Were hours away from a once in a lifetime change. Were going to have real change. I really believe its the most important election of our lifetimes because weve never had a clearer choice. Never. Today is our independence day. Its finally here. Election day 2016. With polls set to open this morning, both Hillary Clinton and donald trump tried to make one last appeal to voters in the early hours overnight. And alex, as americans get ready to head to voting booths were going live to battleground states across the country to see the turnout. Good morning, everyone. It is tuesday, november 8th, election day in america. Im alex witt alongside ali velshi and louis burgdorf. It all comes down to this. Already more than 40 million votes cast but most americans head to the polls today, including the candidates. Well be watching for them to vote in their hometowns later on this morning. Its already an early start for Hillary Clinton who returned home to new york around 3 20 in the morning greeted by a throng of supporters. Just after midnight she capped her whistle stop tour in raleigh, North Carolina, where donald trump had been hours earlier. Lady gaga and jon bon jovi warmed up the crowd of about 6,000 before clinton framed her final message to the state that could put her over the top. Well, i got to tell you, this is sure worth staying up for. I was watching on the screen not only her perform but all of you jumping and singing and waving. It was great. Because you know what . Thats what i want for america, and the young people of america, the joy, the passion, the intensity. And you know, our longtime friend jon bon jovi was with us between now and the time the poll closes tomorrow, we are going to be living on a prayer. This is so energizing. We could keep going with a long list. Tomorrow night this election will end. But i want you to understand, our Work Together will be just beginning. None of us want to wake up wednesday morning and wish we had done more. And years from today, when your kids and grandkids ask what you did in 2016 when everything was on the line, youll be able to say, you voted for a stronger, fairer, better america. Earlier in the day clinton found herself in michigan, a state that should be safely blue but where she has been four times since the democratic convention. Quite a while there she hinted of the divisiveness of the long slog behind her. After tomorrow, the work will begin. And one of the highest priorities that i feel an obligation to address is how we bring our country together. I know it is unusual, i admit, for somebody running for president , especially day before an election, but ive been saying this for months, to say that we need more of two things right now. We need more love and kindness in america. Amen to that. Clinton and trump will host their watching parties in new york city tonight. Earlier in the day it was announced by the nypd the Clinton Campaign cancelled a fireworks display planned for tonight. Huma abedin was back traveling with the Clinton Campaign for the First Time Since that letter from fbi director james comey broke. Donald trump made his final stops on the campaign trail yesterday with a whirlwind tour of battleground states. Trump held rallies in five cities in states whose electoral votes are key to his path to 270. Florida, North Carolina, pennsylvania, New Hampshire, michigan. As trump closed out his Campaign Reports of potential cabinet appointments spread including Rudy Giuliani for attorney general. Newt gingrich for secretary of state. Retired general Michael Flynn for defense secretary or National Security adviser. And Reince Priebus for chief of staff. But republican operatives disputed that report. Throughout the day the republican nominee focused on his opponent, predicted victory, and looked back at how he got here. If they win, the American People lose big league. This is it, folks. We will never have another opportunity. Not in four years, not in eight years. It will be over. With Supreme Court justices, with people pouring into our country. This is it. This is it. Good luck. Get out there. I did my thing. I mean, i worked. Look at this mask. Look at this mask. Oh, wow. Nice head of hair, ill say that. Youre tired of a government that works only for wall street and the special interests. Youre tired of the reckless foreign policy. The crazy wars that are never won. Hillary is the face of failure. Shes the face of failure. Shes the face of failed foreign policy. Real change begins. She is indeed the face of failure. When hillary cant fill a look. Look at, this is called filling a stadium. And i have no guitar and no piano, right . I mean, she gets jayz and beyonce the other night. Tonight she has bruce springsteen. They come in, listen to the musician, which i think is demeaning to the its actually demeaning to the political process. This is not the sound of a secondplace finisher, that i can tell you. Remember i entered and we had 17 governors and senators and, you know, the old story. And one by one, right, all together. One by one by one by one. Now we have one flawed candidate to beat. The Associated Press is this morning looking at the early voting numbers and theres good news, for both trump and clinton. In florida, a state thats practically essential for the republicans victory, a record 6. 4 million early ballots have been cast. Ballots from hispanics have nearly doubled to 976,000 this year. More than twothirds of the expected votes have been cast in North Carolina where black turnout has dropped by about 8. 