watched georgia governor's race. tonight, the republican candidate, who's also the secretary of state, is accusing democrats of trying to hack the state's voter registration system. and breaking their silence, for the first time the sons of murdered journalist jamal khashoggi talk about their father's brutal killing. it's a cnn exclusive. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in the situation room. we begin with breaking news. the last-minute surprise in the closely watched georgia governor's race. the republican candidate brian kemp, who's also georgia's secretary of state, says there was, quote, a failed attempt to hack the state's voter

registration system saturday evening while offering no evidence or specifics. kemp's campaign says the georgia democratic party is now being investigated and that, quote, this was a fourth quarter hail mary pass that was intercepted in the end zone. thanks to the systems and protocols established by the secretary of state brian kemp, no personal information was breached, close quote. cnn's kaylee hartung is joining us live from augusta, georgia, where the democrat in this race has an event in the next hour. the democratic party says they didn't create or attempt to hack the system. so how is stacey abrams responding, first of all, to this investigation? >> reporter: yeah, that's right, wolf. the democratic party saying that these are scurrilous claims. they're 100% false. the democratic party did not create, discover, or attempt to take advantage of this deeply vulnerable system used by the secretary of state's office, as they say. this morning, stacey abrams was on "state of the union" with

jake tapper and reacted to the news of this investigation. >> i've heard nothing about it. my reaction would be that this is a desperate attempt on the part of my opponent to distract people from the fact that two different federal judges found him derelict in his duties and forced him to allow absentee ballots to be counted. those who are being held captive by the system to be allowed to vote. he's desperate to turn the conversation away from his failures, from his refusal to honor his commitments, and from the fact he's part of a nationwide system of voter suppression that will not work in this election. we're going to outwork him. we're going to outvote him. and we're going to win. >> reporter: wolf, you made the note the secretary of state's office is offering no evidence to explain why they're investigating the georgia democratic party in this probe, but the campaign being much more direct in saying that democrats tried to expose vulnerabilities. we have to delineate between

brian kemp and his capacity as secretary of state versus brian kemp gubernatorial candidate. they're trying to motivate their already polarized bases in the last two days before this election. >> all right, kaylee. thanks very much. i've got a group of political analysts here to discuss this and a whole lot more. joining us, mark preston, let's start with you right away. what do you think of this explosive 11th hour charge by the kemp campaign? >> well, without any evidence, i think that pulling a pin out and rolling a hand grenade into a group of people is really, really insane, unless there's some truth to it. the fact of the matter is they need to come up with evidence and need to come up with evidence now. i do hope however this is resolved, i hope it's clean. i hope if it did happen, that they cleanly can point to

evidence that it did happen. if, in fact, it didn't happen, they can point to that as well. otherwise, it's going to create this muddled water that donald trump has done so well the last couple years. >> julie, there's been a lot of criticism of kemp over these past several weeks. he's got two jobs, secretary of the state and running for governor. there could be a conflict. >> there's absolutely the potential of a conflict here. as secretary of state for georgia, he's the one that would have the evidence that mark speaks of here. he would have access to this kind of information. he's making a pretty explosive allegation, not providing any back-up material. it could backfire because it could expose this potential conflict, which has been at the center of stacey abrams' campaign on all of the ways that the access he has through this job could benefit his campaign unfairly. >> look, it is absolutely true, we know for a fact, that brian kemp's office sought to purge the voter rolls, which most republican secretaries of state do. they say there's a lot of people on here who shouldn't be, there's duplication, and he tried to get people whose signatures didn't directly match

to not be included in voting. both of those things have been overturned. i just -- and i'm echoing mark and julie here, but if you are going to say not only the election apparatus was attempted to be hacked but also democrats we know did it, you got to -- in my mind, that announcement has to come with the announcement of, and here's why we know. otherwise, you know, we've seen this all the time. an allegation gets made two days before the election, and ten days after the election, it wasn't anything. you know, that's the danger here where people feel as though they're being played with for purely political motives. if you know not only it was hacked but it was democrats, release the information. >> let's move on and talk about the florida governor's race. georgia is a critically sensitive republican/democratic race. florida as well. listen to the secretary of agriculture. he made a rather awkward comment when he was out campaigning for the republican candidate ron

