Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Several Voting-Related Problems Facing Pennsylvanians as They Head to Polls; How Have Candidates Maintained Dizzying Pace?

Aired November 01, 2004 - 08:30   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.


HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: In Afghanistan, militants who say they abducted three U.N. workers have reportedly split them up to prevent possible rescue attempts. The Arabic language network Al Jazeera broadcast a videotape of two women and one man pleading for their lives. There are conflicting reports about whether the militants have extended the deadline about whether to free prisoners from Afghan jails and Guantanamo Bay.
The chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court William Rehnquist is back on the bench today. There's word he left his home in Arlington, Virginia a short while ago. The 80-year-old chief justice spent a week in the hospital for a treatment of thyroid cancer. It's not clear if he'll be able to perform his work-related duties when arguments at the Supreme Court resume today.

Meanwhile, closing arguments expected to begin in just about four hours in the Scott Peterson double-murder case. More than 180 witnesses have taken the stand over the past 22 weeks. The prosecution is up first, followed by the defense. Jury deliberations could start as early as Wednesday. It's been a long, long time.

Back to you guys.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Heidi, thank you.

Well, 24 hours from now voting for the next president will be fully underway. And while many assurances have been implemented since the Florida voting debacle of 2000, both the Bush and Kerry teams are ready to rumble in the event of post-election problems.

Jason Carroll is live for us from a polling station in Lehigh, County in Pennsylvania.

Jason, good morning.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Soledad.

Ready to rumble for sure. I spoke to one Republican poll watcher this morning, who told me she is going to be keeping her eye out for just about anything for sure. She'll be keeping her eye on these. These are the voters machines that will be in use tomorrow. Several voting-related problems are facing Pennsylvanians as they head to the polls.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CARROLL (voice-over): There are several potential reasons why there could be post-election problems in Pennsylvania. Reason one, provisional ballots.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These are what are provisional ballots are ready and packed for the polls.

CARROLL: Now required by law, the ballots are used in part so registered voters whose names aren't in the state system can still vote.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's going to be a challenge to make sure we do it accurately.

CARROLL: Reason two, a record increase in voter registration thanks to get-out-the-vote efforts by both parties. But election workers say their new computer system, called SURE, isn't processing registrants fast enough.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: SURE has not helped us; SURE has hindered us.

CARROLL: Reason three: partition challenges. Democrats accuse Republicans of voter-intimidation tactics in urban areas. Not true, say Republicans like Senator Rick Santorum, who accuse Democrats of padding registration roles with eligible voters.

SEN. RICK SANTORUM (R), PENNSYLVANIA: We just don't want fraud. We just want people who are eligible to vote to have their vote counted, and those who aren't don't.

CARROLL: Democratic Governor Ed Rendell denied allegations of patting the rolls on a list-minute celebrity get-out-the-vote campaign.

GOV. ED RENDELL (D), PENNSYLVANIA: People got to calm down. Get a grip on themselves. As much as I want John Kerry to win, I wouldn't cheat and violate the process that I believe sets America apart from every other country in the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL: Little more than 1,600 polling places like this one, throughout the state, election workers say with the race being so close, and with there being so much interest, you can expect very long lines at the polls tomorrow -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Jason Carroll for us. Jason, thanks -- Bill.

HEMMER: Soledad, already today in Ohio, a federal judge issued an order barring political party challengers from participating inside the polling places on Tuesday.

I want to measure the impact of this ruling now with our senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin. We've been talking about this for weeks really. JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: It's amazing. You know, this was a late night, Sunday court session, unusual in itself. The judge -- two federal judges issued rulings late last night, early this morning saying that challengers, this unusual Ohio institution which allows parties to have people inside the polling places to challenge the registration of voters, that is illegal, that's not permissible. That was something the Democrats sought. Democrats wanted those people out. Republicans now are appealing to the federal sixth circuit court of appeal this is legal battle might not even be over.

