Trump and Harris make final pushes in key battleground states

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00:00Three weeks ago thereabouts, the campaigning is relentless, the swing states are the focal

00:09point.

00:10Kamala Harris is in three states this Monday, spreading her influence far and wide.

00:14Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin.

00:16Donald Trump, meanwhile, visits the storm-damaged North Carolina.

00:20Let's take a look back at their recent campaign stops.

00:23Kamala Harris has been trying to reverse a perceived reluctance among black men to vote

00:27for her.

00:28She made a key appearance at a black church in Georgia.

00:33While in Penn State, Donald Trump did a turn making french fries at a fast food chain which

00:38is known for employing a clown.

00:40We'll have a Monday update from our Washington correspondent after this report.

00:46He's serving up french fries, handshakes and unsubstantiated claims.

00:51Donald Trump donned an apron at McDonald's on Sunday in an apparent jab at his opponent

00:55Kamala Harris, who he says never actually worked at the franchise, despite her claims

01:00she did.

01:01I love McDonald's, I love jobs, I like to see good jobs, and I think it's inappropriate

01:08when somebody puts down all over the place that she worked at McDonald's.

01:12It was a big part of her resume that she worked at McDonald's, how tough a job it was.

01:16But his trip, while full of salt, was light on evidence and on policy.

01:22McDonald's workers make an average of $13-$15 per hour, but when asked whether he would

01:26raise the minimum wage, the Republican presidential candidate dodged the question.

01:32He saved most of his political rhetoric for later that day when he addressed a town hall

01:36in Pennsylvania.

01:38Trying to win over the pivotal state, he doubled down on his tough immigration policies and

01:42even wished Kamala Harris a happy birthday.

01:45No, no, happy birthday.

01:49Harris, meanwhile, was ringing in her 60th in a community church in Georgia as part of

01:54her Souls to the Polls push to appeal to more black voters.

02:00In this moment, our country is at a crossroads.

02:04And where we go from here is up to us, as Americans and as people of faith.

02:10And now we ask a question, we face this question, what kind of country do we want to live in?

02:16A country of chaos, fear and hate, or a country of freedom, compassion and justice?

02:21We're not going back.

02:25With just over two weeks until the election, the race is neck and neck.

02:29And both candidates know that it will likely be these battleground states that will decide

02:33the future of their country.

02:37That's the sound of Eliza Herbert hitting the nail on the head there.

02:39It is those swing states that will decide it.

02:42Let's bring in Fraser Jackson, our correspondent, who's followed every step of this campaign

02:47and doing a fine job indeed, Fraser.

02:49Great to see you.

02:50We're talking Harris.

02:51We're talking Trump.

02:52Let's start with the current vice president, Kamala Harris.

02:56We know she's been to that church service in Georgia 24 hours ago to try to reestablish

03:02herself as a candidate for black.

03:04It's mostly black men, isn't it, who are hesitating about voting for her.

03:07Tell us about her movements today.

03:10Yeah, well, I think it's safe to say that the Harris campaign is not really leaving

03:15any stone unturned here.

03:16They're effectively treating every segment of the population as though they're undecided

03:20voters.

03:21But a source inside the campaign tells me that what they're actually really focusing

03:24on is that 4% of undecided voters.

03:27So you're thinking maybe people who are maybe either unaffiliated or were potentially Nikki

03:33Haley voting Republicans back in the primaries.

03:36Of course, a lot of those people that voted, about the 25% that went for Nikki Haley, a

03:41lot of them will go home to the Republican Party.

03:43But the Democrats believe there is a significant enough chunk of the population which is so

03:47disillusioned with Donald Trump that they will vote the other way.

03:51And the way that they are doing that is by employing Republicans to send that message

03:55themselves.

03:56So Harris today is spending her time in the northern blue wall states, having been in

04:01Georgia over the weekend.

04:02And she's having a series of sit-downs with Liz Cheney, who is somebody who is not exactly

04:07a liberal and has been anti-abortion in the past, but now is one of the chief bell ringers

04:13for Kamala Harris.

04:14And the Harris campaign hopes that her words hold enough sway with that significant enough

04:20section of the electorate to move things in her direction.

