the final friday of the 2016 election cycle follows days of musical and political celebrities campaigning on hillary clinton <u+2019>s behalf, including a concert with jay z and beyonc<u+00e9> on friday in cleveland. on wednesday, she was joined by the singer pharrell williams in north carolina on wednesday, and the singer katy perry has been working hard to drum up interest among millennial voters. president obama made several stops on the campaign trail for mrs. clinton, and senator bernie sanders of vermont appeared with her in north carolina on thursday. there has been much made about whether democrats are as enthusiastic about their nominee as republicans are about theirs. a new york times/cbs news poll indicated a minimal gap between mrs. clinton and donald j. trump in the excitement among their supporters. still, mrs. clinton has struggled to galvanize younger voters, and she is unleashing an all-star cast to drive up enthusiasm. the stars are less enthralled with donald trump ... ... and mr. trump dinged mrs. clinton<u+2019>s use of celebrities on friday. in fact, some artists do not even want his campaign using their music at his rallies. at melania trump<u+2019>s event in pennsylvania on thursday, the campaign played the song <u+201c>aquarius<u+201d> from the rock musical <u+201c>hair . <u+201d> the authors of the musical, however, are not fans of mr. trump and asked his campaign to <u+201c>cease and desist<u+201d> using any music from the show. <u+201c>the trump political campaign is a far cry from the utopian vision of the new aquarian age,<u+201d> said james rado, one of the show<u+2019>s authors. <u+201c>we want to make sure they discontinue using the song.<u+201d> the lyrics of the song were based on the idea that an age of peace, love and light for humanity was on the horizon. while ms. trump tried to lay out a positive vision for the country during her speech, critics of her husband have complained about the apocalyptic tone of his campaign. the conviction of ex-aides to chris christie is making the mike pence pick look smart. mr. christie was on mr. trump<u+2019>s short list for running mate and, while he remains an adviser to the campaign, the re-emergence of the so-called bridgegate candal so close to election day is a reminder that a november distraction was averted with the selection of gov. mike pence of indiana. mr. christie maintained on friday that he knew nothing about the lane closings at the heart of the case and said that he would soon set the record straight in regard to witnesses who said otherwise. the new jersey governor, who has been leading mr. trump<u+2019>s white house transition team, is planning to campaign for mr. trump this weekend in new hampshire and pennsylvania. will the k.k.k. return to front and center? on thursday, two days after the ku klux klan<u+2019>s official newspaper endorsed mr. trump, mrs. clinton firmly seized on the endorsement for the first time at one of her events. <u+201c>he has spent this entire campaign offering a dog whistle to his most hateful supporters,<u+201d> mrs. clinton said at a rally in north carolina. mr. trump<u+2019>s campaign rejected the endorsement. but it was a rare instance of his team emphatically rebuffing the racist group. mr. trump was slow at best in disavowing the support of the former k.k.k. leader david duke this year <u+2014> <u+201c>i disavow, o.k.?<u+201d> mr. trump impatiently told reporters during the republican primaries <u+2014> and he has repeatedly retweeted posts from white supremacists on his twitter feed. mr. trump<u+2019>s son eric went further than the campaign has <u+2014> and much too far in general <u+2014> in rejecting mr. duke in a radio interview on thursday. eric trump told the interviewer that mr. duke deserves <u+201c>a bullet.<u+201d> still, reminding people of the support that mr. trump has received from white supremacists may be a part of the democrats<u+2019> approach in the coming days in this deeply unusual race. on friday, the white nationalist radix journal also praised mr. trump. jared taylor, a leader of the movement, said that while mr. trump might not be completely in sync with white nationalists on matters of race, he has <u+201c>healthy instincts.<u+201d> find out what you need to know about the 2016 presidential race today, and get politics news updates via facebook , twitter and the morning briefing newsletter .
presidential election: beyonc<u+00e9> and jay z join hillary clinton
maggie haberman alan rappeport