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Harris and Trump Make Closing Pitches in Campaign's Final Hours; Election Day Now Just Hours Away as Trump and Harris Hit Key States; Now, Officials Stepping Up Election Security in Final Hours. Harris & Trump Make Closing Pitches In Campaign's Final Hours; Georgia's Fulton County Installs Panic Buttons At Each Precinct. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired November 04, 2024 - 18:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[18:00:00]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, breaking news, one of the most unprecedented and unpredictable presidential campaigns ever is about to come to an end. The first polling places begin closing just 24 hours from now. And tonight, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are making a last-minute push for every undecided voter with dueling rallies in the all important battleground state of Pennsylvania.

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in The Situation Room.

Right now, we're on the cusp of one of the most consequential elections in American history with the first polls closing in just 24 hours. Both candidates laser focused on seven key battleground states, a collection of Electoral College votes that will either send Donald Trump back to the White House or choose the first ever female president in Kamala Harris.

Tonight, CNN journalists are covering the final hours of this truly historic contest from locations across the United States.

Let's go first to CNN's Jeff Zeleny. He's following the Harris campaign in Philadelphia for us right now. Jeff, the vice president is spending election eve in Pennsylvania with two more star-studded events.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, she has been crisscrossing the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, but you're right, she will end right here on the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum, perhaps recognizable as the Rocky Steps.

Now, the Vice President has been spending the day in this most critical and biggest battleground. 19 electoral votes are on the line. But only twice in the last half century have Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin voted differently. So, the Harris campaign believes that these three states are their most straightforward path to the White House. But as she's campaigning earlier today in Allentown, Pennsylvania, she said, it's time to turn the page.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: And we have an opportunity in this election to finally turn the page on a decade of politics that have been driven by fear and division. We're done with that. We're done and we're exhausted with it. America is ready for a fresh start.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: Now, even for all of the tens of millions of early votes that have been cast right here in Pennsylvania, the campaign, the Harris campaign believes that at least half of the vote will be actually on Election Day tomorrow. That's why this event tonight, attracting tens of thousands of supporters, is also designed as something of a ground game exercise tomorrow. Of course, the biggest day for the Harris campaign. Of course, both she and former President Donald Trump have been crisscrossing one another. But she is really putting it all on the line in Pennsylvania.

But, Wolf, she's closing in a far different way than even she's been doing in the last couple days. She was drawing a sharp contrast with the former president, calling him a fascist. No more. She is focusing on trying to have an optimistic, hopeful message for the future.

But, Wolf, there is a sense of optimism in her candidacy, but there also are still ghosts of the 2016 campaign hanging over all of this. Of course, Hillary Clinton lost Pennsylvania. She had her final rally right here in Philadelphia as well. But the Harris campaign says they have a stronger ground game and they are not going to repeat that.

Wolf, there is no question, anticipation is building here on the cusp of history. One person not talking about that history is Vice President Harris. She said she still has work to do. Wolf?

BLITZER: There's a lot more work to do in these last few hours. Jeff Zeleny in Philadelphia, thanks very much. We'll look forward to hearing what she has to say tonight.

Let's go to CNN's Kristen Holmes right now. She's in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where Trump is scheduled to deliver his last rally of the campaign tonight.

Kristen, what is Trump's strategy for this final day out there on the campaign trail?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, he's been hitting all those battleground states and hitting them hard. We saw him start off in North Carolina. Now, it's notable he spent a majority of the weekend in North Carolina, not a place his team originally thought that they would be. It was a place that offered him the narrowest victory he had in 2020. But, clearly, they saw something in the polls there that made them decide to go back all weekend long, then two rallies in Pennsylvania today.

[18:05:03] As Jeff said, both sides believe Pennsylvania is the key to the White House this time around. Donald Trump's team says they feel cautiously optimistic, but they, again, aren't leaving anything on the line, so about two rallies there, and then ending here in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Notably, both Pennsylvania and Michigan States, he won in 2016 and then ended up losing in 2020.

