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CNN Live At Daybreak
2000 Repeat?; 'Today's Talker'; 'America's Voice'
Aired October 19, 2004 - 06:28 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: But Florida and other states have poured a lot of money into updating their voting machines. But experts fear that might not be enough to avoid a repeat of the 2000 presidential election.
Our Lisa Sylvester has more for that -- more on that for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): After Florida in 2000, Congress passed the Help America Vote Act. It gave states nearly $3 billion to upgrade their voting systems. But even with the new law, this year's election results could end up right back in court.
ROBERT RICHIE, CENTER FOR VOTING AND DEMOCRACY: If it's within a thousand votes, as it was in Florida, in a key swing state that decides the presidency, I think it's -- the odds are that the Supreme Court will once again be making a decisive decision that easily could be seen as tipping the vote one way or the other.
SYLVESTER: One out of four voters is expected to use new electronic voting machines. But of the 29 states using e-voting, only Nevada has a paper trail to verify results.
PROF. AVI RUBIN, JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: If there's any kind of controversy, we have nothing that we can do to get reassurance that we have the right answer.
SYLVESTER: Other issues could end up before the U.S. Supreme Court in a close election.
Absentee ballots in Pennsylvania were sent out late. A lawsuit is seeking to give overseas voters an extra two weeks to mail them back. A ballot amendment in Colorado would split the nine electoral votes and could ultimately decide who is the next president. In states like Ohio, provisional ballots are being debated by the courts.
The Help America Vote Act requires ballots be given to voters whose names do not show up on the voter rolls. If it's later proven they are registered, the provisional ballots are supposed to count.
DOUG CHAPIN, ELECTIONLINE.ORG: What we're seeing, though, is that different states interpret the provisional voting requirement differently, meaning that voters in some states will have their provisional ballots counted and others will not, especially those voters who don't go to the right precinct and cast their ballot. SYLVESTER: And then there are 18 states, including Missouri, that are still using the old punch-card technology. So, just like 2000, this election could hinge again on those dangling and hanging chads.
(on camera): One problem is that there are no uniform standards. Congress appropriated money to upgrade the election systems, but many states left it up to the counties to decide what action to take. So battleground state Ohio, for instance, has four different voting systems.
Lisa Sylvester, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Oh, so the potential problems in voting in the "Hot Topic" in our Tuesday debate. From the left, talker Nancy Skinner, and from the right, Libertarian talker Neal Boortz.
Welcome to you both.
NEAL BOORTZ, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Good morning.
NANCY SKINNER, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Good morning.
COSTELLO: Oh, Nancy, remember the day we could go to the polls and vote and be sure our vote would be counted?
SKINNER: No, I remember the election 2000, and all I remember is Al Gore won by 500,000 votes. But President Bush won the election by 5 to 4, a court decision.
And it looks like, Carol, from all of the reporting we're seeing and all of the irregularities out there, that we may end up at the Supreme Court again. And then for the American people, it will be a matter of the Supreme Court appointing a president, not the president appointing the Supreme Court.
COSTELLO: Neal...
SKINNER: That's a mortal wound for democracy.
COSTELLO: Is it, Neal? Is that what's going to happen?
BOORTZ: Well, first of all, I'm going to send Nancy a complimentary copy of the United States Constitution, so she will understand how presidents are elected. And the vote in the Supreme Court, Nancy, was 7 to 2, not 5 to 4. We'll get those little inaccuracies out of the way.
SKINNER: Oh, well.
BOORTZ: But I am quite concerned about this election. Frankly, I do not like touch-screen voting. There is no paper trail. And I know some of these computer hackers out there. How difficult is it to get in there and play with the code on one of these machines? They did that in Venezuela during the last election.
But, of course, the biggest problem with this election, as with most elections, is we have too many people voting who do not have a clue and should stay home.
COSTELLO: Oh!
SKINNER: But, Neal, give me a break. Why don't you just...
BOORTZ: I'm sorry.
SKINNER: Why don't you reinstitute the poll tax there or something or a reading test? Here's the thing...
BOORTZ: Well, not a tax, Nancy, but an intelligence test would be nice.
SKINNER: Neal, now here's the thing. You're worried about electronic voting, and so am I. So we agree on this point for sure...
BOORTZ: Right.
SKINNER: ... that it really is -- it can be a catastrophe. But luckily for you, most of the voting systems are owned by a Republican. Diebold is the largest manufacturer of these e-voting systems, and he's a Bush pioneer, who vowed to deliver the electoral votes to Bush. And Senator Chuck Hagel is an investor in this company.
So how can we have faith in our system, Carol, when we don't have a paper trail, and we know that one side owns the machines?
COSTELLO: Well, I...
BOORTZ: Carol, she's absolutely right. How can we have faith in our system when corporate owners actually have opinions? I will remind Nancy that in Florida in 2000, 24 of the 25 election districts that had problems were run completely by Democrats. So if party affiliation -- if party affiliation controls how the voting is going to run, then Al Gore would have won Florida. So, Nancy, I'm sorry, you're 0 for 3 today.
COSTELLO: Let's try a little different tactic here. We've been asking our viewers what they think will happen on November 2. By and large, they think the presidential election won't be decided on November 2. They think it will be decided by lawyers.