04:24So they've already been in Pennsylvania.

04:25They're heading to Wisconsin and Michigan as well today.

04:30So a blue wall blitz as it's being called here in the United States for Kamala Harris

04:34as we get down towards the final two weeks of this election.

04:38She's also then going to head back to Pennsylvania later on in the week before heading to Georgia

04:44for a big ticket event with Barack Obama later in the week as well.

04:48So a busy week for Kamala Harris, but it really is those margins that she's working on.

04:53And celebrating a significant birthday too, so hoping for a birthday bounce in support,

04:57no doubt.

04:58How about her opponent, Donald Trump?

05:01We saw him at a certain fast food chain known, of course, for its employment of a clown on

05:07occasion.

05:08He had certain things to say about Kamala Harris's claims of having worked once upon

05:13a time for that very fast food chain.

05:17Trump on his way to North Carolina with no doubt more claims to be made, some of them

05:22factual, some of them less so.

05:26Yeah, three stops in North Carolina for Donald Trump, and he's already been hitting that

05:31note that he's been hitting for the last couple of weeks about Hurricane Helene and how the

05:35White House and the Biden administration and Kamala Harris, by extension, have not done

05:40anything to support people in that region.

05:43Of course, that is a claim that has been pushed back upon and denounced by even the Republican

05:46governors of those states.

05:48So you're thinking of places like Georgia and Florida.

05:53But of course, North Carolina has a Democratic governor in Roy Cooper.

05:57But they have been devastated by that hurricane, and there was concern on both sides, really,

06:03that the devastation left by that hurricane would make it harder for polling places to

06:08open and for people to get out the vote.

06:10But it seems that that hasn't really materialized.

06:12In all but a few of the polling places that were affected by that hurricane, polling has

06:17been able to get up and running.

06:19And we're seeing a good number of people in North Carolina already casting their votes

06:24as well.

06:25And Donald Trump, however, still trying to, again, carve out that electorate for himself.

06:29He managed to win North Carolina back in 2020.

06:34But there has been a bit of a change in the electorate there.

06:36There are more liberals in the electorate in North Carolina, especially around those

06:40big university towns of Raleigh, Durham and the like.

06:44That could be where those margins play in Kamala Harris' favor.

06:47So Donald Trump is hoping to show that his opponent hasn't done enough for the people

06:52of North Carolina.

06:53But that is something that the White House itself is pushing back on.

06:56Corrine Jean-Pierre at the press briefing today saying that Donald Trump's claims that

07:01the White House hasn't helped people are dangerous, and she says they are unhelpful.

07:05She finished by saying it is not what leadership looks like.

07:09So his comments have been pushed back upon not only by Kamala Harris, but also by the

07:13Biden administration as well.

07:15Very briefly, sir, fine margins could make the difference now, couldn't they?

07:19Because it is that tight.

07:21Yeah, most definitely.

07:24This really is a marginal election.

07:26And if you look at the national average polls, they've been, you know, moving closer and

07:30closer together.

07:31But anybody here will tell you that it's not the national poll that matters.

07:35It is the polling in those individual states.

07:37And we've gone from seeing Kamala Harris have a couple of points advantage in the blue wall

07:41states to effectively being a toss-up now.

07:43So I think, you know, there's a bit of panic on the Democratic side.

07:48The Republicans feel like they're gaining ground.

07:51That is kind of par for the course, it must be said, for most elections.

07:54But of course, everybody worried about whether the polls are accurate.

07:57There's a bit of a once-but-twice-shy situation happening with 2016 and even 2020, just to

08:03some effect.

08:04So people are still watching things intently.

08:08But the campaigns, for their part, saying that basically, ignore the polls, get out

08:12and vote.

08:13That's the only thing you can do.

08:14And that seems to be resonating.

08:16We've seen a record polling, record voting in places like Georgia already.

08:21So, you know, if that's anything to go by, then it could be a significant turnout this

08:26time around, even bigger than the turnout we saw in 2020.

08:31Fraser Jackson in Washington with his finger on the pulse politically for us.

08:35Thank you, sir.

08:36Very much indeed.

08:38All developments in the run-up to Voting Day, November the 5th.

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