HEMMER: There's still time for the appeal to go through.

TOOBIN: In theory, yes.

HEMMER: Basic steps here, why do Republicans want this possibility of going to polling stations?

TOOBIN: Well, see, in Jason's story, in all of the stories about voter registration, Republicans are always talking about fraud. They want investigations to make sure that the appropriate people are voting, that people who are not registered, who have -- are in the wrong district, are ineligible do not vote. Voter fraud is a Republican cause.

HEMMER: Flip it around, though. I mean, if you're a Democrat, and you can play by the same rules why don't you want to have this on your side?

TOOBIN: Because Democrats want as many people as possible to vote. They want high turnout. They are worried about voter suppression. They believe that all this Republican talk about fraud is just a smoke screen to try to intimidate mostly black people out of voting.

HEMMER: But you say, again, there is still time for this decision to go back the other way, right?

TOOBIN: It could go back the other way. I certainly have never heard of anything this close to an election where we really, especially in Ohio, don't know what the rules will be tomorrow.

HEMMER: If they do not make a decision before tomorrow, is this something that could drag on after Tuesday's vote? Is that not a possibility?

TOOBIN: I don't think so, because the only issue before the court is who is eligible to be inside the voting places to argue about who's registered and who's not. At the moment, the Democrats have won. There will be no challengers inside the voting places. The Republicans need to get a contrary ruling from the court of appeals some time in the next 22 hours.

HEMMER: I've read something where it says this law goes back to 1953. I've read another thing where it said 1886.

TOOBIN: That's right. Ohio has had a long tradition of this. It has not been as controversial in the past, but it is intensely controversial. Democrats feel these challengers will slow down the process, discourage people from voting. Intimidate minority voters. Those arguments have won. Maybe they'll win for good, but we don't know.

HEMMER: Reach back deep inside your big legal brain for a moment. Is Ohio peculiar in this area? Or do we see this in other parts of the country?

TOOBIN: It's peculiar in having an official status for challengers, but it is not peculiar in that people are allowed to challenge registrations, and that process of give and take inside the voting precincts is familiar in a lot of states.

HEMMER: We'll keep an eye on the federal judges back in Ohio throughout the day.

TOOBIN: Incredible, that it's going on, right, the day before?

HEMMER: You got it. We'll talk to you later, OK.

TOOBIN: OK.

Tomorrow night, Tuesday night, dozens of reporters on the front lines from coast to coast. Live throughout the night, too, with all the latest developments. Our special election coverage begins at 7:00 Eastern Time, live here in Times Square, Nasdaq marketsite in New York City -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Here's a question for you. Could the kind of car you drive be an indicator of who you're going to vote for in the presidential race? A CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll found that owners of minivans, SUVs and trucks strongly back President Bush, while drivers of sedans support Senator Kerry. And owners of domestic cars support the president, 53 to 42 percent, while owners of foreign-made cars back Kerry 55 to 43 percent.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: In a moment here, one CEO says lunch is on him. You might think it's a good thing. Some employees, though, have a bit of a beef with what's on the menu. Andy explains that in "Minding Your Business."

O'BRIEN: Also most of us would be hard pressed to keep the pace with the grueling schedules that are kept by the candidates. That's why Elizabeth Cohen says we could all learn some lessons from President Bush and Senator Kerry. We'll explain ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: The presidential race in its final hours both candidates are sprinting to the end and very long and seemingly endless trail. So how have they managed to maintain the dizzying pace? Sanjay's off today, but medical Elizabeth Cohen is at the CNN Center to tell us a little bit more about that.

Good morning to you, Elizabeth.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Soledad, the candidates have been on the road for weeks, and they have learned a few tricks about how to cope with a lot of travel and very little sleep.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN (voice-over): From early morning to sometimes well after midnight, off the plane, on the bus, at the rally, back on the plane again, dozens of campaign stops in a single week. How do they do it without becoming completely exhausted?