This is the most disturbing e-mail, I think, we've received. This is from Marilee (ph) in New Orleans. She says: "I don't have any confidence in the voting system anymore."
That's disturbing in the United States of America, isn't it, Neal?
BOORTZ: Yes. It absolutely is disturbing. It's also disturbing when you don't have any confidence in the voters. So we...
SKINNER: No, Neal...
COSTELLO: Well, everybody has the right to vote...
BOORTZ: No, I'm sorry.
COSTELLO: ... regardless of their intelligence level.
BOORTZ: I am sorry, Carol. It's not there. Show me in the Constitution where it says everybody has the right to vote. Now, we're having...
COSTELLO: The law of the land says that if you register, you can vote.
BOORTZ: OK. If you register and if you qualify under certain other criteria.
SKINNER: No...
BOORTZ: As a matter of fact...
SKINNER: No, Neal, what century are you living in? I mean, that's part of the problem. We've had to go through all of this with the Voting Rights Act and again after the election 2000...
BOORTZ: Well, Nancy...
SKINNER: ... we had to amend the system.
BOORTZ: I'll tell you what, Nancy, next Tuesday morning when we come on here again, you cite the article and section of the Constitution where it says everybody has a right to vote, especially where it says anybody has a right to vote in a presidential election.
COSTELLO: OK, Neal, then we're very...
SKINNER: You make the case that only smart people...
COSTELLO: Hold on a second.
SKINNER: ... only smart people have the right to vote.
COSTELLO: Well, hold on a second, because we're kind of veering off the topic.
SKINNER: Yes.
COSTELLO: Just a final thought from both of you. Nancy, when do you think the election will be decided?
SKINNER: Well, it depends if there is a...
COSTELLO: Oh, I need a short answer.
SKINNER: ... a decisive margin or not. When John Kerry wins this thing by 6 points, then we will know the next morning. That's when we'll know.
COSTELLO: Neal?
BOORTZ: The 4th. November the 4th.
COSTELLO: November the 4th. OK.
BOORTZ: That's my prediction.
COSTELLO: We have both of our predictions in. Thank you both for debating this morning. We've enjoyed it, as usual.
SKINNER: Thank you.
COSTELLO: Ooh, that turned a little ugly, didn't it?
We'll find out where the candidates stand in the eyes of the public. Actually, we'll do that right now. We'll turn to Gallup Poll editor-in-chief, Frank Newport. He's standing by live in Princeton, New Jersey.
Don't you wish you would have been a part of that debate?
FRANK NEWPORT, GALLUP POLL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Well, it was quite interesting into a constitutional debate about what the Founding Fathers intended. But these are important concerns about whether or not people think the voting is going to be right on Election Day. Most people do, by the way.
COSTELLO: Good.
NEWPORT: I have some confidence that it'll go all right.
Carol, let's look this morning at Colorado briefly, one of the swing states that's been defined as a swing state, although it went for Bush fairly handily back in 2000. It had nine electoral votes. It's really been the subject of a lot of discussion. Maybe it is a swing state this year.
Here is our latest on that. Among likely voters, Bush has moved back out into a modest lead among registered voters. It's quite close, about 5 or 6 points. So at this point, 5 points. It looks like it is more in Bush's column, but we'll wait and see as we move over the last two weeks.
By the way, there is an amendment there in Colorado that would allow those electoral votes to be proportionate. And our data show, Carol, when we look at it, that that amendment right now would not pass. In fact, we had about 53 percent opposed, 39 percent favor among likely voters. That means all nine votes would go to either one or the other candidate if the amendment failed. Of course, that's the way it is in most states across the Union -- Carol.
COSTELLO: So, we've heard a lot about gender gaps -- the gender gap, I should say, in this year's election. Are there any other gaps that you're finding? Can you hear me, Frank? We lost Frank Newport.
We'll try to get the numbers for you at the end of DAYBREAK. If not, we'll show them to you tomorrow. And we apologize for that. Poor Frank Newport. He tried. Our fault.
Forget the race for the White House for just a minute. How about the race for the pennant? Another American League late-night marathon of the Sox just a fluke? I don't think so anymore. Hear from the fans coming up.
And then later, dine like a critic, feast like a king. I'll talk to the woman behind the Zagat restaurant survey.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Tuesday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: A quick look at the international markets now. Japan's Nikkei closes up 99 points. In Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 is up 43 points. France's CAC trading up at 57 points.
Let's talk a little baseball now. The Boston Red Sox should have died a slow, agonizing death last night, but thanks to Senor October, Mr. David Ortiz, and some fine pitching, the Boston Red Sox won.
Let's head live to Boston and Gail Huff from our affiliate, WCVB.
Good morning -- Gail. Five hours, 49 minutes of torture and bliss. What was that like?
GAIL HUFF, CNN AFFILIATE WCVB REPORTER: I'll tell you what it's like. It's like trying to be a survivor. Being a Red Sox fan is being a survivor. This game nearly six hours long; the game before five hours long. Definitely it's like a religion.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HUFF (voice over): It was raining madness when the Red Sox won the longest game in ALCS history. And once again, the man of the hour was David Ortiz with a single hit that brought in Johnny Damon to win the game.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: David Ortiz is like Jesus! He's with you when you need him. He puts you on his back and carries you!