Now, one of the most interesting things about where he's ending tonight, this is the exact same city and the exact same arena that he finished out his 2016 campaign in. And Donald Trump is known for being superstitious, and that is certainly part of the reason that they are trying to replicate the results of 2016, part of the reason they are here tonight. Wolf?

BLITZER: And I note, Kristen, you're learning there's some concern about Trump's closing message. Tell our viewers what you're learning.

HOLMES: Yes. I spoke to a number of aides, allies, advisers, all of whom have either warned Donald Trump's campaign or warned the former president himself to stay on message in these final days. And this particularly came after his rally yesterday morning in Pennsylvania, and when he seemed to essentially go off the rails on some of the messaging they were trying to have him focus on. Take a listen to just some of what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I saw that rocket came down. I said, oh man, it's going to crash.

Those two big arms, you saw the arms, they grabbed that thing like you grabbed your beautiful baby. See, I'd fight much better. Years ago, I would have said something else, but I've learned. You know, you have to learn. I would have been a little bit more risque (ph).

The press will say, oh, he rambled. No, that's not rambling. You know what that is? That was genius. That's the weave.

We can't let these animals come in for other countries.

Today, you get a little slap in the wrist when you kill somebody. You killed somebody.

Now, if you fight for a fair and free election, then they throw the book at you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And, Wolf, my apologies. That's actually his sound from today. What he said over the weekend that set off alarm bells within Trump's orbit was he talked incessantly about sowing doubt in the 2024 election. He said he should have stayed in the White House. And he also said that he wouldn't mind if someone shot through reporters in order to get to him.

Now, what we just heard is his messaging today. While it might sound out there for some, that is actually Donald Trump sticking to his own messaging. His team says that they heard that he heard from allies that he understood what was at stakes and so they have kept him focused for the last several rallies.

We'll see, of course, what happens when he gets on the ground here in Grand Rapids. They don't want to lose any votes because of Donald Trump's rhetoric and they have told him that he needs to be on message and hopefully on time, we don't think that's going to happen tonight, to keep the crowds energized and focused.

BLITZER: We'll see what he has to say. All right, Kristen Holmes reporting for us. Kristen, thank you very much.

Our political experts are joining me right now, and, Jamie Gangel, I know you're doing a lot of reporting on this. Harris was making five stops in Pennsylvania today. Trump is hitting three different battleground states. What do their schedules tell you based on what you're hearing?

JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, obviously for Harris, it's Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania. Look, I spoke to a number of Democratic sources this morning who have really good insight into the campaign and the polling. And they just feel they're doing very well in a lot of these battleground states. But when you ask about Pennsylvania, there's sort of a pause and then a whisper. I think so, but they're not taking it for granted.

I will say just -- this is an anecdotal story about what's going on in Pennsylvania. I spoke to a source who's been knocking on doors. Three weeks ago, Western Pennsylvania, Bucks County, they were very nervous. They were not hearing what they wanted to hear for registered Democrats. That same source went back the last three days and said it's a completely different situation that people are coming out for Harris.

ANA NAVARRO, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: That's right. When I was doing the documentary I did for CNN on the Latino vote, some of the Puerto Ricans in Pennsylvania complained that they had not heard from the campaigns that, nobody had knocked on their doors. I spoke to some of them, and they said, when are they going to stop knocking on our doors?

And, look, I think that when the history of this election gets written, if Donald Trump loses, that Madison Square Garden rally, that joke about Puerto Ricans, that joke about Latinos, is going to be a pivotal point. Because Donald Trump may say he didn't hear it but every Puerto Rican I know heard it and is planning for Donald Trump to hear them tomorrow.

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Wolf, I don't know who's going to win this thing tomorrow or in a couple of days or next week, but here's what I do know. The urban vote is down 381,000 in Pennsylvania. The female vote is down 450,000 in Pennsylvania. To put this in perspective for our viewers, President Biden won the state of Pennsylvania by 82,000 votes in 2020, 82,000 votes.

