponent's name on the ballot. it's the kind of country we want for our children and grandchildren. >> but it was president obama who gave the most visceral speech of the final day of the campaign, offering his full-throated support for clinton. and with the latest gallup poll put his approval numbers at a record high of 56%, numbers not seen since 2009, he's putting that approval rating on the line for clinton. >> so with whatever credibility i've got after eight years as your president i'm asking you to trust me on this one. >> trump's running mate, mike pence, and campaign surrogate sarah palin and daughters ivanka and tiffany were all hitting the trail one last time. >> this isn't just a choice between two people, it's a choice between two futures. i choose to stand with donald trump and every american who knows we can make america great

>> this is bigger than one man. if they have a problem with donald trump's tone or something, you know, gosh, something on the periphery. well, so what? you know this is bigger than one man. it's bigger than a party. >> yesterday the market snapped an eight-day losing streak largely due to political news, we look at what the election means not just here at home but around the world. >> typically in the week before the election wall street rallies, however the s00 down for nine straight sessions before snapping that losing streak just yesterday following the news that fbi once again cleared hillary clinton. so how do stocks perform after the election? if history is any guide investors could see some red arrows ahead, going back to 1996. the s&p 500 has dropped in three of the past five elections in the week after the vote. when barack obama won in 2008, the s&p fell nearly 11%.

crisis at that time. but no matter who wins there are some specific stock sectors that could benefit. a republican victory in the white house and congress could be positive for drug, energy companies and banks, because the gop is perceived as pro business and not as strict on regulation. however, if democrats succeed, consumer discretionary and staples could get a boost as clinton has made increasing wages a priority, health care can also benefit as the odds of expanding obamacare would go up. wall street typically doesn't like uncertainty, though, it has long been anticipating a clinton win. but a donald trump victory could qualify as a shock for stocks. there's not much you can compare that to, maybe how markets reacted to britain's vote to leave the european union in june, the s&p 500 erased all gains for the year on that day after brexit. but has since recovered those losses and then some. >> if you needed one more example of why this election

cnbc's landon downey, thank you very much. i want to bring in senior politics editor for nbc news and msnbc. beth good morning to you. we've talked about this day being nearly two years in the making. what would you say are the top things we need to watch for today. >> the top thing to look for today are the states we haven't seen early voting yet. we've been seeing early voting for the last t w battleground states. today a few battlegrounds step into the spotlight that have not been voting up until this point. we're looking at pennsylvania, new hampshire, michigan. none of those states are early voting states, they're all battlegrounds this time. so everybody is going to be seeing whether the trends we've seen in some of the other states that have been voting so far, like a big surge of hispanic turnout, a little flat on african-american turnout are going to bear out in the states we haven't seen voting until today. >> we've seen the predictions

squeaker of a race, more often than not they give clinton a win. so as we look at our final nbc battleground map here, what would you say the electoral math will look like at the end of the night for either candidate? >> it could be one of either of those scenarios, it could be a very short night or it could stretch late into the evening. we don't 100% know, what we know is that hillary clinton has been leading by a bit. both nationally and in most of the battlegrounds, that's a pretty hard th typically it reminds me of the election in 2004 between george w. bush and john kerry. very close throughout the closing couple of months. but john kerry was never, ever ahead in any of the major polling and sure enough, he came up a little bit short in the vote. so chances are we will probably see hillary clinton win tonight. most of the polling progosticators are suggesting that. but honestly, we don't know, we could see a big surge of trump voters out there that have not yet come to the polls and that's

evening. >> and beth, it could be a very long one. >> what's a couple more hours after 18 months. >> nbc senior news editor beth fouhy. >> let's bring in meteorologist bill karins with a look at the election day weather. >> it looks like turnout should be great. if there are long lines that are outdoors, many areas are very warm, unseasonably mild in the middle of the country. the northwest is going to be very warm, too. maybe even a few record highs and warming up after a cold morning in the east if there's any trouble spots, we have rain this morning, san antonio has been getting soaked with showers and thunderstorms, that's going to continue in that region. up here in michigan, we'll watch some showers as we go throughout the afternoon hours and even ohio. but again there's nothing out there that looks like it's going to prevent a great turnout. that's a look at the big weather story of the day and a closer look at your election-day forecast.

