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American Morning

Americans Deciding Direction of Country for Next Four Years

Aired November 02, 2004 - 08:00   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.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
It's Election Day. The polls are open. The American people deciding the direction of the country for the next four years -- stay with George Bush or switch to John Kerry. Ohio voters meet their challenge. An eleventh hour court decision means some people may have to prove their right to vote. And the wildcard that could tip this year's race -- celebrities like P. Diddy trying to get out the youth vote on this AMERICAN MORNING.

ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.

Welcome, everybody.

You're looking at the look in Fort Lauderdale in Florida. SBN giving us those pictures. Long lines, but, as they pointed out, crowding has been an issue, which is why they opened the polls many places early. Of course, the question is how fast is that line moving, rather than the number of people in front of you to see how long it's really going to take.

HEMMER: Many people say two million Floridians will have already voted before the polling stations even open this morning in that state. So we're off and running.

O'BRIEN: Yes, we are. We've got, of course, the news that we're talking about this morning, Election Day. Hundreds of millions of dollars spent on this campaign, countless miles have been covered, sleepless nights, too. And now all they really get to do is wait. The chairmen of the Democratic and Republican Parties are going to be with us in just a moment to talk about where their man went wrong and where he went right in this campaign.

HEMMER: Also, we've talked a lot, over and over, in fact, about the swing states. George Bush and John Kerry have focused the lion's share of their time and money on those areas. How important are they today? Very important. Even on Election Day, both candidates squeezing in one final trip to Ohio. In a moment, Carlos Watson stops by. He will try and break down the swing states, where they stand and what's happening with all the polling that's going on. So we'll get to Carlos in a moment.

O'BRIEN: And Jack has an election focus, as well -- good morning. JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Only four hours to go.

Coming up in the "Cafferty File," we'll tell you which state is voting to legalize marijuana. One state is, and it could be problematic for our program because if it passes, we could lose like half the staff on this program. They'd pack up and move there.

Also, how people outside the United States view the election.

And Dewey defeats Truman, Sri Lankan style.

HEMMER: Imagine that.

O'BRIEN: Oh.

HEMMER: Thank you, Jack.

O'BRIEN: All right, Jack, thanks.

Reports now. We begin with the key battleground states.

Adaora Udoji is in Canton, Ohio for us.

Jason Carroll is at a polling station in Lehigh County in Pennsylvania.

Gary Tuchman in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Adaora, let's begin with you -- good morning.

ADAORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

We're in Canton, Ohio, where the folks have been voting for an hour and a half. We're told turnout has been heavy in this county. And, of course this is all happening while there is a ferocious legal battle continuing between the Republicans and Democrats here. In fact, the past 12 hours there's been one court decision after another. Already this morning, the United States Supreme Court has weighed in. And they let stand a decision in favor of Ohio Republicans. And the issue are challengers.

Now, challengers under Ohio law are partisan volunteers who are allowed to go into the polling stations and challenge any voter's eligibility, question whether they are legally registered. And the Democrats had argued that the Republicans' only intention was to suppress the vote, particularly African-American votes.

Republicans denied that after -- they denied that and they insist that they're just concerned about voter fraud. And after two federal courts sided with the Democrats, the Republicans appealed, and now the challengers are in.

Today, right now, there are hundreds of lawyers on each side ready to pounce on any legal issue that should come up today. The secretary of state is urging calm and patience. So far, we have not heard of any challengers that have come up, not in this county or in any other county. Obviously, we'll be watching that closely.

Another big concern here in Ohio is there was expected a high turnout of voters to show up at the polls today, but there are concerns because rainstorms are predicted in most parts of the state. So obviously we'll be watching closely.

O'BRIEN: Adaora Udoji for us this morning.

Adaora, thanks.

We're going to continue to check in with you throughout the morning.

The polls are showing that Pennsylvania is too close to call.

That's where we find Jason Carroll, at a polling station this morning.

Hey -- Jason, good morning to you.

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

This is a busy polling place, but an organized one, as well. You can see the sign behind me there warning people who are showing up with certain instructions there. This was very busy earlier today. Election workers easily handled the early morning rush of voters that lined up ready to vote. This is a rural area so it was unusual, even from the folks who live here, to see so many people lined up. The interest is high, political bickering in full swing, Republicans vowing to challenge the eligibility of thousands of voters.

Democrats accuse Republicans of voter intimidation. Pennsylvania's Department of State released guidelines telling election officials not to let poll watchers challenge voters without good faith.

We spoke to a few voters, early morning voters who were out here today. They said things inside went smoothly. But it's going to be a long day for voters here in the State of Pennsylvania -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Yes, no question about it, not only in Pennsylvania, one has to imagine, Jason, but elsewhere, as well.

Gary Tuchman in West Palm Beach, Florida for us this morning -- hey, Gary, good morning to you.

How is it there?

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Soledad, good morning to you.

Four years after Florida was in the political limelight, Floridians are voting again. At this precinct in West Palm Beach, Florida, five touch screen machines. Each and every one has been completely full since the polls opened at 7:00 this morning Eastern time. There have been 45 voters who have gone to the polls. Now, that may sound like a small number, but consider this factor. Only 800 eligible voters in this precinct. And there's another 30 to 40 people in line. So we're talking about 80 people total. That's 10 percent of the eligible electorate in this precinct who've already come out in the first hour.