[18:10:01]

And when you're looking at deficits, that's significant among key constituents. And you can crisscross across the battleground states, and you're seeing these deficits across the board for the Harris campaign. I understand why, according to Jamie's reporting, that there may be some worry and potentially wanting to turn out the right individuals.

Now, this is not to say that this is in the bag, if you will, for the former president, but what it does suggest is that there is certainly some strength for the former president and some vulnerabilities for the vice president. Can she recover? I'm not exactly sure, but I'm certain that those are numbers the Harris campaign will be watching.

KATE BEDINGFIELD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, what we don't know, of course, is what the universe is going to look like on Election Day. Of course, we -- you know, 2020 was obviously an unprecedented year for vote by mail, given the pandemic. And we don't know what the universe is going to look like on Election Day.

I think, you know, there's some data that suggests -- there's a group in North Carolina, a coalition of progressive organizations has been working on turnout. You know, based on their data, they say that if a third of the remaining registered black voters in the state show up and vote, they'll meet Biden's 2020 number. And if 40 percent of them show up, they'll surpass Biden's number with black voters in North Carolina.

So, I think there's a lot of votes still outstanding. I think the gender split that we've seen in a lot of the early vote would suggest that Harris is on a path. And I think, Ana, both of your anecdotes kind of confirm what the Harris campaign believes they're seeing in their data, you know, which is that late breaking late deciding independents are moving to her.

BLITZER: And she's doing really well, as you point out with women voters and women vote in higher percentages than men do. That's traditionally been the case.

NAVARRO: Well, Wolf, she's making up some ground with men. I'm convinced of that. I was on the ground this, this week in North Carolina and Georgia. And I think men in the last ten days have seen a Donald Trump that is so incredibly unhinged, so dark, so gloomy, that they woke up and they said, you know, we can't vote for this wacko (ph).

BLITZER: Let me play a little sound over the past few days of Trump, pretty violent rhetoric that he's been using over the past few days.

NAVARRO: I almost feel like we should tell people to take their children out of the room.

BLITZER: All right. I want you to listen to what he what he said and then we'll discuss. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: I have a piece of glass over here and I don't have a piece of glass there and I have this piece of glass here, but all we have really over here is the fake news, right? And to get me, somebody would have to shoot through the fake news, and I don't mind that so much, because -- I don't mind.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Do you think, Ana, these comments are swaying voters or are they just used to him saying stuff like that?

NAVARRO: Look, the ones that are not going to change, the ones that are true Trump supporters, they don't care. They tell you that those are jokes. They tell you we shouldn't take them seriously. They tell you that's just Trump being Trump. But I think those undecided and people who maybe just started paying attention now that maybe were suffering from Trump amnesia and had forgotten just the level of chaos and the level of division and, and words like that, threats like that.

Listen, who on this panel has not received threats because of things that Donald Trump has said? I know I have. I suspect you have too. This is serious what he's saying, and I think it is cutting through to the undecided voters who are paying attention right now, and they just see a guy who is too crazy. And on the other side, they've got a woman offering optimism, joy, and actual plans, not just concepts.

BEDINGFIELD: Yes. I think just that -- excuse me, that juxtaposition -- excuse me -- is so important. I mean, you have independent voters who are trying to make a decision here in some ways. The messaging of this campaign has been a battle of who can define the other as the incumbent, as the past. And I think you have, you know, Trump out there saying all sorts of terrible things that he, you know, has been really kind of core to who he's been since, you know, 2015 when he emerged on the national stage, and you have Kamala Harris get laying out a message of optimism, about the future. And I think that that contrast is what those late deciding independents are hearing in the final days of this.

SINGLETON: I mean, Wolf, look, this isn't helpful. I mean, the former president needs to stick to the message in terms of his closing argument. That recent Times/Siena poll that came out, I think, 24, 48 hours ago, suggested that the economy, number one issue, followed by a reproductive rights, no surprise there, which is why I think the vice president is doing really well with women. And the third issue was immigration. The former president is leading on those two fronts when compared to the vice president.

The poll also asked a couple other questions about character and democracy. And if you look at an aggregate of that in that same poll, or even if you were to break it down per individual swing state, those two questions never broke above 9 percent, above 10 percent.

