. happening now, breaking news. big guns. president obama and melania trump head the long list of surrogates deployed on behalf of the presidential candidates. even ted cruz turns out for his former rival, though he doesn't mention donald trump by name. big money. a surge in spending on negative ads in battleground states as the campaign offer a gloomy forecast. trump tells himself publicly, quote, stay on point,

donald. how long can trump avoid walking on eggshells to avoid setting himself off. melania trump speaks out against bullying and saying people shouldn't put other people down over their looks. can she soften her husband's reputation? i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. the breaking news, with just five days to go new polls show a very tight presidential race. right now hillary clinton and donald trump are giving it all they've got. both are in north carolina, which has become a must-win state. they have family and friends, stand-ins and substitutes spread out across the country for dozens of campaign appearances. standing out today, melania trump giving her first speech since the republican convention. she immediately got one thing right, saying this is not an ordinary campaign. she proudly identified herself as an immigrant, with no mention

of her husband's anti-immigrant rhetoric, and reaching out to women but without any apparent irony she talked about bullying and the bad side of social media. also turning out for trump, former rival senator ted cruz, who during their bitter primary campaign called trump a sniveling coward for insulting his wife. hillary clinton has an a-list of campaigners led by the commander in chief in florida. he hammered that donald trump is uniquely unqualified and told democrats that, if they win that state, they win the election, making a pitch for his own legacy in the process. trump says obama should be working instead of campaigning. i'll speak with house oversight committee congressman jason chaifetz and we'll have full coverage of the day's top stories. we begin in north carolina. it's a must-win state for donald trump, who is there this hour and so is cnn's senior white house correspondent jim acosta.

jim, trump is really trying to bite his tongue to avoid going off message. what's the latest? >> reporter: that's right. that's right, wolf, donald trump is trying to bust through one of the hillary clinton's firewalls here in north carolina. as he is closing in on clinton in the polls, he is being ever so careful to avoid any controversial comments that could derail his comeback. it's the election surprise nobody saw coming, donald trump sticking to the script. >> good job, by the fbi. >> reporter: gaining in some key battleground polls across the country, showing an unmessage-like discipline. hammering hillary clinton's e-mail mess as well as revelations about her campaign manager, john podesta, unearthed by wikileaks. >> he must be a bad guy. i don't know him. to say the things he said about her, she should look at him, say podesta, you're fired!

but she can't do that. she probably needs him as a witness in the criminal case. >> reporter: he is even offering a restrained response to president obama, who is pounding trump every chance he gets. >> now, why -- why isn't he back in the office, sometimes referred to as the oval office -- why isn't he back in the white house bringing our jobs back? and helping our veterans? right? why? why isn't he back working? >> reporter: trump said out loud what his advisors are begging him to do privately. if he wants to win, he has to behave himself. >> we've got to be nice and cool, nice and cool. right? stay on point, donald, stay on point. no side-tracks, donald. nice and easy. nice. because i've been watching hillary the last few days. she is totally unhinged.

we don't want any of that. >> donald trump will turn washington upside-down, day one. >> reporter: the trump campaign is staying on point in the ad wars, buying expensive spots during the world series and unveiling this stinging new attack on clinton's ties to disgraced ex-congressman anthony wiener whose alleged sexting to a 15-year-old girl sparked fbi inquiry. >> her e-mails were found on pervert anthony wiener's laptop. think about that. >> reporter: trump still has major vulnerabilities to overcome especially among female voters, who remain outraged over his history of crude comments about women. trump's answer to that. he'll keep women safe. >> they say what will you do for women? i say start off with keeping our country safe. is that a good starter? i think we'll do tremendously with women. >> it's not a women's problem. it's a family problem. >> reporter: the campaign dispatched daughter ivanka to new hampshire.

trump's media-shy wife to pennsylvania to soften the candidate's image. >> we need to teach our youth american values. kindness, honesty, respect, compassion, charity, understanding, cooperation. >> reporter: but not all of trump's surrogates appear fully on board. consider trump's old foe ted cruz, who campaigned with the party's vice presidential candidate mike pence and iowa but neglected to mention the man at the top of the ticket? >> he is someone who today i call my friend, and i very much look forward to calling him mr. vice president. >> reporter: an oversight cruz quickly corrected. >> i recognize some of you guys are wanting to write stories suggesting divisions among republicans. make a point, i am getting ready to get on a gigantic airplane that has donald trump's name painted on the side of it. on monday of this week i voted for donald trump.