Folks, how are you feeling about it? Any concerns at all about what might happen in Florida this year?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I think it'll be fair.

TUCHMAN: Do you think it was fair four years ago?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'll not comment on that.

TUCHMAN: No comment.

What do you think? Are you worried about anything?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely. Absolutely. Everything will be fine. Everything will be fine today.

TUCHMAN: Anyone worried at all? What a confident electorate here at this precinct, Firehouse #33, where they don't think Florida is going to have to put out any fires after tonight -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: A confident electorate, although I like the woman who says she has no comment. We usually don't hear that from just regular voters, do we?

Gary Tuchman for us in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Gary, thanks -- Bill.

HEMMER: Well, after months and months of campaigning from coast to coast, Americans still appear divided on who they want for president. This morning, in their final debate of Campaign 2004, we welcome back here from D.C. the chairman of the Republican National Committee, Ed Gillespie.

Ed, good morning to you on an election day.

ED GILLESPIE, RNC CHAIRMAN: Good morning, Bill.

HEMMER: Also, from Boston, Terry McAuliffe, chairman for the Democratic National Committee.

Terry, welcome and good morning to you, as well, in Boston.

TERRY MCAULIFFE, DNC CHAIRMAN: Hi, Bill.

HEMMER: Ed, start us off here.

Democrats have said for days now the strong, heavy, early turnout favors Democrats. What do you say to that claim?

GILLESPIE: Oh, that's just not the case. We are doing very, very well in the early turnout. In fact, there was a poll out yesterday that showed that 20 percent of voters have already cast their vote and the president was leading by 8 percentage points over Senator Kerry amongst those early voters. We're seeing that across the country in critical states like Florida and Ohio, and the fact is we're up in the public polls there, up in states that Vice President Gore carried in 2000. You saw Vice President Cheney in Hawaii, a state the Democrats took for granted for years and years. So the momentum is clearly with the president on Election Day today.

HEMMER: Let me get Terry on the record on that.

What do you say to that, Terry?

MCAULIFFE: We've had about six million people who have already voted and we've had a third of the eligible voters in Florida, the likely voters, who have gone to the polls. We're leading right now in Florida. We're leading in New Mexico. We're leading in Iowa, just with the early votes. It is going to be an extraordinary turnout today, Bill. I think it's the largest percentage we've had since 1960. This is great for democracy. People want a fresh start in this country. That's why they're going to come out in record numbers. And I think we're going to shock some people.

HEMMER: Gentlemen, this is what I hear. I hear you can take all the old rules and just throw them out the window. With the number of early voting out there, with the nation at war, with the turnout that we're seeing already today and have been seeing, really, for the past two weeks and counting, Ed, is that conventional wisdom now, do you kick it to the curb and say we are in territory where we have not been for -- maybe forever for this country?

GILLESPIE: Well, in a lot of ways we are, Bill. But the one constant predictor that we've seen over time is that when an incumbent president is, you now, has an approval rating above 50 percent on Election Day, that incumbent president is reelected. And that's what we're seeing today. The last Gallup had the president at 51 percent.

So there are some things that I think, you know, I think that is a more reliable predictor than, say, the Redskins losing at home or Halloween mask sales.

HEMMER: Well, we've done a little bit of that this week.

Terry, why do you believe this country still appears to be so divided on its future and its leadership?

MCAULIFFE: Well, I think we're very close to where we were, Bill, four years ago when we went to the polls. I think this nation is very split. I do think you're going to see a record number of new voters turn up. I'm predicting that we're going to have 120 million people go to the polls. We had about 106 in 2000. So 14 million more voters going to the polls, I think you're going to see a dramatic shift in the electoral politics of our country. I think you're going to see a record number of young people. And they're going to come out and support John Kerry. They're as tired of picking up the newspaper and seeing all of the issues as relates to Iraq, nine Marines killed the other day. They're tired of hearing about job losses, under funding of education, no health care policy.

They want a fresh start and that's what they're going to get with John Kerry.

HEMMER: Ed, I know you have a lot to answer to Terry's comment there. But I want to push this to a different area and talk about strategy for both campaigns.

If George Bush wins today and wins four more years in the White House, what was the turning point, do you believe, in this campaign for him?

GILLESPIE: Well, actually, the turning point is the refutation of Terry's answer. The fact is that we have created nearly two million jobs in the past year, an economic growth rate of 3.7 percent in the past quarter, an unemployment rates that are below the average for the '70s, '80s and '90s. His strong and principled leadership in the war on terror. The fact that he has a plan for victory in Iraq and Senator Kerry has a plan for retreat. Those are the things that are going to result in the president being reelected today.

I don't think there was one turning point, Bill. I think that this is a big choice election. And when you look at who shares our values, who is going to do best at continuing to foster job creation and economic growth in this country and who is going to wage an aggressive war on terror and make us safer as a nation, the answer is President Bush.

Senator Kerry is someone who believes that we need to go back to treating terrorist acts as law enforcement matters, that, treat it like a nuisance, like illegal gambling and prostitution, and believes in higher taxes, more regulation and more litigation.

I think the choices are very clear and a my of Americans are going to be with the president today because of that.

HEMMER: I don't have much time.

Terry, you get the final word.