[18:15:00]

I thought that was pretty fascinating. And so if the argument is democracy, if the argument is character, the data suggests, when compared to other issues, voters aren't prioritizing that. Not my opinion, just a numerical data.

BLITZER: We have a lot more to discuss, so ladies and gentlemen, don't go too far away. Thank you very, very much.

Just ahead, our CNN team on the ground in the swing states of Georgia and Arizona with new details on how election night will play out and when we could know the results.

But, first, CNN's Brian Todd is live in battleground Pennsylvania, as officials combat election misinformation, just ahead, a ballot counting in that critical state.

Stay with us. You're in The Situation Room.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: All right. A live look here, Vice President Kamala Harris in Redding, Pennsylvania, visiting a Puerto Rican restaurant with Governor Josh Shapiro and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

[18:20:05]

CNN is also there on the ground in Pennsylvania tonight, a crucial battleground state that could potentially decide the entire election. The state is being heavily contested by both campaigns, including their legal teams, and they are huge legal teams.

CNN's Brian Todd has a closer look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In battleground Pennsylvania, the state that could be decisive, mixed opinions from some voters on how secure the voting and the counting will be.

ELIANA DURHAM, PENNSYLVANIA VOTER: Very -- it seems very trustworthy.

MIKE HATCH, PENNSYLVANIA VOTER: I dropped my ballot off and who knows what's going to happen after this.

TODD: Amid claims and counterclaims about voting problems and voting fraud in Pennsylvania.

TRUMP: They are fighting so hard to steal this damn thing.

TODD: Today, news on the investigation into an issue raised last week.

TRUMP: Because they've already started cheating in Lancaster, they've cheated. We caught him with 2,600 votes.

TODD: Lancaster County today updating its investigation into a batch of suspicious applications received. It found 17 percent were fraudulent, 57 percent were legitimate, and 26 percent are still being reviewed.

RAY D'AGOSTINO, VICE CHAIRMAN, LANCASTER COUNTY: Some of those applications were in the same handwriting.

TODD: The county not saying if the submissions were for Democrats or Republicans, but insisting the system worked and they were merely applications.

DANIEL DALE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: None of those people were permitted to vote, so these were not votes or ballots.

TODD: Another issue, long lines to vote by mail early in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, which Joe Biden won in 2020. The deadline extended amid a GOP lawsuit and extension in Erie County as well after Democrats sued because thousands of voters did not receive their on- demand mail-in ballots in time due to a vendor error.

PROF. CHRIS BONNEAU, POLITICAL SCIENCE, UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH: We have these things all the time, right? It's not a perfect process. But the integrity of the process has never been compromised. And then there is this fake video which circulated on social media, purporting to show someone tearing up mail-in ballots marked for Trump in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. U.S. intelligence concluding Russian operatives were behind it. Again, this video is fake.

The Philadelphia D.A. today also warning against any disruption or voter intimidation.

LARRY KRASNER, PHILADELPHIA DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Anybody who thinks it's time to play militia, F around and find out.

TODD: A broader issue raised by Trump, how long it might take to count Pennsylvania votes. In 2020, Pennsylvania was not called until almost four days of counting. Experts agree the laws of Pennsylvania are not built for speed.

BONNEAU: Certainly, they could have done more to tighten up their system and to make it more efficient.

TODD: But election officials say any delay means the state is being careful, not nefarious, even giving tours to show how ballots are kept under lock and key.

OMAR SABIR, CHAIRMAN, PHILADELPHIA BOARD OF ELECTIONS: This process is secure.

TODD: The overall takeaway?

BONNEAU: People who are inclined to believe that the election is fraudulent or that there are issues with the election are going to be more inclined to believe those stories.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (on camera): Here in Pennsylvania, the mail-in ballots will start to be counted when the polls open at 7:00 A.M. Eastern Time tomorrow. But people voting by mail can still bring in their mail in ballots in-person to their local county election offices throughout the day tomorrow until the polls close at 8:00 P.M. Eastern. After that, we expect to get the results of most of the mail-in votes, so those could be some of the earliest results we see here in Pennsylvania. Wolf?