HUFF: The Dominican native's flag was carried through the streets while fans chanted his nickname.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who's your Papi? Who's your Papi?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who's your Papi? Who's your Papi?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who's your Papi? Who's your Papi?
HUFF: A wall of people spilled into Kenmore Square, past tired, perhaps delirious. That's the song of "Endless Hope."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right now we're going back to New York. We're going back there, and we're going to take it, baby!
HUFF: Once again, Boston police kept fans from going over the edge.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Manny, D.O., Pedro are the best, No. 1. We only need an opportunity. We're going to take it back to New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HUFF: So it's back to the Bronx for game six and a chance to tie this series up. It has been 86 years since the Boston Red Sox won a World Series. So a lot of hope and, yes, a lot of prayers -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Oh, you know, Gail, what struck me, I was watching the game last night, and they were taking shots of children in the stands. The children were just as intense as the adults.
HUFF: Unbelievable. Like I said, it is like a religion. People are just absolutely not only tuned in, but just it really does become a part of their lives as they play in this series. So they are certainly hoping for the best here.
COSTELLO: Gail Huff, thanks for joining us on DAYBREAK this morning.
Let's head to Chicago now to check in with Bill and Soledad to see what's coming up on "AMERICAN MORNING."
Did you stay up and watch the game?
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, yes, as a matter of fact we caught a little bit of it.
Hey, Carol, did you know that Hurricane Frances is still blowing?
COSTELLO: It's called the Windy City.
HEMMER: And for a good reason, too.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And yesterday, we said it was about the political wind bags, but actually I think it's just windy.
HEMMER: It was (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
O'BRIEN: It's kind of warm this morning.
HEMMER: Yes, it's day two in Chicago, Carol. In a moment here on our next three-hour program of "AMERICAN MORNING," looking at politics today, Obama versus Keyes, which gets a lot of attention in this state. Obama with a huge lead. Why is Keyes in the race? What's he hoping to accomplish? Obviously victory. But is there more than that? We'll talk to both men this morning. O'BRIEN: Yes, some people say he's just in it to be controversial. We're going to chat with him and ask him really why is he sticking in. Some people say he's got a 50-point deficit in this race. We'll find out.
Also this morning, a look at some top Chicago movies. Ebert and Roeper are going to join us. What is the best movie about Chicago? What makes Chicago attractive to filmmakers? We'll take a look at that.
HEMMER: Also, if you check the calendar today, two weeks and counting officially from today is Election Day. Voting already under way in Florida. Different reports, Carol. "The New York Times" has a story today that says they've had nothing but problems as of yesterday. "USA Today" reports that only few glitches were found throughout the entire state. So, we'll talk to some folks in the Sunshine State to try and sort that out and figure out what the truth is there.
O'BRIEN: That's all ahead this morning, Carol. We'll see you in just a little bit.
COSTELLO: All right, thanks to you both.
Your news, money, weather and sports. It is 6:45 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.
Scott Peterson's defense attorneys will be on the attack again today. The first target was to strike at the prosecution theory that Peterson made cement anchors to sink his wife's body in the San Francisco Bay.
Rock singer Melissa Etheridge is at home recovering from two breast cancer surgeries. She says doctors removed a tumor and a few lymph nodes, and she does plan to undergo chemotherapy.
In money news, crude oil prices closed at $53.67 a barrel on Monday. That's down from more than 55 bucks earlier in the day. Crude production actually soared last month to 25-year highs.
In culture, Broadway star Nathan Lane is set to replace Richard Dreyfuss in a London premiere of the hit musical, "The Producers." Dreyfuss was forced to pull out of the show for health reasons. I think Nathan Lane can take over quite handily, don't you?
In sports, the Red Sox did it again. They scored a second straight extra-innings victory over the Yankees. The Yankees still lead the series three games to two with game six tonight in New York. And we can't skip over the Astros game and the Cardinals game, Chad. That was an exciting game, too.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That is a perfect reason to get picture-in-picture, because you watch them both side by side. And then what do you do about the Saint Louis football game? You don't know what to do. You need picture-in-picture-in-picture, and I don't have a TV that will do that. (WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Those are the latest headlines for you.
Do you know what the hottest cars are? Of course, this list isn't about what's on the best-seller list. Instead, it's on the best-stealer list. The most stolen vehicle is the $53,000 Cadillac Escalade EXT. The Nissan Maxima is the second-hottest ride -- stolen that is.
How about the list of least stolen? Well, not surprisingly, the less-than-stylish Saturn station wagon. It is a safe bet it will still be in your driveway, even if you leave it unlocked with the keys in it and the engine running.
That's just cruel. Are you surprised that any of these cars are on the list, Chad, being the car aficionado that you are?
MYERS: No. I think a couple of those are right on the money, although you were saying earlier that really some of the security systems that you get with the cars now are so good that you literally have to put it on a hook or put it on a wrecker and tow it away, because you just can't break into them. You can't steal the cars. And so I guess that's helping the insurance industry just a little bit.
COSTELLO: Yes, and it's about time for the consumer, too.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: Are you heading out for breakfast, lunch or dinner today? How much will it cost you? Will the food be good? How about the service? Is the place clean? Too much to keep track of? All of your restaurant questions answered when one of the creators of the Zagat Survey joins me live next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MYERS: Time to give away a mug.
COSTELLO: Already.
