Transcripts For CNNW Situation Room With Wolf Blitzer 20171107

From the kim regimes doorstep. Well get reaction in a live report this hour from inside north korea. Its a cnn exclusive. And calling it insane. President trumps nominee for a top pentagon post speaks out about the texas church massacre, saying its insane that a civilian can buy a semiautomatic weapon like the one the gunman used. Tonight, were learning new details about his disturbing past, including his escape from a Mental Health center. We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. Im wolf blitzer. Youre in the situation room. Announcer this is cnn breaking news. Breaking news tonight, the final ballots are being cast in an election seen as a test of President Trumps popularity and influence amid his plummeting Approval Rating. Polls close right at the top of the next hour, where voters are choosing their next governor. President trump has been tweeting support of republican candidate, ed gillespie, who shares many positions with the president , but has kept his distance from him, as well. Tonight, President Trump also is in south korea, where hell deliver a major primetime address from the countrys national spleassembly, just a f dozen miles from the border with north korea. The president has taken a much less fiery tone toward the kim jongun regime since arriving in south korea and is expected to use his speech tonight to reassure the country hes committed to preventing war. And there are new questions emerging tonight about the Trump Campaigns relations with russia, following the release of testimony by former Foreign Policy adviser, carter page, before the house splenlintellig committee. Page revealed previously unknown contacts he had with russian officials during that 2016 trip to moscow and he testified he told top Campaign Officials all about that. Were covering all of that, much more this hour with our guests, including the top democrat on the Senate Foreign relations committee, senator ben cardin. And our correspondents and specialists are also standing by. But rest begin with President Trumps major primetime speech in south korea, scheduled to begin in just a few hours. Our white house correspondent, sara murray, is traveling with the president. Shes in seoul. Sara, ahead of the president s speech, the president is now talking negotiations rather than war. Reporter thats right, wolf. And all the more reason people are going to be closely parsing the president s words in this address. Will we get this bombastic President Trump were used to seeing stateside, or the more measured tone weve heard from him in the last 24 hours . North korea is a worldwide threat that requires worldwide action. Reporter President Trump aiming to send a muscular signal to north korea. The United States stands prepared to defend itself and its allies, using the full range of our unmatched military capabilities if need be. Reporter even as the commander in chief known for his fiery rhetoric dialed it back in a visit to the nation with the most at stake. That being said, i really believe that it makes sense for north korea to come to the table and to make a deal thats good for the people of north korea and the people of the world. Reporter appearing alongside south korean president , moon jaein, after the two men shared tea with their wives and took part in a ceremonial friendship walk, trump offered a rosier take on diplomatic efforts. We sent three of the largest aircraft carriers in the world and theyre right now positioned. We have a Nuclear Submarine also positioned. We have many things happening that we hope, we hope in fact, ill go a step further we hope to god we never have to use. Reporter for a president who once took to twitter to suggest his secretary of state was wasting his time trying to negotiate with little rocket man, it was a sharp change in tone. There was no taunting north Korean Leader kim jongun with disparaging nicknames, no threats of fire and fury. Though the president did leap at the opportunity to blame his predecessors for the diplomatic conundrum he now faces. This is a problem, by the way, that should have been done over the last 25 years, not now. This is not the right time to be doing it. But thats what i got. Thats what i got. Reporter but even with his attention trained on international threats, trump wasnt able to avoid questions about the latest horror at home. Well, you know, youre bringing up a situation that probably shouldnt be discussed too much right now. We could let a little time go by. But its okay, if you feel that thats an appropriate question. Reporter trump didnt acknowledge the air forces admission that it failed to inform the fbi of the killers Domestic Violence conviction. And he insisted additional gun control measures wouldnt have prevented the mass shooting at a texas church. There would have been no difference three days ago. And you might not have had that very brave person who happened to have a gun or a rifle in his truck go out and shoot him and hit him and neutralize him. And i can only say this. If he didnt have a gun, instead of having 26 dead, you would have had hundreds more dead. Reporter now, this is a president who certainly has not shied away from setting off policy debates in the wake of other tragedies. But he certainly seemed reluctant to weigh in on the issue of gun