BLITZER: We'll be watching. Brian Todd in Pittsburgh for us, Brian, thank you very much.

Coming up, we go inside the final polls of the 2024 election.

Plus, Donald Trump bringing a onetime enemy on the campaign trail today as part of a last-minute push to try to close the gender gap.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:25:00]

BLITZER: Back to the breaking news right now, the final hours of the 2024 presidential campaign are now upon us, both candidates pulling out all the stops to turn out their base and make last-inute appeals to undecided voters.

Our team of political experts is back with us, including, I want to start with Republican Pollster Sarah Longwell, who's with us as well.

Sarah, you've been speaking with groups of swing voters throughout this entire election campaign. How are these voters breaking in these final hours, in these final days?

SARAH LONGWELL, REPUBLICAN POLLSTER: Yes. Look, I think a lot of these voters who voted for Donald Trump in 2016 and then voted for Joe Biden in 2020, you know, a lot of those voters are sort of center right in their orientation. They're sort of soft Republicans or they're right-leaning independents. But for those voters, they are out on Trump and they've sort of consistently been out on Trump. The question is, could they get there affirmatively on Kamala Harris?

And what we're seeing, especially among women, is that they're breaking hard for Kamala Harris now, like they have heard enough. You know, for a long time we were hearing things like well, I still don't know what she stands for. I don't know that much about her. I didn't know that much about her when she was vice president. But I think people have heard enough to know that they feel comfortable voting for her. Not everybody. We still sometimes get a person or two in a group that might be going back to Donald Trump, but, generally speaking, she has made her case to a lot of these voters.

And I think she's done it by actively inviting them into the coalition. She's been very intentional about courting these kind of disaffected Republicans. That's why she's been on the road with Liz Cheney. They've had a robust Republicans for Harris operation. And I think it's been paying dividends in these late-breaking independents going her way.

BLITZER: Sarah, I know you've called this the boys versus girls election.

[18:30:02]

How is it different from past elections?

LONGWELL: Well, look, there's always been a bit of a gender gap. You know, women tend to vote more for Democrats by just a little bit. But this time, especially among younger women, like if you're looking at people that are older, in their 60s, it's not so dramatic. But the lower you go down by age group, the more dramatic you're seeing the gap between men and women, where women are breaking for Kamala Harris, young women are breaking for Kamala Harris at just historic levels. And Donald Trump is trying to make that up by really turning out these low propensity male voters. That's why he's spent so much time doing this sort of male-dominated podcast.

I just think that when it comes down to it, if you were going to stake your election on a group of people, I might be generally more comfortable with women actually showing up to vote. And also the fact is there are just more women and they make up a bigger share of the electorate. And so we're already seeing in some of the early voting numbers, just an incredibly high turnout among women in that Selzer poll we saw out of Iowa.

The reason that Kamala Harris had had made these dramatic gains was really coming from these older women, independent women, all breaking for Kamala Harris hard at the last minute here.

BLITZER: And as we keep pointing out, women vote in bigger percentages than men do.

Sarah Longwell, I always appreciate having you. Thank you very, very much.

And, Jamie Gangel, let me bring you into this conversation. I want you to take a look at the staging of this Trump event in Redding, Pennsylvania, a wall of pink women for Trump signs behind him. That's pretty telling, isn't it?

GANGEL: He needs women, and he probably is not getting them anywhere close to the numbers he wants. Look, he has two problems. One, reproductive rights, this has turned out votes. The second is, you know, Donald Trump, in a certain way, is sometimes self-aware. We have reporting that he recently said, why don't women like me? He --

NAVARRO: I can answer that.

BLITZER: Go ahead, Ana. What's the answer?

NAVARRO: Well, the answer is that he's a misogynist. The answer is that he's been found liable of sexual crimes. The answer is that he's telling women he was going to protect us, whether we like it or not. The answer is that he picked three Supreme Court justices that took our way our rights and turned us back over 50 years. Should I go on? How much longer do I have?