The answer, they each have their own strategies, and experts say the rest of us could learn a thing or two from the candidates. John Kerry racked up rallies in 17 different cities last week, spending every night in a different hotel. His way of fighting fatigue, reporters covering him say he unwinds with a little exercise, like stretching, or throwing a baseball around the tarmac.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every time he's on the rope line talking to people who have invested so much of their hopes in him, it charges you up. Frankly, I think he's more energy than some of us on the staff do.

COHEN: Reporters covering President Bush say his strategy has been to pace himself. The president visited more than 20 towns last week, but managed to keep most of his events from 9:00 to 5:00.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's not been carrying on a blistering pace on the campaign trail.

COHEN: In fact, Bush made it home two nights last week.

DANA BASH, CNN POL. CORRESPONDENT: The Bush campaign says they know what they're doing. They're going to be out there aggressively next week. They don't want to burn out their candidate.

COHEN: Experts say the candidates are doing the right thing. Exercising and pacing yourself are two good ways to avoid exhaustion. Other ways to stay alert when you have a hectic schedule, don't skip breakfast, take catnaps, and no matter how stressed out you are, don't smoke. Neither candidate does. And take a lesson from President Clinton.

WILLIAM J. CLINTON, FORMER PRES. OF THE UNITED STATES: I want to say, as you can see, I have nearly lost my voice.

COHEN: Take care of your voice, give it time to rest and drink plenty of water. And if you can, try to have screaming crowds cheer you at least five or six times a day.

Experts say getting a good eco-boost can carry you a long way.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN: Another trick for keeping your energy up when have you a long period of work, eat lots of small meals rather than a few big heavy ones -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Elizabeth, clearly, the stress is bad for them. But also isn't it good? I mean, isn't that sort of what gets them going?

COHEN: Right, and the trick is, if it gets you going. If your work or whatever you have to do is something that you find depressing or difficult, well, that's not good stress. But good stress can really keep your energy up. I mean, people talked about former President Clinton, for example, as someone who really enjoyed campaigning, and that it really actually gave him energy, even though he had such a tough schedule.

O'BRIEN: Elizabeth Cohen for us this morning. Elizabeth, thanks -- Bill.

HEMMER: Doctors have the go ahead, Soledad, to perform the world's first face transplant. Someone severely disfigured by disease or fire will get a new face at the Cleveland Clinic in northern Ohio. Surges say the challenge now is to find the right donor, or volunteer.

O'BRIEN: Well they take it off a cadaver, right?

HEMMER: That's right.

O'BRIEN: That's unbelievable. Can you believe that they can do that in this day and age?

HEMMER: I'm not raising my hand.

O'BRIEN: You've got to be dead to donate.

Still to come this morning, "Sex and the City," much to Jack's devastation, ended its run on HBO a few months ago, but this morning, we've got the secret endings that did not make the cut. "The Cafferty File" is straight ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: All right. Welcome back.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Not everybody hurting from high oil prices. With that, and a preview of the markets. Andy Serwer is here "Minding Your Business."

Good morning.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning to you, Jack.

Let's talk about the markets first of all.

Year-to-date numbers on your stock market indexes, not so great for the Dow. Overall, again, a mixed picture, over and over and over. Future this is morning are mixed. Price of oil a little bit higher. Unions in Nigeria calling for a general strike in the middle of November. So that's hurting that a little bit.

Now let's talk about what is going on in Kuwait, speaking of oil. The leader of that country has announced a bonus for its citizenry -- a 200 dinar bonus, that's $680 per citizen. The reason why? Higher oil prices.

CAFFERTY: There you go.

SERWER: More oil revenue flowing into that country. About 900,000 Kuwaitis -- the rest of the citizens, foreign workers -- will be getting that $680. And of course, I couldn't help but compare it to our tax refund that we got in 2001, which was $300 to $600. So, we kind of got the raw end of that deal, didn't we?

CAFFERTY: I believe so.