MCAULIFFE: Yes, I think if there was one turning point for the campaign, I think it was the debates. I think the Americans are tired of all these 30 and 60 second commercials. They watched the three debates. John Kerry won all three debates decisively. The first debate on foreign policy wasn't even close. The president was almost embarrassing. He couldn't answer the questions. And I think what they saw is a commander-in-chief in John Kerry who looked in that camera, who answered the questions and you had a president who refused to take responsibility for the chaos in Iraq and for the failed economic policies that we have in this country.

And I'd say the debates were the turning point.

HEMMER: We've got to run.

Terry, thanks.

MCAULIFFE: Thank you.

HEMMER: Terry McAuliffe in Boston, Ed Gillespie down in D.C.

Thank you, gentlemen.

GILLESPIE: Thank you.

MCAULIFFE: Thank you again.

HEMMER: We'll be watching it throughout the day today, 120 million possibly, that's what Terry McAuliffe says.

Election coverage comes to you later tonight from the Nasdaq market site in Times Square, real time election results. About a million TV screens all over the place over there at the Nasdaq. Primetime coverage starts tonight at 7:00 Eastern time here on CNN -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: And, in fact, our extended coverage this morning is going to focus on the election, the big story today. But there are other stories in the headlines.

Let's check in with Heidi Collins for a look at those -- good morning.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.

And the situation in Iraq is, of course, going to be on people's minds as they do vote today. In fact, a deadly explosion in Baghdad to tell you about. A car bomb blew up near Iraq's Ministry of Education about six hours ago. At least six people were killed, eight others wounded. It is not clear if any of those casualties are American.

The cause of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's illness could be announced as early as tomorrow. Doctors remain silent on Arafat's condition five days into his emergency treatment in France. Palestinian officials have said leukemia and other cancers have been ruled out.

Back here now in the United States, the Scott Peterson double murder trial is wrapping up. The defense is set to deliver its closing arguments today, one day after prosecutors laid out their case. Prosecuting lawyers will be back before the jury this afternoon for a rebuttal. The case could go to the jury tomorrow. As we said yesterday, it's been a long, long time.

HEMMER: That it has, five months plus. COLLINS: Yes.

HEMMER: OK, Heidi.

O'BRIEN: Weather now.

Chad Myers at the CNN Center with the latest forecast for Election Day.

Chad -- good morning.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Soledad.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: A major court ruling in the State of Ohio. It may affect the outcome of the race in that state. Jeff Toobin stops by to try and sort it out for us in a moment.

O'BRIEN: And next, the candidates crisscross the nation for months, fighting for a handful of battleground states. Which way will those states swing today? Carlos Watson is going to help us out on that.

HEMMER: Also, another reminder, later tonight, 7:00 Eastern time, Wolf Blitzer heads up our coverage live from the NASDAQ market site all night long, maybe.

Back in a moment here on this AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Nineteen individuals have served both in the Guard and as president of the United States, and I'm proud to be one of them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: President Bush in September.

It's all over by the voting now. Did the candidates do enough in the battleground states to swing voters their way?

CNN's political analyst Carlos Watson with a look at that.

We have been chatting and chatting and chatting, and we're coming to the bitter end, as they say.

Let's talk about the...

CARLOS WATSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Unless there's overtime.

O'BRIEN: Yes. And the potential for overtime is very great.

WATSON: Right.

O'BRIEN: Eight battleground states, now nine battleground states, adding Michigan to the list.

Give me a rundown of these states.

WATSON: Sure. Let's start with New Hampshire, a state that's traditionally gone Republican, but Bill Clinton won twice. And the question is do they go back to their roots and vote Republican or do they give it to the next door neighbor, John Kerry?

Pennsylvania, another state which, on the other hand, has tended to go Democratic and once again will Philadelphia in particular come out in a strong way for the Democrats this time and give the victory, in this case, to John Kerry? Or will the president, relying on Catholics, who make up about a third of the electorate, steal a win?

In Florida, the battleground we've seen over and over again...

O'BRIEN: Motivated voters, as we've seen this morning.

WATSON: Oh my gosh, over and over again. And the question is not only what will happen in south Florida or even that central Florida I-40 corridor, but what will happen in northern Florida. Will there be heavy enough turnout for the president, particularly in the Panhandle, that that will make a difference and that that will help give him a win? A big question there.

John Kerry obviously is hoping that some of that early turnout made a difference.

If we move towards the Midwest, lots of excitement there, even beyond Ohio. Remember, the president's got a bold gambit here. He thinks for the first time in several cycles a Republican can win Minnesota. It hasn't happened since 1972; Iowa, it hasn't happened since 1984; Wisconsin, it hasn't happened since 1984; a Republican presidential candidate. He thinks he's got a real chance, and particularly with these Midwestern Catholic voters, and, in some cases, rural voters, that he thinks he can make a real difference.

John Kerry, on the other hand, says I've got tremendous ground game and that's where some of his hopes lie.

O'BRIEN: What other states are up for grabs, potentially, outside of those eight plus Michigan, nine?

WATSON: You know, if you look out West, there's still a couple of states that are in play. Remember, New Mexico, Soledad, just four years ago, 366 votes, very close, talked to both sides down there relatively recently and there's real hopes on the Republican side that the president can get 40 percent of the Hispanic vote, which, by the way, represents almost a third of the electorate, and ultimately can score a surprising win.

He's sent a number of people down there -- his White House counsel, Alberto Gonzalez; you've also seen George P. Bush, his nephew. So a lot of energy there.