BLITZER: You gave some (INAUDIBLE).

NAVARRO: The -- you know, also with Donald Trump and, you know, it always like baffles me that we haven't made enough about this. The two women that probably know him best that could be giving some, you know, some testimony about Donald Trump, his wife and his daughter, Ivanka, who were there in 2016 and even in 2020, are nowhere to be seen. Contrast that with Kamala Harris, whose husband, sister, brother-in- law, niece, vice president, I mean, they've got the pets out there. Actually, they do have the pets, because the childless cat ladies are pissed too.

BLITZER: Go ahead. You wanted to weigh in?

BEDINGFIELD: No, I just -- yes. I mean, the gender gap is going to be a massive factor in this election, I think, yes, of course Trump is up against what he himself did when he was president to take away women's rights by, as Ana said, appointing Supreme Court Justices. The Republican Party has also badly fumbled this issue since the Dobbs decision came down in the summer of 2022, they, you know, are consistently messaging to women that, you know, they're not going to protect their rights.

And I think that the Harris campaign has been really smart about how she has jumped on this because she hasn't made this about the fact that she herself is a woman. And she has really kept the focus of the messaging on here's what me, as president of the United States, here's what my administration will mean for you. Not here's what you voting for me will mean for me.

And it would have been very easy, I think, in an election where a big driver is going to be this question of how women turn out to do that. And I think she's been really smart about the way she has not done that.

SINGLETON: I mean, Wolf, look, I wouldn't necessarily undercut or discard the importance of men in this election. Now, granted, we could say that some dynamics are a bit different because of Dobbs. I would certainly agree to that as a strategist. But I'm looking at 2016 the difference between Trump and Obama and Clinton on men was 11 points. In 2020, President Biden was behind two points yet. He still maintained Hillary Clinton's level of female turnout. This time around, Vice President Harris is behind around 16 points.

Now, the question becomes for me as a strategist, as I'm looking at the data, can the vice president turn out enough women to offset the deficiencies with men? Can the Trump campaign turn out by micro targeting those low propensity men?

[18:35:01]

Now, those are two questions that I'm begging. If he can do that, effectively, then I would argue he could potentially go to get to 270. I mean, even when you look at 2022, we didn't get the red wave, quote/unquote, but Republicans still won the House in spite of. And so you beg the question, where are some voters also looking at other factors outside of just Dobbs alone? And if there are enough of those women, although it may marginally be slim, if you can combine that number with those low propensity men, does that lead to a victory?

NAVARRO: Just think about the hubris of Donald Trump. Yes, just think about the hubris of Donald Trump that, just a few days ago, Nikki Haley said, I'm here at the ready to campaign for you. And we are now 24 hours out and he didn't call her and he's not going to call her because he will never forgive her disloyalty.

GANGEL: I want to add one more thing. All of those men, some of them, guess what, they may be voting for Vice President Harris as well. They have daughters, they have mothers, they have wives, they have sisters. I think making this solely about the male vote is underestimating how this election is going, especially since, as Ana said earlier, Madison Square Garden. That speech was an inflection point.

BLITZER: We'll see what happens and we'll start getting results tomorrow night. We'll see how long all of this takes. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very, very much.

Just ahead, take a look at this live pictures coming in at ballots already being processed in Arizona's most populous county. We'll take a closer look at how security is being stepped up there and when we could expect those results.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:40:00]

BLITZER: New information about when we'll get results from some critical swing states tomorrow night. In Michigan, officials are hoping for a quicker count than 2020, despite very high turnout. We're also watching Arizona, which could take days, yes days, to count its votes, and where authorities are already processing ballots and making final preparations to ramp up election security.

For more on that, I want to bring in CNN's Kyung Lah. She's live in Phoenix for us right now. Kyung, what are you learning?

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: What I can show you, Wolf, is what we're actually seeing outside the building, where ballots are being tabulated right now. You can see that there are barriers all around me to keep cars from walking in. And then ringing this entire building, and this did not exist in the last presidential election, is this chain link fence.