desantis. listen to this. >> public policy matters. leadership matters. and that's why this election is so cotton-picking important in the state of florida. i hope you all don't mess it up. >> cotton picking important, in a race involving an african-american, the democratic candidate. >> someone who's a former governor of georgia, a former governor of any state, anybody should know better than to use that in a racially charged campaign with an african-american can datd. th -- candidate. this comes on the heels of the primary when the candidate, desantis, said on tv, let's not monkey around and get gillum elected. it comes on the same weekend the president draws the "h" in the air for barack h. obama. >> let me play some of those clips. listen closely to this. >> the last thing we need to do is to monkey this up by trying

to embrace a socialist agenda with huge tax increases and bankrupting the state. >> it's no surprise that joe donnelly is holding a rally this weekend with barack h. obama. >> h. >> i mean, it does not take a rocket scientist to figure out what's going on there. he's referred to barack obama any number of times in past speeches, and he didn't mention the "h," which his people watching know stands for hussein. in addition to david's point about abrams, donald trump has said that andrew gillum isn't qualified. the guy is mayor of tallahassee. you can argue whether a mayor is qualified, but it's hard to say he's totally unqualified. again, words matter. >> he said gillum is a thief. >> yes, words matter. when you use phrases like "cotton picking," when you say "monkey around," -- and this is

not an isolated incident. we know he does this, weaponizing race. what's the common thread among the three people i just named, barack obama, stacey abrams, and andrew gillum? it's not complicated. they're all african-american. donald trump knows that, knows how to walk the line so he's not outright saying it, but everyone in that audience knows he's talking about it. >> he's one half step away from outright at this point. it's hard to come away with a conclusion other than part of the republican closing argument here is division along racial lines. i will point out leader abrams, the former leader of the democratic leader of the georgia house, is a graduate of yale law school, the same law school that justice kavanaugh went to. president trump never mentioned his qualifications. >> just one other thing, if you're a trump supporter, tell me why it's important to mention barack obama's middle name in that context. what other reason could it be? >> i think it's important to delineate between trump's

closing argument and for a lot of republicans. this is not what they want to see, especially on the house side, because this is being fought in suburban districts where you have independent voters, more moderate republicans who are turned off by this. at the same time that trump may be riling up his base and encouraging his base to get out there and using racially charged language to do it, it is going to be turning off potentially a huge segment of the voting bloc that republicans need if they have any chance of keeping the house. >> you know, to that point, even to shift back to the georgia governor's race, we could see that in the atlanta suburbs, where the suburbs had been populated over the last 20, 25 years from folks who have transplanted from the north as corporations have moved down there because of better business environments. we're starting to see that now come to fruition wh. when people come in, they're starting to vote and bring down their northern values, so to speak, more liberal views. that's why we're seeing this new south, the potential for a new south with the likes of stacey abrams and andrew gillum on the

cusp of making history in both states. >> let me play this clip. this is stacey abrams. she's running as the democratic candidate for governor of georgia. this is what she told jake tapper earlier today. >> he's wrong. as president obama pointed out, i am the most qualified candidate running. if you look at both my academic background, my work history, i've been deputy city attorney. i was the democratic leader for seven years. i've been successful as a businesswoman, as a writer, and as a tax attorney. i know what i'm talking about, and i have the plans to prove it. >> so how do you explain the president simply saying she's unqualified? >> i mean, again, to go back to what chris is saying, it's hard to draw any other inference than he is looking at an african-american woman running and saying, this is a person where i can land the punch of unqualified without actually explicitly saying something racial. i will note that in that interview with jake this morning, stacey abrams didn't take the bait. i spoke to her campaign spokesperson earlier this

