friend. good friday to you. trump and clinton like we rarely see them. smiling, laughing, even poking fun at themselves. sure, there were a few moments when the attempted funny fell flat but all in all, it was a refreshing 34 minutes, 6 second break from the ugliness that defined this thanks to an annual kappa charity. a brief break from self-dep ra kag cation. >> i know you all have a place in your heart for a guy who started out as a carpenter working for his father. i was a carpenter working for my father. >> i think the cardinal is saying, i'm not eligible for saint hood. but getting through these three debates with donald has to count as a miracle.

>> look at him. he's smiling and laughing. >> what did the two candidates say to each other backstage in private without microphones? we've got the man who sat between the two. cardinal timothy doe lalan. >> bring peace to them. it works. >> key battleground states. the best team in the business standing by across the country this morning. nbc national correspondent peter alexander starting us off here in 30 rock. again, you know, as we mention there, paul is in the digs. >> brief pause. just 34 minutes but we'll take that. we'll take that. >> i think what was striking is it's intended to be a brief auz from t pause from the jabs but biting lines. still felt like they were in campaign mode through the course of the evening. nonetheless, what is honestly celebrated as a night of

civility, there were memorable moments. not always for the right reasons, donald trump who struggles with self-depracation. >> at times, donald trump more heavy handed. >> hillary is so corrupt. she got kicked off the watergate commission. here she is tonight in public pretending not to hate catholics. stunningly booed by the crowd. a catholic charity gala traditionally a night of humor and civility. hillary clinton offering her own one liners. >> it's amazing i'm up here after donald. i didn't think he'd be okay with a peaceful transition of power. it is great also to see mayor bloomberg here. it's a shame he's not speaking tonight. i'm curious to hear what a

billionaire has to say. >> despite smiles, their dislike unmistakable. trump and clinton separated this time not by a moderator but cardinal dolan. >> clinton's jokes self-depracating. >> i took a break from my rigorous nap schedule to be here. donald trump looks at the statue of liberty and sees a 4. maybe a 5 if she loses the torch and changes her hair. >> trump's best moment? roasting his wife. >> michelle obama gives a speech. and everyone loves it. my wife melania gives the exact same speech and people get on her case. >> i'll agree, that was probably

the best moment of the night. of course, roasting his wife there. what was striking though, is even though you get a sense of these two people don't like each other, there was a moment behind the scenes that we heard about for the first time this morning from timothy cardinal dolan with him. let's take a listen. >> i'm sitting there between the two and literally, i'm supposed to be kind of a bridge to bring these two people together and i try my best. and there was some very touchy moments. when we were going in, i said, could we pray together as we were waiting to be announced and after the little prayer, mr. trump turned to secretary clinton and said, you know, you are one tough and talented woman. and he said this is a good experience and this whole campaign is tough as it's been and she said, donald, whatever happens, we need to work together afterwards. >> a lot of americans wish they could see that in public. and at least one simple side of civility they shared. a handshake, notable, because

they didn't shake hands in either of the last two debates and finally, a moment they could look each other in the eye. >> trump was laughing and hillary clinton laughing. even melania. everyone seemed. rudy giuliani, not so much. >> not so much. >> as hillary clinton said, we set up the lights so you'll always be in donald trump's shadow. >> let's get back to the politics here. n nbc's jacob soboroff south of asheville. the first of three donald trump stops today. jacob, this is obviously a state. the tar heel state, one he needs to keep in the gop column. the latest polls have him down. what are his supporters saying on the ground there? >> reporter: this is one of the swing states where he was doing really well late august and after the first debate, the poll numbers have really gone down. the latest polls have him down, i believe, 5 and that's compared

to him being up by several points. again, as i said, late in the summer, let's talk to one of these trump supporters here. this is sheila and sheila, you were telling me that if you were his advisor, you would have advice for him. what does he have to do to make up what he's lost? >> he needs to not let them emotionally hijack him and fall for the bait. he needs to just keep it together, be presidential. because he's the best guy for the job. he's smart. he'll surround himself with the best people. the best and brightest that there are out there. >> reporter: you've been waiting a long time for a businessman to run for president. but it seems he keeps falling into this, whatever you want to call it, emotionally hijacking. there's only 19 days left. he's got a lot of ground to make up. can he do that? >> i think he can. he's a brilliant businessman.

