Obama Stumps for Clinton; Trump Tackles Battleground States; South Korean President Denies Being Cult Member
JAY Z, ENTERTAINER: I would like to introduce to you the next President of the United States, Ms. Hillary Clinton.</s>CYRIL VANIER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): The stars come out: rapper Jay Z and superstar wife Beyonce showed their support for the Democratic presidential candidate.</s>VANIER (voice-over): And human shields: a new report says ISIS is forcing civilians, even children, to be on the front line. Plus, a celebration more than 100 years in the making: the Chicago Cubs and fans take to the streets to party like it's 1908. Hello, I'm Cyril Vanier and this is CNN NEWSROOM.</s>VANIER: So this is the final weekend before the U.S. presidential election, just three days to go and the candidates and their surrogates are in the middle of a frantic push through battleground states. Hillary Clinton telling supporters that Donald Trump is unfit to rule and bad for America while Trump says a Clinton presidency would be mired in criminal investigations. Meanwhile, a new FOX News poll shows Clinton with a 2-point lead over Trump 45 percent to 43 percent. That is within the survey's margin of error. And our latest CNN Poll of Polls, which includes those FOX numbers, shows Clinton ahead by 5 points, 47 percent to 42 percent. However, our electoral map -- and that is worth noting -- has her slipping just below that magic number of 270 electoral college votes, the number she needs to get to the White House. As the U.S. election heads into the home stretch, President Barack Obama is among the VIPs on the campaign trail this weekend for Hillary Clinton. On Friday, he stumped for her in the crucial swing state of North Carolina. It was his second stop in the state in 24 hours. At one point, he singled out Donald Trump for injecting incivility into the campaign.</s>BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Imagine if I'd behaved in the way this man behaved. Imagine what Republicans would have said. Imagine what the press would have said. But now we act like, I guess this is normal as if it's -- as if it's -- as if it's some parody. You can't tell the difference between "Saturday Night Live" and what's actually happening on the news.</s>VANIER: And Clinton pulled out star power at a rally on Friday night in Cleveland, Ohio. Jay Z and Beyonce headlined a concert to get young voters excited.</s>VANIER (voice-over): Beyonce and her backup dancers wore pantsuits -- that was in Clinton's honor. The dancers had on Clinton T-shirts. The candidate told the crowd she needs them to help to crack the glass ceiling once and for all and her celebrity supporters couldn't have agreed more.</s>JAY Z: I want to grow up in a world where my daughter has no limitation, where our daughter has no limitation. She feel like she can be whatever she want to be in the world. And this other guy, I don't have any ill will towards him but this conversation is divisive and that is not a evolved soul to me. So he cannot be my president. He cannot be our president. Once you divide us, you weaken us. We're stronger together.</s>BEYONCE: I want my daughter to grow up seeing a woman lead our country and know that her possibilities are limitless. We have to think about the future of our daughters, our sons and vote for someone who cares for them as much as we do. And that is why I'm with her.</s>HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I want to be a president who helps everybody fulfill their God-given potential. And I can't do that unless, on Tuesday, we decide what kind of country we want to be. Will we reject a dark and divisive vision for our future and embrace a hopeful, inclusive, unifying America?</s>VANIER: All right. So Hillary Clinton had her high-profile supporters but Donald Trump had plenty --</s>VANIER: -- to say about her celebrity fans. He told supporters in Pennsylvania that he does not need special guests to fill a stadium. He says he does just fine on his own.</s>TRUMP: I hear we set a new record for this building. And, by the way, I didn't have to bring JLo or Jay Z, the only way she gets anybody. I'm here all by myself. I am here all by myself. Just me, no guitar, no piano, no nothing.</s>VANIER: Sara Murray has more from the Trump campaign trail and his strategy to flip key battlegrounds before Tuesday.</s>SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 2016's toxic presidential contest, led by two deeply unpopular candidates, is coming to a close in fitting fashion.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hillary Clinton is under FBI investigation again after her e-mails were found on pervert Anthony Weiner's laptop.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How did Hillary end up filthy rich? Pay-to-play politics.</s>MURRAY: Donald Trump amplifying his latest barrage of negative ads on the campaign trail.</s>DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think she's unstable. She's trigger-happy.</s>MURRAY: Despite no new information from the FBI, Trump is still tearing into Hillary Clinton over her e-mail server and insisting she'll eventually face criminal charges.