morning, and she also went directly to, look, we have a track record of working across the aisle on health care, on education, on other issues. they did not want to take the bait. they want to go down the stretch saying if the republicans are going to play this game, they're not going to get in. >> speaking of not necessarily qualified, donald trump, this is the first office he ever ran for. h he had been a businessman before. the qualifications we would traditionally associate with a politician, this is not someone who's ever had anything like that. so delineating it now given who we're talking about, given that race has been an issue, seems a little like funny business. >> the governor's races in florida and georgia, according to the polls, very, very close right now. we'll see what happens tuesday night. guys, thank you very much. coming up, two days until the midterms, and the control of the u.s. senate is down to about six states still considered toss-ups. we're going to zero in on which ones are crucial for democrats. we'll ask the chairman of the

party what it will take to win on tuesday. plus, a cnn exclusive interview with the two sons of the murdered saudi journalist jamal khashoggi. how they want to honor his legacy and why they still have faith, at least for now, in the saudi king. >> tech: at safelite autoglass, we really pride ourselves on making it easy to get your windshield fixed. >> teacher: let's turn in your science papers. >> tech vo: this teacher always puts her students first. >> student: i did mine on volcanoes. >> teacher: you did?! oh, i can't wait to read it. >> tech vo: so when she had auto glass damage... she chose safelite. with safelite, she could see exactly when we'd be there. >> teacher: you must be pascal. >> tech: yes ma'am. >> tech vo: saving her time... [honk, honk] >> kids: bye! >> tech vo: ...so she can save the science project. >> kids: whoa! >> kids vo: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace ♪ that last place was pretty nice. i don't like this whole thing.

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i'm takin' a nap. dude, you just woke up! ♪ ♪ i'm goin' up the country, baby don't you wanna go? ♪ ♪ i'm goin' up the country, baby don't you wanna go? ♪ geico motorcycle, great rates for great rides. president trump is headed to tennessee for his second rally of the day, part of a frenetic final get out the vote push. it's advantage republicans with key races in ten states that the president carried just two years ago. cnn's john king breaks it down.

>> for all the midterm talk of a big blue wave, it is advantage republicans, advantage to the president when you look at this map, the fight for control of the senate. why is that? this map has always been tilt the against the democrats because of the races at play this year. ten democratic incumbents seeking re-election in states the president won just two years ago, some of them by 20, 30, even 40 points. always a tough challenge for the democrats. can they get a senate majority? they can, but it's very difficult. we have it right now, 49 republican, 45 democrat. you see these six yellow states. those are our toss-up states heading into the final weekend. all of these very close, competitive races. here's the challenge for the democrats. if nothing else changed, they would have to run the board. the democrats would literally have to run the board in these states. pick them all. get florida, tennessee, indiana, missouri, nevada, arizona. that would get you 51-49. it is possible if the democrats have a huge night tuesday, they can retake the senate. but this is why that seems unlikely or at least extraordinarily difficult. in this scenario, republicans only have to hold tennessee,

where marsha blackburn has been narrowly ahead in the late polls. if of the six toss-ups republicans won only tennessee, nothing else changed, that would be a 50/50 senate. the vice president would break the tie. the republicans would still be in control. that's why it's so difficult as you look at this final map in these six states. republicans think they'll hold. they think they can build, add seats, even in a blue year. they think they can add seats. why? let's look at something here. in the house races, the president is a drag. in the senate races, arizona, nevada, florida, and tennessee, for example, four of the six toss-ups, look at this. the president's numbers. you may say that's not great. only in tennessee is his approval rating above 53%, but it's higher than the national average in all of these states. plus, it's up from our last poll in arizona, up from our last poll in nevada, up from our last poll in florida, up from our last poll in tennessee. late in the campaign when the president is focusing on the senate races, his standing in the states that matter is improving, which is why republicans think we may lose