i think people will see that. with all the wikileaks and things coming out about hillary, i think people wise up. you know? >> reporter: there's an undercurrent. we hear a lot of trump supporters don't show up in the polls and that will show up november 8th. >> i think there's a silent majority out there. especially from what i've seen. >> reporter: thank you for your time. very typical to talk to trump supporters, craig, who say that he has more support than shows up at the polling. now, they almost all of them come up to me, even today, and say, please tell trump to do this. they do believe many of them, he has to do differently. they at least acknowledge that. >> jacob rascon and sheila. thank you. hillary clinton back on the campaign trail today as well. she will be in cleveland. her third stop in ohio this month. it's her first campaign stop since wednesday's debate. meanwhile, the first couple continues to crisscross the

country campaigning. the president and first lady on opposite ends of america thursday rallying voters. mr. obama in florida and mrs. obama in arizona. >> i don't know if donald trump's ever been to an actual polling place where you have democrats and republicans who are in charge of taking the votes. but, you know, he doesn't even worry what he says is true. this is just about him worried that he's losing. >> he is threatening the very idea of america itself. and we cannot stand for that. >> nbc's kristen welker is at the westchester county airport in white plains new york ahead of clinton's departure where it is coming down like cats and dogs. let's talk about ohio here where she's headed today. this is the state hillary clinton doesn't necessarily need

but she certainly would like to have it. the polls there moving in her favor. where is she putting her resources, kristen? >> reporter: they are moving in her favor. she doesn't need ohio to win the white house, but she wants it. first, let's look at the polls. donald trump had a lead several days ago but now it's all tied up. according to the latest suffolk university poll, they both get 45% of the vote. the clinton campaign, democrats want to run up the score on election day. she doesn't just want to win but a convincing win to blunt all of that talk of a rigged system. so she's going to be campaigning hard in places like ohio. also, looking at traditionally red states that seem to be back in play. arizona one where you saw the first lady yesterday. take a look at georgia, craig. this is a state where the polls are getting increasingly tighter. right now, donald trump with a lead but a small one. 44% to 42%. in terms of the messaging, i think you're going to hear

hillary clinton hit donald trump for the same things that the first family was hitting him for yesterday. the fact that he's saying he won't necessarily accept the results of the election but her campaign officials also telling me she's going to be increasingly pivoting to a more positive message because she wants to get voters to vote for something instead of just against something. all of this as early voting is under way. this was a key part of the obama strategy to really tap into early voting and right now, the turnout in ohio for early voting is actually higher than it was back in 2012. so the clinton campaign feeling encouraged by that and we are told that she is going to have a very aggressive sprint from now until election day in those key battleground states. >> kristen welker in westchester, new york. thank you. let's bring in former spokesman for marco rubio, alex with democratic strategist of numerous presidential candidates

including howard dean, steve mcmahon. thank you, and alex, for being with me. donald trump called hillary clinton a nasty woman wednesday. texas congressman brian bayhbon. this is what he said on fox news a short time ago this morning. >> he called her a nasty woman. >> well? >> is that appropriate? >> you know what, she's saying some nasty things. >> do you think it's appropriate to call her a nasty woman. >> i'm a genteel southerner. >> that means no? >> i think sometimes a lady needs to be told when she's being nasty. >> alex? what? >> wow. >> donald trump should focus on the issues. when donald trump talks about the issues, talks about hillary clinton's record or barack obama's record and now hillary clinton wants to continue that, that is when he does the best. the first 20 or 30 minutes of the debate on wednesday night