Nevada, another close place. You've seen lots of early voting there. Democrats have big hopes, again, centered around the Hispanic population, which now may cast one out of every five votes this time.

And then last but not least, in Colorado, that's probably the one or two places in the country, Soledad, where a Senate race may intersect with the presidential race. Both sides have relatively strong candidates and there's a question as to whether or not those candidates can help turn out additional voters for one side or another.

O'BRIEN: Give me a sense, as you look back, and I get -- even though we're coming up on the finish line, we're really technically nowhere near the finish line yet.

WATSON: Right.

O'BRIEN: What strikes you the most about this campaign and as we head into Election Day?

WATSON: You know, I don't think it's an overstatement or I don't think it's hyperbole to say that I think this is going to be an epic election. I think that...

O'BRIEN: Really?

WATSON: Yes.

O'BRIEN: Why?

WATSON: I really believe that 30...

O'BRIEN: Just because it's so close?

WATSON: Well, not just because it's close, because not since the late 1800s, shortly after the Civil War, have we had a confluence of two significant things -- one, we have big, meaty, significant issues in a presidential election; and, two, you have a series of tight elections. We've had one or the other at various times in our history, but not since shortly after the Civil War, 1876, 1888. We really, up to 1900, when William McKinley got the Republicans going, did you really have the confluence of those two things.

And in addition to that, we've got a ton of money being spent. We've got new kinds of media influencing this election. I mean, think about Internet blogs, right? We're into with that...

O'BRIEN: Right. Four years ago, what was a blog?

WATSON: Yes. And think about books. Think about what a role books have played in this election, right, whether it's been Richard Clarke's book or whether it's been Tommy Franks' book. Think about movies, right? We had both the "Stolen Honor," the more recent one.

O'BRIEN: Michael Moore. WATSON: And the Michael Moore film.

And then last but not least, you usually don't, in a campaign, and I think and I think (UNINTELLIGIBLE), have such broad involvement -- everyone from Curt Schilling, the Red Sox pitcher, right to Leonardo DiCaprio. Last night we saw him. He was doing "Gangs of New York."

O'BRIEN: Right.

WATSON: So, you know, pretty broad involvement there.

O'BRIEN: Right. Voters are motivated.

WATSON: Yes.

O'BRIEN: Carlos Watson, of course, we will be chitchatting with you throughout the day.

Appreciate it.

WATSON: You bet.

O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, Chief Justice Rehnquist's health problems brought the Supreme Court into focus as a possible election issue. But what about the health of the rest of the court? We're going to take a look at that ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: We were thinking earlier this week, and we were wondering, where were you just about four years ago at this time?

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

HEMMER: Now on this Wednesday morning again, it's 10:00 a.m. on the East Coast here, 7:00 a.m. in California. And a lot of folks with some tired eyes today. The entire election hinges now on the 25 electoral votes that will come out of Florida.

We all may need a law degree before this is over.

The state says they will not have an official count on the tally county wide until Tuesday, the 14th of next week.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

HEMMER: I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now.

O'BRIEN: You get -- you get grungier and grungier. You notice every single spot he's like, has a little...

HEMMER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

O'BRIEN: ... camped out. HEMMER: We went down to Tallahassee on the Wednesday after the vote. And I will admit that I thought this isn't going to be much of a story. This thing is going to be over by the afternoon. And we thought well, we, we'll be home by the weekend.

CAFFERTY: How many days?

HEMMER: Thirty-seven.

CAFFERTY: Thirty-seven days.

HEMMER: We came home in mid-December.

CAFFERTY: Wow! Incredible.

The nation perhaps not this divided since 1968. That was back when Nixon beat Humphrey at the height of the Vietnam War. It's been a partisan, nasty, very hard fought, very expensive campaign. It's just, it's given everybody a headache. Hundreds of millions of dollars spent by both sides, and yet at the end of the day, nobody really had a leg up. No significant advantage going into the voting today. It's probably going to wind up being very close. But somebody is going to be a loser.

And the question is, what are you going to do if your guy loses? How will you react? Can you be a grownup or are you going to be juvenile and infantile?

John in Davenport, Iowa: "If my guy loses, I'll suck it up and go on. Been there, done that. It's part of what makes the U.S. great. We accept the results of the polls."

Richard in Sanford, Maine writes: "My life will be free of nagging suppertime phone calls from political parties and pollsters. Negative ads will disappear for a few years. My mailbox will be free of political fliers, making room for more normal things, like my bills. I will be a free man."

And J.B. in Phoenix writes: "I have the perfect sour grapes emotion all set aside for that possibility. It's OK, you guys wanted this bozo, now deal with it."

In honor of the elections, we're looking back at some of the better political jokes that have lightened up the campaign season, particularly on late night television.

For example, the president and Mrs. Bush were on "LARRY KING" last night. And the president said, "America is absolutely better off today than it was four years ago." Then he said, "Did I say America? I meant Chevron." That was Bill Maher, who has a rather obvious point of view in all of these things.

And then this. "A lot of people are wondering if John Kerry supports gay marriage. Here's a hint -- he gets thousand dollar haircuts." That was from Craig Kilborne, who has since left, I think, late night television. O'BRIEN: Yes, he has.

CAFFERTY: Good stuff.

O'BRIEN: Very funny.

