jake tapper starts right now. >>> welcome to "the lead." i'm jake tapper.reaking news in the politics lead and a closing argument from president trump, one that is inflammatory and divisive and based in fear, and that's according to republicans. quote, let's face it. we all know what's happening. that's what republican senator bob corker told "the tennesseean" newspaper about president trump's mid--term election focus on undocumented immigrants coming into the u.s. corker adding, quote, it's all about revving up the base using fear to stimulate people to come out at the polls. now, we're five days out from the

jake tapper of cnn saying that. let's get right to bill mcgurn of the "wall street journal" over the robert mueller probe. i mean, so the new york times also saying the same thing that jake tapper said. your take? >> my take is i never thought i would be saying to you i agree with jakeapper, but there's no evidence of what the charge was. look, i think special counsel -- i think special counsel's corrupt, independent counsel's corrupt, absolutely, it is a bad idea. it is extra constitutional. they are supposed to be even if you take it seriously, it is supposed to be investigating a crime. this one was set up as a counterintelligence effort to investigate what russia did in the election and whether the trump organization or trump people were complicit in that, conspired to alter the election. liz: uh-huh. >> no evidence of that, all these months into it. it looks to me like what the special counsel is doing is trying to put together this narrative of here's these things trump did and maybe didn't come clean about them later, but not illegal. but is that really what a special counsel -- should we have these extra constitutional people hovering around the edges with all this power and being in fact an opposition power? i don't think so. liz: they are saying trump wasn

jake tapper starts right now. >>> welcome to "the lead." i'm jake tapper. we begin with breaking news in the politics lead and a closing argument from president trump, one that is inflammatory and divisive and based in fear, and that's according to republicans. quote, let's face it. we all know what's happening. that's what republican senator bob corker told "the tennesseean" newspaper about president trump's mid--term election focus on undocumented immigrants coming into the u.s. corker adding, quote, it's all about revving up the base using fear to stimulate people to come out at the polls. now, we're five days out from the mid-term elections, president trump clearly feeling the pressure to keep republican control of the house and senate, and he's returning to familiar divisive territory. in minutes the president is expected to speak from the white house about undocumented immigrants. we're going to bring that to you live. we're likely going to see then what we've been seeing escalate over the last few days and weeks, president trump using the very kind of inflammatory rhetoric that he used to launch his presidential campaign back in 2015, demonizing undocumented immigrants. >> they are bringing drugs. they are bringing crime. they are rapists and some i assume are good people. >> this time, this election, president trump launched most recently an ad. it's pinned to the top of his twitter account right now. it's an ad that even some conservative commentators have called rapist. republican senator jeff flake said of the ad this is just a new low in campaigning. it's sickening. the ad features a mexican man who was convicted in the killing of two california sheriff's deputies contrasting the words and actions of that murderer who has been sentenced to death incidentally with footage of the caravan, of migrants who are currently attempting to reach the united states to seem asylum. the clear implication being that this caravan, these people fleeing their home countries are all criminals and are all seeking to commit horrific crimes, the president continuing to push this campaign of fear comes literally within days of that horrific murder at the pittsburgh synagogue where an anti-semite slaughtered 11 jews because he believed the right-wing propaganda he had been hearing such as the lies that this caravan of migrants poses an existential threat to the united states and is being funded by jews such as george soros. it's a claim, by the way, that the president continues to lend credence to. >> i wouldnt be surprised. i wouldn't be surprised. >> george soros? >> i don't know who. a lot of people say yes. >> a lot of people say, yes, that soros is behind the caravan, and while only the gunman is responsible for his actions, and we should point out the gunman was not a fan of the president. he thought trump was too controlled by jews, the gunman was clearly motivated by this false propaganda this, idea that this caravan of migrants seeking asylum poses this existential crisis and this national security threat to the u.s. which it does not according to national security experts. now, is illegal immigration a problem that our leaders need to solve? absolutely, but what it is not is an invasion, and those who have report on the caravan from central america, they say it consists overwhelmingly of people who are fleeing violence, not criminals seeking to inflict it here in the u.s. which is clearly the picture that the president paints. >> they have a lot of rough people in those care advance. they are not angels. >> they can't invade our country. you look at that and it almost looks like an enervation. that's called an invasion of our country. >> it's not called an invasion of our country. it is remarkable that with bodies still being buried in pittsburgh because of this bigotry, this propaganda and these lies, that the president and his campaign would take actions not to heal the nation, not to bridge divisions but to fuel the fire. cnn's kaitlan collins joins me now live from the white house. the president is making his closing argument, and he clearly believes undocumented immigrants, stopping them from entering the u.s., even stopping those who are legally seeking asylum in the u.s., that's one of the most important issues for his base. what are we expecting to hear from him in just minutes? >> jake, we're expecting to hear him change or propose changing how we do asylum in the united states, not just how you apply for asylum but whether or not you can apply. we are told by sources that the president wants to deny asylum to people who try to cross the border illegally and not at a port of entry. if you're caught crossing the border illegally you can still apply for as plumb lumb, and prumping wants to bring that to an end. we'll find out in a few minutes but this is another addition to the president's already long list of changes he wants to make and changes he's proposing because he wants immigration to be front and center in the mid-term elections on tuesday. president trump preparing to make his final pitch to voters from the white house today, pushing immigration and playing up fear just five days before voters go to the polls. sources tell cnn trump will propose new changes for asylum-seekers coming to the united states, adding one more thing to the list he's used to whip up