>> reporter: also in her speech melania trump warned of the worsening of the culture on social media but made no mention of her husband's use of twitter. he often likes to attack his enemies on twitter at all hours of the night, including most recently the former miss universe alicia machado who he said had a sex tape, when she didn't. wolf. >> jim acosta. thanks very much for the report. while her surrogates spread out across the country, hillary clinton is also focusing in on north carolina today. our senior political correspondent brianna keilar is on the scene for us. brianna, this is one state where hillary clinton can check-mate trump, right? >> reporter: it certainly is. we have even heard from donald trump's campaign, from his deputy campaign manager today, wolf, saying that donald trump's path to victory is through florida, north carolina, ohio, and iowa. well, the clinton campaign is hoping to cut him off here in the tarheel state. tonight hillary clinton delivering her closing arguments to voters in a crucial swing

state, north carolina. >> if donald trump were to win this election, we would have a commander in chief who is completely out of his depth and whose ideas are incredibly dangerous. >> reporter: if she wins here, it would make donald trump's path to victory nearly impossible. >> this is someone who, at another rally yesterday, actually said out loud to himself, "stay on point, donald. stay on point." his campaign probably put that in the teleprompter. stay on point, donald! stay on point! you know, we have seen it over and over again. we know his true self. >> reporter: cnn's poll of polls in the tarheel state has clinton up four points. she is visiting on the heels of president obama, who wednesday told north carolinans the race could come down to them. >> i hate to put pressure on you, but the fate of the whole republic rests on your shoulders. >> reporter: clinton has a prime-time rally with bernie sanders here and musician

pharrell williams. and clinton is competitive out west in purple states and even a red one, arizona, where latino voters are giving her a chance to be the first democrat to win that state since bill clinton did in 1996. >> as the political pundits like to say, this state is in play for the first time in years! >> reporter: her running mate, later tonight in arizona speech- entirely in spanish. >> young people -- [ speaking in spanish ] >> millennial voters can be the difference. >> reporter: as complainer in chief. president obama stumps for clinton in florida, where the race is neck and neck. >> democracy is on the ballot! hillary clinton will move us forward, if you give her a chance. and if we win florida, we will win this election. it is in your hands. [ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: meanwhile, clinton, ending her campaign with sustained attacks on trump

foregoing the positive message she hoped to project after the polls tightened in the wake of her revived e-mail controversy. >> imagine with me what it would be like to have donald trump sitting in the oval office come next january. >> reporter: her campaign out with negative ads to match her rhetoric, continuing to use trump's own words against him. >> putting a wife to work is a very dangerous thing. wouldn't you rather, in a certain sense, have japan have nuclear weapons? >> reporter: hillary clinton with a -- quite a push forward ahead to election day, wolf. she currently is on her way to raleigh, north carolina, for another event. we know that tomorrow she'll be in pennsylvania, michigan and ohio. ohio, with some help from jay-z and a focus on philadelphia and pennsylvania. she'll be in philadelphia on saturday with katy perry. and the night before the election she'll be joined by her husband and daughter as well as president obama and first lady

michelle obama also in philadelphia. >> brianna keilar on the scene for us in north carolina. thank you. i'll speak with the top clinton supporter in the next hour. joining us now republican congressman jason chaffetz, congressman, thank you for joining us. >> thanks, wolf. >> you went on twitter the night of october 26th and said you were changing your vote back to trump. but this is what you said on october 7th. i'll play the clip for you. >> i am out. i can no longer endorse donald trump for president. i -- there is no possible way i vote for hillary clinton, but, um, these are abhorrent. they are wrong. to use a baseball metaphor, i've got to call balls and strikes the way i see them. my wife julie and i, we've got a 15-year-old daughter. you think i can look her in the eye and tell her that i endorse donald trump for president when he acts like this, and his

apology? that was no apology. that was an apology for getting caught. to say that bill clinton did it and did it worse, i mean, that should have been his first clue that it was the wrong behavior. so i am not going to put my good name and my reputation and my family behind donald trump for president when he acts like this. i just -- i just can't do it. >> strong words, congressman. can you see why some people are now calling you a hypocrite? >> well, you know, everybody, i think, is struggling with their own decision. but, as i also said in there, i will never, ever vote for hillary clinton. i struggled with this. i am not going to endorse donald trump. i am not going to do that. i can't defend the comments that he made. but elections are tough decisions. at this point you have two people that are -- one of the two, hillary clinton or donald trump, will become the next president of the united states. and last week my wife and i both voted for donald trump to be the