</s>TRUMP: How can Hillary manage this country when she can't even manage her e-mails? Did you ever see -- hey, folks, let's forget all of the stuff. What a mess. All she had to do was follow the rules. Unbelievable. And now she's going to run the country. She'll be under investigation for years.</s>MURRAY: All part of his final push to convince voters he's the fresh face and she's the face of corruption.</s>TRUMP: She's likely to be under investigation for a long time, concluding in a criminal trial. Our president. America deserves a government that can go to work on day one and get it done.</s>MURRAY: With the polls tightening, the GOP nominee is campaigning today in Ohio, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania and aiming to drive up his election day vote in key battlegrounds.</s>TRUMP: We have so many great polls. But you have to get out and vote on November 8th.</s>MURRAY: Trump's sprint to the finish still taking shape, but the GOP nominee will campaign this weekend in six battleground states and is likely to wedge in more along the way. But stops in North Carolina and New Hampshire planned Monday. His campaign continuing to be a family affair. As Donald Trump Jr. hits the trail in Arizona and New Hampshire, while Eric Trump barnstorms Michigan.</s>MURRAY (on camera): Now even though the polls show Donald Trump trailing here in Pennsylvania, the margins have tightened. And this is a state you're going to see him come back to before Election Day because it's a state with no early voting. So it's a strategic move to come here and try to rev up his voters and convince them to turn out on November 8th which is exactly what we heard from him on Friday night -- Sara Murray, CNN, Hershey, Pennsylvania.</s>VANIER: National polls show Hillary Clinton with a modest lead over Donald Trump ahead of Tuesday's election. We showed you those earlier. But the final outcome will depend on the states and just a handful of battleground states at that. CNN's John King takes us through the electoral map.</s>JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So we're into the final weekend. Hillary Clinton at 268, Donald Trump at 204 in the electoral votes. The gold states are the tossups. Donald Trump is in the hunt. Advantage Hillary Clinton. Let's ask this question. How does she look compared to President Obama --</s>KING: -- four years ago? Is she in the position the president was in when he won a big victory back in 2012? Well, let's look at some way to judge. First way to judge is the national polls. That's much better than where the president was four years ago. A lot of people forget this because of the outcome, the finish on Tuesday. But heading into the final weekend, this race was a dead heat, 47 percent to 47 percent. That's the national perspective. But we pick presidents by states. So let's go back to the map and think about the key battleground states. Compare Clinton then -- Obama then, excuse me and Clinton now. Let's look at the states. In states where Clinton is running just about even with where the president four years ago, they include Nevada and Arizona, they include these important blue Midwestern battlegrounds, Wisconsin and Michigan and they include one of our tossup states, New Hampshire. Now the gold states are tossups heading into this final weekend. President Obama won one, two, three and Nevada, four of these states. Hillary Clinton in the same position the president was heading into the final weekend. She thinks she can win all four of these, too. We'll see what Tuesday brings. But she heads into the weekend about even with four years ago. These are the states Clinton has to worry about. She's underperforming President Obama significantly in big battleground Ohio and a smaller but important Midwest state, Iowa. We lean these to Donald Trump because he is running much better than Mitt Romney did four years ago. He has a lead heading into the final weekend. Clinton is underperforming Obama in those two states and just by a bit in Pennsylvania. She still has a lead in Pennsylvania, it's just not quite as big as President Obama's was heading into the final weekend four years ago. But even though she's underperforming in those, she's over performing, she's stronger than the president was heading into the final weekend in Colorado by a little bit. In Virginia by a bit. And significantly in North Carolina and Florida. This is very important. President Obama trailed in North Carolina in 2012 heading into the final weekend. He trailed in Florida by a bit heading into the final weekend. He ended up winning Florida by a tiny margin. The closest race in the country, state by state perspective. He lost North Carolina a bit. But again, he was trailing heading into the final weekend. One of those two, she's ahead in both of them. And that's a big deal as we go back and look at the map and say, how does Clinton get to the finish line? How does she compare to the president four years ago? Well, she thinks she's going to hold these blues up here. She hopes to turn Ohio. Let's see what happens. We still lean that one in favor of Trump. There's some talk in the Democrats they can pull back in Iowa. We're going to leave that one leaning Donald Trump. We'll see what she does on Tuesday. But significantly, they believe especially because of early voting they can win out in Nevada. Most Republicans in Nevada are starting to think that, too. That would get