CLEVELAND -- Hillary Clinton ramped up her pressure on Donald Trump in the election's most competitive states Friday with an emotional TV ad targeting his criticism of a American Muslim family. Trump vowed to go all-out in the final weeks so he'll have no regrets -- even if he loses.
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The nominees retrenched behind familiar arguments a day after appearing together at a charity event that veered into cutting personal attacks. Clinton's new ad features Khizr Khan, whom Trump assailed after Khan spoke at the Democratic National Convention.
In the minute long ad, which Clinton's campaign said was airing in seven battleground states, Khan retells how his son, Capt. Humayun Khan, died in Iraq seeking to protect his U.S. military unit from a suicide bomber.
"Mr. Trump, would my son have a place in your America?" the father asks, tearing up as the ad fades to black.
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Trump focused some of his criticism on Michelle Obama, who has emerged as one of the most effective voices for Clinton. The first lady for years has been loath to devote significant time to campaigning but has done so in recent days with searing indictments of Trump's treatment of women.
"All she wants to do is campaign," Trump said as he rallied supporters in North Carolina. He cited comments Michelle Obama made during her husband's 2008 campaign in which she said someone who can't run their own house can't run the White House. "She's the one that started that," Trump said.
The typically self-assured Trump was unusually candid about the possibility of losing the election, a prospect that's grown in likelihood as Clinton solidifies her lead in battleground states that will decide the election. Trump said he is packing his schedule with campaign events through Election Day so he will know he spared no effort even if ultimately unsuccessful.
"I will be happy with myself," he said.
Trump and Clinton were still sharply at odds over his assertion in the final debate on Wednesday that he may not concede if he loses.
She said Friday at a Cleveland campaign stop, "Make no mistake, by doing that, he is threatening our democracy." She said that the U.S. knows "the difference between leadership and dictatorship."
Clinton has begun telling audiences she'll need their help in healing the country.
"I've got to figure out how we heal these divides," she said in a Friday interview with a Tampa radio station WBTP. "We've got to get together. Maybe that's a role that is meant to be for my presidency if I'm so fortunate to be there."
Trump, meanwhile, has said he's merely reserving the right to contest the results if the outcome is unclear or questionable. Underpinning his threat is his contention that the election is "rigged" against him and may be soiled by widespread voter fraud. He's urged supporters to "monitor" polling places for potential voter fraud.
Fanning those flames, Russia's government has asked Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana to allow Russian officials to be present at polling stations on Election Day to study the "US experience in organization of voting process." Allegations by the U.S. government that Russia is trying to influence the election by hacking Democratic groups has fed a Clinton camp claim that Russian President Vladimir Putin is siding with Trump.
Early voting is underway in more than 30 states. Clinton, reaching for voters who may be reconsidering their support for Trump, said in Ohio that she knows they still have questions about her. "I want to answer them," she said. "I want to earn your vote."
With the final debate behind them, the two candidates appeared together Thursday night for likely the last time in the campaign, at a Catholic fundraiser that turned unusually hostile.
At the dinner, a tradition intended as a display of national unity, Trump drew boos when he referred to Clinton being "so corrupt" and said she was appearing at the event "pretending not to hate Catholics."
But Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the New York archbishop seated between them at the dinner, described a less antagonistic moment backstage after he invited them to pray.
"After the little prayer, Mr. Trump turned to Secretary Clinton and said, 'You know, you are one tough and talented woman,' and he said this has been a good experience," Dolan told NBC's Today on Friday. "And she said, 'Donald, whatever happens, we need to work together afterwards.'"
Campaign Spending
With mere weeks before Election Day, both campaigns have ramped up spending ahead of the final stretch.
According to a new campaign-finance report filed Thursday, Trump's presidential campaign spent $70 million in September -- more than double the previous month -- as the GOP nominee made a slew of last-minute investments in ads and voter data.
Clinton's campaign spent even more, $95 million, according to figures provided by her campaign, and began October with $59 million on hand. Both candidates' campaign funds are relatively small by the standards of modern campaigns.
Clinton's payroll topped 800 people, coming in as her second-highest expense of the month, about $5.5 million. Trump paid roughly 350 employees and consultants. He has outsourced most of his on-the-ground voter contact to the Republican Party.
For the third month in a row, the biggest vendor to Trump's campaign was Giles-Parscale, the San Antonio Web firm of Trump's digital director, Brad Parscale. The company was paid $20.6 million for digital consulting and online ads, up from $11.1 million in August.
Another $23 million went to Trump's television media buyers: $16 million to American Media and Advocacy Group, which shares an address with Virginia media firm National Media, and nearly $7.5 million to Jamestown Associates, where Trump communications director Jason Miller serves as an executive vice president. Rick Reed Media, which used to serve as Trump's main media firm, was paid just $66,000 for the month.
Trump's media buys come at a fraction of what Clinton paid, roughly $66 million.
One of the biggest new investments the campaign made was in voter data. It paid out $5 million to Cambridge Analytica, a data-analytics firm backed by Republican megadonor Robert Mercer. That's a huge increase over August, when the company was paid $250,000.
Trump's campaign lawyers continued to rake in large sums. Nearly $500,000 went to law firms, including $322,000 to Jones Day. And for the first time, Trump's campaign reported payments to pollster Tony Fabrizio, who has been working for the candidate for months. His firm Fabrizio, Lee & Associates received more than $623,000.
In addition, former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski received his final severance, $100,000, bringing his total payments in salary and bonuses to $515,000. As a comparison, Clinton's campaign manager, Robby Mook, has been paid about $153,000 so far.
Trump's campaign directed another $1 million in reimbursements to Trump companies in September, including $757,434 to Tag Air, $19,114 to the Trump National Doral Golf Resort and $182,630 to Trump Tower. In all, the campaign has paid out $9.3 million to reimburse Trump and his companies.
He has personally contributed far more than that. In September, he donated $2 million to his campaign, bringing his total in personal donations to $56 million.
His campaign spent far more than it raised in September, reporting $53 million in contributions, including $33 million raised through two joint fundraising committees with the Republican National Committee. Clinton, by comparison, raised about $84 million for her campaign in September.
Two-thirds of the cash his campaign raised in September came directly from grass-roots supporters, indicating his struggles in bringing wealthy Republican donors on board. On Thursday, his campaign announced via text message that Trump had raised $9 million in a single day from 125,000 people after the third and final presidential debate.
Some outside groups active in the presidential race also filed fundraising paperwork on Thursday. Priorities USA, the chief super PAC backing Clinton, raised almost $25 million. A $6 million chunk of that came from billionaire investor Donald Sussman.
Clinton-aligned NextGen Climate Action Committee took in $20 million last month. Nearly all of that amount -- about $18 million-- came from former hedge-fund manager and climate-change activist Tom Steyer. So far this election cycle, Steyer has given the group $43 million.
Super PACs on the Trump side have been less fruitful in their fundraising. One of the groups, Make America Number One, collected $2 million in September from Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus.
Information for this article was contributed by Josh Lederman, Catherine Lucey, Jill Colvin, Jonathan Lemire, Julie Bykowicz and Chad Day of The Associated Press; by Matea Gold and Anu Narayanswamy of The Washington Post; and by Nicholas Confessore of The New York Times.
A Section on 10/22/2016