next president of the united states. i think hillary clinton is that bad. she is so bad and so wrong for the united states of america, i think her ability to look in the camera and just lie, lie, lie scares me more than anything. and so it's a tough decision. i think i reflect what a lot of americans are struggling with and a lot of those in utah. at the end of the day i really like the idea of donald trump. but those actions and words, we should never find them acceptable, never. >> but after that additional "access hollywood" video came out, more than a dozen women have publicly come out and accused donald trump of doing exactly the kind of behavior that he described in that video tape. what has changed between then and now when you said you couldn't look your wife and your daughter in the eye and support donald trump? >> i don't know if -- which ones of those are true or may or may not be true. but you have to put it in the context of hillary clinton. and in the context of hillary

clinton, who will lie to america -- she lied about benghazi. she told the truth to her daughter and the prime minister of egypt but lied to americans. she has not been truthful about her e-mail scandal. i mean, the list goes on and on and on. and so it's the definition -- the true definition of a dilemma, where you've got two difficult choices. but i really like what mike pence said. i think republicans are coming home. i think independents are starting to understand that we have a choice. we can continue with the status quo and somebody who ingratiates themselves, enriches themselves. the clintons back up that gravy train and fill it, cash full of money. they're worth hundreds of millions of dollars. >> let me interrupt. i want to clarify this. because in that original statement that you made on october 7th to cnn's don lemon, you said there is no possible way i vote for hillary clinton. you said that then. you continue to say that now. but why have you changed your

mind as far as -- as far as who you're publicly talking about supporting right now? because now you -- you tweeted later, i will not defend or endorse real donald trump but i am voting for him. hrc is that bad. hrc is bad for the usa. you still haven't explained why you changed your mind from that original statement october 7th when you said you couldn't look your daughter and your wife in the eye and say you were going to support donald trump after that "access hollywood" video came out. >> i guess i do see a difference between an endorsement and publicly defending somebody. >> what is the difference? if you -- if you tell your supporters in utah, i am voting for donald trump, that sounds to me like an endorsement. >> well, i -- i think they're different. i think the endorsement is far different than who you actually vote for. you know, it's the one vote i actually do for myself. i don't represent anybody else. we all get the same vote. but in the context of either hillary clinton or donald trump, it's donald trump. and i -- i think mike pence has

articulated that. i think we've seen that across the country. i do think they're different. >> a lot of folks in utah based on the polls are going to vote for evan mcmullin, a third-party candidate. did you think about doing that? >> no. i don't think that -- that's a fast track to nowhere. the reality is there is only two people that might become the president. hillary clinton or donald trump. that's the vote that's facing us. and that's why i am voting for donald trump. >> i know you say hillary clinton is crooked, and you -- you're obviously very condemnatory of her. but what information came to light on that night of that tweet that made you change your mind? >> i think i had been contemplating this for some time. there wasn't some magical moment that happened. but i -- you know, i tried to champion openness and transparency. i thought maybe i could go through this without having to talk about who i was actually

going to vote for, but people wanted to know. and i am in a public spot. so i said, all right, i'll tell you who i am going to vote for, and i'm going to vote for donald trump. >> i just want to be precise. the new information -- this new review the fbi is undertaking as far as e-mails that were found on anthony wiener's laptop, that had not been revealed publicly when you changed your mind about your vote. you did not have any inside information about that. is that right? >> no. no. absolutely. i did not. look, i know a lot about the clintons and what they've done in their past. that was far more than enough for me to understand a long time ago that this person, hillary clinton, should never, ever be trusted in the white house. her propensity and frequency in which she lies to the american people is by far more scarier than anything else i have seen out there. so no, i didn't have any insider information. bob goodlatt and i have put out a preservation letter to the chairman of the justice saying,

please, with the new investigation -- supposedly. i mean, i am reading about it in the media like you are, going into anthony wiener and his proximity to hillary clinton and the whole mess that's out there, make sure that they preserve all those documents because congress will want to take a look at it. last night hillary clinton emphasized why she thinks a donald trump presidency would be so harmful to young girls. listen to this. >> and please, just think about what happens if he were to win, to women and girls. it would mean that our girls would grow up with a president who proudly and loudly ranks women by their looks, including the only woman running in the republican primary. remember what he said about carly fiorina? a distinguished woman with a tremendous record of accomplishment and basically