There's another subject out there that troubles me just a little. I don't care what you eat for lunch, but don't tell me I can't have a hamburger or one of those dirty water hot dogs out there in the street here in New York, because I like to have my meat when I want to have it.

SERWER: You must be talking about this vegan CEO in Roanoke, Virginia. This is a great story. Vegans of the world unite. Cat Communications CEO Norm Mason has decided to open a "vegeteria." It only serves vegetarian food. It's free, but it's vegan. And -- what do you got there?

CAFFERTY: That's all it's worth.

SERWER: You got soy stakes. You got soy sloppy Joes. And my favorite, Jack -- maybe you can join me in one of these -- a soybury steak. It's not a Salsbury, it's a soybury steak. It's kind of a funny thing.

CAFFERTY: This is a company cafeteria...

SERWER: Yeah, it's a company cafeteria. It is free. You are not allowed to bring meat inside the door. Like if you have a -- your own ham sandwich, you can't bring a ham sandwich into the room. This according to an AP story...

HEMMER: What's this -- what's this soy sloppy Joe taste like? Taste test?

SERWER: Yeah, little tofu...

CAFFERTY: You know, there's nothing worse in the world than a salad.

SERWER: Well, you know -- you know, he's got -- it's free, at least he is not charging people for it.

O'BRIEN: Yeah, but you can't in the cafeteria if you have a ham sandwich? That's...

SERWER: You've got to eat at your desk, Soledad.

CAFFERTY: All right, on to the "File." Students at the University of North Carolina will soon be able to take a college-level course about "American Idol." That's that silly show over there on the F-word network. It is called "Examining 'American Idol' Through Musical Critique." They'll be assigned to watch the show twice a week while paying close attention to the musical style and content, assuming there is any of either.

Then, they'll be required to write a final paper on who should win and why. It is unclear at this point where guys like William Hung performing "She Bangs" will fit into the coursework. But it's safe to say that parents who are paying 30 grand a year to send their little munchkins to this school will definitely think this is money well spent -- not.

The HBO series "Sex and the City" ended with Carrie and Mr. Big riding off into the sunset together, much to the chagrin of some and the elation of others. But this was not the only ending considered. Producers shot four endings to the popular series, and now "The New York Post" reports the additional three endings will be featured on a DVD scheduled for release just after Christmas.

My producer Carrie Fisher (ph) assures me this is a very important story. It's a little like choosing your own adventure. In one of the other endings, Mr. Big met Carrie in Paris and, at the last minute, dumps her for good. In another, she gets engaged to the Russia Alexander Petrovsky. And the third is a longer version of what actually made air, which is Carrie telling her friends that Mr. big is moving back to New York to be with her.

And I've never seen the show, so I hope those of you who have that makes some sense to you, because I have no idea what they're talking about.

Last week, forbes.com released its fourth annual list of top moneymakers from the crypt. These are people who make lots of money even though they're dead. Some of them have been dead a long time. The top earning dead celebrities are as follows. Elvis Presley, died in '77, makes $40 million a year, his estate. Charlie Schulz, the "Peanuts" comic author, $35 million. J.R.R. Tolkien, $23 million. John Lennon still rakes in $21 million. And Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel, $18 million a year.

The list this year are George and Ira Gershwin added to the list -- they make $6 million a year -- and Freddie Mercury...

SERWER: Ah, Freddie Mercury -- now there's a quality artist. I'm glad to see him up there.

CAFFERTY: Five million a year.

SERWER: Good for him -- Queen.

HEMMER: What is that, based on royalties?

SERWER: "We Will Rock You" at every sports stadium across the country. That's...

CAFFERTY: Or is he the guy -- is the guy who did that? All right.

SERWER: Yeah, Queen. "We Will Rock You," yes. And a bunch of others, too, but mostly that one.

HEMMER: Thank you, guys.