control. Back to you, wolf. Sarah, thanks very much. Sara murray traveling with the president in seoul, south korea. Were also following new developments in the congressional investigations into Russian Election interference. Lets go to our senior congressional correspondent, manu raju, hes up on capitol hill with late developing information. Manu, newly released testimony by Trump Campaign adviser, carter page, raising lots and lots of new questions. Reporter no question about it. This after carter page had said publicly for months that his trip to moscow last month was not campaign related and he did not meet with any Campaign Officials. Turns out that he did interact with at least one senior kremlin official and he kept senior Trump Officials in the loop about his trip. At the same time at this hour, wolf, one of President Trumps closest confidants is getting grilled behind the scenes. Tonight, the congressional investigations into russia meddling move closer to President Trump. His longtime body man, keith schiller, grilled today by house investigators about trumps interactions with russians before he became president. As well as the president s firing of fbi director, james comey. When it happened, cnn captured the moment schiller delivered the letter to the fbi. And the president s eldest son, donald trump jr. , soon could have his turn to answer questions about his june 2016 meeting at trump tower, where russians promised dirt on the clinton campaign. The russian lawyer at the meeting suggested this week that trump jr. Signaled his father was open to rethinking russian sanctions, if elected. Something that has drawn attention on capitol hill. Whats your reaction to that . Well, weve still got a couple of additional people to talk to. And then we hope to talk to mr. Donald trump jr. Reporter and when do you think that may happen . Soon. Reporter at the same time, carter page, a former Trump Campaign Foreign Policy adviser, once again in the spotlight after the House Intelligence Committee released more than 200 pages of his testimony from last week. Many questions centered on a july 2016 trip he took to moscow. It was terrific to have the opportunity to help clear the record. Reporter page had repeatedly said that his trip to moscow was not campaign related. And he didnt meet with any russian officials. You say you only met with academics, essentially, when you were on your trip to russia . And a few Business People who id known for over a decade, yeah. But pages testimony tells a different story. Saying he interacted with the Russian Deputy Prime Minister, vorkovich, and he wrote an email to the Trump Campaign last july that he gained some incredible insights and outreach from a few russian legislators and senior members of the president S Administration here. He even floated the idea that trump traveled to russia. And he acknowledged a meeting with a Top Executive of an energy giant, rosnef. And he acknowledged that he met with another executive on that trip in an attempt to broker a deal to ease sanctions. But page denies hes part of any quid pro quo with the company. He also told Campaign Officials about his moscow trip, including campaign manager, corey lewandowski. Hope hicks, who is now the communications director. And Jeff Sessions, now the attorney general. Asked if he spoke with national cochairman sam clovis after his trip, page said, i did. Now, wolf, no comment tonight from sam clovis or the attorney general, Jeff Sessions. And were still awaiting whether or not hope hicks has any comment about the interaction with carter page, as well as corey lewandowski, but we did get a response from j. D. Gordon, who was one of the National Security advisers who did get one of those carter page emails. And he told me pretty clearly that he actually tried to reject notion of carter page going to mosc moscow. He said it was a bad idea. But he said that carter page actually went around his back and got approval from other senior people within the Trump Campaign, and carter page himself, wolf, came before this Committee Without an attorney. He did not turn over documents to this committee, but he has recently spoken with bob mueller as well as the fbi several timd. And of course he denies that he was involved in any collusion with the russians, wolf. All right. Manu, thanks very much. Manu raju reporting for us. Lets get some more on all of this. Democratic senator ben cardin of maryland is joining us. Hes the Ranking Member on the Senate Foreign relations committee. Senator, thanks for joining us. Wolf, its good to be with you. Is this, what we just heard, is this evidence of collusion . Well, its certainly very troublesome. We know that there is direct contact and we know that donald trump jr. Talks about, perhaps the russian sanctions issue. So these are very troublesome contacts and we need to see what the investigation comes forward. When do you believe that President Trump himself may have learned about this coordinated russian outreach . Well, we dont know that. We dont know exactly how much was shared, with donald trump himself. We know that a lot of people around him knew about these meetings. They previously denied any knowledge. Now we know that they were in the loop. This clearly needs further investigations. How does carter pages testimony, and weve now read the transcript of that