MYERS: We did not give it away yesterday because we got so crunched on time. So I want to give it away today.
COSTELLO: And we had some complaints, too, in our e-mail box.
MYERS: I know. People get mad. This is like the Holy Grail. This is Lord Stanley's Cup.
Here you go. The questions...
COSTELLO: Bring that cup in here.
MYERS: The questions that we asked...
COSTELLO: Thank you.
MYERS: ... on Friday. Name the musical artist who is launching his own satellite music channel. And the answer is Eminem. Because we didn't really think that Howard Stern counted.
COSTELLO: Yes, right.
MYERS: It's not really musical. And a photo by which artist in Elton John's collection received the highest bid at auction? And that was the Maple Thorpe (ph) picture there. It was really a great shot.
COSTELLO: A big black and white tulip. Oh, it was beautiful.
MYERS: Yes, I'll tell you what, some of those photos in that were really good.
And the winner, Jim Sarniak from Philadelphia, our first winner to Philadelphia.
COSTELLO: Wow!
MYERS: I know. It's been a long time. Very, very, very few winners from Pennsylvania period.
COSTELLO: Well, congrats to you. And we're going to give the new DAYBREAK e-mail question later in the show, because there's an answer in this segment. But I wasn't supposed to tell you that, but I did.
MYERS: So pay attention.
COSTELLO: OK, here are some impressive numbers: 1,945 restaurants and 30,000 restaurant reviewers, that's what makes up this year's Zagat Survey of New York restaurants.
For a peek, we turn to Nina Zagat, who is the co-founder of this famous guide.
Good morning.
NINA ZAGAT, CO-FOUNDER OF THE ZAGAT SURVEY: Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: And it is Zagat, because everybody always asks me, "How do you pronounce that?"
ZAGAT: It's Zagat. And very rarely do people get it right.
COSTELLO: It's Zagat like the cat.
ZAGAT: Like "The Cat in the Hat" is what we say.
COSTELLO: Well, I what Chad to join in, because he eats more than I do, frankly.
MYERS: Well, and I love the survey online, because I can go to New Orleans, I can go to Saint Louis, I can go to New York even if I'm sitting here, and I can find out what restaurants I want to eat at.
ZAGAT: Well, I agree with you. It's terrific. And it's 70 cities all across the world. We've got 27 cities in Europe and Japan, all over. So the online version is terrific, and it's 19.95 for a year.
MYERS: Now, you don't go into the restaurants and actually eat there, but your listeners, your viewers, your writers, do. And sometimes these restaurants will have thousands of reviews.
ZAGAT: Well, there will be participants all over that vote on the restaurants on Zagat.com, and they don't need to be a subscriber to vote. All they have to do is to register. And they can vote all year long. If you go to a place and you have a great experience, you vote on Zagat.com, and then next time if you want to update your vote, you can do that.
So it's a terrific experience. People love to participate, and then the top restaurants get thousands and thousands of people to vote on them.
COSTELLO: Speaking of the top restaurants, what's the top restaurant in New York City today, according to your Zagat Survey?
ZAGAT: Well, the top -- well, you know, we rate by food, decor and service. The top place for food this year is Le Bernardin, which was also the top last year. The top for service this year is El Anducos (ph).
MYERS: That's easy for you to say.
COSTELLO: Exactly.
MYERS: I'm glad you took French.
COSTELLO: You know, I'm wondering how much it cost...
ZAGAT: When are you going to come up here and try some of these restaurants with us?
MYERS: Wednesday.
COSTELLO: We're going to be up there later this week, Wednesday.
ZAGAT: OK.
COSTELLO: But first of all, we have to know the cost, because the average cost of a meal in New York is insane.
ZAGAT: No, the average cost of a meal isn't so bad. There are prices that are incredibly high. There has been a lot of publicity about Massa (ph) having an entry price of $300 to start for a meal, but that's very unusual.
COSTELLO: Well, that's crazy. That's at the Time Warner Center, Chad. MYERS: Yes, that's...
ZAGAT: That's your company's headquarters.
MYERS: And compared to Chick-Fil-A, that's really high.
ZAGAT: That's huge. But the average cost of a dinner is more in the 30s, like $37, which has been very consistent. But, you know, there are lots of ways to eat inexpensively in New York.
MYERS: Yes.
ZAGAT: And one of the reasons we have so many restaurants in our guide is that we cover places that are very inexpensive to the most expensive. And you can pick what you want based on the cuisine, the price, the part of town, whatever you're looking for, a romantic spot.
COSTELLO: Oh, yes. Well...
ZAGAT: A place to take your boss. You know, different...
COSTELLO: Yes, we'll be looking for a place to take our boss when we go to New York Wednesday. Nina Zagat, thank you for joining DAYBREAK this morning.
MYERS: Thank you.
ZAGAT: Thank you.
COSTELLO: We'll be right back.
MYERS: I love that survey.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: All right, for today's mug question.
MYERS: Here we go. Readers of a British newspaper are being encouraged to write to voters in what state? And according to the 2005 Zagat -- like "The Cat in the Hat" -- Survey, what's the average price for a person for a meal in New York? We just had that on the air.
COSTELLO: Can you believe she thought that was cheap?
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: I think Nina is making a lot more money than we are.
MYERS: I guess so.
COSTELLO: "AMERICAN MORNING" starts right now.
