The Trail 2016: Fresh faces on the Trump trail

by Ben Kamisar - 11/03/16 5:43 PM ET

Welcome to THE TRAIL 2016, your daily rundown from The Hill on all the latest news in the White House, Senate and House races.

We’ve seen the same faces for months tour the country for Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump–their stump speeches almost rote at this point.

But just days before Election Day, the Trump campaign brought two new faces to the campaign trail–potential first lady Melania Trump and Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz.

The campaign deployed Melania Trump to lay out her agenda for her service as first lady in the hopes of wooing suburbanites in the crucial collar counties of Pennsylvania. Her pitch: a commitment to women’s issues and eliminating cyber-bullying.

Cruz’s decision to appear with vice presidential nominee Mike Pence came out of nowhere, only materializing the night before. The senator didn’t mention Trump by name, but his appearance is a long journey from when he publicly snubbed Trump by refusing to endorse during a high-profile convention speech.

It’s our last weekend before the election so we’ll bring you comprehensive coverage as always as the candidates and their surrogates make their closing arguments. Tomorrow, we’ll have more on Hillary Clinton’s Syria policy and the contours of her potential administration.

RACE TO 1600 PENN

COME ON HOME: The HIll’s Niall Stanage and Jonathan Swan report: Republican voters are finally coming home to Donald Trump after months of flagging support threatened to put the White House out of reach, but pollsters note he’s still a few points shy of where he needs to be.

TRAVEL PLANS: The Hill’s Reid Wilson reports: Where have the candidates devoted their most precious resource — time?

WILL BLACK VOTE TURN OUT?: The Hill’s Jordan Fabian reports: While Hillary Clinton won’t likely match Barack Obama’s level of black voter turnout, the question is, how much turnout does she need among those voters to win on Election Day?

EARLY VOTE BOON: The Hill’s Harper Neidig reports: On the whole, early vote numbers have already surpassed the total early votes cast for the 2012 election.

HARSH WORDS: The Hill’s Rebecca Savransky reports: Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman John Podesta told allies he believed Bernie Sander should be “ground to a pulp” during the Democratic primary, the latest embarrassing leak from WikiLeaks’ hack into Podesta’s emails.

TRUMP CHEERS INVESTIGATION: The Hill’s Ben Kamisar reports: Donald Trump celebrated the Fox News report that said an indictment is “likely” in the FBI’s investigation into the Clinton Foundation, accusing the Justice Department of roadblocking investigators. Fox host Bret Baier later clarified he meant that there is “confidence in the evidence” but that the investigation hasn’t reached that stage.

CAN’T LEAD: The Hill’s Rebecca Savransky reports: Donald Trump’s new ad argues Hillary Clinton can’t serve as president while “crippled” by investigations into her private email server.

VOTING RIGHTS: The Hill’s Lydia Wheeler reports: Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey Jr. (D) is calling on Attorney General Loretta Lynch and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to ensure every American’s right to vote is protected following reports that white nationalists plan to intimidate voters at the polls on Tuesday.

LET’S GET BACK TO THAT: The Hill’s Harper Neidig reports: Hillary Clinton on Thursday would not say if she would ask FBI Director James Comey to resign if she is elected president, saying she would not comment on any “personnel issue.”

ODDS AND ENDS

DESPAIR: The Hill’s Nikita Vladimirov reports: Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine has “despaired” over recent talk about impeaching Hillary Clinton if elected. President Obama bristled at the rhetoric too during a rally in Florida.

PUMP THE BREAKS: The Hill’s Cristina Marcos reports: Both Rep. Darrell Issa, the California Republican facing a tough reelection fight, and Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn called on their colleagues to shelf the talk about impeaching Hillary Clinton.

HE WHO MUST NOT BE NAMED: The Hill’s Jordain Carney reports: Oregon Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley is channeling Harry Potter to try to defeat Donald Trump in the final days of the election season, comparing the GOP presidential nominee to the boy wizard’s arch nemesis.

THE BIG FINALE: The Hill’s Lisa Hagen reports: The Clintons and the Obamas will campaign together in Philadelphia the night before Election Day.

POLL POSITION

CLINTON STAYS ON TOP: The Hill’s Mark Hensch reports: Hillary Clinton is 6 points ahead of Donald Trump nationally as their White House race nears its end, according to a new poll. Another poll has her up 3 points on Trump.

CROWDED IN UTAH: The Hill’s Jonathan Easley reports: Donald Trump has the lead in a three-way race for deep red Utah, but independent candidate Evan McMullin continues to make the race interesting.

SPLIT SENATE POLLING: In the ping-pong back-and-forth for Senate, Democrat challengers are pulling ahead in North Carolina and Pennsylvania, while Republicans hold the upper hand in Florida and Ohio.