testimony, help explain what weve already learned from the George Papadopoulos guilty plea and the charges against Paul Manafort and rick gates, other top trump Campaign Officials, Paul Manafort was the campaign chairman. Well, here we have another Person Associated with the Trump Campaign, carter page, who met with russian officials. The Trump Campaign came up during that discussion. One would believe that russia thought that the Trump Administration would be more favorable to their cause. That raises more concerns. Does carter pages testimony from your assessment, senator, confirm more of that socalled russia dossier . Yes. I mean, i think it points out that there was numerous contacts made by russia, that russia had a game plan to influence our election, certainly affect the credibility of our election. We dont know exactly how much cooperation they got from the trump people, but we know that russia was actively engaged and now we know a lot more about it. The former cia director, john brennan, said back in may that and im quoting him now, people who go along a treasonous path do not know they are in a treasonous path until it is too late, closed quote. In your opinion, senator, does that statement and its a tough state, the word treason is obviously very powerful, apply to any people within the trump orbit . I think youve got to be very naive to believe that russia was just innocently involved in learning about our campaign. Theyve had design to affect our way of life, our democracy and americans should understand that in cooperating with russia, its not in the interests of the country, and it could very well be against our laws. I mean, when he uses the word treasonous, senator and hes a former cia director during the Obama Administration the question jumps out in my mind, what does he know . What is he signaling . I assume the same as far as youre concerned . Oh, absolutely. Thats why we think the mueller investigation, the Intelligence Committee and their investigations must be allowed to follow all the information, anyone who is accountable, we need to know about it. Cnn has now reported that the current cia director, mike pompeo, met with someone who argues that the Democratic National Committee Hack was really an inside job, flatly contradicting the conclusion of the u. S. Intelligence community that russia was behind the meddling in the president ial election, the Cyber Attacks, the hacking, and that meeting came at the request of President Trump, himself. Is that appropriate, do you believe for the president to have asked the cia director to go ahead and speak with this individual who believes that it was an inside job rather than russia . We know that the Cyber Attacks that we saw during this past campaign originated from russia. They used private contractors to get information, to use against our own elections. That has been confirmed by numerous sources within the intelligence community. Senator cardin, thanks, as usual, for joining us. Thank you, wolf. Just ahead, its Election Night 2017, as President Trumps popularity reaches new lows. Is that exacting the voting . The first polls are closing soon in virginia, where were watching a key race for governor. [vo] quickbooks introduces jeanette and her new mobile wedding business. At first, getting paid was tough. Until she got quickbooks. Now she sends invoices, sees when theyve been viewed andtadahpaid twice as fast for free. Visit quickbooksdotcom. Youve probably seen me running all over the country in search of our big idaho potato truck. But not any more. I am done with that. Ooh, ooh hot just gonna stay home on the farm, eat a beautiful idaho potato, and watch tv with my dog. Tv anncr the big idaho potato truck pulled into town today and its really a sight to see. Oh man. Lets go. distant you comin, boy . Sfx dog gulp woof. My ci can worry about it,ine. Or do something about it. Garlique® helps maintain healthy cholesterol naturally. And its odor free. And pharmacist recommended. Garlique. ® its Election Night 2017. Were following breaking news. Polls clues soon in virginia, where the very closely watched governors race is seen as a test of President Trumps impact as his Approval Rating hits a new low in our cnn polling. Cnns ryan nobles is covering the campaign of republican candidate, ed gillespie. Ryan, it didnt appear once with President Trump during the campaign. Reporter yeah, thats right, wolf. And quite frankly, this is a race that even republicans know that they are not expected to win. But somehow, ed gillespie, the former aide to george w. Bush, has found a way to close the gap here in the closing days of this campaign. And you make a good point, wolf. Ed gillespie found a way to distance himself from donald trump. He walked a very tight line with the president , embracing many of his policies without necessarily embracing the president himself. His Campaign Making the decision not to campaign with President Trump, even at the last minute. So now gillespie hoping that a lastminute push from the president through direct mail pieces and a robo call will get trump voters to the polls, while at the same time, not alienating some moderate republicans and independent voters that may not necessarily support the president. Now, ed gillespie has spent all day working the polls across virginia. Were told that hes just outside richmond