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American Morning

Back to Battleground States for Both Presidential Candidates; What Happens After the Election; Defense Rests in Scott Peterson Trial

Aired October 27, 2004 - 9:00   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: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And welcome back, everybody. In election news this morning, we're going to take a look at what the candidates are doing with just six days to go.

Also, we'll talk with David Gergen about John Kerry's election night strategy should he find himself in the same position Al Gore found himself in four years ago.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Also, the early voting issue really bringing out the numbers this time around. A number of states are doing it. Thirty, in fact. More so than any other presidential race we've seen to date.

Is one candidate being helped out more than the other by the early voting? We'll check in, in Nevada, the secretary of state out there, early voting trends and any problems officials might be having there. If you want to find out just how divided this country is, 80 percent of the registered voters in Nevada, of that 80 percent 40 percent say they're Democrats, 40 percent say they're Republicans.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: But they're all terrific people. That's my home state. Congratulations on pronouncing it correctly. It ain't Nevada as some of these Eastern snooty dudes say. It's Nevada.

HEMMER: Nevada.

CAFFERTY: How do you pronounce it, Soledad?

O'BRIEN: Nevada. It's how I now pronounce starting right now, Nevada.

CAFFERTY: That's a good girl!

O'BRIEN: Good morning, Jack! So far so good.

(LAUGHTER)

CAFFERTY: Time is running out for an October surprise if we're going to get one. Maybe we already got one. What do you think?

AM@CNN.com. We're getting some pretty interesting mail. We'll read some of them to you in a little bit.

HEMMER: Nevada. Nevada. Nevada.

O'BRIEN: I can say that. I can do that.

HEMMER: Thank you, Jack.

O'BRIEN: Stories "Now in the News" with Heidi Collins. She's at the news desk for us.

Hello. Good morning, again.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: It's Las Vegas, isn't it? It's a lot easier that way, I think. Thanks, guys. I want to get straight to the news now this morning.

A massive riot under way in a Turkish shanty town in Istanbul. Police fired pepper spray and threw smoke bombs at dozens of residents. These pictures now just into CNN.

The clashes apparently started when authorities tried to tear down some buildings there. The residents tried to block the demolitions; several people are reported injured.

Amnesty International is once again calling for an independent investigation into the U.S. treatment of terror suspects. In a report released today, the group wants the U.S. to look into the abuse of prisoners held at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Amnesty officials also criticize the government for tolerating the torture of suspects at Guantanamo Bay and in Afghanistan.

Northern Japan cleaning up this morning from the fourth major earthquake to strike since Saturday. A magnitude 4.2 aftershock followed. No word yet on the damage from that.

And dramatic video from this morning. A woman and two small children trapped in their car are freed after a landslide caused by one of the quakes this weekend. The condition of the girl is not known, and the boy is said to be recovering.

The Boston Red Sox just one game away from their first World Series title in 86 years. Boston pitcher Pedro Martinez was in fine form last night, leading the Sox to a 4-1 victory over St. Louis. The Sox take a three games to none lead now in the series. Game four tonight in St. Louis.

HEMMER: Think they're holding their breath in Boston, or you think they're fired up?

COLLINS: I don't know. I was talking last night to my husband about it. I said, "You know, when you look at those fans in the stands and we see the video, it seems so very different from football." I mean, they are intense, and they're sitting there and biting their nails, the whole bit.

O'BRIEN: They are praying, and hard. COLLINS: Yes. I think it's very different. We'll see.

HEMMER: Thank you, Heidi.

COLLINS: You bet.

HEMMER: We'll see tonight, that's right.

Once again, it's back to the battleground states for both presidential candidates. The campaign season nearing an end, we think. Elections Day six days from now. And Suzanne Malveaux is starting us off this morning. She's with the Bush team. Kelly Wallace with the Kerry campaign.

Let's start with Suzanne in Pennsylvania.

Good morning.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Bill.

President Bush is campaigning here in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. This is a county that he won four years ago by 35 percent, but he lost the state by 4 percent.

Now, the strategy here, of course, is for the president to try to rally his supporters, but at the same time to make a direct appeal to those Democratic -- those Democratic voters, those swing voters. The president will make the case that his policy, when it comes to homeland security, as well as education and health care, are superior to that of Kerry's.

He will also, also, recognize former Democratic presidents Truman, Roosevelt, even Kennedy, saying these were men of resolve in times of national crisis who will contrast that with the character of Kerry. This is something he tested out before supporters yesterday in Wisconsin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We believe America should lead with strength and purpose and confidence and resolve. I would be honored to have your support, and I'm asking for your vote.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: And Bill, just as important as the message is, of course, who he is going to be delivering it with. The Georgia Democrat, Zell Miller, is going to be traveling with the president. As you know, he was a huge hit at the Republican convention. It is expected, of course, that he is going to provide the kind of red meat, perhaps, that the crowd is looking for -- Bill.

HEMMER: Suzanne Malveaux, thanks for that in Pennsylvania.

To Sioux City, Iowa, and Kelly Wallace there.

Kelly, good morning.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Bill.

Senator Kerry expected to deliver a speech a little bit later this morning focusing on the economy and the middle class. At the same time, though, the senator making it very clear he is trying to make this race as much about the president's handling about the war in Iraq as anything else.

