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American Morning
Florida Voting Glitches; Interview With Ebert and Roeper
Aired October 19, 2004 - 07:30 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.
ANNOUNCER: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING on the road in Chicago.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: A little Pat Halloway (ph) to start the morning. It's 7:30 in New York, 6:30 here in Chicago. A song from "The Blues Brothers."
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I like it.
HEMMER: We're going to check in a moment here on the movies, the great ones that were made here in Chicago.
Also in a moment here, early voting continues in Florida today. They're going to do this for about two weeks. The question today: Is it working? Is it better or is it worse from four years ago? And a very interesting juxtaposition today. We have reports in one newspaper, "The New York Times," saying that they had a number of problems yesterday. "USA Today" is reporting just a few glitches. So we'll try and get to the truth of it in Florida in a moment here. We'll talk to one of the election supervisors down there in Florida.
O'BRIEN: Also this morning, you were just mentioning "The Blues Brothers." Two of the most powerful thumbs, I guess you could call them, in the movie industry, Ebert and Roeper, talk about -- talk to Toure, rather, about Chicago's storied history in film, not only as a location but also just some of the great movies that have a Chicago theme as well.
HEMMER: So many, and such a great city, too, and great locations and great buildings and the architecture.
O'BRIEN: And the people have been such great hosts for us.
HEMMER: Yes.
O'BRIEN: I mean, you know, super friendly people.
HEMMER: And it's only Tuesday.
O'BRIEN: And it's only been 24 hours.
HEMMER: We want to check with Heidi Collins now, also with us here, good morning, for the headlines.
How are you doing?
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, and I'm really happy because they have coffee here, too.
HEMMER: Terrific.
COLLINS: It's not only in New York. Oh, thank goodness.
I want to get to the news now this morning.
There is word this hour of a new kidnapping in Iraq. The head of operations for the relief organization, CARE, has been abducted in Baghdad. Officials say the woman is Margaret Hassan (ph). She is a dual Iraqi and British national. A spokeswoman says Hassan (ph) was kidnapped just hours ago. No group has yet claimed responsibility.
Here in the U.S., more fallout at the Sinclair Broadcast Group. At issue: a documentary set to air this week, critical of John Kerry's Vietnam-era anti-war activities. Sinclair's D.C. bureau chief says he was fired for criticizing the company's decision to run the film. Jon Lieberman spoke exclusively with CNN last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JONATHAN LIEBERMAN, FMR. SINCLAIR WASH. BUREAU CHIEF: I don't think this is about being on the right or being on the left. I think it's about right and wrong in news. And I couldn't be part of this special, where we labeled this as news when clearly what it is, is political propaganda.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Sinclair calls Lieberman a disgruntled employee who violated company policy by speaking to the press. More from Jon Lieberman and Sinclair Broadcast Group coming up in our next hour.
A new poll shows terrorism is losing its importance among some voters. According to ABC News, terrorism was seen as a more important issue before the debate. Polled voters now give the war in Iraq greater weight. It's tied with the economy and jobs as the greatest concern.
The Food and Drug Administration approved an artificial heart. The device can be used temporarily by patients waiting for an organ transplant. It's the first time such a device has been OK'd in the United States. A top official at the private company making the artificial heart calls the development a breakthrough.
Very exciting stuff.
HEMMER: Yes, we were watching the Yankee's game last night. I think it went on for half a day.
COLLINS: It did.
HEMMER: Coming up in a moment here, we'll let you know how it went down last night. Thanks, Heidi.
COLLINS: You bet. HEMMER: All right.
O'BRIEN: Well, as you all know, only 14 days until the election. Both campaigns are pushing through the battleground states. Both candidates traded blows over Iraq yesterday. Senator John Kerry in Florida blasting the president for his -- quote -- "mismanagement of the conflict." President Bush yesterday in New Jersey, where he called Senator Kerry's plan for Iraq a strategy of retreat.
As to where the race stands right now, the latest "Poll of Polls" gives President Bush a 5-point edge, the daily "Poll of Polls" averages recent national public polling data to give a broader sense of just how the race is going.
HEMMER: As we mentioned, Soledad, early voting is now under way in a number of states, including the state of Florida. So far relatively few problems, but there are some exceptions, we're told. Yesterday in Orange County, computer systems went down for a short time.
And Bill Cowles is the supervisor of elections in Orange County with us now in Winter Park, Florida.
Bill, good morning to you. And thanks for your time this morning.
Shoot us straight. How did things go overall?
BILL COWLES, ORANGE COUNTY ELECTION SUPERVISOR: I think we got off to a great start. In Orange County, we did have a situation where the computers froze up. But just like any computer, you reboot it and it comes back up, and we were on our way.
And we had a terrific day of early voting, and it sounds like around the state it went very well. A few other counties had the same situation where their voter registration system, not their voting equipment, had some glitches in the process of checking voters in. But overall, it sounds like we had long lines, excited voters ready to get out and cast some votes.