right now in hannover county, talking to voters right up until the last minute. He will end up here at a hilton hotel in the suburb of shore punk outside richmond to watch the returns with his family. His aides acknowledge to me tonight that even though they believe that he can win, that pretty much every scenario has to break in his favor in order to cross the finish line with a victory. But they believe right now is a look at the exit polls and the returns and the voter turnout that that possibility is certainly something that could happen. Wolf . All right. Ryan, thanks very much. Ryan nobles reporting. Lets get to the democratic candidate, the Lieutenant Governor, Ralph Northam. Brianna keilar is working that part of the story for house. Brianna, northam says this is a bel bellwether election. Reporter thats right, and so Many Democrats support him. Operatives feel exactly the same way, wolf, that this is really a test case. And thats the point theyre trying to make, especially as donald trump showing his support with robo calls with gillespie, theyre hoping that thats something that actually will motivate democratic voters. But they just dont know at this point. And we are here in fairfax, virginia, at the northam headquarters. The beers are on ice already in the hallway. Volunteers getting ready to come in. Pretty empty at this point in time, although governor mcauliffe was working the room earlier. And you know, this really is a night where even though you have democrats looking at turnout, hoping that its going to go their way, whetherwise, this is a terrible day here in virginia. Cold, rainy, and you could almost argue that it matches the bitter tone that we have seen in this race. Of course, democrats are hoping thats not going to impact the turnout and that things are going to swing their way. Theyre feeling pretty good, but this is very, very competitive, wolf. So this is nail bight tibiting. Certainly is, brianna. Thanks very much. Just ahead, well have much more of our special coverage from Election Night 2017. A year after sending donald trump to the white house, how do voters feel about him right now . Some critical races may give us a clue. And ahead of a major speech hell be delivering later tonight in south korea, President Trump is toning down his rhetoric about kim jongun. Were going live to north korea for reaction in a cnn situation room exclusive. Ah, dinner. Throughout history, the one meal when we come together, break bread, share our day and connect as a family. [ bloop, clicking ] and connect, as a family. Just, uh one second voice guy. [ bloop ] huh . Hey . I paused it. Bam, family time. So how is everyone . Find your awesome with xfinity xfi and change the way you wifi. Breaking news on Election Night 2017. Were standing by for the first results from the governors race in virginia, where polls close right at the top of the hour. Its a contest seen as a sort of a gauge of the impact President Trump will have on next years critical midterm elections. Lets bring in our analyst. Gloria, lets start with you. The president s approval numbers, as we know, hit a new low. The favorable view of democrats, though, also hit a 25year low, as well. So how does that play out in tonights election . Nobody much likes either party. I think were seeing that in the early exit polls in virginia. Whats interesting about the early exit polls were seeing in virginia is that 49 of the folks this far have said that trump is not a factor was not a factor in this race. That opposing him only 32 said they came out to oppose donald trump, but almost 50 said, no. So his Approval Rating is only about 40something percent in the state, low 40s percent. So there is this inescapable backdrop to this election, which is that voters are dissatisfied with both parties. And that donald trump is kind of the elephant in the room here, for both of these candidates. And the democrat has tried to tie the republican, ed gillespie, to donald trump as much as he can. Ed gillespie has embraced him on cultural issues, but hasnt invited him to the state to appear for him. Not yet. Theres not much time left. Though. Maybe, what, a half an hour . If that. The president is far away. Hes in seoul, south korea. What are you looking for tonight, rebecca . Wolf, wii think this is goin to tell us a lot potentially about how both parties are running for office in the age of donald trump. On the democratic side, the question many of us are asking is will the antitrump feeling among democrats buoy northam, as much as potentially democrats have expected their candidates to be buoyed. And on the republican side, does donald trump act as sort of an anchor around the neck of someone like ed gillespie or republicans in general moving into 2018 and the midterm elections. What we have seen, though, is that ed gillespie has embraced donald trump in many ways. Has tried to harness the support among the Republican Base for donald trump, which is really counter to the conventional wisdom that a lot of us have been hearing in democratic and republican circles. And he picked an issue. The issue that he has pushed in his advertisements as much as possible is antiimmigration cities, antiantiimmigration, threats of gang violence, none of which are particularly relevant to virginia. There are no sanctuary cities, but it is a cultural issue that is very