MYERS: See you tomorrow.
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Aired October 19, 2004 - 06:28 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: But Florida and other states have poured a lot of money into updating their voting machines. But experts fear that might not be enough to avoid a repeat of the 2000 presidential election.
Our Lisa Sylvester has more for that -- more on that for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): After Florida in 2000, Congress passed the Help America Vote Act. It gave states nearly $3 billion to upgrade their voting systems. But even with the new law, this year's election results could end up right back in court.
ROBERT RICHIE, CENTER FOR VOTING AND DEMOCRACY: If it's within a thousand votes, as it was in Florida, in a key swing state that decides the presidency, I think it's -- the odds are that the Supreme Court will once again be making a decisive decision that easily could be seen as tipping the vote one way or the other.
SYLVESTER: One out of four voters is expected to use new electronic voting machines. But of the 29 states using e-voting, only Nevada has a paper trail to verify results.
PROF. AVI RUBIN, JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: If there's any kind of controversy, we have nothing that we can do to get reassurance that we have the right answer.
SYLVESTER: Other issues could end up before the U.S. Supreme Court in a close election.
Absentee ballots in Pennsylvania were sent out late. A lawsuit is seeking to give overseas voters an extra two weeks to mail them back. A ballot amendment in Colorado would split the nine electoral votes and could ultimately decide who is the next president. In states like Ohio, provisional ballots are being debated by the courts.
The Help America Vote Act requires ballots be given to voters whose names do not show up on the voter rolls. If it's later proven they are registered, the provisional ballots are supposed to count.
DOUG CHAPIN, ELECTIONLINE.ORG: What we're seeing, though, is that different states interpret the provisional voting requirement differently, meaning that voters in some states will have their provisional ballots counted and others will not, especially those voters who don't go to the right precinct and cast their ballot. SYLVESTER: And then there are 18 states, including Missouri, that are still using the old punch-card technology. So, just like 2000, this election could hinge again on those dangling and hanging chads.
(on camera): One problem is that there are no uniform standards. Congress appropriated money to upgrade the election systems, but many states left it up to the counties to decide what action to take. So battleground state Ohio, for instance, has four different voting systems.
Lisa Sylvester, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Oh, so the potential problems in voting in the "Hot Topic" in our Tuesday debate. From the left, talker Nancy Skinner, and from the right, Libertarian talker Neal Boortz.
Welcome to you both.
NEAL BOORTZ, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Good morning.
NANCY SKINNER, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Good morning.
COSTELLO: Oh, Nancy, remember the day we could go to the polls and vote and be sure our vote would be counted?
SKINNER: No, I remember the election 2000, and all I remember is Al Gore won by 500,000 votes. But President Bush won the election by 5 to 4, a court decision.
And it looks like, Carol, from all of the reporting we're seeing and all of the irregularities out there, that we may end up at the Supreme Court again. And then for the American people, it will be a matter of the Supreme Court appointing a president, not the president appointing the Supreme Court.
COSTELLO: Neal...
SKINNER: That's a mortal wound for democracy.
COSTELLO: Is it, Neal? Is that what's going to happen?
BOORTZ: Well, first of all, I'm going to send Nancy a complimentary copy of the United States Constitution, so she will understand how presidents are elected. And the vote in the Supreme Court, Nancy, was 7 to 2, not 5 to 4. We'll get those little inaccuracies out of the way.
SKINNER: Oh, well.
BOORTZ: But I am quite concerned about this election. Frankly, I do not like touch-screen voting. There is no paper trail. And I know some of these computer hackers out there. How difficult is it to get in there and play with the code on one of these machines? They did that in Venezuela during the last election.
But, of course, the biggest problem with this election, as with most elections, is we have too many people voting who do not have a clue and should stay home.
COSTELLO: Oh!
SKINNER: But, Neal, give me a break. Why don't you just...
BOORTZ: I'm sorry.
SKINNER: Why don't you reinstitute the poll tax there or something or a reading test? Here's the thing...
BOORTZ: Well, not a tax, Nancy, but an intelligence test would be nice.
SKINNER: Neal, now here's the thing. You're worried about electronic voting, and so am I. So we agree on this point for sure...
BOORTZ: Right.
SKINNER: ... that it really is -- it can be a catastrophe. But luckily for you, most of the voting systems are owned by a Republican. Diebold is the largest manufacturer of these e-voting systems, and he's a Bush pioneer, who vowed to deliver the electoral votes to Bush. And Senator Chuck Hagel is an investor in this company.
So how can we have faith in our system, Carol, when we don't have a paper trail, and we know that one side owns the machines?
COSTELLO: Well, I...
BOORTZ: Carol, she's absolutely right. How can we have faith in our system when corporate owners actually have opinions? I will remind Nancy that in Florida in 2000, 24 of the 25 election districts that had problems were run completely by Democrats. So if party affiliation -- if party affiliation controls how the voting is going to run, then Al Gore would have won Florida. So, Nancy, I'm sorry, you're 0 for 3 today.
COSTELLO: Let's try a little different tactic here. We've been asking our viewers what they think will happen on November 2. By and large, they think the presidential election won't be decided on November 2. They think it will be decided by lawyers.
This is the most disturbing e-mail, I think, we've received. This is from Marilee (ph) in New Orleans. She says: "I don't have any confidence in the voting system anymore."