In a moment here, the final "USA Today"/Gallup poll is out. Is the race still a dead heat, or has one man pulled ahead of the other? We've got the numbers. Top of the hour here on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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 November 1, 2004 - 08:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: In Afghanistan, militants who say they abducted three U.N. workers have reportedly split them up to prevent possible rescue attempts. The Arabic language network Al Jazeera broadcast a videotape of two women and one man pleading for their lives. There are conflicting reports about whether the militants have extended the deadline about whether to free prisoners from Afghan jails and Guantanamo Bay.
The chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court William Rehnquist is back on the bench today. There's word he left his home in Arlington, Virginia a short while ago. The 80-year-old chief justice spent a week in the hospital for a treatment of thyroid cancer. It's not clear if he'll be able to perform his work-related duties when arguments at the Supreme Court resume today.

Meanwhile, closing arguments expected to begin in just about four hours in the Scott Peterson double-murder case. More than 180 witnesses have taken the stand over the past 22 weeks. The prosecution is up first, followed by the defense. Jury deliberations could start as early as Wednesday. It's been a long, long time.

Back to you guys.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Heidi, thank you.

Well, 24 hours from now voting for the next president will be fully underway. And while many assurances have been implemented since the Florida voting debacle of 2000, both the Bush and Kerry teams are ready to rumble in the event of post-election problems.

Jason Carroll is live for us from a polling station in Lehigh, County in Pennsylvania.

Jason, good morning.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Soledad.

Ready to rumble for sure. I spoke to one Republican poll watcher this morning, who told me she is going to be keeping her eye out for just about anything for sure. She'll be keeping her eye on these. These are the voters machines that will be in use tomorrow. Several voting-related problems are facing Pennsylvanians as they head to the polls.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CARROLL (voice-over): There are several potential reasons why there could be post-election problems in Pennsylvania. Reason one, provisional ballots.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These are what are provisional ballots are ready and packed for the polls.

CARROLL: Now required by law, the ballots are used in part so registered voters whose names aren't in the state system can still vote.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's going to be a challenge to make sure we do it accurately.

CARROLL: Reason two, a record increase in voter registration thanks to get-out-the-vote efforts by both parties. But election workers say their new computer system, called SURE, isn't processing registrants fast enough.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: SURE has not helped us; SURE has hindered us.

CARROLL: Reason three: partition challenges. Democrats accuse Republicans of voter-intimidation tactics in urban areas. Not true, say Republicans like Senator Rick Santorum, who accuse Democrats of padding registration roles with eligible voters.

SEN. RICK SANTORUM (R), PENNSYLVANIA: We just don't want fraud. We just want people who are eligible to vote to have their vote counted, and those who aren't don't.

CARROLL: Democratic Governor Ed Rendell denied allegations of patting the rolls on a list-minute celebrity get-out-the-vote campaign.

GOV. ED RENDELL (D), PENNSYLVANIA: People got to calm down. Get a grip on themselves. As much as I want John Kerry to win, I wouldn't cheat and violate the process that I believe sets America apart from every other country in the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL: Little more than 1,600 polling places like this one, throughout the state, election workers say with the race being so close, and with there being so much interest, you can expect very long lines at the polls tomorrow -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Jason Carroll for us. Jason, thanks -- Bill.

HEMMER: Soledad, already today in Ohio, a federal judge issued an order barring political party challengers from participating inside the polling places on Tuesday.

I want to measure the impact of this ruling now with our senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin. We've been talking about this for weeks really. JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: It's amazing. You know, this was a late night, Sunday court session, unusual in itself. The judge -- two federal judges issued rulings late last night, early this morning saying that challengers, this unusual Ohio institution which allows parties to have people inside the polling places to challenge the registration of voters, that is illegal, that's not permissible. That was something the Democrats sought. Democrats wanted those people out. Republicans now are appealing to the federal sixth circuit court of appeal this is legal battle might not even be over.

HEMMER: There's still time for the appeal to go through.

TOOBIN: In theory, yes.