HEMMER: What about turnout, Bill? How would you rate it?
COWLES: Very high. And I think a lot of that had to do with all of the activities, because we have both presidential candidates in and out of the state over the past couple days. And also we had a lot of groups doing rallies to kick off the early voting to get their constituents out to vote. So that added to a very busy high turnout day on Monday, the first day.
HEMMER: Also, Bill, give me an idea here, we're seeing various reports here that kind of contradict one another. One article in "USA Today" kind of reflects what you're saying. "The New York Times" has a different story, saying that there have been a number of problems as of yesterday. What is the truth based on what you have seen?
COWLES: Well, I think the situation, as I just said, is on the voter registration side, being able to make the contact from the early voting sites back to the elections office to verify, which then slows down the process of checking people in. But none of the reports I have seen shows anything has happened to the actual votes being cast.
And, again, it was the first day, a big turnout and little bit longer lines than we have probably anticipated. But those who waited through got checked in, got their ballots and got to cast their votes.
HEMMER: One more thing then, Bill, about the electronic voting taking place this time around the general election. I know you had a spell with it two years ago during the midterm elections of 2002. If Florida is anywhere as close as it was four years ago, is there a paper trail for the electronic balloting that you can go back and inspect?
COWLES: On those touch-screen voting systems, every single unit has an audit log. And you can print out the log, and it will show every touch that was made on that screen from the time it was turned on until the time it was closed down.
So on the touch screen the only thing you can do is under-vote, which a voter has the right to make the decision not to vote in a race. And you can go back and verify the number of under-votes by printing out that audit log on each machine.
HEMMER: So the electronic trail is what you're referring to?
COWLES: There is electronic trail, but then it also post- election can be printed out and verified.
HEMMER: One final thought here. Can you reassure America today that Florida is ready in 2004?
COWLES: I believe Florida is ready. We made our election reform in 2001. We've conducted four statewide elections leading into this general presidential election. And I believe the election administrators are ready.
HEMMER: All right.
COWLES: The key is we'll have more people than ever at these polls.
HEMMER: Hey, good luck.
COWLES: Thank you.
HEMMER: Bill Cowles, you have two weeks to go with the new system there in Florida. Nice to chat with you.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: Well, the Boston Red Sox fans might just want to double David Ortiz's salary. He drove in the winning run in extra innings late last night for a second night in a row. Ortiz fouled off pitch after pitch after pitch in the 14th inning before delivering the hits that saved the Red Sox from elimination by the New York Yankees. The winning run crossed the plate five hours, 49 minutes after the game started, a post-season record.
The battle continues tonight in the Bronx. The Yankees need one of the next two games in order to win the American League pennant. The Red Sox will have to win both.
HEMMER: Oh, look at that, 12 innings two days ago in game four, 14 innings last night. Folks in the Northeast are going to be really tired today, don't you think?
O'BRIEN: Oh, absolutely.
HEMMER: Staying up and watching that. Here in Chicago, one of the best known Chicagoans, if you will allow us to go there, is Harry Caray, the great Cubs broadcaster for so many years. He's got a restaurant downtown. We gathered the CNN AMERICAN MORNING crew to watch the game last night. Heidi was there. And...
O'BRIEN: Everybody was drinking.
COLLINS: Everybody was drinking for a while. But the problem was the game kept going and going and going. But so many folks here with our crew are from New York City and they're Yankee fans, so we could not miss that last night. So we eventually gave in -- well, I did anyway. The rest of the crew stuck around to see the rest of the game.
O'BRIEN: To see how it turned out.
HEMMER: Yes. Harry Caray was our host last night. Nice.
O'BRIEN: Well, still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, we've got more fallout from the controversy over "Stolen Honor." This time Sinclair takes a beating. Andy is "Minding Your Business" this morning.
HEMMER: Also, what's the greatest film ever made here in Chicago? The movie critics, Ebert and Roeper, are our guests. They chime in ahead on AMERICAN MORNING live in Chicago on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Our next stop in our Chicago ride is beautiful and historic Union Station. We'll be there tomorrow, indoors by the way.
Among our many guests -- the governor was here yesterday -- the lieutenant governor is here tomorrow, Pat Quinn, character actress Irma P. Hall. We'll also take another bite into "Deep Dish Politics" and a look the people who tend to all of those movable bridges along the Chicago River. All of that and a lot more tomorrow here in Chicago. That's on Wednesday.
But Tuesday continues now. Here's Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Well, it is not Tinseltown. It's not the Big Apple, but moviemakers and filmgoers alike love Chicago. And you can't forget the dueling critics, Ebert and Roeper. Here's is CNN's pop culture correspondent, Toure.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOURE, CNN POPULAR CULTURE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): So Chicago is one of the great movie towns...
ROGER EBERT, FILM CRITIC: Yes.
TOURE: ... great movie locals. What are some of the great quintessential Chicago movies?