That's disturbing in the United States of America, isn't it, Neal?
BOORTZ: Yes. It absolutely is disturbing. It's also disturbing when you don't have any confidence in the voters. So we...
SKINNER: No, Neal...
COSTELLO: Well, everybody has the right to vote...
BOORTZ: No, I'm sorry.
COSTELLO: ... regardless of their intelligence level.
BOORTZ: I am sorry, Carol. It's not there. Show me in the Constitution where it says everybody has the right to vote. Now, we're having...
COSTELLO: The law of the land says that if you register, you can vote.
BOORTZ: OK. If you register and if you qualify under certain other criteria.
SKINNER: No...
BOORTZ: As a matter of fact...
SKINNER: No, Neal, what century are you living in? I mean, that's part of the problem. We've had to go through all of this with the Voting Rights Act and again after the election 2000...
BOORTZ: Well, Nancy...
SKINNER: ... we had to amend the system.
BOORTZ: I'll tell you what, Nancy, next Tuesday morning when we come on here again, you cite the article and section of the Constitution where it says everybody has a right to vote, especially where it says anybody has a right to vote in a presidential election.
COSTELLO: OK, Neal, then we're very...
SKINNER: You make the case that only smart people...
COSTELLO: Hold on a second.
SKINNER: ... only smart people have the right to vote.
COSTELLO: Well, hold on a second, because we're kind of veering off the topic.
SKINNER: Yes.
COSTELLO: Just a final thought from both of you. Nancy, when do you think the election will be decided?
SKINNER: Well, it depends if there is a...
COSTELLO: Oh, I need a short answer.
SKINNER: ... a decisive margin or not. When John Kerry wins this thing by 6 points, then we will know the next morning. That's when we'll know.
COSTELLO: Neal?
BOORTZ: The 4th. November the 4th.
COSTELLO: November the 4th. OK.
BOORTZ: That's my prediction.
COSTELLO: We have both of our predictions in. Thank you both for debating this morning. We've enjoyed it, as usual.
SKINNER: Thank you.
COSTELLO: Ooh, that turned a little ugly, didn't it?
We'll find out where the candidates stand in the eyes of the public. Actually, we'll do that right now. We'll turn to Gallup Poll editor-in-chief, Frank Newport. He's standing by live in Princeton, New Jersey.
Don't you wish you would have been a part of that debate?
FRANK NEWPORT, GALLUP POLL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Well, it was quite interesting into a constitutional debate about what the Founding Fathers intended. But these are important concerns about whether or not people think the voting is going to be right on Election Day. Most people do, by the way.
COSTELLO: Good.
NEWPORT: I have some confidence that it'll go all right.
Carol, let's look this morning at Colorado briefly, one of the swing states that's been defined as a swing state, although it went for Bush fairly handily back in 2000. It had nine electoral votes. It's really been the subject of a lot of discussion. Maybe it is a swing state this year.
Here is our latest on that. Among likely voters, Bush has moved back out into a modest lead among registered voters. It's quite close, about 5 or 6 points. So at this point, 5 points. It looks like it is more in Bush's column, but we'll wait and see as we move over the last two weeks.
By the way, there is an amendment there in Colorado that would allow those electoral votes to be proportionate. And our data show, Carol, when we look at it, that that amendment right now would not pass. In fact, we had about 53 percent opposed, 39 percent favor among likely voters. That means all nine votes would go to either one or the other candidate if the amendment failed. Of course, that's the way it is in most states across the Union -- Carol.
COSTELLO: So, we've heard a lot about gender gaps -- the gender gap, I should say, in this year's election. Are there any other gaps that you're finding? Can you hear me, Frank? We lost Frank Newport.
We'll try to get the numbers for you at the end of DAYBREAK. If not, we'll show them to you tomorrow. And we apologize for that. Poor Frank Newport. He tried. Our fault.
Forget the race for the White House for just a minute. How about the race for the pennant? Another American League late-night marathon of the Sox just a fluke? I don't think so anymore. Hear from the fans coming up.
And then later, dine like a critic, feast like a king. I'll talk to the woman behind the Zagat restaurant survey.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Tuesday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: A quick look at the international markets now. Japan's Nikkei closes up 99 points. In Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 is up 43 points. France's CAC trading up at 57 points.
Let's talk a little baseball now. The Boston Red Sox should have died a slow, agonizing death last night, but thanks to Senor October, Mr. David Ortiz, and some fine pitching, the Boston Red Sox won.
Let's head live to Boston and Gail Huff from our affiliate, WCVB.
Good morning -- Gail. Five hours, 49 minutes of torture and bliss. What was that like?
GAIL HUFF, CNN AFFILIATE WCVB REPORTER: I'll tell you what it's like. It's like trying to be a survivor. Being a Red Sox fan is being a survivor. This game nearly six hours long; the game before five hours long. Definitely it's like a religion.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HUFF (voice over): It was raining madness when the Red Sox won the longest game in ALCS history. And once again, the man of the hour was David Ortiz with a single hit that brought in Johnny Damon to win the game.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: David Ortiz is like Jesus! He's with you when you need him. He puts you on his back and carries you!
HUFF: The Dominican native's flag was carried through the streets while fans chanted his nickname.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who's your Papi? Who's your Papi?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who's your Papi? Who's your Papi?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who's your Papi? Who's your Papi?