HEMMER: Basic steps here, why do Republicans want this possibility of going to polling stations?

TOOBIN: Well, see, in Jason's story, in all of the stories about voter registration, Republicans are always talking about fraud. They want investigations to make sure that the appropriate people are voting, that people who are not registered, who have -- are in the wrong district, are ineligible do not vote. Voter fraud is a Republican cause.

HEMMER: Flip it around, though. I mean, if you're a Democrat, and you can play by the same rules why don't you want to have this on your side?

TOOBIN: Because Democrats want as many people as possible to vote. They want high turnout. They are worried about voter suppression. They believe that all this Republican talk about fraud is just a smoke screen to try to intimidate mostly black people out of voting.

HEMMER: But you say, again, there is still time for this decision to go back the other way, right?

TOOBIN: It could go back the other way. I certainly have never heard of anything this close to an election where we really, especially in Ohio, don't know what the rules will be tomorrow.

HEMMER: If they do not make a decision before tomorrow, is this something that could drag on after Tuesday's vote? Is that not a possibility?

TOOBIN: I don't think so, because the only issue before the court is who is eligible to be inside the voting places to argue about who's registered and who's not. At the moment, the Democrats have won. There will be no challengers inside the voting places. The Republicans need to get a contrary ruling from the court of appeals some time in the next 22 hours.

HEMMER: I've read something where it says this law goes back to 1953. I've read another thing where it said 1886.

TOOBIN: That's right. Ohio has had a long tradition of this. It has not been as controversial in the past, but it is intensely controversial. Democrats feel these challengers will slow down the process, discourage people from voting. Intimidate minority voters. Those arguments have won. Maybe they'll win for good, but we don't know.

HEMMER: Reach back deep inside your big legal brain for a moment. Is Ohio peculiar in this area? Or do we see this in other parts of the country?

TOOBIN: It's peculiar in having an official status for challengers, but it is not peculiar in that people are allowed to challenge registrations, and that process of give and take inside the voting precincts is familiar in a lot of states.

HEMMER: We'll keep an eye on the federal judges back in Ohio throughout the day.

TOOBIN: Incredible, that it's going on, right, the day before?

HEMMER: You got it. We'll talk to you later, OK.

TOOBIN: OK.

Tomorrow night, Tuesday night, dozens of reporters on the front lines from coast to coast. Live throughout the night, too, with all the latest developments. Our special election coverage begins at 7:00 Eastern Time, live here in Times Square, Nasdaq marketsite in New York City -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Here's a question for you. Could the kind of car you drive be an indicator of who you're going to vote for in the presidential race? A CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll found that owners of minivans, SUVs and trucks strongly back President Bush, while drivers of sedans support Senator Kerry. And owners of domestic cars support the president, 53 to 42 percent, while owners of foreign-made cars back Kerry 55 to 43 percent.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: In a moment here, one CEO says lunch is on him. You might think it's a good thing. Some employees, though, have a bit of a beef with what's on the menu. Andy explains that in "Minding Your Business."

O'BRIEN: Also most of us would be hard pressed to keep the pace with the grueling schedules that are kept by the candidates. That's why Elizabeth Cohen says we could all learn some lessons from President Bush and Senator Kerry. We'll explain ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: The presidential race in its final hours both candidates are sprinting to the end and very long and seemingly endless trail. So how have they managed to maintain the dizzying pace? Sanjay's off today, but medical Elizabeth Cohen is at the CNN Center to tell us a little bit more about that.

Good morning to you, Elizabeth.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Soledad, the candidates have been on the road for weeks, and they have learned a few tricks about how to cope with a lot of travel and very little sleep.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN (voice-over): From early morning to sometimes well after midnight, off the plane, on the bus, at the rally, back on the plane again, dozens of campaign stops in a single week. How do they do it without becoming completely exhausted?

