[Cuomo:] All right. This election is going to be about battleground states probably more than any other in recent history. We're going a series on it to show you what may matter most in November. Republican Donald Trump is going to campaign in Virginia today. Why? Well, it's the home state of the Democratic VP nominee Tim Kaine. It is a state that is often red but could go blue. President Obama turned that state blue for the first time since '64. He repeated it in 2012. Hillary Clinton needs to do that now to win. CNN's Athena Jones is live in Alexandria, Virginia, with more. Good morning.
[Athena Jones, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, Chris. That's right. Hillary Clinton wants to keep Virginia blue. Two polls in early July had her lead in this state in the high single digits, but there hasn't been much reliable polling since the party convention. So, we'll have to wait and see new numbers to see where the race stands. What we do know is that both campaigns are fighting hard for this battleground state's 13 electoral votes.
[Jones:] The battle for Virginia is being waged by volunteers like these.
[Unidentified Female:] Are you planning to support Hillary come November? Yes, yes.
[Jones:] Working to identify and recruit supporters to help turn out the vote in this swing state.
[Hillary Clinton , Presidential Nominee:] Thank you, Northern Virginia!
[Jones:] And with three months to go until Election Day, neither side is taking anything for granted.
[Garren Shipley, Communications Dir., Virginia Rnc:] Virginia is absolutely critical. The road to the White House runs through the commonwealth, and we're committed to making that happen for our Republican nominee.
[Susan Swecker, Chairwoman, Virginia Dem. Party:] It's a very competitive state, and we're going to do everything we can to win this one for ClintonKaine.
[Jones:] The Clinton team has had staff here since April and has 28 field offices with opening this month. Much of their focus will be on turning out voters in northern Virginia counties close to D.C., an area with a large college educated population that has grown more diverse in recent years.
[Dr. Jeremy Mayer, Schar School Of Policy And Government, Gmu:] Loudoun County is a huge battleground. It's a very large, second only to Fairfax, and there's a lot of swing voters there, a lot of people who can be persuaded.
[Jones:] Once reliably Republican, Loudoun County voted twice for President Obama in 2008
[Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] It is good to be back in Virginia.
[Jones:] and 2012.
[Obama:] How's it going, Leesburg?
[Jones:] Helping him stop a decades long Republican wining streak dating back to 1968. Now, it's a top target for both Clinton and Trump.
[Trump:] We have to get everybody out. Loudoun County is so important.
[Jones:] The real estate mogul has already won over some Loudoun County voters.
[Unidentified Female:] He basically says things like it is. I feel more that you can trust him more than Hillary.
[Unidentified Male:] It's mainly a never Hillary vote.
[Reporter:] Really?
[Unidentified Male:] Yes. Because I think she has way too much baggage to be president of the United States.
[Jones:] But Clinton supporters here are just as committed.
[Unidentified Male:] I think competency is important. And she clearly has a lot of experience and seems to know what she's doing.
[Unidentified Female:] She's the best candidate for the job. I've been a supporter of hers for a long time. In this particular case, I think that she is certainly the better choice.
[Jones:] And the Clinton campaign hopes tapping former governor and current Virginia Senator Tim Kaine as her number two will help her in the state.
[Sen. Tim Kaine , Vice Presidential Nominee:] Do you want a trash talker president or our bridge builder president?
[Jones:] The Clinton team and its allies has spent nearly $5 million on TV ads in Virginia, while the National Rifle Association has spent just over $260,000 on behalf of Trump. The Trump campaign hasn't spent any money on the air waves, but that doesn't mean Republicans aren't fighting hard to win here.
[Shipley:] We're working right now with our volunteers to identify as many Republicans as we can and then as we move forward in the campaign, that will become persuasion, motivation to get out the vote.
[Jones:] Trump's campaign is leaning heavily on the Republican National Committee for its get out the vote efforts. The RNC has been on the ground here since the beginning of 2015.
[Unidentified Male:] My name is Jacob. I'm with the Trump campaign.
[Jones:] They now have some 40 paid staffers working with hundreds of volunteers to woo voters, particularly in Southwest Virginia, the Shenandoah Valley, and Southside Virginia look the North Carolina border. And they're not conceding Loudoun County, where recent college graduate Cameron Saadi is hoping the debates will help him make up his mind.
[Unidentified Male:] I'll be watching them to see how the candidates distinguish themselves from each other.
[Jones:] Now, given recent history, Hillary Clinton may have the edge here, but RNC teams are taking a page from the Obama campaign playbook. They've divided the state into more than a hundred neighborhood areas that they're organizing from the ground up. That means that this year, the person knocking on the doors of potential GOP voters is more likely to be a friend or a neighbor rather than a stranger dispatched from some distant GOP headquarters. It's more persuasive and something the RNC folks say the Obama teams did well here Brianna.
[Keilar:] We'll see if that works. Athena Jones in Alexandria, Virginia thank you so much for that report. They are America's new golden girls. Young, fierce, and crushing it at the Rio Olympics. Is this the best U.S. gymnastics squad ever? We have Shannon Miller, the most decorated American gymnast ever, joining us next.