trump said, nobody will vote for her. look at her face. he brags about doing things to women without their consent. just imagine what that would mean to girls and women, what it could mean to the sense of self-worth that we want our young women to have. and imagine how it will affect our boys, to have a president who talks and behaves like that. >> all right. after that video came out, you seemed to agree totally with hillary clinton on that when you revoked your initial endorsement of trump. so why are you now comfortable with him potentially being in the oval office? >> well, wolf, you act as if the clintons have a clean slate on this. are you kidding me? the way bill clinton treated an intern in his office? >> he is not running for president. it's mrs. -- it's hillary clinton who is running for

president. >> the clintons have no clean slate on this. don't kid anybody in this -- in that regard. i will never support, condone, defend anybody's actions, whether they're words or actual actions, to defame or demoralize or take advantage of women in any way, shape or form. i want my daughters to understand that. i want america to understand that. and i am proud of the fact that, as a republican, i called out a republican. it's time for the democrats to actually call out a democrat. because this is not a party issue. this should be totally unacceptable. at the end of the day you still have to make a choice. >> congressman, the criticism you're getting is you condemn what donald trump said in that video, you condemn his behavior, you obviously condemn the clintons for that matter, but you're still going to vote for donald trump. >> yes. absolutely. >> a lot of people are wondering how can you do that, mitt romney, for example, says he can't vote for donald trump.

and i know he is a very close friend of yours. >> well, he -- he has his own vote. i am just trying to tell americans and my constituents in utah how i'm going to vote. public poll came out. i had the highest percentage. winning by 54 points in my district. i think i am representing my district well. i think they understand i'm not going to defend it. i am not going to condone it. i am not going to endorse it. but i don't think hillary clinton to be the president of the united states. she would be far worse long term in all of the major decisions, from the supreme court to jobs to foreign policy, to integrity. i think hillary clinton is the worst possible person to become the president. and so, i am trying to say, i hate that he said that, i hate that he thought that. but, at the same time, i've got this dilemma. it's a tough choice. but at the end of the day i think what -- mike pence is right. americans are coming home. they're coming home to the idea that we've got to change washington, d.c. i would love the idea of donald trump. i love that idea that somebody

from the outside will come in and look at this and change the way we do business in washington, d.c. so, i am, hey, if my endorsement mattered mitt romney would be the president of the united states. if my endorsement really mattered marco rubio would have been our nominee. but i am going to -- i am going to vote for our nominee. in fact, i did last week. and that is donald trump. >> i want to move on. but very quickly, what i hear you saying is -- correct me if i'm wrong -- the 12 women or so who have come forward and publicly said that donald trump did to them what he bragged about doing in that video, you don't believe those women. is that right? >> i don't know if they're telling the truth or not telling the truth. you hear the same thing about the clintons and what bill clinton has done. they're just lining up on that side of the aisle as well. assume that it's true and i hope that it's not. hope that it's not. you're still faced with this dilemma about who should sit in that oval office. and i don't trust -- and i think

the majority of americans, they don't trust hillary clinton. i think she is crooked. i think she is a liar. i think her and her team do everything they could to block the truth and enrich themselves. that's why i would never vote for her for president of the united states. >> you told the "washington post," and i am quoting now, even before we get to day one, we've got two years' worth of material already lined up to investigate hillary clinton. are you saying that, if she is elected, you're already planning to go after her as president-elect or president of the united states, maybe even for partisan purposes? >> no, not for partisan purposes, wolf. whether or not hillary clinton wins or loses, it doesn't matter. for four years she created one of the biggest messes in the state department. i think it's one of the biggest breaches of security in the history of the state department. we still don't have all the documents. you still have people -- career people at the state department saying they were operating a

quote-unquote shadow government. you read the fbi report. you see that there was supposedly quid pro quo discussions, all things we need to have on oversight. they haven't filled the freedom of information act which i have oversight on on the oversight committee. the list goes on and on. federal documents have been evidently destroyed. that's what the fbi concluded. and the migration of classified information into a non-classified setting. i would be derelict in my duty if i didn't follow up on that and provide the constitutional responsibility that i have. >> but i know you -- you know this as well as anybody knows this. the fbi director cleared her of any criminal wrong-doing. he said she was extremely careless, but he said there was no evidence, not enough evidence certainly, to recommend criminal charges. that's what he said in early july. i know you didn't accept that recommendation, but that was the recommendation of the fbi director going forward. but what i hear you saying in this interview with the