The answer, they each have their own strategies, and experts say the rest of us could learn a thing or two from the candidates. John Kerry racked up rallies in 17 different cities last week, spending every night in a different hotel. His way of fighting fatigue, reporters covering him say he unwinds with a little exercise, like stretching, or throwing a baseball around the tarmac.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every time he's on the rope line talking to people who have invested so much of their hopes in him, it charges you up. Frankly, I think he's more energy than some of us on the staff do.

COHEN: Reporters covering President Bush say his strategy has been to pace himself. The president visited more than 20 towns last week, but managed to keep most of his events from 9:00 to 5:00.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's not been carrying on a blistering pace on the campaign trail.

COHEN: In fact, Bush made it home two nights last week.

DANA BASH, CNN POL. CORRESPONDENT: The Bush campaign says they know what they're doing. They're going to be out there aggressively next week. They don't want to burn out their candidate.

COHEN: Experts say the candidates are doing the right thing. Exercising and pacing yourself are two good ways to avoid exhaustion. Other ways to stay alert when you have a hectic schedule, don't skip breakfast, take catnaps, and no matter how stressed out you are, don't smoke. Neither candidate does. And take a lesson from President Clinton.

WILLIAM J. CLINTON, FORMER PRES. OF THE UNITED STATES: I want to say, as you can see, I have nearly lost my voice.

COHEN: Take care of your voice, give it time to rest and drink plenty of water. And if you can, try to have screaming crowds cheer you at least five or six times a day.

Experts say getting a good eco-boost can carry you a long way.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN: Another trick for keeping your energy up when have you a long period of work, eat lots of small meals rather than a few big heavy ones -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Elizabeth, clearly, the stress is bad for them. But also isn't it good? I mean, isn't that sort of what gets them going?

COHEN: Right, and the trick is, if it gets you going. If your work or whatever you have to do is something that you find depressing or difficult, well, that's not good stress. But good stress can really keep your energy up. I mean, people talked about former President Clinton, for example, as someone who really enjoyed campaigning, and that it really actually gave him energy, even though he had such a tough schedule.

O'BRIEN: Elizabeth Cohen for us this morning. Elizabeth, thanks -- Bill.

HEMMER: Doctors have the go ahead, Soledad, to perform the world's first face transplant. Someone severely disfigured by disease or fire will get a new face at the Cleveland Clinic in northern Ohio. Surges say the challenge now is to find the right donor, or volunteer.

O'BRIEN: Well they take it off a cadaver, right?

HEMMER: That's right.

O'BRIEN: That's unbelievable. Can you believe that they can do that in this day and age?

HEMMER: I'm not raising my hand.

O'BRIEN: You've got to be dead to donate.

Still to come this morning, "Sex and the City," much to Jack's devastation, ended its run on HBO a few months ago, but this morning, we've got the secret endings that did not make the cut. "The Cafferty File" is straight ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: All right. Welcome back.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Not everybody hurting from high oil prices. With that, and a preview of the markets. Andy Serwer is here "Minding Your Business."

Good morning.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning to you, Jack.

Let's talk about the markets first of all.

Year-to-date numbers on your stock market indexes, not so great for the Dow. Overall, again, a mixed picture, over and over and over. Future this is morning are mixed. Price of oil a little bit higher. Unions in Nigeria calling for a general strike in the middle of November. So that's hurting that a little bit.

Now let's talk about what is going on in Kuwait, speaking of oil. The leader of that country has announced a bonus for its citizenry -- a 200 dinar bonus, that's $680 per citizen. The reason why? Higher oil prices.

CAFFERTY: There you go.

SERWER: More oil revenue flowing into that country. About 900,000 Kuwaitis -- the rest of the citizens, foreign workers -- will be getting that $680. And of course, I couldn't help but compare it to our tax refund that we got in 2001, which was $300 to $600. So, we kind of got the raw end of that deal, didn't we?

CAFFERTY: I believe so.