And if you look beyond this fence, you can see that people are still able to drive up and drop off their ballots. But beyond these cars, there is that metal fence. It is an iron fence. There is a tent for media. Media will not be able to easily access the interior of the building, and that's for security reasons.

And then ringing the top of this building are cameras. There will also be drones in the air, and this entire building will be protected by law enforcement. All of this is because of the real threat and concern about any violence on the very place. This is where the ballots are being counted. So, this is what it looks like on the outside. I want you to take a look at what it looks like on the inside. This is video that is being produced by the county. It is a live picture. There are 21 cameras at the various spots where ballots are being tabulated, a couple of drop box throughout this county, and this is all for the purpose of transparency.

The other warning we got from the county is that voters need to know tomorrow on Election Day that this is a long ballot and there will be lines. I want you to listen to a county official.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZACH SCHIRA, ASSISTANT MANAGER, MARICOPA COUNTY: This is normal for a presidential election. And with a longer, two-page ballot, we expect it'll take folks a bit longer to fill that out in the vote center and to feed it into the tabulator.

But as Americans, we're used to waiting in line. We wait in line for coffee. We wait in line for our groceries. Sometimes we wait in line for new sneakers or video games, if that's your thing. We can wait in line to exercise our right to vote.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAH: And people will also have to wait for the results from this county because of state laws and how these ballots are counted and these ballots are cured, Wolf. It will potentially take until the end of this week. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right. Kyung Lah in Phoenix for us, Kyung, thanks very much.

Coming up, we'll talk with someone who's been on the campaign trail with Tim Walz today. The Minnesota senator, Amy Klobuchar, is standing by live. There you see her.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:47:55]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Right now, we're in the final frenzied hours of the race for the White House. Joining us is Minnesota's Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar.

Senator, thanks so much for joining us.

Kamala Harris as you know is spending her entire final day of campaigning in Pennsylvania. Is that a sign of strength or weakness?

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN): Sign of strength. Sign of she is where it matters right now. But I think you know she's been in every state that you can think of -- Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada, Arizona. She'd been everywhere.

And I was with Tim Walz today. He is also going on. I think he's done all 7 swing states in just a few days. He is feeling good. It was touching with his family on the tarmac leaving Minnesota for the last time before we get to the election and I'm just feeling good about the energy out there. I've been in all these states myself and I can't tell you how positive it is and Kamala Harris is ending with a positive optimistic message. And Donald Trump is spiraling. And that's not what we need in a leader right now for this county.

BLITZER: As you know, the Michigan Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Dingell told our Boris Sanchez earlier today, she feels and I'm quoting her now, nauseously optimistic about Kamala Harris winning her state. We're talking about Michigan. How would you describe your feelings about Harris's chance in the battleground states right

KLOBUCHAR: Well, I've used some of those same words but I would say I am positive. I see and I tend to be an optimistic person, but I've had so many Republicans come up to me, Wolf, in other states, whether it's in diners in Wisconsin, or in airports throughout the nation and they just look at me and they whisper, I'm a conservative Republican but I can't vote for him, or I'm a moderate, this is too much for me, I'm not going to do it.

I don't believe they are answering polls and certainly as we are already know, woman are turning out in droves and a number of them even in 2022 that voted for Democratic Senate candidates, like we saw in Nevada, Arizona, other places, are turning out as well.

[18:50:09]

So I'm very positive about this. I will note that I was a little shock that one of their closing arguments for Donald Trump was take the fluoride out of water. I guess they are ending with more cavities. This doesn't make sense.

And it -- to me, you have seen Kamala Harris from the beginning, unite our party and then immediately reach out to independents and Republicans. Did I think that she was going to be campaigning with Liz Cheney? Maybe not but she pulled it off. Then to have this positive message about how she wants to help people to get more housing, bring down the cost of child care, do something about price gouging, and then finally just the plea on our freedoms.

She's running on freedom. He's running on I guess cavities, I don't know. It's just a mess on the other side.