the house, but we like this map. they think they'll hold, maybe gain, when itme comes to the senate. >> john king at the magic wall. nobody does it better. joining us now, chris van holland. senator, thanks so much for joining us. you say you have a narrow path to winning the senate. you just heard john's report. how do you think that will happen that there could be 51 democrats in the senate? >> wolf, it's good to be with you. the news for the senate democrats in this election is that we do have a narrow path to a senate majority. if you were to ask people 18 months ago whether we'd be in this strong a position, they would have laughed. republicans were talking about winning net eight seats, pickup in the united states senate, getting a phfilibuster proof majority. now we're competitive in a lot of these states trump won, and there's this narrow path forward. you have to hold plus two.

right now we've got about six, seven states that are toss-ups. the good news is the early vote numbers across the country are very positive. you've got a good turnout among democrats and independents. and younger voters are turning out in larger numbers than previous midterms. so we see good things in the early vote numbers. >> heidi heitkamp of north dakota, the democratic senate, she seems very vulnerable right now. the polls show she's at a serious disadvantage. >> wolf, one thing everybody learned six years ago is never count heidi heitkamp out. she was down ten points a week out in her last election. she came back, closed strong, and won. she's not ten points back now. it's much closer than that. so heidi heitkamp is somebody who fights every day for north dakota. i should say, wolf, in all the polling we've seen, all the

surveys, the issue that is top of mind for voters, and i mean across the board, is the issue of health security and making sure people are protected if they have pre-existing health conditions. republicans have spent the last two years trying to eliminate protections for people with p pre-existing conditions. >> what about the economy? the jobs numbers, 3.7% unemployment, 250,000 jobs, created in october alone. the markets are pretty stable, pretty good right now. isn't that a strong point for the republicans? >> well, wolf, i think if you look at any graph, you'll see the economy was on the rise during the obama administration. we were on a strong upward trajectory. in fact, if you look at real wages, real wages grew faster during the second obama term than they have so far in this trump term. that's because even though wages are going up, so are the costs

of things like health care. so if you're an american out there trying to make your way every day, it's really what's the purchasing power of your dollar. compared to the last four years, the obama administration has been good. most people are still struggling to get by. part of that struggle is making sure they're going to be protected on the health care front. when you've got republicans talking about taking away these protections for people with pre-existing conditions, that hits home. that's very personal. on top of that, you have the senate republican leader mitch mcconnell saying now that they ran up $2 trillion in debt with the big tax cut for corporations, they're going to come back and cut medicare and social security and medicaid. that doesn't play well either, understandably. >> yeah, that budget deficit is growing very significantly. could be a trillion dollars next year alone.

chris van holland, thanks for joining us. >> good to be with you. >> all right. a cnn exclusive interview coming up with the two sons of the slain journalist jamal khashoggi. why they think their father's remains will be found soon, and what it was like to meet the man who many believe actually ordered his killing. ♪ when the moon hits your eye ♪ ♪ like a big pizza pie, ♪ that's amore. ♪ when the world seems... ♪ applebee's new neighborhood pastas. now that's eatin' good in the neighborhood.

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a cnn exclusive. new tonight, two adult sons of the journalist jamal dhst akhas are speaking to cnn about their father's death. it's been more than a month since "the washington post" columnist walked into the saudi arabia consulate and disappeared. his body has not yet been recovered. the question whether the crown prince will be among those held accountable for the journalist's death remains unanswered. cnn's international diplomatic editor nic robertson is joining us now. you had a chance to personally speak with these two sons. what did they tell you? >> wolf, the first thing that impacts you when you speak to them, and i spoke to them extensively, is the emotional toll it's taken on them. the younger one has lost a lot of weight. his older brother very deep set in the eyes. you can tell this has taken a heavy emotional toll. we began by talking about all the mystery, what it is they