So we are expecting continued attacks coming from Senator Kerry about those missing explosives in Iraq. The senator hitting that issue at every stop yesterday in Wisconsin, in Nevada, and last night in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where Mr. Kerry accuses the president of not only not admitting mistakes, but not take responsibility for them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Despite the devastating evidence that his administration's failure has put our troops in greater danger, George Bush couldn't offer a word of explanation to America. His silence confirms what I have been saying for months, that this president rushed to war without a plan to win the peace, and we deserve a better commander in chief.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: And aides are also trying to show the candidate appearing relaxed and confident, playing football, tossing around a baseball on the tarmac yesterday in between stops. Advisers say they are feeling good, they like what they see when it comes to early voting.

At the same time, they are ever so cautious. One adviser telling me there is still a week to go.

The senator here in Iowa and also traveling to Minnesota, Bill. Two states Al Gore won four years ago, and two states we know President Bush is trying very hard to steal away -- Bill.

HEMMER: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa getting a lot of attention the closing days. Thanks, Kelly -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: The Kerry campaign is already mapping out its post- election strategy, trying to get a legal leg up in a race that may still be too close to call the night of November 2. David Gergen has been an adviser to four presidents. He is currently editor-at-large for "U.S. News & World Report." He joins us from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to talk about what happens after the election.

Nice to see you, David. Thanks for being with us.

DAVID GERGEN, FMR. WHITE HOUSE ADVISER: Thank you, Soledad. O'BRIEN: As you will well recall, Al Gore conceded the race and then he tried to retract that concession. In and of itself, how damaging was that to him in his position?

GERGEN: I think it wasn't damaging to Al Gore so much as it was damaging to the country to have it so prolonged. It's fair to challenge the votes in an immediate aftermath of an election. But when it goes on week after week after week, it was wrenching for the country and it shortened the transition time, which is so precious for a new president and for George W. Bush. I think he made it harder to take over the presidency.

O'BRIEN: We've heard some sort of breathless descriptions of these 10,000 lawyers that are going to be dispatched. One description said that they are in hours of every state's border so that they can fly in, jet in, if necessary. They have calculated the number of staplers needed if they have to do some kind of legal challenge. What exactly will these attorneys be looking for?

GERGEN: What the attorneys will be looking for is the same thing the monitors will be looking for. And both sides will have them out in force. As George Willis (ph) called them, the locust of lawyers.

And they're looking for improprieties that would suggest that something needs to be done right away. If -- had there been lawyers on the scene in Florida, for example, the hanging chad problem might have been identified much earlier in the day, and they might have been able to fix it during the day.

So they -- that's an appropriate use of -- of your lawyers to make sure things are going well at the polls. But they're also there to record improprieties. And if there is some question, if there are complaints, then they are there to file lawsuits. And the real fear here is that we'll have an extraordinarily close election again, but that the lawsuits -- I think the lawsuits were entirely proper in Florida, it's just that the courts took so long to go through them.

If we have lawsuits in more than one state this time by chance, this could -- that could take months to sort out. What if the -- what if the lawsuits went beyond January 20, when the next president is scheduled to be sworn in? Would we have a president who is determined by that? I think that would be a nightmare for the country.

So my hope is that either one side or the other will win this by enough of a margin that even though there are some complaints here and there, that we'll move on. That -- voting is a little bit like justice in the courtroom. It sometimes can be a little rough.

And sometimes, when you look at it under a microscope, there are always a lot of things there you say, well, we should do this a little better. But the hope is that one candidate or the other will win big enough that we'll have a conclusion and move on.

If not, if there are a lot of lawsuits -- and the big question is going to be, Soledad, should the losing candidate, the one who is perceived as the loser, persist in lawsuits way beyond? And I think there is going to be enormous pressure this time not to take this too far in the courts.

O'BRIEN: John Kerry's advisers have said that they will not hesitate to declare victory. They will not hesitate to name the national security team. If it is, as you've described it, sort of the worst-case scenario, everything is so close, that kind of leaves both sides declaring victory, both sides with national security advisers. What happens there?

GERGEN: Well, obviously, we only have one president at a time. So George W. Bush will continue to make the decisions. And if there are questions about Iraq, those will be something the president will do.

We have had elections in the past when the winning -- or the losing candidate is sitting in the White House, such as Herbert Hoover in 1932, when he tried desperately to get Franklin Roosevelt to come and share in the decision-making during the transition. And FDR stayed out of it. He refused to come. He said he would not take responsibility for anything Hoover did.

It was -- it was controversial, but it turned out to be the right thing to do. So I would assume that the -- if John Kerry were to win and there would be controversy, I would assume he would not want to share power with George W. Bush in any fashion. And I assume in this case George W. Bush would frankly prefer not to have him in there.

But it would be wise for Kerry to have a national security team in place to advise him. It's almost like a shadow of government so that he can begin -- if he were to win, if, that he could begin planning so when he does take power on January 20, there can be a very quick and very clean transition.

O'BRIEN: Well, as we keep saying, we'll know soon, won't we? We hope.

GERGEN: Sooner rather than later, we hope.

O'BRIEN: Yes. David Gergen, thanks. As always, it's nice to see you.

GERGEN: Thanks, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Bill.

HEMMER: Eleven minutes past the hour now. Six days and 14 witnesses, and the defense rests in the Scott Peterson double murder trial. Dean Johnson, former San Mateo County prosecutor with us live in Redwood City, California.

Dean, welcome back to you. You were quoted as saying this was a huge disappointment. For whom?