much in the trump wheelhouse. And the question is, will that work. I think thats going to be if it works, if gillespie wins an upset victory, i think next year, you are going to hear so much about sanctuary cities from republican candidates everywhere. Also, the nfl, taking a knee. Right. That became an issue. So you have this establishment republican who has suddenly become a cultural conservative in the era of donald trump. How do you see it . If democrats cant have success tonight, theyre going to have to really reevaluate. A state where at the president ial level, theyve had success in the last three president ials, a diverse state, a big state that theyve trended towards blue, theyll have to say to themselves, we need better candidates, a better platform, better everything at the northam has a wonderful resume. I mean, this guys a physician, he has, you know, impeccable character. Hes been pretty boring, as a candidate. Yeah, hes not a good retail population. Hes not. But its hard to imagine a better resume for an electorate that doesnt much care for politicians. Well, thats right. Because hes against a washington, d. C. Lobbyist, who also happened to be, of course, the head of the rnc and a Senior Adviser to both w. Bush and mitt romney. But, so he is establishment, but also the sort of lobbyist, whom, by the way, donald trump is supporting in this race. In our new poll, you know, jeffrey, we said, we see that 44 of the american people, according to our poll, are very concerned about russia right now. And now weve got the transcript of carter page, a Foreign Policy adviser to the Trump Campaign, providing some new details about his contacts, his visit to moscow, meeting not just with a bunch of academics, the deputy Prime Minister and then reporting back to senior trump Campaign Officials about that, which was something that so many of them earlier denied. Well, whats so peculiar about how all of these trump Campaign Officials have behaved, from Jeff Sessions on down, is that they have all, lets put it politely, dissembled about their conduct their contacts. However, it should be pointed out, carter page, Jeff Sessions, all the rest of them, its not illegal. I mean, its not illegal to talk to russians during the campaign. So the fact that all of them have not been fully forthcoming is just, you know, an example of how washington scandals always work. Which is that the underlying issue often gets swallowed up into an issue of whos telling the truth. Rebecca, how do you see it . Well, agree with you, jeffrey. I mean, you have to look at the statements that have been made over the course of this whole controversy and how they stack up with what were learning now. And there are major inconsistencies and the public is going to see that and start to recognize that. And that starts to play into the Public Opinion of this. There was another Major Development today, when i say major, i mean, Major Development. Twitter now doubling the character limit on tweets from 140 characters to 280 characters. A pretty Significant Development right now. Yeah, two things. First of all, i consider this a sacrilege, wolf. Its like turning haikus to 34 syllables. Its a bad idea, in my opinion. As far as the president goes, look, if hes had success with these, its because hes been able to be succinct and punching. I dont know if hell be able to do that as effectively if he has more running room on these. The good news is, my mentions, theyll be able to Say Something other than im a moron and im an idiot. Theres more room for criticism, i think. And the bad news is well waste twice as much time on twitter. You dont have to go the full length. You can keep it to 140, even though you have you know, you can go up to 200 and the president is known for moderation. Sometimes when the limit was 140, he would have two or three tweets in a row and he would continue. Tweet storm. We get the point. Everybody, stand by. Much more ahead here in the situation room. Our breaking News Coverage of Election Night 2017 continues. Plus, a cnn exclusive. Well go live to north Koreas Capital for the latest on the kim jonguns reaction to President Trumps south korea visit. Hi. So i just got off the phone with our allstate agent, and i know that we have accident forgiveness. So the incredibly minor accident that i had tonight. Four weeks without the car. Okay, yep. Good night. With accident forgiveness, your rates wont go up just because of an accident. Switching to allstate is worth it. Our special situation room coverage of Election Night 2017 continues. President trump is set to address the south Korean National Assembly Later tonight, as north korea is vowing to boost its Nuclear Weapons program, accusing the United States of raising tensions on the Korean Peninsula to an extreme level. Lets get an exclusive report right now from cnns will ripley. Hes inside north korea on this, his 17th trip to the capital of pyongyang. Will, what will north korea be listening for in the president s major address before the south korean Assembly Later tonight . Reporter hell be listening very closely, wolf. One, for any insight on u. S. Policy towards north korea. Specifically, will they be readded to the list of state sponsors of terrorism. Also listening to the president s tone. Will they get fire and fury trump or lets make a deal trump, the kind of