THE DAILY TRUMP

NO MALICE, PROMISE: The Hill’s Rebecca Savransky reports: Donald Trump’s campaign manager is arguing that Trump’s singling out of NBC News reporter Katy Tur during a Wednesday rally wasn’t meant in a “malicious” way.

CASTING CALL FOR TRUMP TV?: The Hill’s Mark Hensch reports: A casting notice is circulating for an “up-and-coming conservative media network currently in development,” Fox News reported Thursday, as rumors continue to swirl about a post-election television network designed by Donald Trump.

TRUMPLANDIA: The Hill’s Tim Devaney reports: No, it’s not a new pitch for a television show, “Trumplandia” is what one FBI agent said to describe the agency’s supportive views of Trump in an interview with The Guardian.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Last night was very special on lots of fronts. And who knows, maybe we’ll see even more history made in a few days. The last time the Cubs won, women couldn’t vote. I think women are making up for that in this election.”

—Hillary Clinton, looking to bring some Chicago Cubs magic to her own campaign.

CONGRESSIONAL CAMPAIGNS

LGBT-GOP: The Hill’s Tim Devaney reports: Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.) will receive an influx of support from dozens of gay Republicans who are campaigning for him in the final days before the election who call him a strong advocate for LGBT freedom.

TOOMEY DODGES: The Hill’s Jordain Carney reports: Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Pat Toomey is refusing to say if he will support Donald Trump with only five days left until the presidential election.

MONEY WATCH

DENIES: The Hill’s Jonathan Swan reports: Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Fla.) claims he knew nothing about an FBI investigation into an alleged straw donor scheme connected to his first run for Congress until reading about it in The Hill.

WHAT WE ARE WATCHING FOR TODAY AND TOMORROW

(All times Eastern)

Tonight, Donald Trump holds a rally in Selma, N.C., at 7 p.m., while rival Hillary Clinton stumps with former rival Bernie Sanders and musician Pharrell Williams, at 7:45 p.m., in Raleigh, N.C.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump Jr. campaigns for his father in Las Vegas at 6:15 tonight. Bill Clinton will also be in Las Vegas — at 9 p.m., and Clinton’s running mate Tim Kaine holds a rally in Tucson at 9:15 p.m. Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson holds an event in Portland, Ore., at 9 p.m.

On Friday, Hillary Clinton holds events in Pittsburgh at 12:45 p.m., a rally in Detroit at 5:15 p.m. and joins Jay Z for his evening get out the vote performance in Cleveland. Chelsea Clinton will campaign in Keene and Hanover, N.H., while Bill Clinton will campaign in Denver and Fort Collins. Stevie Wonder holds concert for Clinton in Philadelphia at 7 p.m.

Also on Friday, President Obama campaigns for Clinton in Fayetteville, N.C., at 2 p.m. and Charlotte, N.C. at 6 p.m.; Vice President Biden is in Madison, Wis., at 12:15 p.m.; Tim Kaine campaigns in Melbourne, Fla., at 3:15 p.m., and Bernie Sanders has two stops in Iowa, in Davenport at noon and Iowa City at 6 p.m., as well as an appearance in Omaha, Neb., rally at 9:30 p.m.

Donald Trump has Friday campaign stops in Atkinson, N.H., at noon; in Wilmington, Ohio, at 4 p.m. and in Hershey, Pa., at 7 p.m. Donald Trump Jr. speaks in Farmington, Mich., as well as Phoenix, Ariz., and San Juan County, N.M., while Eric Trump has several appearances in Michigan — in Saginaw, Pontiac, Bloomfield Township, Walled Lake, Detroit, Taylor and Riverview. Mike Pence speaks in Greenville, N.C., at 2 p.m.

And there’s one more debate left in Illinois, where Tammy Duckworth will take on incumbent Sen. Mark Kirk in an ABC-7 Chicago and Univision debate in Chicago at 8 p.m. on Friday.

On Saturday, Tim Kaine will speak in Fort Myers, Fla., at 4 p.m. and then appear in St. Petersburg, Fla, with Jon Bon Jovi, who will have a get out the vote performance. Vice President Biden will campaign in Bucks County and the Pittsburgh area; Bernie Sanders will be in Colorado Springs, Colo. Katy Perry will perform in Philadelphia. Hillary Clinton has no Saturday events scheduled as of now.

Donald Trump will campaign in Wilmington, NC, at 1 p.m. Saturday.

And on Sunday, Hillary Clinton is scheduled to campaign in Cleveland, while President Obama campaigns at 1:30 p.m. in Kissimmee, Fla., and Vice President Biden is in Harrisburg and Scranton, Pa. Jon Bon Jovi performs in Charlotte, N.C., at 7:30 p.m.

Gary Johnson speaks at Colorado Christian University in Denver at 4 p.m. Donald Trump has no Sunday events scheduled as of now.

TWEET OF THE DAY