DEAN JOHNSON, FMR. SAN MATEO COUNTY PROSECUTOR: It was a huge disappointment, I think, for the jury, for -- and for everyone in the courtroom, and possibly even for the defense side of the table. Remember, Mark Geragos in a dramatic opening statement promised so many things.

He promised this was going to be an eyewitness case. He promised he was going to prove that the baby, Conner, was born alive. And he promised that they would solve the murder of Laci Peterson and prove Scott Peterson stone cold innocent.

None of the promises were fulfilled. In the words of T.S. Eliot, this ended not with a bang but with a whimper.

HEMMER: So he did not close the deal in your estimation, did he?

JOHNSON: The deal is not closed. And now this jury finds itself in the same position that it was in at the close of the prosecution's case. No one has connected the dots. No one has yet given this jury a theory of what happened.

So it's all going to come down to closing arguments. And given the state of the defense case, Mark Geragos is going to have a very hard time connecting those dots with any theory that's consistent with the innocence of Scott Peterson.

HEMMER: A couple more questions on this. If you label it a huge disappointment, how did jurors react yesterday when the defense said "We're done?"

JOHNSON: You know, this jury, I think, is beginning to show the frustration. They've had so many delays and so many unanswered questions and so many unfulfilled promises.

I think that they are deeply disappointed. They're looking around the courtroom, and they're saying, Mr. Prosecutor, Mr. defense attorney, Scott Peterson, somebody tell us what your theory is, tell us what happened, give us an explanation.

HEMMER: Dean, one other thing you said is that the defense was make its case up on the fly. What is the suggestion in that? And was there a substantial amount of evidence that Mark Geragos could not put in front of the jurors because the judge would not allow him?

JOHNSON: Well, this -- the defense case has been put on in a very strange way. Usually we spend an hour and a half to two hours during the day with everyone, all of the participants, back in chambers. And we're told that they are resolving evidentiary issues.

The only implication we can draw from that is that the defense was trying to either put on new evidence, or that the prosecution was challenging the defense evidence and possibly in some instances successfully. And that the defense has been changing its strategy as it went along.

HEMMER: Well, a couple more things here, just to put a button on this. Do you think it's a good idea Scott Peterson did not take the stand? Do you think it's a bad idea that his parents took the stands in his -- stand in his defense? And what do you expect today from the prosecution? What do you have, about a half a dozen more witnesses out there? JOHNSON: We're told that there are going to be about seven or eight more witness. What we call rebuttal witnesses. Their testimony will be limited to answering anything that the prosecution think that the defense raised effectively during the defense case.

There aren't -- as I've said, there aren't that many points that the defense raised effectively. We may hear from the cement expert again, possibly form the dog-tracking expert, maybe even from the victim's mother, Sharon Rocha, who was accused during the defense case of being a liar.

HEMMER: Dean, thanks. Dean Johnson, as always, Redwood City, California. We are still on schedule. Thank you, sir. Still on schedule for the deliberations to begin next week -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, Howard Stern gets into it with FCC chief Michael Powell live on the radio. Some tough talk from the shock jock. But Powell sounded pretty ready. We're going to hear what they said.

HEMMER: Also, stunning new pictures of Saturn's mysterious moon Titan. What are scientists learning now about the ringed planet's largest moon? We'll check that out.

O'BRIEN: And electronic voting was supposed to make the process more reliable. But in some states it may be making things worse. Nevada's secretary of state just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: The much-fined radio host Howard Stern got into it with FCC Chairman Michael Powell live on a radio call-in show yesterday. Let's listen.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

HOWARD STERN, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Do you deny that your father got you this job?

MICHAEL POWELL, FCC CHAIRMAN: Oh, I would deny it exceedingly. You can look at my resume if you want, Howard. I'm not -- I'm not ashamed of it, and I think it justifies my existence.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: He announced that he is jumping to satellite radio to escape the oversight of the FCC, which has repeatedly fined him for indecency on the air.

HEMMER: From the state of Nevada, more than 16,000 early votes have been cast in the battleground state there. That's a record for any election ever in that state.

Already complaints about the process. But we want to know who's turning out the vote? Nevada secretary of state is Dean Heller. He's my guest now live in Reno. Secretary Heller, good morning to you. Who is voting, Democrats or Republicans, in your state?

DEAN HELLER, NEVADA SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, right now it's pretty even. I would say that Democrats have a small edge. And, by the way, the number you just quoted, 16,000, it's closer to 200,000 right now. People have already cast their votes.

HEMMER: All right. But you're saying Democrats with a slight edge at this point?

HELLER: Just a slight edge, yes. And I think that's going to determine who's going to win this state.

It's down to the line. The polls are so close, I think whoever turns out their voters is going to win this state.

HEMMER: Why do you think Democrats are turning out in larger numbers at this point?

HELLER: I think, you know, this is a presidential race, and I don't have to tell you, Bill, or to your viewers how important this race has become, and the amount of light that has been shed on this particular race. This is a critical, critical race, and I think Democrats are, in this case, or at least at this point are better organized than the Republicans.

HEMMER: Also at this point, there are complaints already, specifically in the Las Vegas area, minorities not getting a fair shake on this. This what's happening there?

HELLER: Well, we did get a couple of complaints, and they just came to light yesterday. I think statistically, if you actually take a look at it, I don't think the concerns are that they don't have access to an early voting site. The problem they have -- or in this particular community -- is that there was a Vons grocery store where early voting had been done in the past.