rhetoric that we heard yesterday in south korea. Any indications, will, that the kim regime is preparing for a launch of a missile, another nuclear test, while the president is in asia, in the region . One thing we know about north korea, they pride themselves on being unpredictable. When everyone think theirselves going to do something, they often dont do it. But that said, kim jongun is under a lot of pressure to show strength given that President Trump is here in the region. Its really anyones guess. Thats why were here watching and waiting. We heard, will, President Trump say that progress is being made with diplomacy. Have you seen any progress on that front . Reporter indications on the ground here are, no, wolf. Obviously, there are still three american citizens being held in north korea and the u. S. Says any discussions about a deal would have to involve the release of those u. S. Citizens. North korea says thats not on the table. Also not on the table, denuclearization, which is something that north korea wants. They feel that theyre very close to, in their words, rounding off their nuclear capability, which likely means more Nuclear Tests and missile launches in the very near future. Kim jongun gave a speech a month ago, hinting that North Koreanses should brace for even more sanctions as a result of the tests that he is likely to order very soon. We know that the president is delivering the speech, not very far away in seoul, which is about 30 to 35 miles just south of the Demilitarized Zone. Youre north of the Demilitarized Zone in pyongyang. Do we anticipate that the north carolinians will react to the president s speech shortly after his remarks, because youre our man on the scene right now. Were going to be relaying information as we hear it from the president to north korean officials, but an instant response may be difficult, because often these kind of things have to go through multiple layers of bureaucracy before an official statement is made. However, we have been having a lot of discussions within the North Koreans and they are anticipating pre ining presiden speech and we will bring you the reaction from here inside north korea just as soon as we get it. Over the past few years, youve made many trips. This is your 17th trip, will, to north korea. Do you sense any change, any dramatic change in the way youre being received in the attitude of the north korean government . The temperature here gets hotter and hotter with each trip, even though things behind me seem relatively normal, beneath the surface, Officials Say its extremely tense. A bad situation with the United States has gotten worse. And theyre also furious about the fact that in just a matter of days, major naval drills will once again resume in the pacific involving three u. S. Aircraft Carrier Strike groups. You can have dozens of ships just on the u. S. Side. And thats exactly the kind of show of force that north korea tries to respond to with their own demonstration of military strength. We know in recent weeks, they have threatened an aboveground nuclear test. They have threatened to fire a salvo of missiles towards guam. They havent followed through on those threats yet. It could be posturing, or they could be preparing to send a major message to President Trump and he still has a lot of time here in the region. He heads to china later today. Speaking of china, any indication that china is squeezing the North Koreans to become more restrained in their tests, their missile tests, their Nuclear Tests . Reporter well, we have seen exports from north korea drop off sharply in the areas that have been banned by u. N. Security council sanctions, everything from textiles to coal and iron. But china also has had some friendly kmup friendly kmup friendly communications between xi jinping and kim jongun. There were letters exchanged between the two of them in the last few weeks. Will ripley, well get back to you after the president s speech. Were also counting down to the polls closing in virginia. The first results from the closely watched governors race. Our situation room, special election coverage continues, right after this. Our recent online sales success seems a little. Strange . Nk na. Ever since we switched to fedex ground business has been great. Theyre affordable and fast. Maybe too affordable and fast. What if. People arent buying these books online, but they are buying them to protect their secrets . . hi bill. If that is your real name. Its william actually. Hmph affordable, fast fedex ground. Accused of obstructing justice to theat the fbinuclear war, and of violating the constitution by taking money from foreign governments and threatening to shut down news organizations that report the truth. If that isnt a case for impeaching and removing a dangerous president , then what has our government become . Im tom steyer, and like you, im a citizen who knows its up to us to do something. Its why im funding this effort to raise our voices together and demand that elected officials take a stand on impeachment. A Republican Congress once impeached a president for far less. Yet today people in congress and his own administration know that this president is a clear and present danger whos mentally unstable and armed with Nuclear Weapons. And they do nothing. Join us and tell your member of congress that they have a moral