jake tapper, starts right now. >>> welcome to a special election day edition of "the lead." i'm jake tapper. polls closing at 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. eastern that could give us an early and important indicator of wheres night might be headed. we're in the thick of what is perhaps the most critical nonpresidential election in modern times. it's clear many of the votes being cast today are being cast either for or against president trump and his policies and the future of the trump presidency could hang in the balance.

jake tapper, starts right now. >>> welcome to a special election day edition of "the lead." i'm jake tapper. we're just two hours away from the first crucial polls closing tonight. polls closing at 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. eastern that could give us an early and important indicator of wheres night might be headed. we're in the thick of what is perhaps the most critical nonpresidential election in modern times. it's clear many of the votes being cast today are being cast either for or against president trump and his policies and the future of the trump presidency could hang in the balance. a democratic house will definitely mean oversight and investigations of the trump administration. it could even mean impeachment of president trump. there are signs of enthusiasm around the country. i want to show to you video of lines at the polling station at arizona state university in tempe. a big senate race in that state. lines wrapped around buildings. in kentucky, a tight congressional race in a district president trump won by double digits in 2016. that wraps up at 6:00 p.m. eastern. it pits three-term incumbent republican andy barr against marine corps pilot amy mcgrath. polls will close in a race that drew names like obama, oprah, and pence. that's the race for georgia's governor between democrat stacey a abrams and republican brian kemp. also, joe donnelly trying to hang on against businessman mike braun. in northern virginia, republican congresswoman barbara comstock is attempting to hold off democratic challenger jennifer wexton. that's where we find cnn's brian todd. in northern virginia, specifically sterling. tell us about the energy and turnout today. >> reporter: jake, the turnout is off the charts. according to the registrar, they have broken records here. it is more than double the voter turnout from 2014's midterms. one of the reasons is because people are -- first of all, it's a steady stream of voters in precincts like this one, the 702nd precinct at park view high school. another reason is because they're doing a very good job of moving people in and out of here pretty quickly. you register here, check in here with your i.d. then you go to these stations and the votes are tabulated over here. we love it when little kids come to the polling places. votes are put in here by paper ballot then tabulated. another reason it's gone so smoothly here is because in this tenth district of voting, it's a simple ballot. check it out. you vote for senate. for the house of representatives, barbara comstock and jennifer wexton. then four ballot initiatives, front and back. then you're out. this is a smooth process, a simple ballot. just three hours now until

jake tapper on cnn -- these are not bad guys. i know him a tiny bit. i know chris cuomo a little bit. they do great stories. but jake tapper goes on air and says that medicare for all costs $32 trillion, but leaves out that it saves $34 trillion. and he asks alexandria ocasio-cortez, how are you going to pay for it? every time. watch it. i will tell you ahead of time. not monday morning quarterbacking -- every time a progressive goes on air, they ask "how are you going to pay for it?" higher wages. anything that helps the middle class, how are you going to pay for it? ever ask how to pay for a tax cut for the rich? did they ever ask how to pay for the iraq war cost trillions of dollars? every time they bow their heads. >> are you sure? cenk: judy miller -- they always apologize afterwards, but they never learned the lesson. so what about iran, warmongering and fear mongering on iran, and syria, too. everybody feeds into it. i've never seen a single question on syria, how much is that going to cost? never. >> ok. i think there are a number of things we can agree to disagree on. let's talk about politics. let me just ask you

colleges in the area i spoke to a friend rather one of the survivors of the shooting a man named jake tapper jake tapper who confirms that one of his friends was in the building as the shooting occurred and was unfortunately not certain as to the whereabouts of this friend at this time. the defense in the area at this point seems to be one of shock nobody expected this to happen in what is traditionally a very quiet and rather well in community. again it's just a general shock. feeling of shock at this time and you know it seems to be. traumatized been look and you tell us about the scene there. sheriff mentioned you know as you mentioned ages there's going to be parents and people is such shelling out trying to find out. if their child is there what is the scene like there yes so so the.