That particular grocery store closed down, then they moved it to Wendell Williams -- Wendell P. Williams Elementary School. Wendell Williams was on the ballot, so we took it out of that polling spot.

Then we sent it over to a Baptist church. Then there was an election going on in that particular location, so we moved it to the Doolittle Community School -- Community Center. So clearly, it's been kind of a moving target. And I think that's been the basis of the frustration.

HEMMER: Two questions, then. Are these wrinkles in the system, or is it more than that? And why wouldn't a matter like this already be taken care of?

HELLER: Well, first of all, again, the store was closed. And we've been doing early voting here in this state for 10 years. And generally we try to put the early voting -- voting sites at the same places. Unfortunately, in this case it was a grocery store and it closed. So we had to move it. It went originally, again, to the Wendell P. Williams -- Wendell P. Williams Elementary School.

HEMMER: Got it.

HELLER: And then clearly...

HEMMER: OK. You're saying Democrats are turning out to vote at this point in greater numbers. Does that mean John Kerry wins?

HELLER: Very slightly. Very slightly.

HEMMER: OK. Go ahead.

HELLER: You're talking 200,000 votes that have cast, and maybe 1,000 voter edge at this point. So it's not by much.

HEMMER: But with five electoral votes, does Nevada like this attention?

HELLER: You know, it's interesting. It goes back and forth.

Four years ago, they were complaining that the presidential candidates weren't coming out to Nevada to discuss our issues. Now they've been here in droves.

We had all four candidates, both president and vice president, in Nevada in one week. Now I'm hearing complaints that they're here too often. So maybe you can't satisfy the voters.

HEMMER: Can't win. Dean Heller, thanks. Good luck. A couple more days to go.

HELLER: Thank you.

HEMMER: You got it.

HELLER: Yes.

HEMMER: Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, six days and counting. Senator Kerry, President Bush fight to the very finish, but do they miss out on what is now emerging as an important battleground state? We'll explain ahead as we continue in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: All right. Welcome back. "Question of the Day," and Jack on that.

CAFFERTY: Before we do that, credit where credit's due. A lot of viewers wrote in to -- to inform me that you're absolutely right, it should have been clean, as well as I.

O'BRIEN: English literature major. Hello?

CAFFERTY: There you go. So we all stand...

O'BRIEN: Well, that was $10 million well spent on my college education, mom and dad.

CAFFERTY: Validates the Harvard sheepskin.

All right. Six days to go until election time. Time running out for an October surprise. Candidates on both sides worried that the other guy might have something up his sleeve that will give him a last-minute advantage. Speculation from Osama bin Laden turns up, to god forbid a terrorist attack of the kind they had in Madrid, those train bombings that turned that election around at the last minute.

So the question is, what do you think this election's October surprise will be? We only have two, because the first one is long.

John in Southbury, Connecticut, writes this: "Congress announces that they've been meeting after working hours, you know like any time after noon at a secret office, Dick Cheney's house, and they have voted in a comprehensive implementation of all of the 9/11 Committee's recommendations. But a writer (ph) was attached that forgives Janet Jackson for the Super Bowl, makes it legal to lip synch, trades John Kerry to France for Johnny Depp and two picks to be named later, and changes the 'Pledge of Allegiance' to 'One Republican under god, with liberty and justice only for those specified by John Ashcroft.'"

HEMMER: Yes.

CAFFERTY: Not bad, John. Now go to work.

Dean in Marlton, New Jersey, "The October surprise will be that John Kerry will dress up as Frankenstein for Halloween and no one will notice."

(LAUGHTER)

CAFFERTY: That's good.

O'BRIEN: Very good.

CAFFERTY: It's just cruel. But it's good.

O'BRIEN: Great answers, very, very good.

CAFFERTY: I've got good folks out there.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

CAFFERTY: They keep me employed here with these little missives they send my way.

O'BRIEN: Pretty good.

CAFFERTY: Yes. O'BRIEN: All right. Well, the controversy over the missing explosives in Iraq became fodder for "The Daily Show" with Jon Stewart last night. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON STEWART, "THE DAILY SHOW": With these kinds of explosives, the RMX, the DM -- I'm not sure what they are -- why didn't we just send more of a force to secure the area?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, Jon, U.S. military intelligence was caught off guard. The idea that Saddam would store weapons in a weapons depot, it just seemed insufficiently diabolical. I mean...

(APPLAUSE)

STEWART: Yes, I can see that. I can see that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jon, they spent three months searching a dog food factory.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAFFERTY: Very good.

HEMMER: Tucker Carlson appearing with Jon Stewart very soon. Must-see TV again.

CAFFERTY: Oh, yes. It will be a knife fight.

O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, it's your Wednesday morning dose of "90-Second Pop."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN (voice-over): Through with heavy machinery and milking cows, Paris and Nicole go Greyhound, heading for a cubicle near you.

Plus, think you've got what it takes to hang with Emeril LaGasse and Bobby Flay? Here's your chance ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. Just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.

When you're talk about battleground states, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, they are at the top of the list. And the campaign are not leaving them alone for even a second. In just a moment, Bill Schneider is going to walk us through the strategy moves in those states, take a look at how those moves are paying off.