actually know. >> it is a mystery. this is putting a lot of burden on us, all of us. everybody is seeking information, just as we do. they think that we have answers. unfortunately, we don't. >> abdullah, we've heard from the turkish government that have said they believe that your father walked into the consulate, that he was choked, that he was then killed. from the saudi government, we understand that he was killed. >> until now, it's vague, the details of what happened inside. as you know, the media, twitter, tv stations, everybody's telling a different story. for me, i'm trying to simplify

it as much as possible that he died, yeah. as simple as that. >> and you were the last one of your father's children to see him. you saw him two months ago in turkey. how was he then? >> he was happy. it was a very good opportunity for me to see him. we hung out in istanbul. we had fun. i think i was really lucky to have that last moment with him. >> how has all this been on your family, on your mother and your sisters? >> it is -- it's difficult. like, it's not easy, especially when the story gets this big. it's not an easy -- it's confusing. even the way we grieve, it's a bit confusing. we're grieving. at the same time, we're looking at the media and the

misinformation. there's a lot of ups and down. it's not a normal situation. like, it's not normal at all. >> all we want right now is to bury him with the rest of his family. >> in saudi arabia. >> in saudi arabia, yes. i talked about that with the saudi authorities. i just hope that it happens soon. >> but you need to find -- somebody needs to find his body. >> yes. i believe this issue is about . >> what do you place your hope in? >> in islamic tradition. it's not only islamic, it's basic humanitarian issue.

we just need to make sure that he rests in peace. until now, i still can't believe he's dead. i know -- i mean, it's not sinking in with me emotionally. he has deceased, for sure, but the emotional burden that's coming with the puzzle is really -- >> when you went into your father's apartment here in the united states, you discovered something that made you realize just how important you, his grandchildren were to him. >> yeah, i think going to his apartment, that was maybe the most emotional moment i had, like in these past days. this picture, especially. it was next to his bed stand --

next to his bed. his grandchildren, that's the last thing he looked at before he goes to bed. that shocked me. not shock, but it showed a new -- not new, it put an everyo emphasis on his gentle, tender side. >> the last thing he would see at night is his zbragrandchildr and he put that there so he would see it. >> yeah, it's just something huge. it touched me personally. >> what are you proudest of? >> he's always said the truth like a basic human. just a good person, as simple as that. he was very brave. he was always out there. for me, he was like a rock and roll star as a journalist. >> he was sort of pushing the system a bit. >> yeah, and he's always

pushing. he was always -- yeah, he was brave. >> there have been people who have been trying to sort of create a different impression about him, a different legacy, allegations he was sort of supporting the muslim brotherhood. >> i don't believe so. >> i used to tease him. the last time i was in turkey, i used to tease him like, oh, i read this on twitter. they're saying you're muslim brotherhood. where is your beard? he laughs and goes in details. i'm not muslim brotherhood because of this, this, this. >> he said that to you? >> yeah. it's just labels or just people not doing their homework properly, reading his article, going in depth. so it's just easier for them to stick a label on him. you're that, you're that, you're that. >> can you tell us about that meeting with the crown prince and the king? >> in that meeting with the king

and the crown prince, when i went there with my uncle, the king has stressed that everybody involved will be brought to justice. i have faith in that. this will happen. >> you're placing your faith in the king? >> yes. >> in your heart of hearts, what do you think happened? >> something bad happened. but i really hope that whatever happened, it was just -- it wasn't painful for him or something like that. it was quick, or he had a peaceful death. that's what i wish for. >> i'm not sure. i'm just waiting for the facts to come out. for me, it's just death. i know that he's dead. all i'm waiting for is the investigation to be over so the

