mosul. now five miles from the occupied city. the operation taking a horrifying turn. isis extremists slaughtering dozens of civilians in the streets. and at&t buying time warner for $85 billion. what does this mean for cnn? it is a big deal. good morning. welcome to "early start." i'm john berman. >> i'm christine romans. it is monday, october 24th. it is 5:00 a.m. in the east. let's begin in the fight for florida. early voting in the state gets under way in hours. donald trump and hillary clinton are running neck and neck in the battleground state. a new abc tracking poll putting clinton ahead by 12 points. even trump's campaign manager concedes it's an uphill battle. >> where do you see this race? do you acknowledge you are behind? >> we are behind. she has tremendous advantages.