HEMMER: Also in a moment here, back to Miles O'Brien, watching the Cassini spacecraft. Only 800 miles from the moon of Titan, one of the most intriguing moons in the entire solar system. We'll check in with Miles in a moment on that.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com


Aired October 27, 2004 - 9:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And welcome back, everybody. In election news this morning, we're going to take a look at what the candidates are doing with just six days to go.

Also, we'll talk with David Gergen about John Kerry's election night strategy should he find himself in the same position Al Gore found himself in four years ago.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Also, the early voting issue really bringing out the numbers this time around. A number of states are doing it. Thirty, in fact. More so than any other presidential race we've seen to date.

Is one candidate being helped out more than the other by the early voting? We'll check in, in Nevada, the secretary of state out there, early voting trends and any problems officials might be having there. If you want to find out just how divided this country is, 80 percent of the registered voters in Nevada, of that 80 percent 40 percent say they're Democrats, 40 percent say they're Republicans.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: But they're all terrific people. That's my home state. Congratulations on pronouncing it correctly. It ain't Nevada as some of these Eastern snooty dudes say. It's Nevada.

HEMMER: Nevada.

CAFFERTY: How do you pronounce it, Soledad?

O'BRIEN: Nevada. It's how I now pronounce starting right now, Nevada.

CAFFERTY: That's a good girl!

O'BRIEN: Good morning, Jack! So far so good.

(LAUGHTER)

CAFFERTY: Time is running out for an October surprise if we're going to get one. Maybe we already got one. What do you think?

AM@CNN.com. We're getting some pretty interesting mail. We'll read some of them to you in a little bit.

HEMMER: Nevada. Nevada. Nevada.

O'BRIEN: I can say that. I can do that.

HEMMER: Thank you, Jack.

O'BRIEN: Stories "Now in the News" with Heidi Collins. She's at the news desk for us.

Hello. Good morning, again.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: It's Las Vegas, isn't it? It's a lot easier that way, I think. Thanks, guys. I want to get straight to the news now this morning.

A massive riot under way in a Turkish shanty town in Istanbul. Police fired pepper spray and threw smoke bombs at dozens of residents. These pictures now just into CNN.

The clashes apparently started when authorities tried to tear down some buildings there. The residents tried to block the demolitions; several people are reported injured.

Amnesty International is once again calling for an independent investigation into the U.S. treatment of terror suspects. In a report released today, the group wants the U.S. to look into the abuse of prisoners held at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Amnesty officials also criticize the government for tolerating the torture of suspects at Guantanamo Bay and in Afghanistan.

Northern Japan cleaning up this morning from the fourth major earthquake to strike since Saturday. A magnitude 4.2 aftershock followed. No word yet on the damage from that.

And dramatic video from this morning. A woman and two small children trapped in their car are freed after a landslide caused by one of the quakes this weekend. The condition of the girl is not known, and the boy is said to be recovering.

The Boston Red Sox just one game away from their first World Series title in 86 years. Boston pitcher Pedro Martinez was in fine form last night, leading the Sox to a 4-1 victory over St. Louis. The Sox take a three games to none lead now in the series. Game four tonight in St. Louis.

HEMMER: Think they're holding their breath in Boston, or you think they're fired up?

COLLINS: I don't know. I was talking last night to my husband about it. I said, "You know, when you look at those fans in the stands and we see the video, it seems so very different from football." I mean, they are intense, and they're sitting there and biting their nails, the whole bit.

O'BRIEN: They are praying, and hard. COLLINS: Yes. I think it's very different. We'll see.

HEMMER: Thank you, Heidi.

COLLINS: You bet.

HEMMER: We'll see tonight, that's right.

Once again, it's back to the battleground states for both presidential candidates. The campaign season nearing an end, we think. Elections Day six days from now. And Suzanne Malveaux is starting us off this morning. She's with the Bush team. Kelly Wallace with the Kerry campaign.

Let's start with Suzanne in Pennsylvania.

Good morning.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Bill.

President Bush is campaigning here in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. This is a county that he won four years ago by 35 percent, but he lost the state by 4 percent.

Now, the strategy here, of course, is for the president to try to rally his supporters, but at the same time to make a direct appeal to those Democratic -- those Democratic voters, those swing voters. The president will make the case that his policy, when it comes to homeland security, as well as education and health care, are superior to that of Kerry's.

He will also, also, recognize former Democratic presidents Truman, Roosevelt, even Kennedy, saying these were men of resolve in times of national crisis who will contrast that with the character of Kerry. This is something he tested out before supporters yesterday in Wisconsin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We believe America should lead with strength and purpose and confidence and resolve. I would be honored to have your support, and I'm asking for your vote.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: And Bill, just as important as the message is, of course, who he is going to be delivering it with. The Georgia Democrat, Zell Miller, is going to be traveling with the president. As you know, he was a huge hit at the Republican convention. It is expected, of course, that he is going to provide the kind of red meat, perhaps, that the crowd is looking for -- Bill.

HEMMER: Suzanne Malveaux, thanks for that in Pennsylvania.

To Sioux City, Iowa, and Kelly Wallace there.

Kelly, good morning.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Bill.

Senator Kerry expected to deliver a speech a little bit later this morning focusing on the economy and the middle class. At the same time, though, the senator making it very clear he is trying to make this race as much about the president's handling about the war in Iraq as anything else.