EBERT: Well, you have you to start with the reality that Chicago is the best-looking big city in America. We have the lakefront. We have the skyline. We have the best architecture, and we have wonderful neighborhoods.
So you look at a movie like "The Fugitive," directed by Andy Davis, who grew up here and who has made several movies here, and he really knows the town so that he shows you fabulous locations.
RICHARD ROEPER, FILM CRITIC: I love the way Davis used Chicago in "The Fugitives." A lot of filmmakers, too, they love the L tracks.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Walter, this is Richard.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Richard, why did you run? Running only makes you look guilty.
TOURE: When New York is a character in the movie or a TV show...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
TOURE: ... I know what that represents. I know what L.A. is. What is Chicago?
EBERT: Chicago, I think, represents a kind Midwestern reality, more down to earth. The people have less edge. They are likely to be nicer, frankly. I'll just stop there.
ROEPER: He said it, I didn't. Well, I think one of the reasons Chicago became so popular as a filmmaker location is because New York had been used so many times that Chicago, I think, was rediscovered maybe in the late '60s, early '70s for a long time as a new location. Like, wow, look at this great architecture.
EBERT: Yes.
ROEPER: Look at his lakefront. We can do different things with it. Of course, look at "The Blues Brothers." Talk about Calumet City, Illinois and then Chicago as well with the great chase scene.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've always loved you.
TOURE: Well, and we haven't even really gotten to the John Hughes that much yet, right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
TOURE: I mean, one of the -- and showing the pride, right? Chicagoans have great pride for their city. And he is like the Woody Allen of Chicago, perhaps.
ROEPER: Of the North Shore. Actually, it's suburban Chicago, because although, you know, some of John Hughes' movies, of course, they do take the characters downtown. And what you're really seeing is the quintessential upper middle-class suburban life in the movies like "Sixteen Candles" and "Home Alone."
TOURE: Since 1954, 200 -- more than 200 movies have been made in Chicago. What is it about...
EBERT: And let me tell you this. Another 500 Chicago movies have been made in Toronto...
ROEPER: Yes, exactly. In fact...
EBERT: ... including "Chicago."
ROEPER: In fact, "Chicago" was made in Toronto.
(CROSSTALK)
TOURE: Oh, sacrilegious.
ROEPER: And now have you "Shall We Dance," where Richard Gere plays the Chicago accountant who is on the L train, and he sees J.Lo, Jennifer Lopez in the window of a dance studio, the train stops, and this whole thing takes place. And where did they film 95 percent of "Shall We Dance?" Winnipeg.
EBERT: Winnipeg.
ROEPER: Winnipeg, where I think the tallest building is four feet.
TOURE: The best Chicago movie ever?
EBERT: The best Chicago movie ever would have to be "Hoop Dreams." It's a documentary about two kids from the west side who go out to the suburbs to play basketball. And what happens to them is better than any scriptwriter could have ever come up with.
ROEPER: I love, of course, "Ferris Bueller's Day Off." It's one of my favorite movies of all time. And it's kind of a little travel log. I mean, Ferris lives out in the suburbs in John Hughs-land. But, of course, they come downtown.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, batter, batter, batter, batter, swing, batter! Hey, batter, batter, batter, batter, swing, batter! He can't hit, he can't hit, he can't hit, he can't hit. Swing, batter! ROEPER: To me, I mean, I've had that day off, you know. I mean, I thought -- when I first saw that movie, I thought, where was he with the camera when I was ditching school? I mean, it gets it perfectly. What would do you if you had, you know, a perfect Chicago spring day and the Cubs were playing and you go to the Art Institute and you can go to this great restaurant and you can go to a parade?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: And that was Toure, our culture correspondent.
HEMMER: I love the shot in "Ferris Bueller" at the Art Institute when he was checking out (UNINTELLIGIBLE) know what they're looking at.
O'BRIEN: That's such a great movie. Guess what I did yesterday?
HEMMER: I can only guess.
O'BRIEN: Take a guess. I'll give you a hint.
HEMMER: Well, we're here.
O'BRIEN: Gucci, Luka Luka (ph), Armani. Oh, there's me shopping.
HEMMER: How much did you buy?
O'BRIEN: My husband is watching the show this morning, so I'm going to say, why, nothing. This is research, Bill. That means I put it on my corporate card.
HEMMER: Oh, you know, you...
O'BRIEN: Just kidding.
HEMMER: You've learned very well actually to give the right answer: research.
O'BRIEN: We spent the afternoon along the Magnificent Mile, which is 3.1 million square feet of retail space. We covered most of it, 460 stores. We got to most of them. Hello. I did buy those shoes. Aren't they fabulous? Two hundred seventy-five restaurants. We ate at a couple. Twenty-two million visitors every single year. It's a stretch, as you well know, along North Michigan Avenue, and we had a great time. The folks have been really wonderful to us, and we spent a lot of time.
HEMMER: And let your husband know that the Magnificent Mile is even more magnificent during Christmastime.