All right, Jack, thanks.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, the legal battle over voter challenges in the State of Ohio. Today's ruling could change the way the Buckeye State swings. We'll get a closer look from Jeff Toobin, just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired November 2, 2004 - 08:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
It's Election Day. The polls are open. The American people deciding the direction of the country for the next four years -- stay with George Bush or switch to John Kerry. Ohio voters meet their challenge. An eleventh hour court decision means some people may have to prove their right to vote. And the wildcard that could tip this year's race -- celebrities like P. Diddy trying to get out the youth vote on this AMERICAN MORNING.

ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.

Welcome, everybody.

You're looking at the look in Fort Lauderdale in Florida. SBN giving us those pictures. Long lines, but, as they pointed out, crowding has been an issue, which is why they opened the polls many places early. Of course, the question is how fast is that line moving, rather than the number of people in front of you to see how long it's really going to take.

HEMMER: Many people say two million Floridians will have already voted before the polling stations even open this morning in that state. So we're off and running.

O'BRIEN: Yes, we are. We've got, of course, the news that we're talking about this morning, Election Day. Hundreds of millions of dollars spent on this campaign, countless miles have been covered, sleepless nights, too. And now all they really get to do is wait. The chairmen of the Democratic and Republican Parties are going to be with us in just a moment to talk about where their man went wrong and where he went right in this campaign.

HEMMER: Also, we've talked a lot, over and over, in fact, about the swing states. George Bush and John Kerry have focused the lion's share of their time and money on those areas. How important are they today? Very important. Even on Election Day, both candidates squeezing in one final trip to Ohio. In a moment, Carlos Watson stops by. He will try and break down the swing states, where they stand and what's happening with all the polling that's going on. So we'll get to Carlos in a moment.

O'BRIEN: And Jack has an election focus, as well -- good morning. JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Only four hours to go.

Coming up in the "Cafferty File," we'll tell you which state is voting to legalize marijuana. One state is, and it could be problematic for our program because if it passes, we could lose like half the staff on this program. They'd pack up and move there.

Also, how people outside the United States view the election.

And Dewey defeats Truman, Sri Lankan style.

HEMMER: Imagine that.

O'BRIEN: Oh.

HEMMER: Thank you, Jack.

O'BRIEN: All right, Jack, thanks.

Reports now. We begin with the key battleground states.

Adaora Udoji is in Canton, Ohio for us.

Jason Carroll is at a polling station in Lehigh County in Pennsylvania.

Gary Tuchman in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Adaora, let's begin with you -- good morning.

ADAORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

We're in Canton, Ohio, where the folks have been voting for an hour and a half. We're told turnout has been heavy in this county. And, of course this is all happening while there is a ferocious legal battle continuing between the Republicans and Democrats here. In fact, the past 12 hours there's been one court decision after another. Already this morning, the United States Supreme Court has weighed in. And they let stand a decision in favor of Ohio Republicans. And the issue are challengers.

Now, challengers under Ohio law are partisan volunteers who are allowed to go into the polling stations and challenge any voter's eligibility, question whether they are legally registered. And the Democrats had argued that the Republicans' only intention was to suppress the vote, particularly African-American votes.

Republicans denied that after -- they denied that and they insist that they're just concerned about voter fraud. And after two federal courts sided with the Democrats, the Republicans appealed, and now the challengers are in.

Today, right now, there are hundreds of lawyers on each side ready to pounce on any legal issue that should come up today. The secretary of state is urging calm and patience. So far, we have not heard of any challengers that have come up, not in this county or in any other county. Obviously, we'll be watching that closely.

Another big concern here in Ohio is there was expected a high turnout of voters to show up at the polls today, but there are concerns because rainstorms are predicted in most parts of the state. So obviously we'll be watching closely.

O'BRIEN: Adaora Udoji for us this morning.

Adaora, thanks.

We're going to continue to check in with you throughout the morning.

The polls are showing that Pennsylvania is too close to call.

That's where we find Jason Carroll, at a polling station this morning.

Hey -- Jason, good morning to you.

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

This is a busy polling place, but an organized one, as well. You can see the sign behind me there warning people who are showing up with certain instructions there. This was very busy earlier today. Election workers easily handled the early morning rush of voters that lined up ready to vote. This is a rural area so it was unusual, even from the folks who live here, to see so many people lined up. The interest is high, political bickering in full swing, Republicans vowing to challenge the eligibility of thousands of voters.

Democrats accuse Republicans of voter intimidation. Pennsylvania's Department of State released guidelines telling election officials not to let poll watchers challenge voters without good faith.

We spoke to a few voters, early morning voters who were out here today. They said things inside went smoothly. But it's going to be a long day for voters here in the State of Pennsylvania -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Yes, no question about it, not only in Pennsylvania, one has to imagine, Jason, but elsewhere, as well.

Gary Tuchman in West Palm Beach, Florida for us this morning -- hey, Gary, good morning to you.

How is it there?

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Soledad, good morning to you.

Four years after Florida was in the political limelight, Floridians are voting again. At this precinct in West Palm Beach, Florida, five touch screen machines. Each and every one has been completely full since the polls opened at 7:00 this morning Eastern time. There have been 45 voters who have gone to the polls. Now, that may sound like a small number, but consider this factor. Only 800 eligible voters in this precinct. And there's another 30 to 40 people in line. So we're talking about 80 people total. That's 10 percent of the eligible electorate in this precinct who've already come out in the first hour.

Folks, how are you feeling about it? Any concerns at all about what might happen in Florida this year?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I think it'll be fair.