So we are expecting continued attacks coming from Senator Kerry about those missing explosives in Iraq. The senator hitting that issue at every stop yesterday in Wisconsin, in Nevada, and last night in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where Mr. Kerry accuses the president of not only not admitting mistakes, but not take responsibility for them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Despite the devastating evidence that his administration's failure has put our troops in greater danger, George Bush couldn't offer a word of explanation to America. His silence confirms what I have been saying for months, that this president rushed to war without a plan to win the peace, and we deserve a better commander in chief.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: And aides are also trying to show the candidate appearing relaxed and confident, playing football, tossing around a baseball on the tarmac yesterday in between stops. Advisers say they are feeling good, they like what they see when it comes to early voting.

At the same time, they are ever so cautious. One adviser telling me there is still a week to go.

The senator here in Iowa and also traveling to Minnesota, Bill. Two states Al Gore won four years ago, and two states we know President Bush is trying very hard to steal away -- Bill.

HEMMER: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa getting a lot of attention the closing days. Thanks, Kelly -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: The Kerry campaign is already mapping out its post- election strategy, trying to get a legal leg up in a race that may still be too close to call the night of November 2. David Gergen has been an adviser to four presidents. He is currently editor-at-large for "U.S. News & World Report." He joins us from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to talk about what happens after the election.

Nice to see you, David. Thanks for being with us.

DAVID GERGEN, FMR. WHITE HOUSE ADVISER: Thank you, Soledad. O'BRIEN: As you will well recall, Al Gore conceded the race and then he tried to retract that concession. In and of itself, how damaging was that to him in his position?

GERGEN: I think it wasn't damaging to Al Gore so much as it was damaging to the country to have it so prolonged. It's fair to challenge the votes in an immediate aftermath of an election. But when it goes on week after week after week, it was wrenching for the country and it shortened the transition time, which is so precious for a new president and for George W. Bush. I think he made it harder to take over the presidency.

O'BRIEN: We've heard some sort of breathless descriptions of these 10,000 lawyers that are going to be dispatched. One description said that they are in hours of every state's border so that they can fly in, jet in, if necessary. They have calculated the number of staplers needed if they have to do some kind of legal challenge. What exactly will these attorneys be looking for?

GERGEN: What the attorneys will be looking for is the same thing the monitors will be looking for. And both sides will have them out in force. As George Willis (ph) called them, the locust of lawyers.

And they're looking for improprieties that would suggest that something needs to be done right away. If -- had there been lawyers on the scene in Florida, for example, the hanging chad problem might have been identified much earlier in the day, and they might have been able to fix it during the day.

So they -- that's an appropriate use of -- of your lawyers to make sure things are going well at the polls. But they're also there to record improprieties. And if there is some question, if there are complaints, then they are there to file lawsuits. And the real fear here is that we'll have an extraordinarily close election again, but that the lawsuits -- I think the lawsuits were entirely proper in Florida, it's just that the courts took so long to go through them.

If we have lawsuits in more than one state this time by chance, this could -- that could take months to sort out. What if the -- what if the lawsuits went beyond January 20, when the next president is scheduled to be sworn in? Would we have a president who is determined by that? I think that would be a nightmare for the country.

So my hope is that either one side or the other will win this by enough of a margin that even though there are some complaints here and there, that we'll move on. That -- voting is a little bit like justice in the courtroom. It sometimes can be a little rough.

And sometimes, when you look at it under a microscope, there are always a lot of things there you say, well, we should do this a little better. But the hope is that one candidate or the other will win big enough that we'll have a conclusion and move on.

If not, if there are a lot of lawsuits -- and the big question is going to be, Soledad, should the losing candidate, the one who is perceived as the loser, persist in lawsuits way beyond? And I think there is going to be enormous pressure this time not to take this too far in the courts.

O'BRIEN: John Kerry's advisers have said that they will not hesitate to declare victory. They will not hesitate to name the national security team. If it is, as you've described it, sort of the worst-case scenario, everything is so close, that kind of leaves both sides declaring victory, both sides with national security advisers. What happens there?

GERGEN: Well, obviously, we only have one president at a time. So George W. Bush will continue to make the decisions. And if there are questions about Iraq, those will be something the president will do.

We have had elections in the past when the winning -- or the losing candidate is sitting in the White House, such as Herbert Hoover in 1932, when he tried desperately to get Franklin Roosevelt to come and share in the decision-making during the transition. And FDR stayed out of it. He refused to come. He said he would not take responsibility for anything Hoover did.

It was -- it was controversial, but it turned out to be the right thing to do. So I would assume that the -- if John Kerry were to win and there would be controversy, I would assume he would not want to share power with George W. Bush in any fashion. And I assume in this case George W. Bush would frankly prefer not to have him in there.

But it would be wise for Kerry to have a national security team in place to advise him. It's almost like a shadow of government so that he can begin -- if he were to win, if, that he could begin planning so when he does take power on January 20, there can be a very quick and very clean transition.

O'BRIEN: Well, as we keep saying, we'll know soon, won't we? We hope.

GERGEN: Sooner rather than later, we hope.

O'BRIEN: Yes. David Gergen, thanks. As always, it's nice to see you.

GERGEN: Thanks, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Bill.

HEMMER: Eleven minutes past the hour now. Six days and 14 witnesses, and the defense rests in the Scott Peterson double murder trial. Dean Johnson, former San Mateo County prosecutor with us live in Redwood City, California.

Dean, welcome back to you. You were quoted as saying this was a huge disappointment. For whom?