6 , 65,000 votes. In iowa, republicans are matching their 2012 levels, though democrats are running below what brought them a 5point victory for president obama. Checking out georgia, ballots cast by africanamericans down there to 30 from 36 in 2012. As ballots from white voters rose from 63 to 66 . Arizona, republicans lead democrats in the the early ballots by about 6 points, narrower than the 2012 10point republican advantage. Joining us from nowhere else but cleveland, ohio, nbc news senior White House CorrespondentChris Jansing who when not at the white house would love to be in her home state of ohio. The president campaigning in where else, cleveland, ohio. Chris, welcome to you. Good morning, alex. You know ohio, ohio, ohio. No republican has won the presidency without it. No democrat has won the presidency without it since 1960 and jfk. If you just look at the polls this race is too close to call. We can show you the most recent, that is the the Columbus Dispatch has Hillary Clinton up by win point. The real clear politics average has donald trump up by 2. 2. And talking to folks from both campaigns, they both acknowledge that advantage right now is indeed for donald trump. And heres the reason why. Overall in this state, early voting is up. This is not a state that embraced early voting the way some others have. In spite of the fact that theyve lost a week, theyve lost what they call the golden week when you could both register and vote in the same week, overall voting is up. But where Hillary Clinton really needs it which is in cuyahoga county, early voting is down. And its way down. By 16 . And in the cleveland area, immediate city, the number one democratic stronghold, down 22 . I got to tell you, a lot of people i talked to on the ground are surprised by that. I was here for the first day of early voting in cleveland and they were really doing well. But overall theyve not done well. You heard donald trump talk about beyonce and jayz. Its not down for lack of trying, that concert here on friday night. On saturday they had taco trucks out at early voting sites trying to entice voters. Then lebron james, who of course is the hero of the Cleveland Cavaliers and beloved here in cleveland, he was out pushing for Hillary Clinton on sunday night. Whats going to be the difference . Both sides admit its going to be the ground game. Hillary clinton very well organized, donald trump hurt by the fact that he is lets say not best friends with john kasich who has not offered any help here. But if you really want to know whats going on, there is an iconic building, the terminal tower. This morning it is lit in purple. Appropriately so. While not a coronation in this country, its appropriate to have the king, lebron james himself, out gathering votes and encouraging people in ohio. Thank you so much, Chris Jansing. The last time a president ial candidate won the election without ohio was jfk in 1960. Im wearing a purple shirt today, just to go with the theme. Politically correct, there we go. From winwood, pennsylvania, nbc news correspondent steve pate er son. You are in a very important place, the socalled collar counties around philadelphia. Philadelphia as a city we know generally elects to vote republican, much of the sorry, philadelphia likes to vote democrat, much of the rest of the state votes republican. Where you are might be a turning point. Reporter it is telephodefin turning proirnt lower marion high school, kobe bryant used to rain down threes and dunks before he went to the nba. Now it may be one of the most brushl polling places in this entire country. You said it, the collar counties. These are the four counties that surround philadelphia. Were talking about montgomery county, bucks county, delaware county, and chester county. In 2012, these four counties made up about onethird of the votes that were cast. Since 1980, the president ial candidate that has carried these four counties has carried the state of pennsylvania and its crucial 20 elocation toerl votes. Now were in a situation in which we look at these counties and tend to think traditionally theyre more republican, more afflue affluent, more subwur ban. Now theyve tended to be registering many more democrats as of late in an election in which the white collegeeducated voter is so crucial and Hillary Clinton has such a good ground game here. Its going to be tough for donald trump to make up some ground in these four counties when he really needs to, when were talking about the state makeup here. I hope you had your wheaties, its going to be a long day outside of philadelphia, steve pater son in winwood, pennsylvania. President obama hoping to protect his legacy, made one last push for Hillary Clinton. The president barnstorm the three states yesterday. Michigan, New Hampshire, and pennsylvania. Trying to keep traditionally blue states from turning red. This race will be close here in michigan, just like it will be in a lot of parts of the country. And i know its been a long campaign. I want you to tune all all the noise. I want you just to focus. The choice you face when you step into the voting booth, it really could not be clearer. Donald trump is temperamentally unfit to be commander in chief. New hampshire, donald trump cant hear your boos but he can hear your votes. You dont just have to vote against someone you have somebody extraordinary to vote for. Philadelphia, youve got someone outstanding to vote for. In Hillary Clinton. Still