Clinton over the finish line. That's enough. But they also think again because she's in better position than the president was four years ago, they think she can possibly win both of these. And they still think, even though this one has become very close at the end and Trump is closing here, they think they can win that. If that were to happen, if Clinton could win Florida and win North Carolina and add New Hampshire, that puts her in the ballpark of where the president was four years ago. Now is that guaranteed? Absolutely not. Donald Trump is fighting in those states to the end. But if you're asking the question, how does she look now compared to the president then, especially because of these two states as she enters the weekend, sure. In a contested race with Donald Trump, but confident the outcome will look a little bit just like it did in 2012.</s>VANIER: Russians are following the U.S. presidential election with keen interest. Judging by what is reported in the Russian media, it's no secret which candidate they favor. CNN's Clarissa Ward has this report.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The American Dream is dead.</s>CLARISSA WARD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Russia's media is relishing every minute of this U.S. election, presenting it as an epic failure of American democracy. And it's not hard to see who the favorite is here. The republican candidate is presented as a maverick underdog, a political outsider who speaks truth to power. Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, is cast as a dangerous Russia hater, whose election could lead to World War III. Russian media frequently labels her a witch, with one tabloid even calling her, "evil incarnate." State TV anchor, Sergey Brilev says it's a response to Clinton's aggressive attitude.</s>SERGEY BRILEV, RUSSIA TV ANCHOR: The</s>WARD (voiceover): President Putin has dismissed allegations that Russia is playing favorites in this race, but as the polls have tightened, Russian media is now suggesting that the election is rigged and that the establishment won't let Trump win. One channel has predicted bloody social unrest if Clinton becomes president, followed by the overthrow of the corrupt regime.</s>KONSTANTIN VON EGGER, RAIN TV ANCHOR: It is a very effective message for the Russian audience, because Russian audience is very suspicious of America, is very suspicious of western democracy and American democracy. And someone who rebels against the system, definitely is very good in the eyes Russia.</s>WARD (voiceover): Which is why media here is happily milking this election for all the propaganda value it can get -- Clarissa Ward, CNN, Moscow.</s>VANIER: Make sure you stay with CNN throughout our election coverage up until Tuesday. We will have all-day coverage on Election Day, of course. Now to South Korea, where the president had to take time in a nationally televised speech to deny being part of a cult. It's not often you hear that word from a world leader. But it shows the types of accusations and the depth of the political crisis facing Park Geun- hye. Paula Hancocks has more from Seoul.</s>PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's not often the president of a country has to publicly deny being part of a cult or deny carrying out rituals in the presidential palace. Park Geun-hye did just that on Friday, apologizing for allowing the confidant access to government business, a confidant who stands accused of using the access for personal gain. PARK GEUN-HYE, PRESIDENT OF SOUTH Korea (through translator): I thought I was improving the economy and the lives of the people. But in this process, a certain individual has committed corruption for personal gain. Everything is --</s>PARK (through translator): -- my fault and my mistake and I feel huge responsibility for this. Her father started a cult-like religion in the '70s. The family has long had influence over the Park Geun-hye family a revelation that some say has brought shame to the entire country. It is not just a surprise, it's shocking. Such a weird situation. No one has ever imagined she would have such a deep-rooted, strong, long standing, close relationship with such an unqualified, unknown, unverified, kind of people. Fears of a power vacuum insisting the government cannot be allowed to come to a halt. Saying the country's security is in crisis. North Korea, largely responsible for those Korean concerns is covering the scandal continuously. They refer to Park Geun-hye as traitor. Now we have a legitimate crisis in the south and you can bet every day on the front page of North Korea is full reporting of everything going wrong in the south. The second apology from Park Geun-hye clearly not enough for these protesters on the streets of Seoul Friday night. Around 1,000 here expected to be 100,000 on Saturday night. Just to give you an idea how unimpressed people are with what the president has done, her latest approval ratings, according to Gallup Korea are 5 percent, the lowest in history of any South Korean president -- Paula Hancocks, CNN, Seoul.</s>VANIER: Next up on CNN, street-to-street fighting, the battle for Mosul is becoming even more intense. We'll show you how Iraqi forces aim to drive ISIS out and the chilling moves the terror group is making in its brutal fight back.