DEAN JOHNSON, FMR. SAN MATEO COUNTY PROSECUTOR: It was a huge disappointment, I think, for the jury, for -- and for everyone in the courtroom, and possibly even for the defense side of the table. Remember, Mark Geragos in a dramatic opening statement promised so many things.

He promised this was going to be an eyewitness case. He promised he was going to prove that the baby, Conner, was born alive. And he promised that they would solve the murder of Laci Peterson and prove Scott Peterson stone cold innocent.

None of the promises were fulfilled. In the words of T.S. Eliot, this ended not with a bang but with a whimper.

HEMMER: So he did not close the deal in your estimation, did he?

JOHNSON: The deal is not closed. And now this jury finds itself in the same position that it was in at the close of the prosecution's case. No one has connected the dots. No one has yet given this jury a theory of what happened.

So it's all going to come down to closing arguments. And given the state of the defense case, Mark Geragos is going to have a very hard time connecting those dots with any theory that's consistent with the innocence of Scott Peterson.

HEMMER: A couple more questions on this. If you label it a huge disappointment, how did jurors react yesterday when the defense said "We're done?"

JOHNSON: You know, this jury, I think, is beginning to show the frustration. They've had so many delays and so many unanswered questions and so many unfulfilled promises.

I think that they are deeply disappointed. They're looking around the courtroom, and they're saying, Mr. Prosecutor, Mr. defense attorney, Scott Peterson, somebody tell us what your theory is, tell us what happened, give us an explanation.

HEMMER: Dean, one other thing you said is that the defense was make its case up on the fly. What is the suggestion in that? And was there a substantial amount of evidence that Mark Geragos could not put in front of the jurors because the judge would not allow him?

JOHNSON: Well, this -- the defense case has been put on in a very strange way. Usually we spend an hour and a half to two hours during the day with everyone, all of the participants, back in chambers. And we're told that they are resolving evidentiary issues.

The only implication we can draw from that is that the defense was trying to either put on new evidence, or that the prosecution was challenging the defense evidence and possibly in some instances successfully. And that the defense has been changing its strategy as it went along.

HEMMER: Well, a couple more things here, just to put a button on this. Do you think it's a good idea Scott Peterson did not take the stand? Do you think it's a bad idea that his parents took the stands in his -- stand in his defense? And what do you expect today from the prosecution? What do you have, about a half a dozen more witnesses out there? JOHNSON: We're told that there are going to be about seven or eight more witness. What we call rebuttal witnesses. Their testimony will be limited to answering anything that the prosecution think that the defense raised effectively during the defense case.

There aren't -- as I've said, there aren't that many points that the defense raised effectively. We may hear from the cement expert again, possibly form the dog-tracking expert, maybe even from the victim's mother, Sharon Rocha, who was accused during the defense case of being a liar.

HEMMER: Dean, thanks. Dean Johnson, as always, Redwood City, California. We are still on schedule. Thank you, sir. Still on schedule for the deliberations to begin next week -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, Howard Stern gets into it with FCC chief Michael Powell live on the radio. Some tough talk from the shock jock. But Powell sounded pretty ready. We're going to hear what they said.

HEMMER: Also, stunning new pictures of Saturn's mysterious moon Titan. What are scientists learning now about the ringed planet's largest moon? We'll check that out.

O'BRIEN: And electronic voting was supposed to make the process more reliable. But in some states it may be making things worse. Nevada's secretary of state just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: The much-fined radio host Howard Stern got into it with FCC Chairman Michael Powell live on a radio call-in show yesterday. Let's listen.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

HOWARD STERN, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Do you deny that your father got you this job?

MICHAEL POWELL, FCC CHAIRMAN: Oh, I would deny it exceedingly. You can look at my resume if you want, Howard. I'm not -- I'm not ashamed of it, and I think it justifies my existence.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: He announced that he is jumping to satellite radio to escape the oversight of the FCC, which has repeatedly fined him for indecency on the air.

HEMMER: From the state of Nevada, more than 16,000 early votes have been cast in the battleground state there. That's a record for any election ever in that state.

Already complaints about the process. But we want to know who's turning out the vote? Nevada secretary of state is Dean Heller. He's my guest now live in Reno. Secretary Heller, good morning to you. Who is voting, Democrats or Republicans, in your state?

DEAN HELLER, NEVADA SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, right now it's pretty even. I would say that Democrats have a small edge. And, by the way, the number you just quoted, 16,000, it's closer to 200,000 right now. People have already cast their votes.

HEMMER: All right. But you're saying Democrats with a slight edge at this point?

HELLER: Just a slight edge, yes. And I think that's going to determine who's going to win this state.

It's down to the line. The polls are so close, I think whoever turns out their voters is going to win this state.

HEMMER: Why do you think Democrats are turning out in larger numbers at this point?

HELLER: I think, you know, this is a presidential race, and I don't have to tell you, Bill, or to your viewers how important this race has become, and the amount of light that has been shed on this particular race. This is a critical, critical race, and I think Democrats are, in this case, or at least at this point are better organized than the Republicans.

HEMMER: Also at this point, there are complaints already, specifically in the Las Vegas area, minorities not getting a fair shake on this. This what's happening there?

HELLER: Well, we did get a couple of complaints, and they just came to light yesterday. I think statistically, if you actually take a look at it, I don't think the concerns are that they don't have access to an early voting site. The problem they have -- or in this particular community -- is that there was a Vons grocery store where early voting had been done in the past.