"washington post" is you're going to spend, if she is elected president, the next two years having hearings, investigations on hillary clinton. is that what are you saying? >> we have to fix the mess that she created at the state department. let's understand that last week the fbi changed that equation. so let me give you an example. the fbi had been giving us the 302s, the so-called investigative summaries of the interviews that they have been doing. but now they won't let us have them because the fbi is telling us this is now a pending matter. even though they told us in july that it was -- it was closed, that they had completed their investigation, now they're telling us it's an ongoing investigation. so the fact that they reopened the investigation -- and that's just about the e-mail situation. you have this whole other track over here about what was going on in the foundation. and so i didn't create this mess. it was the inspector general that gave the criminal referral to the fbi. and we have a constitutional

duty and responsibility as the tip of the spear on the checks and balances to oversee what is happening in these departments and agencies. hillary clinton created this mess. i am just here to help try to clean it up. >> if she is not elected president, are you still going to plan on having two years of hearings on her? >> yes. absolutely. i am guessing how long this is going to take. look at what we did with the secret service. elijah cummings and i came together in a very bipartisan way. we saw a mess that was happening in the secret service. that investigation and that cleanup still continues to this day. i am going to take that same philosophy and approach. i would hope the democrats would take off their partisan hats and understand you can't have classified information migrating to a non-classified setting. you can't have hundreds of federal records and put them in a different bucket and say we're going to treat these differently. you can't hire your personal attorney to determine what's a federal record and what's not

and bypass those who are career employees. with allegations of a quid pro quo, am i supposed to just ignore that and let it go? no. i am going to get to the truth of it and fix it so it never happens again. >> let me press you on one point, congressman. do you have hard evidence that there was, in fact, classified information from hillary clinton's private e-mail server that was found on anthony wiener's computer? >> no. we did send a preservation letter because there are numerous, now, media reports. and if that is the case, if it is there, then we want to make sure that department of justice preserves that information because congress is also at some point going to want to review it. so no. the only thing i know about the anthony wiener situation is what we've seen in the media, not something else they've given us in any way, shape or form. >> senator bob casey of pennsylvania wrote to the department of justice after white nationalist groups pledged to, quote, monitor the polls on

election day. something trump himself has encouraged. he told people to watch the polls and specifically singled out cities with high african-american populations such as philadelphia, chicago, st. louis, as places where he thinks the election, in his words, could be stolen from him. so why is donald trump pushing a narrative that's encouraging voter intimidation by these sort of -- these so-called white nationalists, some would call them racist groups? >> i hope that's not the case. i don't know many details of that. chicago has quite the reputation of voter fraud along the way, right or wrong. they have that reputation. look, i think it's important that coast to coast we are vij lant vigilant. i believe in the integrity of the system. when there is a declared winner we'll get behind that. the peaceful transition of power is something unique in the world

and i will stand behind it. >> congressman, thank you for joining us. >> thank you, wolf. we'll have all-day coverage of all the key races. stay with cnn until the last vote is cast and counted. up next, lawmakers demanding answers from the fbi in the revived investigation into clinton aide's e-mails. we have new information. donald trump's wife is speaking out about bullying. melania trump makes her first solo campaign appearance since the republican convention. support prop 51.

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teachers, nurses and firefightes support prop 51. prop 51 will upgrade libraries, science labs, and classroom technology and relieve school overcrowding creating more opportunity . . . and better learning for students help students succeed vote yes on 51. . this hour's breaking news. hillary clinton and donald trump, as well as their top surrogates crisscrossing the crucial battleground states. the latest polls show the presidential race neck and neck. just now clinton mocked trump's claim made earlier today that he has, quote, the greatest temperament. the campaigning playing out against the back drop of leaks. mark preston, hillary clinton's increasingly spending a lot more money in some of these so-called blue states.

colorado, wisconsin, michigan. why is it so critical at this late stage for the clintons to maintain the so-called blue wall? >> in many ways, they're seeing some movement in the polls. donald trump is starting to do better in those states. not even are they spending money. joe biden had been in wisconsin on friday. hillary clinton is in michigan on friday. bill clinton was in detroit. bernie sanders goes to colorado on saturday. wolf, if she starts to see territory right now in the blue states, then that means that she is overconfident at this point. and quite frankly, if she is starting to lose support in those states you have to wonder her level of support in the battleground states. >> north carolina all of a sudden critically important for both candidates. president obama won north carolina eight years ago, lost it four years ago. why is north carolina so important right now? >> for hillary clinton it's her fire wall. if she wins it, she blocks donald trump from winning.