O'BRIEN: Oh, it's...
HEMMER: The lights come out. And you come back to Chicago and do some more shopping.
O'BRIEN: Marshal Field's, which has a giant flagship store.
HEMMER: The list just keeps on going.
O'BRIEN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) yesterday and it just keeps going. It was a lot of fun. We had a great time.
HEMMER: Andy says it's going to be a big day for the Big Blue. He's "Minding Your Business." Back in a moment with Drew in a moment here live in Chicago on a Tuesday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. You're looking at Loyola University of Chicago, which is where we are being hosted this fine morning as we continue our tour through Chicago. And there are some of the fine students at this institution. You know, they started their journalism program. This is the first year that they're actually giving a degree in journalism, and we'll hopefully get a chance to chat with some of the students a little bit later this morning.
HEMMER: Future (UNINTELLIGIBLE) too, huh?
O'BRIEN: Yes.
HEMMER: Up early...
O'BRIEN: Yes.
HEMMER: ... in this.
O'BRIEN: Good for them.
HEMMER: Welcome back, everybody. We are on the campus of Loyola University right along the Magnificent Mile, Jesuit University here.
We want to head back over to Andy and Jack now at Carton's Restaurant.
Good morning, guys.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: How are you doing, young fellow? Andy Serwer is here "Minding Your Business." We've got a preview of the markets. Sinclair Broadcasting is getting some flack over that anti-Kerry documentary. Andy's got it all.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Indeed, Jack. Yes, let's start off with the markets here a little bit this morning. Yesterday it ended up being a pretty good day for stocks. Let's go check out what happened. Here you go. Dow up, Nasdaq up even more on a percentage basis. Basically the big turnaround was in oil, Jack, falling from about 55 bucks to around 53 and change this morning.
After hours, IBM announced some pretty good earnings, especially looking forward. That stock is up over $2 in pre-market trading, and that's why futures are up this morning. Counter-balancing that, though, unfortunately is some bad news from Continental Airlines. They are going to post a loss this morning and saying that they could for the entire year and for 2005. You know, higher oil prices hitting that company.
And let's also talk about Sinclair Broadcasting.
CAFFERTY: Absolutely.
SERWER: This is kind of a spicy little company. It's gotten into all kinds of trouble over the years with Jesse Jackson and investors not liking what's going on. You can see the stock is down. It's really down about, what, 12 percent since this Kerry film controversy broke on October 11. But it was $30 in 1998, and now it's 6.
CAFFERTY: Wow!
SERWER: It sounds like something you and I might own.
CAFFERTY: Yes, that would be the kind of investment I make on a fairly regular basis.
SERWER: Yes, I know the feeling.
CAFFERTY: Talking about the airlines. All of the big carriers are in trouble. They're laying off people. They're trying to cut costs. I flew out here on United Airlines. I've got to tell you, these are the nicest folks with the best attitude. You know, they've got this sordid Damocles hanging over their heads.
SERWER: Yes.
CAFFERTY: The service was terrific. The flight got in 15 minutes early. Kudos to the people who are working for those airlines.
SERWER: Yes, it's tough. I mean...
CAFFERTY: The folks on the front line.
SERWER: And that company is in bankruptcy, too.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
SERWER: It's been a tough situation for them.
CAFFERTY: It really is. All right, on to other things. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but what happens on AMERICAN MORNING here in Chicago we will be happy to blab all over the country.
Our question this morning is: What is your best Chicago secret?
Ron writes us from Elmwood Park, Illinois: "Our best Chicago secret is that the Bears are actually a good football team, 9 championships, about 25 Hall of Famers, although apparently for this year we are going to play it really close to the vest."
James in Glenview, Illinois: "Best Chicago secret? Lower Michigan whacker drive the network of streets that mirror the streets that you see but are underground, built in order for the trucks to use different streets than the pedestrian and automobile traffic." And traffic in that part of the city flows very well actually.
Dean in Marlton, New York, writes this: "My best Chicago secret is," and she writes, "I'm so embarrassed, that my favorite song is "The Night Chicago Died" by Paper Lace. Just don't tell anyone."
SERWER: You just did.
CAFFERTY: And the last e-mail is this one: "Get the morning anchors in out of the cold. This is insane. Put them all in the diner now. Signed Soledad and Bill."
O'BRIEN: Hey, Jack, you are so great to run that. Thanks.
HEMMER: True story.
CAFFERTY: Yes, oh, anything for you guys.
O'BRIEN: We'll keep e-mailing you throughout the show.
CAFFERTY: All right.
O'BRIEN: All right, thanks, Jack.
Still to come this morning, we're talking to the sometimes controversial, always outspoken Alan Keyes. He, of course, is the GOP candidate for the U.S. Senate out of Illinois. He has said some pretty interesting things, at one point calling Mary Cheney practicing selfish hedonism. We're going to talk to him this morning about why he's still in the race when some polls show him running some 40 to 50 points behind his opponent.