BLITZER: Vice President Harris kicked off her final Michigan rally last night by appealing to the state's significant Arab America population and vowing to do what she called to end the war in Gaza. You think that was too little to late. What's your assessment?

KLOBUCHAR: Oh, she's been reaching out all along. I know from things that are going in my state and she couldn't have been clearer at the Chicago convention which was her first, you know, big moment. To make that clear, is that she wants to see a cease-fire. She wants the hostages released, but she wants to see a cease-fire and she also wants to see a two-state solution. I think her position is very clear and she has been reaching out al along with many prominent members of the Arab-American community, not just in Michigan but across, supporting her, and many of the Muslim leaders in Minnesota strongly supporting her.

BLITZER: We are showing our viewers, Senator, some live pictures of Kamala Harris knocking on doors in Pennsylvania. What do you think senator is the biggest surprise we might see tomorrow night?

KLOBUCHAR: Well, I think as I said, I have a strong belief this is based on legislators in everywhere from Pittsburgh to Phoenix to Minnesota who door knocked in swing districts, telling me that voters have told them they just can't handle the chaos of Donald Trump. it is based on what we saw in 2020 and since the Dobbs decision in states like, what, Kansas on their referendum, Ohio, 13 points on their referendum, Supreme Court race in Wisconsin, congressional race in Alaska, governor's race in Kentucky, legislative races in Virginia, overwhelming number of people say this is going too far. Enough is enough. If you're going to infringe in my freedoms to make my own decision about the health care, what else are going to do to me?

So, I just think you're going to be surprise and some of them are just showing out, you're going to be surprised in how many people are turning out and how many people are voting on freedom and their deep belief in democracy. Even if they don't agree with everything that's on the Democratic platform, they are patriots. They believe in democracy.

And we've seen some proof points of that, but I think you're going to see it big time tomorrow. But as long as everyone votes, and I was moved by Kyung's story about Arizona, people have got to be a safe voting. They should feel safe voting. Ours is a great democracy and they need to turn out and vote.

BLITZER: Voting is so important. Senator Amy Klobuchar, thank you so much for joining us.

KLOBUCHAR: It's great to be on. Thanks, Wolf.

BLITZER: And coming up, we'll have a live report on the dramatic increase in security for one of counties in the election.

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[18:58:15]

BLITZER: Tonight in Georgia, officials say they're ready for another election day under the microscope.

CNN's Sara Murray is joining us now from Fairburn, Georgia.

Sara, how are officials preparing there?

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, Fulton County really was a hot bed of conspiracy theories in 2020, especially at the vote counting sites. This year, the votes in Fulton County are going to be tabulated at this brand new election warehouse behind me. But the new security provisions are going into place, at polling places all over state of Georgia, at these polling locations are going to be panic buttons, that's new for the first time for election workers need them.

At Fulton County, there's 177 polling places. There's going to be a police officer in place. When the polls close for the day, they have to take those memory sticks, which had the ballot images. They have the ballot tallies and bring them here to this warehouse.

They are going to have a police escort to bring them here to the warehouse and here at this warehouse, they are going to be a police presence 24/7 for as long as this vote counting takes. And, of course, that's to keep election workers. That's to keep the process safe and secure. And we have seen conservative criticism ramping up of the county even before any of this counting gets under way.

Part of it is Republicans up concerns that illegal ballots have been cast over the weekend. And they have been challenging these absentee ballots that voters are taking to election offices like the hub, hand delivering, hand returning.

Now, there's ongoing litigation about this, but officials here in the state of Georgia believe that is a completely legal process. A judge agreed with them over the weekend. Again, that hasn't stopped the flood of concerns we've seen from Republicans. And everyone is hoping for a safe, secure and fast election day tomorrow. But again, a number of security provisions in place in the event that anything does pop up at a polling location or at a vote counting center like this one, Wolf.

BLITZER: Sara Murray in Georgia for us, we'll be in close touch with you, clearly. Thank you very, very much.

And to our viewers thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM. I'll be back tomorrow for special election day coverage starting at noon Eastern with my college Erin Burnett.

Until then, once again, thanks very much.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.