facts can turn out. >> how do you think your father would want to be remembered? >> as a moderate man who has common barriers with everyone. genuine, honest, a man who loved his country, who believed so much in it and its potential. jamal was never a dissident. he believed in the monarchy, that it is the thing that is keeping the country together. he believed in the transformation that it is going through. that's how he should be remembered. >> nic, thanks for doing that interview. clearly, these two sons want the body, they want a proper islamic burial. there were 15 saudis in that consulate. they know where the body is. >> and the sons know that too. they know that, but they are

careful and cautious about what they say. salah is a banker in saudi arabia. he's planning to go back. he believes his life is there. so you understand that these men are cautious despite all the trauma they've been through. you see it on their faces. they want to try to pick up their lives, but they want their father respected and remembered and not sort of a political football. for them, they're family. it's personal. it's about the man that they know and they feel that his memory is being hijacked. >> all right. deepest condolences go out to the khashoggi family and those sons, all their family. thanks so much, nic. good work. nic robertson reporting for us. let's get back to the midterm elections on tuesday. candidates and some a-list surrogates are making a last-ditch pitch to voters across the country in the final hours before election day. so how are voters responding? we're going live to texas. leave me for schwab,i knoo but before you do that, you should meet our newest team member, tecky.

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it's the final stretch of the texas senate race as democratic congressman beto o'rourke tries to upset the republican incumbent, senator ted cruz. this is one of the most intense midterm races in the country. the latest quinnipiac university

poll shows cruz leading o'rourke 51% to 46%. cruz is crisscrossing the state this weekend. o'rourke spent the day in austin. he'll finish out the week in san antonio. that's where cnn's ed lavandera is standing by. how are the candidates spending these last couple days before the election? >> reporter: well, wolf, both campaigns know that this is really going to boil down to turnout, and they're going after their most ardent supporters to make sure they can turn out the vote. that's beto o'rourke you see behind me on stage in a club just north of downtown san antonio. he's been walking neighborhoods, talking to people, and this is a fascinating thing to see, wolf. some 21 months ago when beto o'rourke kicked off this campaign for texas senate, he was a virtually unknown congressman from the town of el paso. these are the kind of crowds that are greeting him now as he is trying to essentially rewrite the political landscape here in

texas. we've asked o'rourke repeatedly on the campaign trail over the last few weeks about the polls out there that have consistently shown him behind ted cruz. republicans believe the math is simply on their side, that there are far more conservative voters in texas that will turn out for ted cruz, but beto o'rourke is banking on the simple idea that the polls are not capturing the support and the enthusiasm that his team has been able to generate over the course of the last year and a half. they've spent a great deal of time focusing on younger voters. they're also focusing on the suburbs of houston and dallas as well as latinos in this state. they're hoping to send shock waves across the country on election night. as you can imagine, if beto o'rourke would become the first democrat to win statewide office in this state in nearly 25 years, that would be a monumental achievement. ted cruz, though, very adamant. you talk to his supporters, they feel like they have this texas senate race in the bag.

as i mentioned before, they believe there's just more conservative voters in this state. cruz has gone repeatedly throughout the weekend, trying to paint beto o'rourke as too radical, too liberal for texas. interestingly enough, when you hear beto o'rourke talk, he's rarely speaking about ted cruz and president trump. this is a sample of the kind of crowds that have been turning out for him. >> ed lavandera on the trail for us. thank you very much. coming up, georgia's republican secretary of state says he believes state democrats tried to hack the voting system. what's more, he's also running for office. i'll speak with a member of the republican governor's association. vo: you're feeling the squeeze.