We're back in just a moment. Stay with us, everybody.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired October 19, 2004 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANNOUNCER: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING on the road in Chicago.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: A little Pat Halloway (ph) to start the morning. It's 7:30 in New York, 6:30 here in Chicago. A song from "The Blues Brothers."
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I like it.
HEMMER: We're going to check in a moment here on the movies, the great ones that were made here in Chicago.
Also in a moment here, early voting continues in Florida today. They're going to do this for about two weeks. The question today: Is it working? Is it better or is it worse from four years ago? And a very interesting juxtaposition today. We have reports in one newspaper, "The New York Times," saying that they had a number of problems yesterday. "USA Today" is reporting just a few glitches. So we'll try and get to the truth of it in Florida in a moment here. We'll talk to one of the election supervisors down there in Florida.
O'BRIEN: Also this morning, you were just mentioning "The Blues Brothers." Two of the most powerful thumbs, I guess you could call them, in the movie industry, Ebert and Roeper, talk about -- talk to Toure, rather, about Chicago's storied history in film, not only as a location but also just some of the great movies that have a Chicago theme as well.
HEMMER: So many, and such a great city, too, and great locations and great buildings and the architecture.
O'BRIEN: And the people have been such great hosts for us.
HEMMER: Yes.
O'BRIEN: I mean, you know, super friendly people.
HEMMER: And it's only Tuesday.
O'BRIEN: And it's only been 24 hours.
HEMMER: We want to check with Heidi Collins now, also with us here, good morning, for the headlines.
How are you doing?
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, and I'm really happy because they have coffee here, too.
HEMMER: Terrific.
COLLINS: It's not only in New York. Oh, thank goodness.
I want to get to the news now this morning.
There is word this hour of a new kidnapping in Iraq. The head of operations for the relief organization, CARE, has been abducted in Baghdad. Officials say the woman is Margaret Hassan (ph). She is a dual Iraqi and British national. A spokeswoman says Hassan (ph) was kidnapped just hours ago. No group has yet claimed responsibility.
Here in the U.S., more fallout at the Sinclair Broadcast Group. At issue: a documentary set to air this week, critical of John Kerry's Vietnam-era anti-war activities. Sinclair's D.C. bureau chief says he was fired for criticizing the company's decision to run the film. Jon Lieberman spoke exclusively with CNN last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JONATHAN LIEBERMAN, FMR. SINCLAIR WASH. BUREAU CHIEF: I don't think this is about being on the right or being on the left. I think it's about right and wrong in news. And I couldn't be part of this special, where we labeled this as news when clearly what it is, is political propaganda.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Sinclair calls Lieberman a disgruntled employee who violated company policy by speaking to the press. More from Jon Lieberman and Sinclair Broadcast Group coming up in our next hour.
A new poll shows terrorism is losing its importance among some voters. According to ABC News, terrorism was seen as a more important issue before the debate. Polled voters now give the war in Iraq greater weight. It's tied with the economy and jobs as the greatest concern.
The Food and Drug Administration approved an artificial heart. The device can be used temporarily by patients waiting for an organ transplant. It's the first time such a device has been OK'd in the United States. A top official at the private company making the artificial heart calls the development a breakthrough.
Very exciting stuff.
HEMMER: Yes, we were watching the Yankee's game last night. I think it went on for half a day.
COLLINS: It did.
HEMMER: Coming up in a moment here, we'll let you know how it went down last night. Thanks, Heidi.
COLLINS: You bet. HEMMER: All right.
O'BRIEN: Well, as you all know, only 14 days until the election. Both campaigns are pushing through the battleground states. Both candidates traded blows over Iraq yesterday. Senator John Kerry in Florida blasting the president for his -- quote -- "mismanagement of the conflict." President Bush yesterday in New Jersey, where he called Senator Kerry's plan for Iraq a strategy of retreat.
As to where the race stands right now, the latest "Poll of Polls" gives President Bush a 5-point edge, the daily "Poll of Polls" averages recent national public polling data to give a broader sense of just how the race is going.
HEMMER: As we mentioned, Soledad, early voting is now under way in a number of states, including the state of Florida. So far relatively few problems, but there are some exceptions, we're told. Yesterday in Orange County, computer systems went down for a short time.
And Bill Cowles is the supervisor of elections in Orange County with us now in Winter Park, Florida.
Bill, good morning to you. And thanks for your time this morning.
Shoot us straight. How did things go overall?
BILL COWLES, ORANGE COUNTY ELECTION SUPERVISOR: I think we got off to a great start. In Orange County, we did have a situation where the computers froze up. But just like any computer, you reboot it and it comes back up, and we were on our way.
And we had a terrific day of early voting, and it sounds like around the state it went very well. A few other counties had the same situation where their voter registration system, not their voting equipment, had some glitches in the process of checking voters in. But overall, it sounds like we had long lines, excited voters ready to get out and cast some votes.
HEMMER: What about turnout, Bill? How would you rate it?
