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American Morning

Voting for the Presidency is Underway

Aired November 02, 2004 - 10:00 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.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You have a choice. All Americans today get this choice. George Bush has made his choices.

GEORGE W. BUSH (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The people will make the right decision. And I believe I'm going to win.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

BILL HEMMER, CNN CO-ANCHOR: George Bush or John Kerry? It's in the hands of the people now. The start of a long day of waiting for some. Polls are open across the country now. Turnout said to be very heavy in parts.

And Ohio voters face a challenge. They may have to prove themselves before they can vote on this AMERICAN MORNING.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN CO-ANCHOR: Welcome, everybody. The election is what's making headlines this morning. The polls are opening now out west. If the turnout proves to be as big as some people are predicting, could there be problems today? Here's a question for you, could the voting places be overwhelmed? Could the voters be intimidated by some challengers? And what happens, in fact, when a voter does turn up at the wrong polling place?

The secretary of state for Nevada and Iowa are going to join us in just a little bit.

HEMMER: Also this hour, if President Bush wins the election, his cabinet will keep their jobs. But if Senator Kerry wins there be new faces in Washington. Get an insider's look at the Bush campaign from Secretary of Commerce Don Evans. From the Kerry campaign, Howard Dean is our guest about all those issues. We'll get to that this hour.

O'BRIEN: Mr. Cafferty.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN HOST: How are you doing, Soledad? What are you doing if your guy loses? A lot of you are going to be unhappy tomorrow. I got an e-mail from a guy who voted in Ohio and there was a challenger at the polling place.

And in the e-mail, and I'm paraphrasing now. He said, "I'm 6'4", weigh 240 pounds, and my son who's bigger than I am, was voting with me. If this guy had challenged ether one of us it would have been the last challenge we'd made all day today.

So apparently the challenger was very quiet when these two fellows went through the line.

O'BRIEN: I'm curious to know what literally happens.

CAFFERTY: What's the process? Sure.

O'BRIEN: Does the challenger say show me your I.D.?

CAFFERTY: He didn't say anything to this guy who is 6'4", and weighed 230 pounds, who was with his son bigger than he was.

(LAUGHTER)

O'BRIEN: Only small people will be challenged today.

CAFFERTY: Well, that's probably true. You know, I mean if human nature works its magic, that's the case. You challenge those you think you can get away with it with. And if somebody looks like this guy, you look the other way. It's been my experience.

HEMMER: Jack, thanks for that.

Election officials now across the country predicting strong voter turnout. Polling stations now open across 48 states. States to join the process this hour include: California, Washington State, Nevada, Oregon and Idaho. Alaska and Hawaii are the only two states not to open voting yet. CNN counting down to the crucial time when polls close. The first polls close at 7:00 Eastern Time later tonight.

George W. Bush cast his vote last hour at a fire station in Crawford, Texas. Returning to his ranch in the overnight hours last night, after barnstorming across six different battleground states. Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Iowa, all those states hold a total of 85 electoral votes. He'll make one last appearance later today in Columbus, Ohio before heading back to the White House to await the election results there.

A couple of hours from now, the Democratic challenger John Kerry due back in his home state of Massachusetts. Kerry's campaign blitzed across the same five swing states yesterday and called it quits a little bit after midnight last night.

A very long day yesterday for both men -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Well, now the candidates step back and the voters weigh in, and the selection of the nation's president hangs in the balance. Let's check in this morning with a couple of polling places. Miguel Marquez is in Henderson, Nevada, where voting has just gotten underway. And national correspondent Gary Tuchman at a polling place in West Palm Beach Florida.

Miguel, let's begin with you. Good morning. MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Soledad. They are weighing in here in Henderson, Nevada just outside of Las Vegas. We're in Clark County where about 70 percent of the votes come from in Nevada. Nevada is unique in that they have electronic voting statewide. They also have a paper backup statewide. I want to show you some of this.

This is one of the newer machines here. And the thing that's interesting about this is that the voter can actually see their votes as they are casting it here on the side. You can't keep this paper but it's like a receipt that you get at a grocery store. The older machines, there's a paper backup, but it's on. You can see the voters are just starting to pour in here. They expect this thing to be busy today. If early voting, they vote early for about 14 day before the election and absentee voting is any sign it's going to be a very, very busy day.