his aides have talked about his path to the white house including that state. people are already voting there. it's one of the 37 or so states that have early voting. two million people have already cast their ballots. a lot of focus on the african-american vote there. they were so crucial in 2008 to president obama's victory there. in 2012 they over-performed every demographic in north carolina. 80% of eligible black voters in north carolina voted in 2012. it wasn't enough to ensure president obama's winning that state's 15 electoral votes. you have seen everyone there, right? you saw michelle obama there with hillary clinton, a huge rally at the campus of wake forest university. a lot of folks turned out. they are very much trying to win that state. it has about 100 counties, 80 of which are rural. those rural counties are where donald trump should really look to swell the vote if he stands a chance of winning there. our cnn poll of polls gives hillary clinton something like a four-point lead. they really want to nail that

down. >> in addition to the african-american vote there, the clinton campaign has been relying on these white, college-educated voters which barack obama didn't have to his advantage four years ago. they're hoping maybe that that will make up the difference. >> david, look at the new poll numbers from colorado and new hampshire. colorado, right now at 39% for hillary clinton, 39% for donald trump. take a look at new hampshire. clinton, 42%, trump, 42%. doesn't get any closer than that. >> that is true. it doesn't get closer than that. it probably won't surprise you, wolf, that the clinton campaign doesn't buy into those numbers in either of those states right now. they think that they have a little bit more of an edge than these polls are reflecting. nonetheless, i think this gets to the point mark was making, which is, remember, that blue wall, the states that are leaning -- that is her electoral college advantage. that is what has her, in our outlook, above 270. yes, they're going to fortify it.

that's because it is their success already. anything extra is bonus. so they're playing to get to 270. >> there is a new nbc poll that just came out that has hillary clinton just one point behind donald trump in georgia? >> in georgia. this is amazing to me. republicans, both around the trump campaign and inside the trump campaign, affiliated with the campaign, have been shouting from the rooftops lately, in the last month or so, we need to pay more attention to georgia. and yet the democrats don't see as much opportunity there as the republicans fear failure there. it's this odd moment. because you saw the clinton campaign made the decision to go into arizona, not georgia, because they didn't see it happening there. this public poll is fascinating. it actually confirms what a lot of republicans have been worried about for the last few weeks. >> rebecca, donald trump did something extraordinary. he sort of went public with his inner warnings that his advisors have been giving him when he said this. >> we've got to be nice and cool, nice and cool. right? stay on point, donald.

stay on point. no side-tracks, donald. nice and easy. nice. >> is this an indication he believes he can actually get to 270 electoral votes? >> it sounds like he is parroting something his advisors have been telling him. the fact that he's actually following their advice is significant because he hasn't done that for much of the campaign. i am sure republicans out there are willing he'd started following kellyanne conway's advice a little bit sooner. as we can see from the polling and the way the polls are tightening and especially the focus on clinton in much of the news discussion here and the public discussion, it's working for him right now. whenever donald trump is focused on policy -- and this is what republicans have been saying all along. they've basically been begging donald trump to please focus on policy. whenever he is focused on policy, on attacking hillary clinton, whenever the discussion publicly is focused on hillary clinton and not on donald trump,

you see the polls tighten. that's exactly what's happening right now. but i think it might be too late for donald trump to make up the ground that he needs to make up. as we have discussed over and over again this week, his path to 270 electoral votes, even as the polls are tightening, is still very narrow. if he wins in new hampshire, it's still a narrow path. if he can pull out a win in a state like michigan and wisconsin, where mike pence is campaigning today and this weekend, it would help. but still that is very unlikely. it might be too little, too late. the comment he made may be a preview of the next snl episode. i can see alec baldwin doing that impression. >> five days to go. let's see what happens. pamela brown, you have been following the fbi review of the hillary clinton e-mails that may have been found on anthony wiener's computer. is there any indication the fbi will release more details about this between now and election day? >> despite pressure on both