HUFF: A wall of people spilled into Kenmore Square, past tired, perhaps delirious. That's the song of "Endless Hope."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right now we're going back to New York. We're going back there, and we're going to take it, baby!
HUFF: Once again, Boston police kept fans from going over the edge.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Manny, D.O., Pedro are the best, No. 1. We only need an opportunity. We're going to take it back to New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HUFF: So it's back to the Bronx for game six and a chance to tie this series up. It has been 86 years since the Boston Red Sox won a World Series. So a lot of hope and, yes, a lot of prayers -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Oh, you know, Gail, what struck me, I was watching the game last night, and they were taking shots of children in the stands. The children were just as intense as the adults.
HUFF: Unbelievable. Like I said, it is like a religion. People are just absolutely not only tuned in, but just it really does become a part of their lives as they play in this series. So they are certainly hoping for the best here.
COSTELLO: Gail Huff, thanks for joining us on DAYBREAK this morning.
Let's head to Chicago now to check in with Bill and Soledad to see what's coming up on "AMERICAN MORNING."
Did you stay up and watch the game?
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, yes, as a matter of fact we caught a little bit of it.
Hey, Carol, did you know that Hurricane Frances is still blowing?
COSTELLO: It's called the Windy City.
HEMMER: And for a good reason, too.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And yesterday, we said it was about the political wind bags, but actually I think it's just windy.
HEMMER: It was (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
O'BRIEN: It's kind of warm this morning.
HEMMER: Yes, it's day two in Chicago, Carol. In a moment here on our next three-hour program of "AMERICAN MORNING," looking at politics today, Obama versus Keyes, which gets a lot of attention in this state. Obama with a huge lead. Why is Keyes in the race? What's he hoping to accomplish? Obviously victory. But is there more than that? We'll talk to both men this morning. O'BRIEN: Yes, some people say he's just in it to be controversial. We're going to chat with him and ask him really why is he sticking in. Some people say he's got a 50-point deficit in this race. We'll find out.
Also this morning, a look at some top Chicago movies. Ebert and Roeper are going to join us. What is the best movie about Chicago? What makes Chicago attractive to filmmakers? We'll take a look at that.
HEMMER: Also, if you check the calendar today, two weeks and counting officially from today is Election Day. Voting already under way in Florida. Different reports, Carol. "The New York Times" has a story today that says they've had nothing but problems as of yesterday. "USA Today" reports that only few glitches were found throughout the entire state. So, we'll talk to some folks in the Sunshine State to try and sort that out and figure out what the truth is there.
O'BRIEN: That's all ahead this morning, Carol. We'll see you in just a little bit.
COSTELLO: All right, thanks to you both.
Your news, money, weather and sports. It is 6:45 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.
Scott Peterson's defense attorneys will be on the attack again today. The first target was to strike at the prosecution theory that Peterson made cement anchors to sink his wife's body in the San Francisco Bay.
Rock singer Melissa Etheridge is at home recovering from two breast cancer surgeries. She says doctors removed a tumor and a few lymph nodes, and she does plan to undergo chemotherapy.
In money news, crude oil prices closed at $53.67 a barrel on Monday. That's down from more than 55 bucks earlier in the day. Crude production actually soared last month to 25-year highs.
In culture, Broadway star Nathan Lane is set to replace Richard Dreyfuss in a London premiere of the hit musical, "The Producers." Dreyfuss was forced to pull out of the show for health reasons. I think Nathan Lane can take over quite handily, don't you?
In sports, the Red Sox did it again. They scored a second straight extra-innings victory over the Yankees. The Yankees still lead the series three games to two with game six tonight in New York. And we can't skip over the Astros game and the Cardinals game, Chad. That was an exciting game, too.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That is a perfect reason to get picture-in-picture, because you watch them both side by side. And then what do you do about the Saint Louis football game? You don't know what to do. You need picture-in-picture-in-picture, and I don't have a TV that will do that. (WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Those are the latest headlines for you.
Do you know what the hottest cars are? Of course, this list isn't about what's on the best-seller list. Instead, it's on the best-stealer list. The most stolen vehicle is the $53,000 Cadillac Escalade EXT. The Nissan Maxima is the second-hottest ride -- stolen that is.
How about the list of least stolen? Well, not surprisingly, the less-than-stylish Saturn station wagon. It is a safe bet it will still be in your driveway, even if you leave it unlocked with the keys in it and the engine running.
That's just cruel. Are you surprised that any of these cars are on the list, Chad, being the car aficionado that you are?
MYERS: No. I think a couple of those are right on the money, although you were saying earlier that really some of the security systems that you get with the cars now are so good that you literally have to put it on a hook or put it on a wrecker and tow it away, because you just can't break into them. You can't steal the cars. And so I guess that's helping the insurance industry just a little bit.
COSTELLO: Yes, and it's about time for the consumer, too.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: Are you heading out for breakfast, lunch or dinner today? How much will it cost you? Will the food be good? How about the service? Is the place clean? Too much to keep track of? All of your restaurant questions answered when one of the creators of the Zagat Survey joins me live next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MYERS: Time to give away a mug.
COSTELLO: Already.
MYERS: We did not give it away yesterday because we got so crunched on time. So I want to give it away today.