TUCHMAN: Do you think it was fair four years ago?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'll not comment on that.

TUCHMAN: No comment.

What do you think? Are you worried about anything?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely. Absolutely. Everything will be fine. Everything will be fine today.

TUCHMAN: Anyone worried at all? What a confident electorate here at this precinct, Firehouse #33, where they don't think Florida is going to have to put out any fires after tonight -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: A confident electorate, although I like the woman who says she has no comment. We usually don't hear that from just regular voters, do we?

Gary Tuchman for us in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Gary, thanks -- Bill.

HEMMER: Well, after months and months of campaigning from coast to coast, Americans still appear divided on who they want for president. This morning, in their final debate of Campaign 2004, we welcome back here from D.C. the chairman of the Republican National Committee, Ed Gillespie.

Ed, good morning to you on an election day.

ED GILLESPIE, RNC CHAIRMAN: Good morning, Bill.

HEMMER: Also, from Boston, Terry McAuliffe, chairman for the Democratic National Committee.

Terry, welcome and good morning to you, as well, in Boston.

TERRY MCAULIFFE, DNC CHAIRMAN: Hi, Bill.

HEMMER: Ed, start us off here.

Democrats have said for days now the strong, heavy, early turnout favors Democrats. What do you say to that claim?

GILLESPIE: Oh, that's just not the case. We are doing very, very well in the early turnout. In fact, there was a poll out yesterday that showed that 20 percent of voters have already cast their vote and the president was leading by 8 percentage points over Senator Kerry amongst those early voters. We're seeing that across the country in critical states like Florida and Ohio, and the fact is we're up in the public polls there, up in states that Vice President Gore carried in 2000. You saw Vice President Cheney in Hawaii, a state the Democrats took for granted for years and years. So the momentum is clearly with the president on Election Day today.

HEMMER: Let me get Terry on the record on that.

What do you say to that, Terry?

MCAULIFFE: We've had about six million people who have already voted and we've had a third of the eligible voters in Florida, the likely voters, who have gone to the polls. We're leading right now in Florida. We're leading in New Mexico. We're leading in Iowa, just with the early votes. It is going to be an extraordinary turnout today, Bill. I think it's the largest percentage we've had since 1960. This is great for democracy. People want a fresh start in this country. That's why they're going to come out in record numbers. And I think we're going to shock some people.

HEMMER: Gentlemen, this is what I hear. I hear you can take all the old rules and just throw them out the window. With the number of early voting out there, with the nation at war, with the turnout that we're seeing already today and have been seeing, really, for the past two weeks and counting, Ed, is that conventional wisdom now, do you kick it to the curb and say we are in territory where we have not been for -- maybe forever for this country?

GILLESPIE: Well, in a lot of ways we are, Bill. But the one constant predictor that we've seen over time is that when an incumbent president is, you now, has an approval rating above 50 percent on Election Day, that incumbent president is reelected. And that's what we're seeing today. The last Gallup had the president at 51 percent.

So there are some things that I think, you know, I think that is a more reliable predictor than, say, the Redskins losing at home or Halloween mask sales.

HEMMER: Well, we've done a little bit of that this week.

Terry, why do you believe this country still appears to be so divided on its future and its leadership?

MCAULIFFE: Well, I think we're very close to where we were, Bill, four years ago when we went to the polls. I think this nation is very split. I do think you're going to see a record number of new voters turn up. I'm predicting that we're going to have 120 million people go to the polls. We had about 106 in 2000. So 14 million more voters going to the polls, I think you're going to see a dramatic shift in the electoral politics of our country. I think you're going to see a record number of young people. And they're going to come out and support John Kerry. They're as tired of picking up the newspaper and seeing all of the issues as relates to Iraq, nine Marines killed the other day. They're tired of hearing about job losses, under funding of education, no health care policy.

They want a fresh start and that's what they're going to get with John Kerry.

HEMMER: Ed, I know you have a lot to answer to Terry's comment there. But I want to push this to a different area and talk about strategy for both campaigns.

If George Bush wins today and wins four more years in the White House, what was the turning point, do you believe, in this campaign for him?

GILLESPIE: Well, actually, the turning point is the refutation of Terry's answer. The fact is that we have created nearly two million jobs in the past year, an economic growth rate of 3.7 percent in the past quarter, an unemployment rates that are below the average for the '70s, '80s and '90s. His strong and principled leadership in the war on terror. The fact that he has a plan for victory in Iraq and Senator Kerry has a plan for retreat. Those are the things that are going to result in the president being reelected today.

I don't think there was one turning point, Bill. I think that this is a big choice election. And when you look at who shares our values, who is going to do best at continuing to foster job creation and economic growth in this country and who is going to wage an aggressive war on terror and make us safer as a nation, the answer is President Bush.

Senator Kerry is someone who believes that we need to go back to treating terrorist acts as law enforcement matters, that, treat it like a nuisance, like illegal gambling and prostitution, and believes in higher taxes, more regulation and more litigation.

I think the choices are very clear and a my of Americans are going to be with the president today because of that.

HEMMER: I don't have much time.

Terry, you get the final word.

MCAULIFFE: Yes, I think if there was one turning point for the campaign, I think it was the debates. I think the Americans are tired of all these 30 and 60 second commercials. They watched the three debates. John Kerry won all three debates decisively. The first debate on foreign policy wasn't even close. The president was almost embarrassing. He couldn't answer the questions. And I think what they saw is a commander-in-chief in John Kerry who looked in that camera, who answered the questions and you had a president who refused to take responsibility for the chaos in Iraq and for the failed economic policies that we have in this country.