ahead, live to chappaqua, new york, where Hillary Clinton is expected to cast her vote this morning. Plus donald trump weighs in on his support from nfl patriots Quarterback Tom Brady and coach bill belichick. Those stories and a check of with where we come right back. Proud of you, son. Ge a manufacturer. Well thats why i dug this out for you. Its your grandpappys hammer and he would have wanted you to have it. It meant a lot to him. Yes, ge makes powerful machines. But ill be writing the code that will allow those machines to share information with each other. Ill be changing the way the world works. interrupting you cant pick it up, can you . Go ahead. He cant lift the hammer. Its okay though youre going to change the world. Of bad breath germs for a 100 fresh mouth. Feeling 100 means you feel bold enough to. Assist a magician. Or dance. Listerine®. Bring out the bold™ [vo] all customers who have changes been impacted right. Will be fully refunded. Were taking action and renewing our commitment to you. 40 Million People have cast their ballots, a lot of them havent, and you are giving nobody an excuse did stay home today. Get out and vote. Lines, were going to see lines around the blocks. If we do, we dont want them standing in the rain. Exactly. That is a possibility in a few spots. Were looking at san antonio. They had thunderstorms early early this morning. They should be clearing out by the time the polls open. Also for your morning commute. The rain will linger around new orleans and biloxi, southern portions of mississippi, across central portions of missouri. Electionday forecast, weve been talking about how unseasonably warm it is out there across the country. Still it doesnt look or feel like november. But it is. New england after a cold start, beautiful afternoon, temperatures in the 60s. Along this front is where were going to see some of the rain. Texas obviously is one of the spots were already concerned with this morning. This will continue this afternoon for corpus christi, san antonio, austin, dallas. Scattered showers, maybe isolated thunderstorm or two. Some of the other spots that could deal with wet weather, southern michigan, ohio, northern indiana, showerytype weather, cloudy. Temperatures in the 50s, bring an umbrella heading out to the polls. In georgia youre looking nice. You desperately need the rainfall in georgia, your droughts getting worse. Today partly cloudy with temperatures in the 70s. Not many issues there. Even our friends on the west coast are just looking at a fantastic day. California, hows this, temperatures near 80. I do this because alex gets upset when we tell her how beautiful it is. L. A. 88. No problems whatsoever. Come on, 88 degrees in l. A. , its november. 88 degrees, id want to stand outside to vote. Good point, i hope everyones listening. Very good. Were going to take yao you where the weather is not so warm, chappaqua after the break, waiting to see when and where Hillary Clinton will be voting. Casey hunt will join from us there. 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Tom brady [ cheers and applause ] great guy, great guy. Great guy, great friend of mine. Great, great champion. Unbelievable winner. He called today. And he said, donald, i support you, youre my friend, and i voted for you. Welcome back. That was republican president ial nominee donald trump telling a New Hampshire crowd last night that he has the vote of patriots Quarterback Tom Brady. Trump also shared what he said was a letter of support written to him by new england head coach bill belichick. So he writes, coach belichick, congratulations on a tremendous campaign. You have dealt with an unbelievable slanted and negative media and have come out beautifully. Beautifully. Youve proved to be the ultimate competitor and fighter. Your leadership is amazing. I have always had tremendous respect for you but the toughness and perseverance you have displayed over the past year is remarkable. Hopefully tomorrows Election Results will give the opportunity to make America Great again. While there has been no official response by the patriots to inquiries about the accuracy of trumps words, brady said on a boston radio show yesterday morning he had not yet voted. A side note, massachusetts early Voting Period ended friday. The gridiron, seahawks hosting the bills on monday night football. To seattle, seahawks get a boost from tight end jimmy graham who hauled in a pair of onehanded touchdown catches to put seattle up 2817 at the end of the second quarter. After a scoreless third the bills are only able to get within three points of the seahawks in the fourth. And are unable to cross the goal line from inside the seattle 10 yard line in the games final seconds. The seahawks go on to win it 3125. Ali, back to you. Hillary clinton is set to cast her vote in her hometown of chappaqua, new york, today following a very late night Early Morning. Clinton touched down in new york after 3 00 this morning following her final blitz across the country to shore up voter support. Look at the reception she got at that hour. Joining us from chappaqua is msnbc Political Correspondent k. C. Hunt. If the last thing you do is get off a plane to a roaring crowd, it probably helps your confidence level. How confident is the clinton team heading into election day . Good morning. Yeah, this was quite the confidence day for Hillary Clinton yesterday. Her final day on the campaign trail. Supporters and friends they invited to the tarmac in west chest tore gr