were probably the best 20 or 30 minutes of the entire campaign for donald trump because he was focused on the issues. he was serious. he was sober. he was talking about where he wants to lead the country. that's what he needs to do to be competitive on election day. if he continues to take personal attacks, that's off message for him and a distraction not just for his campaign but the party. >> also, alex, where's mitch mcconnell? this is something that came up this morning. we continue to talk about paul ryan and everyone's trying to track down paul ryan to get him to respond to everything donald trump said. why not the senate majority leader actually holding up white house policy, mainly, the supreme court vacancy? why haven't we heard from mitch mcconnell at all? >> his focus is to keep the majority in the senate just like speaker ryan's focus is the majority in the house. the senate is very competitive this year. this is going to come down to 4 or 5 races including places like new hampshire, wisconsin, florida. that's appropriately where mitch mcconnell's focus has been.

>> steve, kristen welker is showing us the polling coming out of georgia. the polling coming out of ohio. utah apparently now in play as well. charlie cook of the cook political report writing in the national journal this morning that the gop handed the car keys to trump and he drove it off a cliff. if that's true, who's going to be responsible for picking up the pieces and how long is that going to take? >> i mean, it's going to be mitch mcconnell and at some point, another republican nominee and we'll see who that is but right after november 8th, you know, people are going to start looking at mitch mcconnell, paul ryan, reince priebus and say, now what are we going to do? there's a warfare. donald trump is trying to figure out his next gig and how to

represent the grieved angry mob that got him nominated, frankly, and there's been speculation he's going to form an alternative network, a conservative kind of shouting screaming angry nationalistic network that is a cable network that competes with fox news. we'll see. you've got roger ails out there in the orbit and sean hannity declaring war on paul ryan and the republican establishment and i think this is going to take time to play out in the republican party and i believe it's going to be ugly and contentious and difficult. >> alex, let's talk about the senate here. kelly ayotte had a no good very bad month thanks to donald trump. >> would you point to donald trump as a role model? >> i think that certainly, there are many role models that we have, and i believe he can serve as president, so absolutely, i

would do that. >> there's a new poll out with the democratic governor with an 8 point lead over senator ayotte. the first with the governor leading and outside of the margin of error, alex, how much of this is specific to senator ayotte and how much is the trump effect? >> that poll is clearly an outlier, as you just said, every other poll taken in new hampshire shown it tied. there was a poll from emerson that came out after the poll that showed the race in a dead heat and it's going to come down to the wire in new hampshire. i think kelly is going to win because she's now standing, young senator represented her state very, very well over the last six years. talking about the future of the republican party. i'm bullish on the future of the republican party because of leaders like kelly ayotte. she's the generation. her and senators like tim scott, my former boss, marco rubio, they represent the future of the party. >> you talk about the future but doesn't that assume you can wrestle control away from the

folks who hijacked it? >> absolutely. and the next generation of leaders including speaker paul ryan will be the leaders of the republican party after this election assuming donald trump does not win and i'm very bullish on the future because if you look at all the young 47-year-old leaders around the country, none are democrats. it's all republicans. the next generation are republican. that's why i'm bullish on the future of the party regardless of what happens in november. >> alex, steve, enjoy the weekend. thank you very much. >> thank you. iraqi and kurdish forces making the biggest push towards mosul and our own richard engel inside the battle zone. >> reporter: this predominantly christian village is one of isis's defensive villages against mosul and they're fighting hard to keep it. this is an isis escape route and seems to be one of their positions.

based on the number of mattresses we see, this could have held 20 or 50 people. more if they packed them? >> we'll go live to iraq next where isis is on the run. red 97! set! red 97! did you say 97? yes. you know, that reminds me of geico's 97% customer satisfaction rating. 97%? helped by geico's fast and friendly claims service. huh... oh yeah, baby. geico's as fast and friendly as it gets. woo! geico. expect great savings and a whole lot more.