That particular grocery store closed down, then they moved it to Wendell Williams -- Wendell P. Williams Elementary School. Wendell Williams was on the ballot, so we took it out of that polling spot.

Then we sent it over to a Baptist church. Then there was an election going on in that particular location, so we moved it to the Doolittle Community School -- Community Center. So clearly, it's been kind of a moving target. And I think that's been the basis of the frustration.

HEMMER: Two questions, then. Are these wrinkles in the system, or is it more than that? And why wouldn't a matter like this already be taken care of?

HELLER: Well, first of all, again, the store was closed. And we've been doing early voting here in this state for 10 years. And generally we try to put the early voting -- voting sites at the same places. Unfortunately, in this case it was a grocery store and it closed. So we had to move it. It went originally, again, to the Wendell P. Williams -- Wendell P. Williams Elementary School.

HEMMER: Got it.

HELLER: And then clearly...

HEMMER: OK. You're saying Democrats are turning out to vote at this point in greater numbers. Does that mean John Kerry wins?

HELLER: Very slightly. Very slightly.

HEMMER: OK. Go ahead.

HELLER: You're talking 200,000 votes that have cast, and maybe 1,000 voter edge at this point. So it's not by much.

HEMMER: But with five electoral votes, does Nevada like this attention?

HELLER: You know, it's interesting. It goes back and forth.

Four years ago, they were complaining that the presidential candidates weren't coming out to Nevada to discuss our issues. Now they've been here in droves.

We had all four candidates, both president and vice president, in Nevada in one week. Now I'm hearing complaints that they're here too often. So maybe you can't satisfy the voters.

HEMMER: Can't win. Dean Heller, thanks. Good luck. A couple more days to go.

HELLER: Thank you.

HEMMER: You got it.

HELLER: Yes.

HEMMER: Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, six days and counting. Senator Kerry, President Bush fight to the very finish, but do they miss out on what is now emerging as an important battleground state? We'll explain ahead as we continue in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: All right. Welcome back. "Question of the Day," and Jack on that.

CAFFERTY: Before we do that, credit where credit's due. A lot of viewers wrote in to -- to inform me that you're absolutely right, it should have been clean, as well as I.

O'BRIEN: English literature major. Hello?

CAFFERTY: There you go. So we all stand...

O'BRIEN: Well, that was $10 million well spent on my college education, mom and dad.

CAFFERTY: Validates the Harvard sheepskin.

All right. Six days to go until election time. Time running out for an October surprise. Candidates on both sides worried that the other guy might have something up his sleeve that will give him a last-minute advantage. Speculation from Osama bin Laden turns up, to god forbid a terrorist attack of the kind they had in Madrid, those train bombings that turned that election around at the last minute.

So the question is, what do you think this election's October surprise will be? We only have two, because the first one is long.

John in Southbury, Connecticut, writes this: "Congress announces that they've been meeting after working hours, you know like any time after noon at a secret office, Dick Cheney's house, and they have voted in a comprehensive implementation of all of the 9/11 Committee's recommendations. But a writer (ph) was attached that forgives Janet Jackson for the Super Bowl, makes it legal to lip synch, trades John Kerry to France for Johnny Depp and two picks to be named later, and changes the 'Pledge of Allegiance' to 'One Republican under god, with liberty and justice only for those specified by John Ashcroft.'"

HEMMER: Yes.

CAFFERTY: Not bad, John. Now go to work.

Dean in Marlton, New Jersey, "The October surprise will be that John Kerry will dress up as Frankenstein for Halloween and no one will notice."

(LAUGHTER)

CAFFERTY: That's good.

O'BRIEN: Very good.

CAFFERTY: It's just cruel. But it's good.

O'BRIEN: Great answers, very, very good.

CAFFERTY: I've got good folks out there.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

CAFFERTY: They keep me employed here with these little missives they send my way.

O'BRIEN: Pretty good.

CAFFERTY: Yes. O'BRIEN: All right. Well, the controversy over the missing explosives in Iraq became fodder for "The Daily Show" with Jon Stewart last night. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON STEWART, "THE DAILY SHOW": With these kinds of explosives, the RMX, the DM -- I'm not sure what they are -- why didn't we just send more of a force to secure the area?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, Jon, U.S. military intelligence was caught off guard. The idea that Saddam would store weapons in a weapons depot, it just seemed insufficiently diabolical. I mean...

(APPLAUSE)

STEWART: Yes, I can see that. I can see that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jon, they spent three months searching a dog food factory.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAFFERTY: Very good.

HEMMER: Tucker Carlson appearing with Jon Stewart very soon. Must-see TV again.

CAFFERTY: Oh, yes. It will be a knife fight.

O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, it's your Wednesday morning dose of "90-Second Pop."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN (voice-over): Through with heavy machinery and milking cows, Paris and Nicole go Greyhound, heading for a cubicle near you.

Plus, think you've got what it takes to hang with Emeril LaGasse and Bobby Flay? Here's your chance ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. Just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.

When you're talk about battleground states, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, they are at the top of the list. And the campaign are not leaving them alone for even a second. In just a moment, Bill Schneider is going to walk us through the strategy moves in those states, take a look at how those moves are paying off.

HEMMER: Also in a moment here, back to Miles O'Brien, watching the Cassini spacecraft. Only 800 miles from the moon of Titan, one of the most intriguing moons in the entire solar system. We'll check in with Miles in a moment on that.

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