The Note: Manic Monday to Close Out 2016 Race
— -- NOTABLES
--FBI SAYS REVIEW OF NEW EMAILS DOESN’T CHANGE ANYTHING: The FBI concluded a review of newly-discovered emails related to Hillary Clinton, and sees no reason to change its previous conclusions about Clinton's use of a private server when she was secretary of state, FBI Director James Comey said in a letter to Congress yesterday, ABC’s DEAN SCHABNER reports. On October 28, Comey wrote to Congress that the FBI was going to investigate emails potentially related to Clinton that had been found during an unrelated investigation. "Since my letter, the FBI investigative team has been working around the clock to process and review a large volume of emails from a device obtained in connection with an unrelated criminal investigation," Comey wrote. "During that process we reviewed all of the communications that were to or from Hillary Clinton while she was Secretary of State. Based on our review, we have not changed our conclusions that we expressed in July with respect to Secretary Clinton.” http://abcn.ws/2eMEwCV
--OBAMA’S CLOSING ARGUMENT -- ‘IF WE WIN FLORIDA, IT’S A WRAP’: Stumping for Hillary Clinton in Florida over the weekend, President Obama made his closing argument to the state that he said has the power to seal the deal for the Democratic nominee tomorrow. "If we win Florida it's a wrap," Obama told the audience gathered outside in Osceola County Stadium. "If we win Florida, it's over, so we've got to work our hearts out this week, these next two days, as if our future depends on it, because our future depends on it." ABC’s JORDYN PHELPS has more: http://abcn.ws/2et9H5p
--GOP CHAIRMAN TOUTS TRUMP’S MOMENTUM: Republican Party Chairman Reince Priebus argued Sunday that the Trump campaign is surging in the final days of the presidential race. "I don't think we're fighting from behind. We've got the momentum," Priebus said on ABC News' "This Week," adding "we feel good,” according to ABC’s MEGHAN KENEALLY. "Momentum is everything you need, and there's no question that over the last week and a half Donald Trump has had an enormous amount of momentum," he said. http://abcn.ws/2fuMfWq
--ANALYSIS -- ABC’s RICK KLEIN: Over the campaign’s final weekend, Donald Trump showed in a series of moments what kind of candidate he is, and what kind of campaign he is running to the end. Hours after President Obama confronted a pro-Trump elderly protestor at a campaign event, and turned the crowd’s jeers into a call to “respect” all points of view, Trump twisted the moment into something it wasn’t. Trump falsely said Obama was “screaming at this protestor. And frankly it was a disgrace.” Over the weekend, he blasted Hillary Clinton for campaigning with celebrities, and expressed shock at the kind of “lewd” language employed by Jay Z in his songs. In Reno over the weekend, key campaign surrogates spread the word that a brief security scare – one that didn’t involve a weapons – was an “assassination attempt.” Trump has had chances – many chances – to dial back the rhetoric just a touch in the campaign’s closing days. That’s not the card he’s playing.
BY THE NUMBERS -- CLINTON, TRUMP AT CAMPAIGN'S END: STILL CLOSE - AND STILL UNPOPULAR. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump end the 2016 campaign with the race between them close, their historic unpopularity intact -- and, on the bright side, a weary electorate saying it's ready to accept the outcome and move on. The race stands at 47 percent support for Clinton, 43 percent for Trump among likely voters in the latest ABC News/Washington Post tracking poll, with 4 percent for Libertarian Gary Johnson and 2 percent for Jill Stein of the Green Party. While the contest is a close one, Clinton has held at least a numerical advantage almost continuously across the campaign. Indeed, the average result among likely voters in ABC/Post polls since June is 47-42-5-2 percent, almost identical to where it is today. More from ABC’s GARY LANGER, GREGORY HOLYK, CHAD KIEWIET DE JONGE and SOFI SINOZICH: http://abcn.ws/2eeXvKd
TODAY ON ‘GMA’:
--CLINTON CAMPAIGN MANAGER ROBBY MOOK ON HER 'CLOSING CASE' TO VOTERS. Hillary Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook said today her camp is still unclear about why the FBI director made public a probe into newly discovered emails, but that she is focused on making her final appeal to voters. “I don’t understand why he couldn’t have just looked into the matter and resolved it and not created such a ruckus in the campaign,” Mook said on “Good Morning America.” “We’re just glad that in this last day Hillary can get back out on the road, celebrate the historic turnout that we’ve seen across the country and talk about the vision she has for our country.” More from ABC’s KATE KINDELAN: http://abcn.ws/2fgBgQZ
--TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER KELLYANNE CONWAY ACCEPTS RESULTS OF FBI REVIEW. Donald Trump's campaign manager today said she accepts that FBI Director James Comey has reaffirmed his previous decision not to charge Hillary Clinton over her use of a private email server. "I do accept that," she told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos on "Good Morning America.” Conway continued, "I'm just so dismayed that Democrats attacked Comey a week ago. It doesn't help Hillary Clinton that we're still talking about the emails. ... I think she would like to be on a more positive message.” More from ABC’s RYAN STRUYK: http://abcn.ws/2eeZNcj