responsibility to stop doing whats political and start doing whats right. Our country depends on it. Welcome back to a special edition of there the situation room. Im wolf blitzer in the cnn election center. One full year after President Trumps stunning election victory, hes being tested in new ways tonight in key Political Races here at home. And a high stakes speech overseas. Were awaiting the president s remarks on the Korean Peninsula addressing the urgent threat from one of americas most dangerous adversaries, kim jongun. Were also counting down to the first Election Results of the night in state and local races across much of the country, including the battles for governor in virginia and new jersey. The new york city mayors race, and a special Congressional Election in utah. Just minutes from now, polls close in virginia, where the trump factor could be decisive in the governors race. The most competitive contest tonight. The democratic Lieutenant Governor, Ralph Northam is vying for the top job, getting an assist from former president obama. For his opponent, former republican National Committee chairman ed gillespie, he has notably avoided campaigning with President Trump, but he has embraced some of mr. Trumps tactics and signature issues. That race and this night will give us an early read on whether the democrats loss to President Trump last year has fired them up, fired them up enough to make gains next year in the important midterm Congressional Elections. As we await the first polls to close, lets go over to jake tapper. Jake. Wolf, as we headed into this evening, the virginia governors race tightened in the closing weeks of the campaign with the democrats losing some of their early advantage. We have reporters at the headquarters of both candidates in virginia. First to brianna keilar, covering the democratic candidate, Lieutenant Governor Ralph Northam. Brianna, theyre hoping for a win, of course, this evening, but the polls have been tightening. And not in the direction Ralph Northam wanted them to go. Thats exactly right, jake. And that is one of the reasons why democrats involved in this race are nervous. But they are hopeful because i spoke with one democrat very deeply involved in this race who said that in every internal poll for the last three months, Ralph Northam has been leading. Some of the leads have been small, but it has been consistent. He hasnt been behind gillespie in a single one, they say. Thats different when you compare it to the public polling. At the same time, that is based on the assumption their polling model is correct. And that is the specter of 2016 that is hanging over this race. I also understand that democrats involved in this race are looking at the turnout in northern virginia. They think its higher than 2013, which is really what theyre modeling this race off of, and they think that is going to be good for them. Whats really nail biting is they havent been able to get a good handle on whats going on in southwestern virginia. Theyre concerned there could be gained there which would favor ed gillespie which could eclipse some of the gains theyre expecting in northern virginia. Thats why theyre watching the polls so cleosely. Worried democrats haunlted by the ghost of election day past. Lets go to ryan with the Ed Gillespie Campaign in richmond, virginia. Ed gillespie, no matter what happens this evening, he has been closing strong. No doubt about that, jake. And i think the story of the Ed Gillespie Campaign after this election is all over is how he responded to donald trump and his support. For the bulk of his campaign, and hes been running for more than a year, etd gillespie really kept donald trump at an arms length. He ran on many of the policies the president has champions. He really got onboard with the culture war donald trump has talked about, but in terms of the president himself, ed gillespie didnt talk a whole lot about donald trump. That changed in the closing days of this campaign. They sent out a targeted direct mail piece that shows the numerous tweets that donald trump sent out in support of ed gillespie, and just last night, his campaign sent out a robocall to specific voters in areas where republicans are strong. Thats southwest virginia and the shenandoah valley. Im told by the campaign that call went out to 155,000 voters last night, and then a second call this morning went to another 155,000 voters. And it was donald trump himself encouraging his supporters to get to the polls and help ed gillespie. Theyre hoping that that pushes their candidate over the top tonight. Jake. All right, ryan, thank you so much. Let me bring in my colleague, dana bash, and of course, President Trump has also been doing some international tweeting on behalf of ed gillespie. The is interesting how he has run a trumplike campaign, although he has not campaigned with donald trump himself, and has kept the president himself at a distance. And think about who ed gillespie is. We have all known him for quite some time. He was chairman of the republican National Committee. He worked for george w. Bush. He kind of has been the ultimate republican insider. Washington lobbyist. Washington lobbyist for big business. So hes been the ultimate insider, the ultimate establishment republican. Very untrump like in terms of what the now president appealed to voters