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is the only candidate endorsed by classroom teachers and the california democratic party. because tony will stand up to the donald trump-betsy devos agenda and has always protected our local public schools. join me in voting for tony thurmond. let's put our kids first. less than 48 hours before gaga voters head to the polls, the office of the secretary of state brian kemp who is also the republican candidate for governor announced they will investigate the state's democratic party after a failed hacking attempt. kemp is locked in a dead heat now with democratic candidate stacey abrams. kemp's communications director released this statement. i'm quoting now. this is a fourth quarter hail mary that was intercepted in the

end zone. no personal information was breached. the georgia democratic party fired back in a statement saying, and once again, i'm quoting, this political stubt from kemp just days before the election is yet another example of why he cannot be trusted and should not be overseeing an election in which he is also a candidate for governor. i want to bring in governor asa hutchinson from arkansas, he silts on the republican committee of the republican governor's association up for reelection himself on tuesday. it is al qaewkward, governor, f person running to be challenging his opponent in this way. don't you think? >> well, any last-minute breaking news in a campaign is met with a great deal of skepticism by the voting public. here we're two days out. and so everybody is going to wait for more information till tomorrow. but i don't see this as swinging the election one way or the other. it sounds to me like that the democrats are trying to probe the system to see if there is

any faults that they could blame on the secretary of state, and the secretary of state's system caught it. we'll see more tomorrow on that. i think the key difference in the race is going to be president trump coming in this evening for a rally in support of mr. kemp. whenever you see georgia has been in good hands with governor deal, i think the burden of proof is on the democrat candidate, miss abrams, to say we ought to change. and the economy is strong. you had governor deal that did a good job, so i think it leans in the republican direction. >> we may not know for days or weeks after the election. the election is on tuesday. don't you think it would have been appropriate -- you're a sitting governor -- for the secretary of state who is the republican gubernatorial candidate temporarily to recuse himself from this kind of election monitoring because he's got a bias right now, a very personal bias? >> well, we don't have enough facts to make that judgment, but that is the responsibility of

the secretary of state to assure the integrity of the elections. let's see how that develops. but like i said, i really don't see that as a significant development two days before the campaign, before the election. people are going to view it with skepticism. they're going to probably set it aside and make the judgment on a lot of other issues including the economy versus that. again, i think president trump will give some increased momentum there in georgia and i think that will be the defining difference. >> yeah, he may alienate some voters as well. independent, suburban women, younger voters. i'm not necessarily saying -- this is very close contest right now and there's a lot of people who probably are not very excited by the president coming into georgia during this final day. let's see what happens. the race right now, by all accounts, all the polls show it is razor thin. it's very, very close right now. the criticism of kemp has been that he was engaged as secretary

of state in suppression of voters, especially minority voters. and that's a big issue right now. so, once again, it's awkward at a minimum that he's involved in this investigation, even as he's running for governor. >> without any doubt. obviously when you're on the ballot, you're running, that makes it awkward. you look at kansas. you had the secretary of state in the primary, was also overseeing a recount. and so udrih cuesyou had recusa there. a secretary of state running for governor, you've got to do your job and constitutionally fulfill those responsibilities. i do expect more information to come out tomorrow, and it could be, again, that you're trying to catch the secretary of state in a fault. it didn't work. they had the systems in place. and so it could just simply be a one-day news cycle story and you move on from there. it's not the most ideal

circumstances for anybody, but that's the nature of it when you've got secretary of state responsible for the election system. >> it is awkward. take a look at the attorney general of the united states, jeff sessions. he recused himself because he had a personal stake in the russia investigation. obviously the president wasn't happy with that recusal, as we all know. we'll see what happens tomorrow. governor asa hutchinson of arkansas, always good to speak with you. thanks so much for joining us. >> good to be with you, wolf. >> all right. stick with cnn on election day. we're going to bring you all the key races with up to the minute results. our special live coverage starts tuesday, 5:00 p.m. eastern, right here on cnn. we'll be right back. ♪

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happening now, presidential push. president trump and former president obama both on the campaign trail tonight rallying their bases ahead of the high stakes and historic midterm election. now only two days away. hack attack? georgia's gop candidate for governor brian kemp accusing democrats of trying to break into the state's voter registration system. kemp himself is in charge of elections there and now wants his political rivals investigated. and count down to sanctions. angry protests in iran ahead of the return of punishing u.s. penalties set to take effect