LAST WEEKEND ON THE TRAIL with ABC’s VERONICA STRACQUALURSI
PODESTA SAYS CLINTON LEAVING ‘NOTHING TO CHANCE’ IN FINAL DAYS OF CAMPAIGN. Hillary Clinton campaign chair John Podesta says they're "leaving nothing to chance" in the final 48 hours of the presidential campaign. "We feel pretty good, but we’re leaving nothing to chance. We’re going to run through the tape, there’s a lot of work to do between now and Tuesday when the polls close," Podesta said on ABC News' "This Week" Sunday. ABC’s NICKI ROSSOLL has more. http://abcn.ws/2frn0Ib
HOW DEMOCRATS COULD TAKE THE SENATE. Democrats have claimed from the beginning of this campaign cycle that they had a shot at taking back control of the Senate. Republicans have twice as many seats up for election this year compared to Democrats and several of those are in swing states. ABC’s MARYALICE PARKS and BEN SIEGEL have more. http://abcn.ws/2fulCR6
TRUMP RUSHED OFF STAGE IN NEVADA. Donald Trump was rushed offstage by members of his Secret Service detail after a commotion broke out in the audience at an event in Reno, Nevada over the weekend. The Republican presidential candidate was making a campaign speech at a Reno convention center when there was some kind of scuffle in the crowd in front of the podium and two Secret Service agents came and quickly brought Trump offstage, ABC’s CANDACE SMITH and JOHN SANTUCCI note. A man in a blue sweater was tackled before being escorted out by law enforcement before being held in a bathroom inside the venue. http://abcn.ws/2ftb8BN
TRUMP PROTESTER AT CENTER OF SECURITY SCARE SAYS HE HELD A ‘SIMPLE SIGN.’ The man whose protest at a Donald Trump rally in Nevada led the Secret Service to rush the GOP nominee offstage said he went to the event “with a simple sign” to “voice my displeasure with the nominee that the party picked.” Austyn Crites, who said he is a registered Republican, said in an interview today with ABC News’ “Good Morning America” that he held up a sign proclaiming “Republicans Against Trump” at the rally in Reno on Saturday. After he raised the sign, “of course there was the booing going on around me,” Crites told "GMA." “Then a couple of guys started trying to violently rip the sign out of my hand, grabbing my arm, grabbing the sign … then all of a sudden I just got tackled by several people at once ... eventually the police came, and I was thankful for that." http://abcn.ws/2fpe8QN
INSIDE THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN’S UNUSUAL RISE. The day Donald Trump kicked off his campaign is the day that perhaps best set the stage for his entire candidacy -- unpredictable, always a show, with a slew of controversial moments, ABC’s JOHN SANTUCCI and CANDACE SMITH write. In short -- it has been a campaign like no other. Trump Tower on June 16, 2015 was electric. The building that was always open to the public become home to a closed affair for supporters (some of whom were paid actors). Green laminated cards read “Special Announcement” with "TRUMP," written all in caps. And in just a few short minutes, Trump, with his wife by his side, glided down the golden escalator, a trip he would often refer to as “the famous escalator ride," and announced he was in. The guy from Queens who has toyed with the idea of running for president since the late 1980s, entered the ring. http://abcn.ws/2fQ5OfU
FIVETHIRTYEIGHT IN THE NOTE -- NATE SILVER PREDICTS A CLOSE 2016 PRESIDENTIAL RACE. Election forecaster Nate Silver said on Sunday that Hillary Clinton is the clear favorite to be the next president, but argued the race is closer than most analysts are anticipating. "The electoral math is less solid for Clinton than it was for [President Barack] Obama four years ago," Silver said in an interview on ABC News' "This Week." Silver became a prominent election forecaster during the 2008 election and his assessment of candidates electoral chances have been closely followed ever since. This year, his work has come under scrutiny because while his models show Clinton the favorite in the race, he is less bullish on her chances than other forecasters. ABC’s MARGARET CHADBOURN has more. http://abcn.ws/2fuNg0l
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT -- KAINE PLAYS HARMONICA WITH BON JOVI AT FLORIDA RALLY. Armed with a harmonica and an iconic rocker at his side, Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine showed off his musical prowess at a Florida rally Saturday night. The Virginia senator, 58, played the harmonica while Bon Jovi belted out his 1986 track, "You Give Love a Bad Name," at a Get Out The Vote rally at The State Theater in St. Petersburg, Florida, ABC’s DAVID CAPLAN notes. http://abcn.ws/2fdhHJa
WHO’S TWEETING?
@ryanstruyk: New WMUR/UNH poll in New Hampshire released overnight pegs the race at a double-digit Clinton lead: Clinton 49 Trump 38 Johnson 6 Stein 1
@ajjaffe: Clinton camp touting GOTV says this wkd they made 14.5M voter-to-voter contacts: Knocked on 6.2M doors and called 8.1M voters over the phone
@sahilkapur: Kellyanne Conway says the Trump campaign "beefed up our field team" in NV after seeing the early returns. (cc: @ralstonreports)
@amandacarpenter: Understated: the role vanity candidacies played in the GOP's 17-person field that paved the way for Trump.
@bterris: Trump does have an uncanny ability to make people question their own reality. On a small scale, it happened to me. http://wapo.st/2eNTmJg
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