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we are following developing news from iraq right now. u.s. fighter jets launched from the uss eisenhower providing air support in the operation to retake mosul from isis. that operation has now claimed the life of one u.s. military member who was killed by an ied that happened north of mosul yesterday. we get the very latest now from northern iraq and nbc's richard

engel. >> reporter: isis today hit back with a sneak attack on a government complex in the city of kierkuk where they exchanged fire with security forces. isis may be trying to slow down the assault on mosul. it doesn't seem to be working. iraqi troops say they pushed within just four miles of the city. the isis capital in iraq. the biggest battle was for control of the town of bartella on mosul's eastern doorstep. to reach the front, we climbed into an iraqi special forces old american humvee shot and nearly blown up by isis bomb. iraqi troops brought in the heaviest weapons. isis fought back with suicide bombers. but all this was music to the iraqi soldiers' ears. we'll win, god willing. be in mosul in days. isis does seem to be retreating from some of its positions.

the soldiers showed us a tunnel and bunker complex they just discovered. >> be careful where you step. there is a concern these could be booby trapped. the far end, came to an isis headquarters. food still in the kitchen area. half made bombs. chemicals for more. and on the wall, what has become one of the most infamous symbols anywhere. the isis logo. more often than not, when americans were standing in front of this, they were about to be beheaded. isis brutally killed many more iraqis. today, it was their turn to have isis on the run. but reaching mosul, the isis stronghold, may just be the easy part. >> richard engel there for us in iraq. hillary clinton gaining ground in a critical battleground state. mark murray at the map with our poll of the day. we also have a new poll since

the debate. but just 18 days to go in the 2016 presidential election. we'll have a little bit more from last night's al smith dinner as well. >> this is the first time ever, ever that hillary is sitting down and speaking to major corporate leaders and not getting paid for it. >> donald, if at any time, you don't like what i'm saying, feel free to stand up and shout, wrong while i'm talking. will your business be ready when growth presents itself? american express open cards can help you take on a new job, or fill a big order or expand your office and take on whatever comes next. find out how american express cards and services can help prepare you for growth at open.com.

upgrade your phone system and learn how you could save find out how american express cards and services at vonage.com/business how do we measure greatness in america? it's measured by what we do for our children. it's why as president i'll invest in our schools. in college that leads to opportunities... not debt. and an economy where every young american can find a job that lets them start a family of their own. i've spent my life fighting for kids and families. i want our success to be measured by theirs. i'm hillary clinton and i approve this message.

we have brand new polling on the third and final presidential debate out just moments ago on new nbc news survey monkey poll. here it is. it finds that 46%, so hillary clinton won that third debate. 37% say donald trump. 17% say neither. hillary clinton will be in cleveland this afternoon in the battleground state of ohio.

a state where she's rapidly gaining ground according to some additional new polling this morning. let's get to mark at the map. nbc news senior political editor mark murray. ohio now tied? >> craig, we've actually seen these types of numbers. let's actually break down the ohio numbers. yes, there's a new suffolk poll with 45% for donald trump and 45% for hillary clinton. donald trump had pretty much the lead in a lot of ohio polls. as of two or three weeks ago but since the debates, we see a tied race or close race. but do remember, ohio might be donald trump's best battleground state and looking into it. the worst territory in some reliable red states, craig. let me go to that. in georgia, for example, you have donald trump only up 2 points in that state. this is a state that republicans should usually win rr comfovery comfortably but a razor tight contest in georgia.

another reliably red state is utah and utah, you have donald trump with a 1 point lead. mitt romney got in excess of 70% of the vote in 2012 but right now, donald trump just up 1. hillary clinton not far behind and everyone considers utah to be a toss-up race. >> where do we stand with early voting right now? >> oh, craig, in the early vote, hold on one sec. we end up having more than 2.5 million votes cast and on the map, you see the blue stands for places where more democrats have been voting than republicans. red stands for more republicans than democrats. but i will actually talk about north carolina right now, craig, and you and i talked about it. it's a big battleground state this election. these numbers don't incorporate this and democrats started coming out. whether that continues for the next 18 days, that would be very