COSTELLO: And we had some complaints, too, in our e-mail box.
MYERS: I know. People get mad. This is like the Holy Grail. This is Lord Stanley's Cup.
Here you go. The questions...
COSTELLO: Bring that cup in here.
MYERS: The questions that we asked...
COSTELLO: Thank you.
MYERS: ... on Friday. Name the musical artist who is launching his own satellite music channel. And the answer is Eminem. Because we didn't really think that Howard Stern counted.
COSTELLO: Yes, right.
MYERS: It's not really musical. And a photo by which artist in Elton John's collection received the highest bid at auction? And that was the Maple Thorpe (ph) picture there. It was really a great shot.
COSTELLO: A big black and white tulip. Oh, it was beautiful.
MYERS: Yes, I'll tell you what, some of those photos in that were really good.
And the winner, Jim Sarniak from Philadelphia, our first winner to Philadelphia.
COSTELLO: Wow!
MYERS: I know. It's been a long time. Very, very, very few winners from Pennsylvania period.
COSTELLO: Well, congrats to you. And we're going to give the new DAYBREAK e-mail question later in the show, because there's an answer in this segment. But I wasn't supposed to tell you that, but I did.
MYERS: So pay attention.
COSTELLO: OK, here are some impressive numbers: 1,945 restaurants and 30,000 restaurant reviewers, that's what makes up this year's Zagat Survey of New York restaurants.
For a peek, we turn to Nina Zagat, who is the co-founder of this famous guide.
Good morning.
NINA ZAGAT, CO-FOUNDER OF THE ZAGAT SURVEY: Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: And it is Zagat, because everybody always asks me, "How do you pronounce that?"
ZAGAT: It's Zagat. And very rarely do people get it right.
COSTELLO: It's Zagat like the cat.
ZAGAT: Like "The Cat in the Hat" is what we say.
COSTELLO: Well, I what Chad to join in, because he eats more than I do, frankly.
MYERS: Well, and I love the survey online, because I can go to New Orleans, I can go to Saint Louis, I can go to New York even if I'm sitting here, and I can find out what restaurants I want to eat at.
ZAGAT: Well, I agree with you. It's terrific. And it's 70 cities all across the world. We've got 27 cities in Europe and Japan, all over. So the online version is terrific, and it's 19.95 for a year.
MYERS: Now, you don't go into the restaurants and actually eat there, but your listeners, your viewers, your writers, do. And sometimes these restaurants will have thousands of reviews.
ZAGAT: Well, there will be participants all over that vote on the restaurants on Zagat.com, and they don't need to be a subscriber to vote. All they have to do is to register. And they can vote all year long. If you go to a place and you have a great experience, you vote on Zagat.com, and then next time if you want to update your vote, you can do that.
So it's a terrific experience. People love to participate, and then the top restaurants get thousands and thousands of people to vote on them.
COSTELLO: Speaking of the top restaurants, what's the top restaurant in New York City today, according to your Zagat Survey?
ZAGAT: Well, the top -- well, you know, we rate by food, decor and service. The top place for food this year is Le Bernardin, which was also the top last year. The top for service this year is El Anducos (ph).
MYERS: That's easy for you to say.
COSTELLO: Exactly.
MYERS: I'm glad you took French.
COSTELLO: You know, I'm wondering how much it cost...
ZAGAT: When are you going to come up here and try some of these restaurants with us?
MYERS: Wednesday.
COSTELLO: We're going to be up there later this week, Wednesday.
ZAGAT: OK.
COSTELLO: But first of all, we have to know the cost, because the average cost of a meal in New York is insane.
ZAGAT: No, the average cost of a meal isn't so bad. There are prices that are incredibly high. There has been a lot of publicity about Massa (ph) having an entry price of $300 to start for a meal, but that's very unusual.
COSTELLO: Well, that's crazy. That's at the Time Warner Center, Chad. MYERS: Yes, that's...
ZAGAT: That's your company's headquarters.
MYERS: And compared to Chick-Fil-A, that's really high.
ZAGAT: That's huge. But the average cost of a dinner is more in the 30s, like $37, which has been very consistent. But, you know, there are lots of ways to eat inexpensively in New York.
MYERS: Yes.
ZAGAT: And one of the reasons we have so many restaurants in our guide is that we cover places that are very inexpensive to the most expensive. And you can pick what you want based on the cuisine, the price, the part of town, whatever you're looking for, a romantic spot.
COSTELLO: Oh, yes. Well...
ZAGAT: A place to take your boss. You know, different...
COSTELLO: Yes, we'll be looking for a place to take our boss when we go to New York Wednesday. Nina Zagat, thank you for joining DAYBREAK this morning.
MYERS: Thank you.
ZAGAT: Thank you.
COSTELLO: We'll be right back.
MYERS: I love that survey.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: All right, for today's mug question.
MYERS: Here we go. Readers of a British newspaper are being encouraged to write to voters in what state? And according to the 2005 Zagat -- like "The Cat in the Hat" -- Survey, what's the average price for a person for a meal in New York? We just had that on the air.
COSTELLO: Can you believe she thought that was cheap?
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: I think Nina is making a lot more money than we are.
MYERS: I guess so.
COSTELLO: "AMERICAN MORNING" starts right now.
MYERS: See you tomorrow.
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