COWLES: Very high. And I think a lot of that had to do with all of the activities, because we have both presidential candidates in and out of the state over the past couple days. And also we had a lot of groups doing rallies to kick off the early voting to get their constituents out to vote. So that added to a very busy high turnout day on Monday, the first day.
HEMMER: Also, Bill, give me an idea here, we're seeing various reports here that kind of contradict one another. One article in "USA Today" kind of reflects what you're saying. "The New York Times" has a different story, saying that there have been a number of problems as of yesterday. What is the truth based on what you have seen?
COWLES: Well, I think the situation, as I just said, is on the voter registration side, being able to make the contact from the early voting sites back to the elections office to verify, which then slows down the process of checking people in. But none of the reports I have seen shows anything has happened to the actual votes being cast.
And, again, it was the first day, a big turnout and little bit longer lines than we have probably anticipated. But those who waited through got checked in, got their ballots and got to cast their votes.
HEMMER: One more thing then, Bill, about the electronic voting taking place this time around the general election. I know you had a spell with it two years ago during the midterm elections of 2002. If Florida is anywhere as close as it was four years ago, is there a paper trail for the electronic balloting that you can go back and inspect?
COWLES: On those touch-screen voting systems, every single unit has an audit log. And you can print out the log, and it will show every touch that was made on that screen from the time it was turned on until the time it was closed down.
So on the touch screen the only thing you can do is under-vote, which a voter has the right to make the decision not to vote in a race. And you can go back and verify the number of under-votes by printing out that audit log on each machine.
HEMMER: So the electronic trail is what you're referring to?
COWLES: There is electronic trail, but then it also post- election can be printed out and verified.
HEMMER: One final thought here. Can you reassure America today that Florida is ready in 2004?
COWLES: I believe Florida is ready. We made our election reform in 2001. We've conducted four statewide elections leading into this general presidential election. And I believe the election administrators are ready.
HEMMER: All right.
COWLES: The key is we'll have more people than ever at these polls.
HEMMER: Hey, good luck.
COWLES: Thank you.
HEMMER: Bill Cowles, you have two weeks to go with the new system there in Florida. Nice to chat with you.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: Well, the Boston Red Sox fans might just want to double David Ortiz's salary. He drove in the winning run in extra innings late last night for a second night in a row. Ortiz fouled off pitch after pitch after pitch in the 14th inning before delivering the hits that saved the Red Sox from elimination by the New York Yankees. The winning run crossed the plate five hours, 49 minutes after the game started, a post-season record.
The battle continues tonight in the Bronx. The Yankees need one of the next two games in order to win the American League pennant. The Red Sox will have to win both.
HEMMER: Oh, look at that, 12 innings two days ago in game four, 14 innings last night. Folks in the Northeast are going to be really tired today, don't you think?
O'BRIEN: Oh, absolutely.
HEMMER: Staying up and watching that. Here in Chicago, one of the best known Chicagoans, if you will allow us to go there, is Harry Caray, the great Cubs broadcaster for so many years. He's got a restaurant downtown. We gathered the CNN AMERICAN MORNING crew to watch the game last night. Heidi was there. And...
O'BRIEN: Everybody was drinking.
COLLINS: Everybody was drinking for a while. But the problem was the game kept going and going and going. But so many folks here with our crew are from New York City and they're Yankee fans, so we could not miss that last night. So we eventually gave in -- well, I did anyway. The rest of the crew stuck around to see the rest of the game.
O'BRIEN: To see how it turned out.
HEMMER: Yes. Harry Caray was our host last night. Nice.
O'BRIEN: Well, still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, we've got more fallout from the controversy over "Stolen Honor." This time Sinclair takes a beating. Andy is "Minding Your Business" this morning.
HEMMER: Also, what's the greatest film ever made here in Chicago? The movie critics, Ebert and Roeper, are our guests. They chime in ahead on AMERICAN MORNING live in Chicago on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Our next stop in our Chicago ride is beautiful and historic Union Station. We'll be there tomorrow, indoors by the way.
Among our many guests -- the governor was here yesterday -- the lieutenant governor is here tomorrow, Pat Quinn, character actress Irma P. Hall. We'll also take another bite into "Deep Dish Politics" and a look the people who tend to all of those movable bridges along the Chicago River. All of that and a lot more tomorrow here in Chicago. That's on Wednesday.
But Tuesday continues now. Here's Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Well, it is not Tinseltown. It's not the Big Apple, but moviemakers and filmgoers alike love Chicago. And you can't forget the dueling critics, Ebert and Roeper. Here's is CNN's pop culture correspondent, Toure.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOURE, CNN POPULAR CULTURE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): So Chicago is one of the great movie towns...
ROGER EBERT, FILM CRITIC: Yes.
TOURE: ... great movie locals. What are some of the great quintessential Chicago movies?
EBERT: Well, you have you to start with the reality that Chicago is the best-looking big city in America. We have the lakefront. We have the skyline. We have the best architecture, and we have wonderful neighborhoods.