with, draining the swamp and things like that. He has, as ryan was talking about, embraced some of the president s tactics recently, particularly on cultural social issues. On immigration, on sanctuary cities, so if ed gillespie comes from behind and wins, having closed with some of those themes, it is going to be a real indicator to a lot of republicans running in 2018 that maybe they should try that, too. And democrats are terrified. I talked to one democrat who was talking about whether or not the democrats are going to compete in the Alabama Senate race where a very far right candidate, roy moore, got the republican nomination. This democrat told me that that depends on what happened in virginia today. If democrats win, maybe theyll feel momentum and going to bam bam. If they cant pick up the state the democrats carried in the last three elections, the momentum will be gone. Hillary clinton didnt win the white house, but she did win virginia. It has gone democratic for the past several cycles. Danna, were getting early clues from our exit polls about what voters are thinking as they cast their ballots. Cnn political director David Chalian has brandnew information for us. What are you told, what are you learning . Were talking about the trump factor in virginia. You were just talking about it. We asked voters in virginia in the exit poll if they approve or disapprove of the job donald trump is doing as president. Look at that. 42 approve of Donald Trumps job performance. 55 disapprove. Now, that 42 is a little bit better than what we have seen nationally in polls of late. Our poll just out yesterday showed him at 36 . But that is still underwater and underwater by 13 points. Thats exactly where any republican candidate would want their republican president to be on election day. We also asked how big of a factor is donald trump in your Decision Making . Look at this. 47 at the bottom there, trump not a factor at all. But take a look above, jake. 17 said he was a factor, and i went out to vote in favor of him. Support him. 33 , a third of virginia voters today, are telling us in the exit polls that they went out to vote to cast a message in opposition to donald trump. Thats two to one in opposition versus support for those that do consider donald trump a factor in their vote. Thats interesting, ed gillespie has run statewide before, is it possible that a enough people who oppose donald trump still would have voted for ed gillespie in virginia. Let me bring in wolf blitzer. I want to go to john king. You have been looking closely, studying virginia. We always watch virginia in president ial contests. Tonight is going to be significant. What happens in various parts of the state. Very close race in a state that has been trending more and more blue. The challenge for ed gillespie, and these votes tend to come in early, run it up big in rural virginia, especially southwestern virginia. Not just within but win big to prove he can get the trump voters out. Remember during the primaries, he ran against a trumplike candidate. Hao was establishment ed to a lot of Republican Voters in the primary. They have to come out tonight and he has to win these areas, not just win them but by big margins. The key for the democratic candidate, right across the river, the washington suburbs. The biggest area of the states. This is 2013, the last gubernatorial election. A close race, terry mccaauliffe won. Ken cuccinelli did fine, but he was not competitive at all in the washington suburbs. Go back to the last time republicans won statewide was Bob Mcdonnell when he won the governors race in 2009. Notice the difference. See how competitive he is up here . Terry mcauliffe ran through the suburbs. Bob mcdonnell was competitive. We see it in president ial races as well. If you go to the 2016 race, in a very Close National election, Hillary Clinton won quite comfortably here in the state of virginia. Why . Because even though donald trump did fine down here where ed gillespie has to do well tonight, Hillary Clinton ran it up in the washington suburbs. This is the story of virginia in the last 17 years. The washington suburbs. Look at the Voter Registration growth. Up 37 . Up 27 . Up 132 in the formally republican, now blue landing louden county. Prince William County up 72 . If ed gillespie is going to have a chance tonight, hes going to have to do well in suburban washington, especially in the big counties. Thats what well be watching most closely. We certainly will. Right now, the polls are closing in virginia. Were only seconds away. Were standing by for the first results in the close and hardfought governors contest. Its a race to watch tonight. Well have significant potential ramifications down the road. We have a key race alert right now in virginia. The governors race too early to call. No projection, no ability yet to take a look. Were getting early results. Were going to share those results with our viewers. Ralph northam, the democratic candidate. Ed gillespie, the republican candidate. Well get those numbers, and well share them with you as soon as they start coming in. In the meantime, lets go over to erin. And welcome to a special edition of outfront. Thank you, wolf. As we are continuing our Election Night coverage in this crucial race. Now that the polls are closing at this instant in virginia, we can reveal some more