Nevada cast -- Nevadans cast over 400,000 votes in early and absentee balloting. Voter registration is also up hugely here, 15 to 18 percent. Nevada finally cracked over 1 million registered voters this time around. They expect when the polls close around 7:00 p.m. tonight, about 12 hours from now, that shortly after that once those absentee voting and those early voters are released, all those numbers, they expect to have a pretty good idea of who will take Nevada.

And they believe it's going to be close -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: All right. We hear that a lot. Miguel Marquez for us.

Gary Tuchman, as we mentioned, is in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Hey, Gary. Good morning again.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Soledad, good morning again. With all the talk about long lines here in Florida, here's a note worthy headline for you. Here in Palm Beach County, the hotbed, the epicenter of the electoral chaos in the year 2000 at Precinct 2092 at Firehouse 33 in West Palm Beach, there is no line whatsoever. As a matter of fact you can see right now there are five touch screen electronic machines. One of them is even empty.

So come to this precinct if you want to vote and you can vote right away. Of course you have to be eligible to come here. But this gives you an idea of how it's not nearly as bad as one might have thought, considering that this state has had early voting for the last two weeks.

Right now there are 692 precincts open in Palm Beach County. There were only eight for the early voting and that's one of the reasons the line were so long, up to four to five hours. There was a line here this morning. There were about 30 people in line at one time. But this gives you an idea of how so far, things are going relatively smoothly at this precinct and others in the area.

Back to you, Soledad. O'BRIEN: Was it crowded over the last two weeks?

TUCHMAN: It was very crowded over the last two weeks. You had during the early voting waits of up to 46 hours. And yesterday, Soledad, people were waiting in the heat that went up to 90 degrees. And then they were waiting in pouring rain. And right now, the fire engine doors are going up and that's why it's loud. We're in a firehouse without the trucks right now! The trucks are waiting outside.

(LAUGHTER)

O'BRIEN: Gary Tuchman for us. Gary, thanks -- Bill.

HEMMER: You heard from Miguel a short time ago, polls just now opening in Nevada. Voters have been casting ballots there for about, well really how has the turnout been so far?

Let's get out to Nevada right now and talk with the Dean Heller, secretary of state out there.

Welcome back here. Good morning to you.

DEAN HELLER (R), SECRETARY OF STATE, NEVADA: Thanks, Bill. Good to be back on the show.

HEMMER: All right. Listen, I don't know if you have a sense yet of what's happening in your state. But if you do, give it up now.

(LAUGHTER)

HELLER: Well, I'll tell you, we had early voting two weeks of early voting. And I'm predicting that over 50 percent perms of the votes have already been cast in this particular presidential election. I was with the vice president yesterday. He wouldn't have been in Nevada yesterday if he didn't think that this state was important, and it wasn't close.

So clearly, we've got a dogfight on our hands here, and polls have just opened and voters are now casting their votes. So let's see what happens in the next twelve hours.

HEMMER: If 50 percent of the ballots have already been cast in your state, what were the indications you were getting whether it was Republican or Democrat?

HELLER: Well, the only indication that I have is turnout. And frankly, Democrats, which this is unusual, beat Republicans in turnout in early voting. Generally it's Republicans that you'll see using absentee voting and early voting. But in this case, the get out the vote effort by the Democrats here in the state of Nevada was well organized. And they outcast or outvoted the Republicans by just a few thousand votes. But clearly it was an indication that their machine is working well.

HEMMER: Also, in your state, how many people are newly registered voters? And how do you believe that will impact the outcome in Nevada?

HELLER: Well, the increase in voter registration was 15 to 20 percent this year. And historically here in the state of Nevada, we're the fastest growing state in the country. But people who moved to Nevada don't generally -- the first thing they do, they don't generally register to vote. They have to feel really a part of their community before they participate.