And I'd say the debates were the turning point.

HEMMER: We've got to run.

Terry, thanks.

MCAULIFFE: Thank you.

HEMMER: Terry McAuliffe in Boston, Ed Gillespie down in D.C.

Thank you, gentlemen.

GILLESPIE: Thank you.

MCAULIFFE: Thank you again.

HEMMER: We'll be watching it throughout the day today, 120 million possibly, that's what Terry McAuliffe says.

Election coverage comes to you later tonight from the Nasdaq market site in Times Square, real time election results. About a million TV screens all over the place over there at the Nasdaq. Primetime coverage starts tonight at 7:00 Eastern time here on CNN -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: And, in fact, our extended coverage this morning is going to focus on the election, the big story today. But there are other stories in the headlines.

Let's check in with Heidi Collins for a look at those -- good morning.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.

And the situation in Iraq is, of course, going to be on people's minds as they do vote today. In fact, a deadly explosion in Baghdad to tell you about. A car bomb blew up near Iraq's Ministry of Education about six hours ago. At least six people were killed, eight others wounded. It is not clear if any of those casualties are American.

The cause of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's illness could be announced as early as tomorrow. Doctors remain silent on Arafat's condition five days into his emergency treatment in France. Palestinian officials have said leukemia and other cancers have been ruled out.

Back here now in the United States, the Scott Peterson double murder trial is wrapping up. The defense is set to deliver its closing arguments today, one day after prosecutors laid out their case. Prosecuting lawyers will be back before the jury this afternoon for a rebuttal. The case could go to the jury tomorrow. As we said yesterday, it's been a long, long time.

HEMMER: That it has, five months plus. COLLINS: Yes.

HEMMER: OK, Heidi.

O'BRIEN: Weather now.

Chad Myers at the CNN Center with the latest forecast for Election Day.

Chad -- good morning.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Soledad.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: A major court ruling in the State of Ohio. It may affect the outcome of the race in that state. Jeff Toobin stops by to try and sort it out for us in a moment.

O'BRIEN: And next, the candidates crisscross the nation for months, fighting for a handful of battleground states. Which way will those states swing today? Carlos Watson is going to help us out on that.

HEMMER: Also, another reminder, later tonight, 7:00 Eastern time, Wolf Blitzer heads up our coverage live from the NASDAQ market site all night long, maybe.

Back in a moment here on this AMERICAN MORNING.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Nineteen individuals have served both in the Guard and as president of the United States, and I'm proud to be one of them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: President Bush in September.

It's all over by the voting now. Did the candidates do enough in the battleground states to swing voters their way?

CNN's political analyst Carlos Watson with a look at that.

We have been chatting and chatting and chatting, and we're coming to the bitter end, as they say.

Let's talk about the...

CARLOS WATSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Unless there's overtime.

O'BRIEN: Yes. And the potential for overtime is very great.

WATSON: Right.

O'BRIEN: Eight battleground states, now nine battleground states, adding Michigan to the list.

Give me a rundown of these states.

WATSON: Sure. Let's start with New Hampshire, a state that's traditionally gone Republican, but Bill Clinton won twice. And the question is do they go back to their roots and vote Republican or do they give it to the next door neighbor, John Kerry?

Pennsylvania, another state which, on the other hand, has tended to go Democratic and once again will Philadelphia in particular come out in a strong way for the Democrats this time and give the victory, in this case, to John Kerry? Or will the president, relying on Catholics, who make up about a third of the electorate, steal a win?

In Florida, the battleground we've seen over and over again...

O'BRIEN: Motivated voters, as we've seen this morning.

WATSON: Oh my gosh, over and over again. And the question is not only what will happen in south Florida or even that central Florida I-40 corridor, but what will happen in northern Florida. Will there be heavy enough turnout for the president, particularly in the Panhandle, that that will make a difference and that that will help give him a win? A big question there.

John Kerry obviously is hoping that some of that early turnout made a difference.

If we move towards the Midwest, lots of excitement there, even beyond Ohio. Remember, the president's got a bold gambit here. He thinks for the first time in several cycles a Republican can win Minnesota. It hasn't happened since 1972; Iowa, it hasn't happened since 1984; Wisconsin, it hasn't happened since 1984; a Republican presidential candidate. He thinks he's got a real chance, and particularly with these Midwestern Catholic voters, and, in some cases, rural voters, that he thinks he can make a real difference.

John Kerry, on the other hand, says I've got tremendous ground game and that's where some of his hopes lie.

O'BRIEN: What other states are up for grabs, potentially, outside of those eight plus Michigan, nine?

WATSON: You know, if you look out West, there's still a couple of states that are in play. Remember, New Mexico, Soledad, just four years ago, 366 votes, very close, talked to both sides down there relatively recently and there's real hopes on the Republican side that the president can get 40 percent of the Hispanic vote, which, by the way, represents almost a third of the electorate, and ultimately can score a surprising win.

He's sent a number of people down there -- his White House counsel, Alberto Gonzalez; you've also seen George P. Bush, his nephew. So a lot of energy there.

Nevada, another close place. You've seen lots of early voting there. Democrats have big hopes, again, centered around the Hispanic population, which now may cast one out of every five votes this time.