conditions across much of the southeast. now the deep south is where we have the rain out there in areas of louisiana and also texas. and there's the showers that are possible today from indianapolis to cleveland but they'll be light. nice to see no snow, no sleet and you know no flooding, anything like that, we're looking pretty good. >> in other words, no excuses. >> yes. just ahead, securing the election. >> how u.s. security stands ready to react in the face of outside interferences in outside interference over america's election. thanks for giving victor the energy to be the rowdiest fan. and joseph, the ability to see monsters. when you choose walgreens, you choose to make a difference... like how every vitamin and flu shot you get at walgreens

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cynthia mcfadden takes us inside the election. >> reporter: high intelligence told nbc news they're at the frenzy level to protect the company on election eempblt it's all hand on deck says a second intelligence official. multiple officials say concern is so high for the first time in conjunction with an election in several top secret li hundreds of federal employees, including military and cyber experts are monitoring income intelligence to react to any threat to the federal government's communication and command system, former commander discussed the type of russian threat he was concerned about for a dump of false documents to win attack on the u.s. power

chance of this happening, but it's not insignificant. >> the skwoep of readiness is unprecedented, including six cyber kwernt centers around operation centers, including here in new york new york plashsd an counterunder surveillance teams are at work. 500 officers on detame. it's the fir that both candidates president from the same place. it, too, was new york t. candidates radios seth and dewey t. cyber jeanie is out of the bottle this year and won't ever be put back in cynthia mcfadden, nbc news, new york. >> the threat of a cyber attack is compounding all the people's concerns out there. first ahead, voter turnout is

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8 >> welcome back to decision 2016 coverage here. the only astronaut in space has cast his election. he voted from the international space station, sending an electronic e-mail to earth.

>> well, from start to finish, this has been the most polarizing in marine history. >> according to secretary of state kerry, it isn't doing us any good abroad. >> this has been exception am, there are moments when it is downright embarrassing. >> we are joined live, we know very much how this is viewed within our own borders, what are >> reporter: good to see you, my friend, this is seen around the world as the single most important if world picks they are watching and worrying. there is one newspaper well hold his beth as america votes a german up in with a picture of donald trump, apocalypse now, so left him no doubt about what

the financial times, on the other hand, saying that the markets are rallying with the prospect of a possible clinton win the results of this election are likely to have an effect. what will the new president do about wars in syria, yemen, asia, the philippines, how will the president reassert american authority in that important pleas and in europe, brexit, struggling commission, a culture looking to american leadership. the where there is a void in american leadership things get world, as you mentioned, too, there is this possession of america as a beacon of democracy.ore difficult around world, as you mentioned, too, there is this possession of america as a beacon of democracy. president assad of syria described this as an all time

the american election. i suspect there will be some reputational damage to fiks once you get past his vote. >> nbc's kir simpson, the reputation of an all time low and embarrassm. it goes to show. >> you and the world is watching. no doubt about that. >> kir, thank you. still ahead, a massive sinkhole to show you. and how creepy, look at that. you for a 100% fresh mouth. just ask listerine? users. the very people we studied in the study of bold. people who are statistically more likely to stand up to a bully. do a yoga handstand. and be in a magician's act. listerine? kills 99% of bad breath germs so you can feel 100% in life. bring out the bold?. go to boldpercent.com to join the bold percent for the chance to win a trip of a lifetime.

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>> developing overnight, another grim discovery in the case of south carolina kidnapping suspect, a third body was found on his property last night. investigators say he confessed to killing four people in 2003, but he is now linked to as many as seven deaths. he was arrested last week in connection with the kidnapping of couple kayla brown and charlie carver. police say he kept brown chained property. carver's body was found on the suspect's property as well. he is now charged with four counts of murder in connection with the 2003 case, however, a search of his property will continue today. this morning, a massive sinkhole in southern japan prompted the evacuation of nearby residents t. sinkhole is larger than half an olympic size pool. look how mavis this thing is.

supplies. it's under investigation, but officials say it may be related to ongoing underground subway construction nearby. no injuries have been reported. whenever you think you've had a terrible experience flying, we all had those, imagine being on this flight in mexico. when a snake emerged from the overhead luggage area and dangled down from the ceiling, i can't even watch that video. at least one passenger is able to get past and film it all. air mexico officials say they're taking measures to make sure it does not happen again, so a little case of life imitateing art there. you probably saw the movie "snakes on a plane." >> would you rather have major major turbulence or the snake? >> turbulence. >> more ahead on election day, plus the words used to describe the candidates. you are watching "early today."

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