good news for dems. >> looks like there's an even split there down in florida? >> a little red, a little blue. what's important to note and you and i talked about this before, the mail-in votes, the absentee votes usually benefit republicans but the red/blue, almost a tie game right now. and in the mail-in portion, republicans just getting a tie, that's not good news for them. >> the new feature here. poll of the day. what do you have for us, good sir? >> here's our poll today. we go down ballot to the senate contest. maggie hassan over kelly ayotte. this is about important because this race between the sitting democratic governor against the incumbent republican senator could decide who controls the senate and with the democrats in the lead here, that is very good

news for them in their effort to control and take back control of the u.s. senate. >> mark murray at the map for us. enjoy the weekend, sir. >> you too, sir. poisoned well? why some democrats are in an up roar over the way they were apparently characterized in those leaked e-mails by hillary clinton and some of her closest advisors as well. texas congresswoman, democrat. sheila jackson whose own name turned up in the latest round of stolen e-mails. she'll join me. that's a beautiful flower, co congresswoman. we'll talk to her after this. >> i hope you enjoy my remarks tonight. i said no to some jokes i thought were over the line. but i suppose you can judge for yourself on wikileaks in the next few days. proud of you, son. ge! a manufacturer. well that's why i dug this out for you. it's your grandpappy's hammer and he would have wanted you to have it. it meant a lot to him... yes, ge makes powerful machines. but i'll be writing the code

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♪ everything your family touches sticks with them. make sure the germs they bring home don't stick around. use clorox disinfecting products. because no one kills germs better than clorox. an ominous tweet from wikileaks which has released some 25,000 alleged e-mails belonging to the clinton campaign chair john podesta.

there it is right there. we have a surprise in store for tim kaine and donna brazile. we should note nbc has not verified the authenticity of the e-mails but i want to bring in texas congresswoman sheila. a hillary clinton supporter as well. congresswoman, so you know that republicans say these wikileaks prove that hillary clinton can't be trusted. politico say there could be fallout with liberals as well. said it poisons hillary's relationship with left. here's some to describe it. puritanical. pompous. naive. radical. dumb. freaks who need to get a life. if she wins in a few weeks, one liberal operative telling to politico the honeymoon will be nonexistent. how much with the progressive wing of the party,

congresswoman? >> i'm happy this morning because hillary is surging in the polls, i believe, and more independents are looking at what their choices are and moving toward, i hope, a strong turnout in november. let me just say that much of what went on was what i call campaign chatter. you know i'm going to first of all denounce the intrusion through the russian intrusion. this is what it's about. espionage just like what was said over these last classify day couple of days. we need to be concerned about putin. as it relates to the progressives, we know that our task is to do what's best for the american people and what is best for the american people if hilly clinton is elected to work as hard as we can with a new president to move progressive ideas along. for the first time, the platform

which is lively. meaning the dnc, democratic national committee, full of life and ideas. bernie sanders, bernie sanders supporters that are now our supporters and we're going to be determined to make sure those progressive ideas become law for the people of the united states of america. i think that's what people are focusing on, not campaign chatter. because we all are in this fight to win. >> it's one of the leaked e-mails. and sure you've seen this. here's the e-mail from john podesta. sheila jackson lee is stalking me. in addition to wanting to be involved in everything, she specifically asked me about whether hillary would accept the barbara jordan medallion. what's that about? were you stalking john podesta? >> i tell you, i am one hard worker when it comes to helping young people.

texas southern university a school that barbara jordan went to and we honor her. it's a school of 9,000 outstanding students and they give the barbara jordan medallion and it's an exciting event. 3,000 people came and it was the opportunity for hillary clinton to give her most magnificent commitment and detailed agenda regarding voting rights and saving and protecting voting rights in america. >> it sounds like you're admitting the stalking. >> i have admitted being determined and with a smile on my face and look, that's campaign chatter. i assume what that is saying is help her out. get this done and they did. that's the good news about the campaign. they follow through, got it done. and she had a great time at texas southern university. it reflected on the university. they do this every two years and looking forward to another opportunity to honor a woman in this country but we're prepared to deal with what donald trump does not deal with helping young

people have a debt free education and making sure we protect social security and medicare and making sure that the mid class and working americans, all the families i represent have the kind of life and not be negative like mr. trump has been and calling names, my african-american, mexicans who can't judge cases and women. how terrible it is to use a term "nasty woman" and the american people and voters i don't think will forget that when they go to vote. >> really quickly, congresswoman, i want to get your take on this before i let you go. the campaign as you know making a play for your state in texas there. there's the university of houston poll that shows donald trump up by 3 points. that's within the margin of error. do you think that she has a real shot at a state that hasn't voted democrat in 40 years? be honest here. >> absolutely. i'm so glad you mentioned that poll.