And then last but not least, in Colorado, that's probably the one or two places in the country, Soledad, where a Senate race may intersect with the presidential race. Both sides have relatively strong candidates and there's a question as to whether or not those candidates can help turn out additional voters for one side or another.

O'BRIEN: Give me a sense, as you look back, and I get -- even though we're coming up on the finish line, we're really technically nowhere near the finish line yet.

WATSON: Right.

O'BRIEN: What strikes you the most about this campaign and as we head into Election Day?

WATSON: You know, I don't think it's an overstatement or I don't think it's hyperbole to say that I think this is going to be an epic election. I think that...

O'BRIEN: Really?

WATSON: Yes.

O'BRIEN: Why?

WATSON: I really believe that 30...

O'BRIEN: Just because it's so close?

WATSON: Well, not just because it's close, because not since the late 1800s, shortly after the Civil War, have we had a confluence of two significant things -- one, we have big, meaty, significant issues in a presidential election; and, two, you have a series of tight elections. We've had one or the other at various times in our history, but not since shortly after the Civil War, 1876, 1888. We really, up to 1900, when William McKinley got the Republicans going, did you really have the confluence of those two things.

And in addition to that, we've got a ton of money being spent. We've got new kinds of media influencing this election. I mean, think about Internet blogs, right? We're into with that...

O'BRIEN: Right. Four years ago, what was a blog?

WATSON: Yes. And think about books. Think about what a role books have played in this election, right, whether it's been Richard Clarke's book or whether it's been Tommy Franks' book. Think about movies, right? We had both the "Stolen Honor," the more recent one.

O'BRIEN: Michael Moore. WATSON: And the Michael Moore film.

And then last but not least, you usually don't, in a campaign, and I think and I think (UNINTELLIGIBLE), have such broad involvement -- everyone from Curt Schilling, the Red Sox pitcher, right to Leonardo DiCaprio. Last night we saw him. He was doing "Gangs of New York."

O'BRIEN: Right.

WATSON: So, you know, pretty broad involvement there.

O'BRIEN: Right. Voters are motivated.

WATSON: Yes.

O'BRIEN: Carlos Watson, of course, we will be chitchatting with you throughout the day.

Appreciate it.

WATSON: You bet.

O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, Chief Justice Rehnquist's health problems brought the Supreme Court into focus as a possible election issue. But what about the health of the rest of the court? We're going to take a look at that ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

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HEMMER: We were thinking earlier this week, and we were wondering, where were you just about four years ago at this time?

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HEMMER: Now on this Wednesday morning again, it's 10:00 a.m. on the East Coast here, 7:00 a.m. in California. And a lot of folks with some tired eyes today. The entire election hinges now on the 25 electoral votes that will come out of Florida.

We all may need a law degree before this is over.

The state says they will not have an official count on the tally county wide until Tuesday, the 14th of next week.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

HEMMER: I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now.

O'BRIEN: You get -- you get grungier and grungier. You notice every single spot he's like, has a little...

HEMMER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

O'BRIEN: ... camped out. HEMMER: We went down to Tallahassee on the Wednesday after the vote. And I will admit that I thought this isn't going to be much of a story. This thing is going to be over by the afternoon. And we thought well, we, we'll be home by the weekend.

CAFFERTY: How many days?

HEMMER: Thirty-seven.

CAFFERTY: Thirty-seven days.

HEMMER: We came home in mid-December.

CAFFERTY: Wow! Incredible.

The nation perhaps not this divided since 1968. That was back when Nixon beat Humphrey at the height of the Vietnam War. It's been a partisan, nasty, very hard fought, very expensive campaign. It's just, it's given everybody a headache. Hundreds of millions of dollars spent by both sides, and yet at the end of the day, nobody really had a leg up. No significant advantage going into the voting today. It's probably going to wind up being very close. But somebody is going to be a loser.

And the question is, what are you going to do if your guy loses? How will you react? Can you be a grownup or are you going to be juvenile and infantile?

John in Davenport, Iowa: "If my guy loses, I'll suck it up and go on. Been there, done that. It's part of what makes the U.S. great. We accept the results of the polls."

Richard in Sanford, Maine writes: "My life will be free of nagging suppertime phone calls from political parties and pollsters. Negative ads will disappear for a few years. My mailbox will be free of political fliers, making room for more normal things, like my bills. I will be a free man."

And J.B. in Phoenix writes: "I have the perfect sour grapes emotion all set aside for that possibility. It's OK, you guys wanted this bozo, now deal with it."

In honor of the elections, we're looking back at some of the better political jokes that have lightened up the campaign season, particularly on late night television.

For example, the president and Mrs. Bush were on "LARRY KING" last night. And the president said, "America is absolutely better off today than it was four years ago." Then he said, "Did I say America? I meant Chevron." That was Bill Maher, who has a rather obvious point of view in all of these things.

And then this. "A lot of people are wondering if John Kerry supports gay marriage. Here's a hint -- he gets thousand dollar haircuts." That was from Craig Kilborne, who has since left, I think, late night television. O'BRIEN: Yes, he has.

CAFFERTY: Good stuff.

O'BRIEN: Very funny.

All right, Jack, thanks.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, the legal battle over voter challenges in the State of Ohio. Today's ruling could change the way the Buckeye State swings. We'll get a closer look from Jeff Toobin, just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

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