There's another subject out there that troubles me just a little. I don't care what you eat for lunch, but don't tell me I can't have a hamburger or one of those dirty water hot dogs out there in the street here in New York, because I like to have my meat when I want to have it.

SERWER: You must be talking about this vegan CEO in Roanoke, Virginia. This is a great story. Vegans of the world unite. Cat Communications CEO Norm Mason has decided to open a "vegeteria." It only serves vegetarian food. It's free, but it's vegan. And -- what do you got there?

CAFFERTY: That's all it's worth.

SERWER: You got soy stakes. You got soy sloppy Joes. And my favorite, Jack -- maybe you can join me in one of these -- a soybury steak. It's not a Salsbury, it's a soybury steak. It's kind of a funny thing.

CAFFERTY: This is a company cafeteria...

SERWER: Yeah, it's a company cafeteria. It is free. You are not allowed to bring meat inside the door. Like if you have a -- your own ham sandwich, you can't bring a ham sandwich into the room. This according to an AP story...

HEMMER: What's this -- what's this soy sloppy Joe taste like? Taste test?

SERWER: Yeah, little tofu...

CAFFERTY: You know, there's nothing worse in the world than a salad.

SERWER: Well, you know -- you know, he's got -- it's free, at least he is not charging people for it.

O'BRIEN: Yeah, but you can't in the cafeteria if you have a ham sandwich? That's...

SERWER: You've got to eat at your desk, Soledad.

CAFFERTY: All right, on to the "File." Students at the University of North Carolina will soon be able to take a college-level course about "American Idol." That's that silly show over there on the F-word network. It is called "Examining 'American Idol' Through Musical Critique." They'll be assigned to watch the show twice a week while paying close attention to the musical style and content, assuming there is any of either.

Then, they'll be required to write a final paper on who should win and why. It is unclear at this point where guys like William Hung performing "She Bangs" will fit into the coursework. But it's safe to say that parents who are paying 30 grand a year to send their little munchkins to this school will definitely think this is money well spent -- not.

The HBO series "Sex and the City" ended with Carrie and Mr. Big riding off into the sunset together, much to the chagrin of some and the elation of others. But this was not the only ending considered. Producers shot four endings to the popular series, and now "The New York Post" reports the additional three endings will be featured on a DVD scheduled for release just after Christmas.

My producer Carrie Fisher (ph) assures me this is a very important story. It's a little like choosing your own adventure. In one of the other endings, Mr. Big met Carrie in Paris and, at the last minute, dumps her for good. In another, she gets engaged to the Russia Alexander Petrovsky. And the third is a longer version of what actually made air, which is Carrie telling her friends that Mr. big is moving back to New York to be with her.

And I've never seen the show, so I hope those of you who have that makes some sense to you, because I have no idea what they're talking about.

Last week, forbes.com released its fourth annual list of top moneymakers from the crypt. These are people who make lots of money even though they're dead. Some of them have been dead a long time. The top earning dead celebrities are as follows. Elvis Presley, died in '77, makes $40 million a year, his estate. Charlie Schulz, the "Peanuts" comic author, $35 million. J.R.R. Tolkien, $23 million. John Lennon still rakes in $21 million. And Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel, $18 million a year.

The list this year are George and Ira Gershwin added to the list -- they make $6 million a year -- and Freddie Mercury...

SERWER: Ah, Freddie Mercury -- now there's a quality artist. I'm glad to see him up there.

CAFFERTY: Five million a year.

SERWER: Good for him -- Queen.

HEMMER: What is that, based on royalties?

SERWER: "We Will Rock You" at every sports stadium across the country. That's...

CAFFERTY: Or is he the guy -- is the guy who did that? All right.

SERWER: Yeah, Queen. "We Will Rock You," yes. And a bunch of others, too, but mostly that one.

HEMMER: Thank you, guys.

In a moment here, the final "USA Today"/Gallup poll is out. Is the race still a dead heat, or has one man pulled ahead of the other? We've got the numbers. Top of the hour here on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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