i have been spending my time sending texts to encourage the campaign to look at texas. we've got so many great democrats, former land commissioner larry morel is out encouraging the campaign to say, we can do this. we've got an enormously diverse state but also independents and republicans willing to listen to someone with a vision for america. texas is a smart state, we vote well and believe we're canvassing well and calling people. early votes start this coming monday and i say to fellow texans, it's about the best person to lead america and suggests they're willing to listen. >> sheila jackson lee of texas. always good to have you. thank you. >> thank you. the presidential candidates took off the gloves just for a bit last night. they did it for a good cause but did one deliver their political eulogy and the other by themselves some political cash? we'll ask a reporter in the room next.

>> the truth is i'm actually a modest person, very modest. it's true. in fact, many people tell me that modesty is perhaps my best quality. even better than my temperament.

al smith there sure had moments of awkwardness and tension but candidates also gave us some much needed laughs in this crazy election season. >> in fact, just before taking the days, hillary clinton accidentally bumped into me and she very civilly ha lly said, p me. >> but donald is really healthy as a horse. you know the one vladimir putin rides around on. maybe you saw donald dismantle his prompter the other day. and i get that.

they're hard to keep up with and i'm sure it's even harder when you're translating from the original russian. >> it's great to be here with a thousand wonderful people or as i call it, a small intimate dinner with some friends. or as hillary calls it, her largest crowd of the season. this is corny stuff. >> donald, after listening to your speech, i will also enjoy listening to mike pence deny that you ever gave it. >> in the room at that exclusive charity dinner. ryan, washington bureau chief at the huffington post not in the room but invited him to talk

about what was said in the room. let me start with you mark. what was the room like? what was the moment that everyone was talking about? >> i think it was definitely when trump, he brings up the hillary's so corrupt, she's kicked off the watergate committee and starts to lose the crowd. the boos start there. he came out strong but then that joke and a joke about catholics, hillary haithing ktes catholics. got booed. >> we saw hillary clinton working the crowd. did he spend some time talking about to folks in the room? >> they both made their way around and shaking hands, all that kind of stuff. >> folks there, what were they saying about the night? >> again, i think the general consensus was that both, none have a career. they're not going to be asked in a future judd apatow movie or

anything like that. i think hillary did more of the warmer jokes they're accustomed to. trump, again, he came out strong but those few jokes did not go over well. not just a matter of being awkward or falling flat but getting people to react that way, booing. i'm new to charity dinners but seems uncharacteristic for that kind of event. >> yeah. i want to play how this started off for donald trump. here it is. >> the politicians. they've had me to their homes, they've introduced me to their children. i've become their best friends in many instances. they've asked me for my endorsement and always wanted my money. and even called me, really, a dear, dear friend, but then, suddenly, decided when i ran for president as a republican, that

i've always been a no-good rotten disgusting scoundrel. >> always a little truth in humor. did it seem to you as it did to "the washington post" trump at times was giving his political eulogy? >> yeah. i thought the one you just played was probably his worst joke, actually. it's not obvious that was even a joke. that was just donald trump from the heart. he cares about nothing more than how people feel about him, particularly, people that he wants to be close to like the new york establishment. the thing about trump. he's always been peering over the east river at manhattan, at this place that won't accept him. he finally got some measure of acceptance in the '90s and 2000s and torched it with the birther movement and this campaign and that was a reflection of that. i think trying to say, i'm the same guy that you accepted ten

years ago. i'm just kind of doing this as an act and now all of the sudden, everybody here thinks i'm a pariah. that felt not funny because there was pain etched in it and it was kind of awkward to watch it. >> hillary clinton, one of the chief criticisms, she's calculated, she's stiff. this is a bit of secretary clinton last night. >> donald trump wanted me drug tested before last night's debate and i got to tell you, i am so flattered that donald thought i used some sort of performance enhancer. now, actually, i did. it's called preparation. >> didn't we see a different side of hillary clinton? there were times she seemed to be enjoying herself.