sides of the aisle, i am being told that's unlikely, wolf. they still have a ways to go in the process. it takes time. they have to go through the e-mails and determine classification with all the various agencies. they said they're not going to piecemeal it. and it's likely that will not happen until after the election. the question is, what if they find something after the election and come out with it? what then? >> who knows. >> impeachment according to some members of congress. >> that would be a major development. jeffrey, in the latest, cnn poll of polls, our average of the recent major polls, hillary clinton has a four-point lead over donald trump. it's more narrow than it was before, but it's still pretty significant, four points. what do you believe the impact of this renewed fbi investigation has been on the presidential race? >> you know, there is sort of a paradox out here. i mean, hillary clinton does appear to be leading all of the -- all of the people who do

percentage projections all say that she is the likely winner. but, at the same time, most of the clinton supporters i know are curled up in fetal positions underneath their desks because they're so worried that hillary clinton is going to lose. so i mean, i think the impact was bad. i mean, the fact that this announcement came out when it did, in violation of all justice department policy, it was a -- it was a negative thing for hillary clinton's campaign. the polls were tightening anyway, but it was -- it was a bad thing. how bad it was, that's obviously something we are not going to know until tuesday. >> all right. i am going to need everyone to stand by. we have a lot more to assess. donald trump's wife, melania, makes her first speech since last summer's republican convention and gives a preview of her priorities if, if she were to become the first lady.

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as we have seen donald trump's wife melania turned up on the campaign trail today. cnn's brian todd joins us now with more on the strategy behind her rare public appearance.

what are you learning, brian? >> wolf, we were told before the speech that mrs. trump would focus on her husband's leadership qualities and touch on family and her marriage. it was anticipated as an event that might humanize donald trump. but melania trump never got into her husband's personal conduct with women, which might have served to help with women voters who the campaign so desperately needed to reach. >> we love you too. >> reporter: melania trump is reluctantly stepping back onto the campaign stage. >> he certainly knows how to shake things up, doesn't he? >> reporter: her speech today in philadelphia's suburbs focusing on her love of her adopted country. she promised to help women who she says have suffered economically. >> with opportunity, women will advance and achieve. but some women have been left behind. i see that. we cannot call ourselves a fully developed or advanced nation when 50% of our women live in

poverty. >> reporter: she didn't address the accusations of sexual misconduct levelled at donald trump. she did not vouch for her husband's personal character with women. did this do anything to close that big electoral gap with women voters? >> it's important that we heard from melania trump. we haven't heard from her in a public setting like this since the convention. she did not offer the kind of personal endorsement about donald trump's treatment of women which has become such a big issue in this campaign. >> it's the first speech she has given on the trail since the disastrous night at the republican convention when mrs. trump was discovered to have plagiarized from a michelle obama speech. >> the only limit to your achievements is the strength of your dreams and your willingness to work for them. >> the only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work hard for them. >> reporter: melania trump went back into the shadows after that covered by her previous declaration that her priority

was caring for the couple son, barron. then the "access hollywood" tape and accusations from at least ten different women. allegations that trump has denied and forced melania to firmly defend him in an interview with cnn's anderson cooper. >> reporter: perhaps most ironic is that melania trump who has at times suggested she is unhappy with her husband's use of twitter to attack others says she'll combat cyber bullying. >> we have to find a better way to talk to each other, to disagree with each other, to respect each other. >> reporter: now, before the speech, cnn asked trump campaign manager kellyanne conway if melania trump would reference her husband's twitter wars, which she of course has chastised him for in the past. conway said since melania has done that, we know how she feels

about it and mrs. trump would not talk about her husband's twitter exchanges. wolf. >> what about melania trump giving additional speeches? that's been promised at least one or two more. what do we expect? >> reporter: donald trump promised that but a campaign source telling cnn that campaign officials wanted to add an event for melania in florida but so far it's not come to fruition. sources say she had reservations about getting back on the trail with this speech today. so i wouldn't necessarily look for that in the days ahead. >> thank very much. rebecca berg. you think melania trump should have been out there on the campaign trail more since the republican convention? >> she has made clear that she is a reluctant political spouse and this is not something that she necessarily asked for or wanted. but it's worth noting that she is not necessarily an effective surrogate for her husband in the way that some spouses are or have been. when you look at the favorability ratings of her versus political spouses over

the years, in modern times she actually rates the lowest, lower than teresa hines carrey, the second so she is not wildly popular. so maybe that's also part of her thinking here. >> she's also not very well known. i think that's part of the problem. but again, she's made different choices than michelle obama did. i think one of the problems, she doesn't -- she's not effective because she often speaks about her husband as if she's like the spokes model for her husband, like look at this product over here named donald trump. he will make america great again. so i think that usual job of having people make a connection with her husband in a way that you saw michelle obama do so effectively, michelle obama often served as sort of like the translator of her husband, which was so effective in 2007 and 2008 and so much now. and she's doing the same thing