So you look at a movie like "The Fugitive," directed by Andy Davis, who grew up here and who has made several movies here, and he really knows the town so that he shows you fabulous locations.
RICHARD ROEPER, FILM CRITIC: I love the way Davis used Chicago in "The Fugitives." A lot of filmmakers, too, they love the L tracks.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Walter, this is Richard.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Richard, why did you run? Running only makes you look guilty.
TOURE: When New York is a character in the movie or a TV show...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
TOURE: ... I know what that represents. I know what L.A. is. What is Chicago?
EBERT: Chicago, I think, represents a kind Midwestern reality, more down to earth. The people have less edge. They are likely to be nicer, frankly. I'll just stop there.
ROEPER: He said it, I didn't. Well, I think one of the reasons Chicago became so popular as a filmmaker location is because New York had been used so many times that Chicago, I think, was rediscovered maybe in the late '60s, early '70s for a long time as a new location. Like, wow, look at this great architecture.
EBERT: Yes.
ROEPER: Look at his lakefront. We can do different things with it. Of course, look at "The Blues Brothers." Talk about Calumet City, Illinois and then Chicago as well with the great chase scene.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've always loved you.
TOURE: Well, and we haven't even really gotten to the John Hughes that much yet, right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
TOURE: I mean, one of the -- and showing the pride, right? Chicagoans have great pride for their city. And he is like the Woody Allen of Chicago, perhaps.
ROEPER: Of the North Shore. Actually, it's suburban Chicago, because although, you know, some of John Hughes' movies, of course, they do take the characters downtown. And what you're really seeing is the quintessential upper middle-class suburban life in the movies like "Sixteen Candles" and "Home Alone."
TOURE: Since 1954, 200 -- more than 200 movies have been made in Chicago. What is it about...
EBERT: And let me tell you this. Another 500 Chicago movies have been made in Toronto...
ROEPER: Yes, exactly. In fact...
EBERT: ... including "Chicago."
ROEPER: In fact, "Chicago" was made in Toronto.
(CROSSTALK)
TOURE: Oh, sacrilegious.
ROEPER: And now have you "Shall We Dance," where Richard Gere plays the Chicago accountant who is on the L train, and he sees J.Lo, Jennifer Lopez in the window of a dance studio, the train stops, and this whole thing takes place. And where did they film 95 percent of "Shall We Dance?" Winnipeg.
EBERT: Winnipeg.
ROEPER: Winnipeg, where I think the tallest building is four feet.
TOURE: The best Chicago movie ever?
EBERT: The best Chicago movie ever would have to be "Hoop Dreams." It's a documentary about two kids from the west side who go out to the suburbs to play basketball. And what happens to them is better than any scriptwriter could have ever come up with.
ROEPER: I love, of course, "Ferris Bueller's Day Off." It's one of my favorite movies of all time. And it's kind of a little travel log. I mean, Ferris lives out in the suburbs in John Hughs-land. But, of course, they come downtown.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, batter, batter, batter, batter, swing, batter! Hey, batter, batter, batter, batter, swing, batter! He can't hit, he can't hit, he can't hit, he can't hit. Swing, batter! ROEPER: To me, I mean, I've had that day off, you know. I mean, I thought -- when I first saw that movie, I thought, where was he with the camera when I was ditching school? I mean, it gets it perfectly. What would do you if you had, you know, a perfect Chicago spring day and the Cubs were playing and you go to the Art Institute and you can go to this great restaurant and you can go to a parade?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: And that was Toure, our culture correspondent.
HEMMER: I love the shot in "Ferris Bueller" at the Art Institute when he was checking out (UNINTELLIGIBLE) know what they're looking at.
O'BRIEN: That's such a great movie. Guess what I did yesterday?
HEMMER: I can only guess.
O'BRIEN: Take a guess. I'll give you a hint.
HEMMER: Well, we're here.
O'BRIEN: Gucci, Luka Luka (ph), Armani. Oh, there's me shopping.
HEMMER: How much did you buy?
O'BRIEN: My husband is watching the show this morning, so I'm going to say, why, nothing. This is research, Bill. That means I put it on my corporate card.
HEMMER: Oh, you know, you...
O'BRIEN: Just kidding.
HEMMER: You've learned very well actually to give the right answer: research.
O'BRIEN: We spent the afternoon along the Magnificent Mile, which is 3.1 million square feet of retail space. We covered most of it, 460 stores. We got to most of them. Hello. I did buy those shoes. Aren't they fabulous? Two hundred seventy-five restaurants. We ate at a couple. Twenty-two million visitors every single year. It's a stretch, as you well know, along North Michigan Avenue, and we had a great time. The folks have been really wonderful to us, and we spent a lot of time.
HEMMER: And let your husband know that the Magnificent Mile is even more magnificent during Christmastime.
O'BRIEN: Oh, it's...