>> for sure. and i thought one of her best moments was when she said when donald trump sees the statue of liberty, he sees a 4. >> that's right. >> and she was relaxed. and she clearly has much better joke writers than donald trump does and that kind of epitomizes this campaign. even donald trump's best joke or one of his best jokes when he bumped in me and said pardon me, he could have left it at that and then had to add, and i told her when i'm president, that i will consider giving her a pardon. you don't have to overexplain your joke. you nailed it, man. move on to the next one. and the irony that his best joke came at the expensive e of his which wouldn't be surprising. >> one of the things that struck me, everybody seemed to be

having a good time and laughing it up. they cut to rudy giuliani a few times and looked like he was absolutely miserable. >> yeah. and, you know, of course, hillary clinton singles him out. effectively, one of her better moments and i don't think he was happy to be in the discussion there. if you can't beat them, go on cable news and tell them he's a genius, right? >> mark, thanks for coming in. ryan grim, always good to see you. enjoy the weekend. 18 days to go live in north carolina where early in-person and lgbt organizations especially pulling out all the stops to get out the vote.

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early voting in north carolina is under way. a key battleground state where controversial local issues made

national headlines. there's still fallout over governor pat mccrory's controversial bathroom bill that regulates which bathroom the transgender can use. now lgbt groups use it to get out the vote. nbc's steve patterson joins me now from raleigh with that story. steve, good morning to you, sir. >> reporter: good morning to you, craig, from beautiful downtown raleigh. look, as you mentioned, this is a key battleground state. 15 electoral votes up for grabs and both sides energized in the battle for hb 2 that means you have to use the bathroom assigned based on the gender in your birth certificate. that leaves out transgender people so we wanted to talk to kupec this morning. you're an lgbt leader. can you talk about as a transgender woman what it felt like when you heard this was going to be a law? >> i was shocked and saddened. i think it's really crushing to

those of us that are transgender who live in this state to see the speed of which legislation was passed and really, the lack of trying to learn and understand what it means to be transgender and the implications this would have on those of us within the transgender community. >> what's the effort now? you mentioned you're an accidental leader. you were leading a quiet life and then this happens and now the community is really enraged in trying to get the out the vote. what's the effort to get this repealed? >> trying to bring awareness and have the community be more visible. so people can understand that the narrative that's being really pushed forward by those that are in favor of hb -2 havea face of what it looks like and it looks like me. not the fictional man ifn a dres and the implications it has on those trying to live our lives quietly and peacefully.

i think it's really been so heartbreaking and so just crushing to have to live with the constant fear that we do of the physical violence, verbal violence directed towards us. >> alana, thank you so much. early voting is under way here in the state of north carolina. we spent the day yesterday here. we'll have a lot more coming up on this battle but we saw lines out the door for early voting in the state. it's a big battleground state. >> the interesting conversation. thank you. coming to us from research triangle park. rtp there in north carolina. because it is friday, and we've earned it, even more laughs from the candidates during last night's charity dinner. >> and if donald does win, it will be awkward. at the end, the photo and not just with bill. how is barack going to get past

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thank you, craig. we'll watch you on "the today show" tomorrow. friday. yes, new poll numbers out just this hour from three key states where the race stands now in georgia, virginia, and ohio. and from awkward to very uncomfortable. the fallout from the edgy and biting jokes that even got donald trump booed in his hometown. "the washington post" says trump gave what could be a campaign eulogy last night at that charity event and developing now, iraqi forces within striking distance of retaking mosul