for hillary clinton right now. >> let me play a little more what melania trump said about cyber bullying, then we'll discuss. >> our culture has gotten too mean and too rough, especially to children and teenagers. it is never okay when a 12-year-old girl or boy is mocked, bullied, or attacked. it is terrible when that happens on the playground, and it is absolutely unacceptable when it's done by someone with no name hiding on the internet. >> she was getting into some sensitive area, given donald trump's use of twitter, for example, going after those who have gone after him, for example. >> it's a bit ironic. >> you think? >> i've got to say, a lot of people think that was a play to suburban moms. but as a father of an 11 and 12-year-old and starting to see how social media is used and how it can be damaging, i'm okay with it.

the fact is, she can't control her husband, no one can control her husband. no one has ever been able to control her husband. but if he is to win, this is a noble thing for the first lady to do, because there is a pedestal. right behind us, you have quite the soap box to stand on, to try to tamp it down. because it really is getting out of control. >> is her appearance going to help with millennial voters? >> perhaps. it's so late in the cycle it's hard to see that happening. it's hard to see her necessarily really connecting with millennials. >> back to the point she's a reluctant surrogate. if you're reluctant and you don't want to be out there, you're not going to be that effective. she's made it clear this is not her thing. >> and it reflects in her speeches. she doesn't look like -- >> rebecca, bernie sanders going out and speaking with hillary clinton, pharrell williams at a

rally tonight. bernie sanders was very popular with the younger voters out there. >> absolutely. and pharrell, of course, a popular cultural figure that does well with millennials. i hope bernie gets to wear the pharrell hat. >> what a party that will be. >> do you think, jeffrey toobin, that will work for hillary clinton? >> can't hurt, right? she's got jay zee coming up. this is something democrats, you know, the republicans have a real hollywood gap, and whether that's something that they care about, they sort of take advantage of the fact that they are the people of the center of the country and the godless people on the coasts are the ones who are for the democrats. you know, it's a big party. the interesting thing to me is, you know, where is bruce springsteen? he's supported every democratic

candidate, including john kerry, including barack obama. where has he been? >> i don't know. >> good question. we'll try to find out. pamela brown, you just heard jason chaffetz tell me he's got enough material for two years worth of hearings for hillary clinton, whether she's elected or not. he's asked the justice department to make sure they don't destroy any evidence or documents. he wants access to all of it. >> it makes you wonder his end game if she is elected president. you can't be impeached for actions before you took office. the law is murky whether you can be indicted. now, the question remains, what if the fbi wraps up the investigation in these new e-mails and finds something, what then? but being indicted doesn't even mean a conviction. in that case, she could run out the clock until the inauguration.

so the question remains what the end goal is. of course, the republicans would want to feed into this perception that she's mired in scandal and so that is essentially what it seems like he's doing here. >> wolf, can i quarrel with -- >> go ahead. >> i mean, as i understand the constitution, high crimes and misdemeanors are whatever congress decides they are. so if they want to impeach her for something she did before she was president, i think they can. and i think you have members of congress who are already talking about this. this is really shaping up like the 1990s, where you'll have endless congressional investigations of a clinton administration, if there is one, and we'll see whether that gets any political advantage. it's a mixed bag for republicans, too. >> we're going to definitely have a lot more on this. we're counting down to the election day here in america. we'll have all-day coverage of all the key races. stay with cnn until the last

vote is cast and counted. coming up, much more on the breaking news. new polls show a very tight presidential race as the candidates and very high profile surrogates focus on a handful of crucial battleground states. the leader of isis urges the terror group to fight on as iraqi troops close in on the city of mosul.

happening now, breaking news. battleground barn storm. the presidential candidates and their top surrogates fan out across the country, trying to win over voters in critical states, likely to decide the election. tonight, donald trump and hillary clinton are both in north carolina about to hold duelling campaign rallies. who will take the state's crucial electoral votes tuesday? crunchtime. the trump and clinton campaigns are out with tough new ads, crunching the numbers as they decide where to put their resources in these the final days of the presidential race. with polls tightening across the board, what are the campaign's choices reveal? watching the vote. federal judges in north carolina and pennsylvania intervene amid concerns about