HEMMER: The lights come out. And you come back to Chicago and do some more shopping.
O'BRIEN: Marshal Field's, which has a giant flagship store.
HEMMER: The list just keeps on going.
O'BRIEN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) yesterday and it just keeps going. It was a lot of fun. We had a great time.
HEMMER: Andy says it's going to be a big day for the Big Blue. He's "Minding Your Business." Back in a moment with Drew in a moment here live in Chicago on a Tuesday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. You're looking at Loyola University of Chicago, which is where we are being hosted this fine morning as we continue our tour through Chicago. And there are some of the fine students at this institution. You know, they started their journalism program. This is the first year that they're actually giving a degree in journalism, and we'll hopefully get a chance to chat with some of the students a little bit later this morning.
HEMMER: Future (UNINTELLIGIBLE) too, huh?
O'BRIEN: Yes.
HEMMER: Up early...
O'BRIEN: Yes.
HEMMER: ... in this.
O'BRIEN: Good for them.
HEMMER: Welcome back, everybody. We are on the campus of Loyola University right along the Magnificent Mile, Jesuit University here.
We want to head back over to Andy and Jack now at Carton's Restaurant.
Good morning, guys.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: How are you doing, young fellow? Andy Serwer is here "Minding Your Business." We've got a preview of the markets. Sinclair Broadcasting is getting some flack over that anti-Kerry documentary. Andy's got it all.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Indeed, Jack. Yes, let's start off with the markets here a little bit this morning. Yesterday it ended up being a pretty good day for stocks. Let's go check out what happened. Here you go. Dow up, Nasdaq up even more on a percentage basis. Basically the big turnaround was in oil, Jack, falling from about 55 bucks to around 53 and change this morning.
After hours, IBM announced some pretty good earnings, especially looking forward. That stock is up over $2 in pre-market trading, and that's why futures are up this morning. Counter-balancing that, though, unfortunately is some bad news from Continental Airlines. They are going to post a loss this morning and saying that they could for the entire year and for 2005. You know, higher oil prices hitting that company.
And let's also talk about Sinclair Broadcasting.
CAFFERTY: Absolutely.
SERWER: This is kind of a spicy little company. It's gotten into all kinds of trouble over the years with Jesse Jackson and investors not liking what's going on. You can see the stock is down. It's really down about, what, 12 percent since this Kerry film controversy broke on October 11. But it was $30 in 1998, and now it's 6.
CAFFERTY: Wow!
SERWER: It sounds like something you and I might own.
CAFFERTY: Yes, that would be the kind of investment I make on a fairly regular basis.
SERWER: Yes, I know the feeling.
CAFFERTY: Talking about the airlines. All of the big carriers are in trouble. They're laying off people. They're trying to cut costs. I flew out here on United Airlines. I've got to tell you, these are the nicest folks with the best attitude. You know, they've got this sordid Damocles hanging over their heads.
SERWER: Yes.
CAFFERTY: The service was terrific. The flight got in 15 minutes early. Kudos to the people who are working for those airlines.
SERWER: Yes, it's tough. I mean...
CAFFERTY: The folks on the front line.
SERWER: And that company is in bankruptcy, too.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
SERWER: It's been a tough situation for them.
CAFFERTY: It really is. All right, on to other things. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but what happens on AMERICAN MORNING here in Chicago we will be happy to blab all over the country.
Our question this morning is: What is your best Chicago secret?
Ron writes us from Elmwood Park, Illinois: "Our best Chicago secret is that the Bears are actually a good football team, 9 championships, about 25 Hall of Famers, although apparently for this year we are going to play it really close to the vest."
James in Glenview, Illinois: "Best Chicago secret? Lower Michigan whacker drive the network of streets that mirror the streets that you see but are underground, built in order for the trucks to use different streets than the pedestrian and automobile traffic." And traffic in that part of the city flows very well actually.
Dean in Marlton, New York, writes this: "My best Chicago secret is," and she writes, "I'm so embarrassed, that my favorite song is "The Night Chicago Died" by Paper Lace. Just don't tell anyone."
SERWER: You just did.
CAFFERTY: And the last e-mail is this one: "Get the morning anchors in out of the cold. This is insane. Put them all in the diner now. Signed Soledad and Bill."
O'BRIEN: Hey, Jack, you are so great to run that. Thanks.
HEMMER: True story.
CAFFERTY: Yes, oh, anything for you guys.
O'BRIEN: We'll keep e-mailing you throughout the show.
CAFFERTY: All right.
O'BRIEN: All right, thanks, Jack.
Still to come this morning, we're talking to the sometimes controversial, always outspoken Alan Keyes. He, of course, is the GOP candidate for the U.S. Senate out of Illinois. He has said some pretty interesting things, at one point calling Mary Cheney practicing selfish hedonism. We're going to talk to him this morning about why he's still in the race when some polls show him running some 40 to 50 points behind his opponent.
We're back in just a moment. Stay with us, everybody.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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