And because of that, voter turnout had always been one of the lowest states. We're seeing a trend change. People really want to be involved in this presidential election. A lot of new voters. A lot of people coming in from all over the country that are getting jobs here, in the state of Nevada. So, most of those are newly, and frankly I'd have to add, young voters also. The MTV efforts, the Smack Down the Votes and those organizations that did a great job in registering young voters.

HEMMER: Give me a sense about poll watchers in your state. What's the law? What are the rules?

HELLER: Well, first of all, I encourage poll watchers. And we've always had poll watchers in the state of Nevada. Usually it's a Democratic Party who will have a poll watcher. A Republican Party and maybe an Independent or third party would have a poll watcher, also.

But clearly this election is going to change. We have thousands of these lawyers now that are coming to the polls here in Las Vegas, and also in Reno.

HEMMER: So if you have a partisan in a particular precinct, how do they challenge someone that they're suspicious of walking into that booth?

HELLER: Well, first of all, we had a challenge a week or so ago. Again I thought it was a little bit too much intimidation. In fact, I spoke out against it. We had an individual that wanted to challenge 17,000 Democratic registered voters. Fortunately that got cast out.

But in order to challenge a voter here in the state of Nevada, you have to be a member of that precinct. So if you're going to challenge a voter, you've got to be a member of that precinct to challenge a voter within that precinct. And that pretty much limits down to maybe 200 or 250 voters that you can actually challenge.

So you'd literally have to have a 100, hundreds of poll workers at every polling place, watchers in order for that to occur. So hopefully, we put a damper on that. And frankly, I hope I don't see much of it.

HEMMER: Good luck today, all right.

HELLER: Thank you very much.

HEMMER: Dean Heller, secretary of state of Nevada back with us here -- Soledad. O'BRIEN: The election is not our only story, of course, today. Let's check in with Heidi Collins for a look at what else is making news this morning.

Hey, Heidi. Good morning again.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning. Thanks, Soledad.

And good morning to you, everyone. Scott Peterson's defense will sum up their case today in Redwood City, California. The jury in the double-murder trial could begin deliberating as early as tomorrow. Yesterday, prosecutors said Peterson murdered his wife and child to freely pursue a bachelor life. The proceedings are set to get under way at 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time.

Iraqi police are looking into this morning's car bombing in central Baghdad. At least six people were killed in the blast near Iraq's Ministry of Education. Eight people were also injured.

And U.S. officials awaiting word of an American seized yesterday along with five others from a compound in Baghdad. Two of the hostages have reportedly been released.

A diagnosis for Yasser Arafat 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.

And the U.S. Supreme Court will begin hearing arguments at this hour in a death penalty case, minus one justice on the bench. Chief Justice William Rehnquist will not be present. He's undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatment for thyroid cancer. In a statement yesterday Rehnquist said he'll work on court matters from home.

And of course, he did hope to return this week. But, he's going to be receiving that radiation/chemotherapy as an outpatient.

O'BRIEN: He said it was a little bit ambitious.

COLLINS: Well, too optimistic. Yes.

HEMMER: Hey, by the way, you've got a new challenge this year. New residence, state of New Jersey. Have you gotten your voting figured out yet?

COLLINS: Well, it's a long and sordid story. But we are...

O'BRIEN: Share.

COLLINS: ... We're so new...

O'BRIEN: We love sordid stories.

(LAUGHTER) COLLINS: ... that we were not able to register in time. So now, today what we will do is -- I mean this happened like the day before we moved in. So now we will go before a judge today and try to get the right to vote. And then go stand in the possible lines.

HEMMER: Oh, lucky you.

O'BRIEN: That shouldn't take much time at all.

COLLINS: So I'll be leaving very quickly.

HEMMER: Good luck, OK.

O'BRIEN: A short day for Heidi today.

COLLINS: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

O'BRIEN: Not.

Still to come this morning. Howard Dean was once the Democratic front-runner. Well, now he's rooting on John Kerry. What does Dean have to say about a possible cabinet position for him if John Kerry wins? We're going to talk about that ahead.

HEMMER: Also, back out to some of the polling stations across the country. How are things going so far in Ohio? The scene of much controversy, back and forth legally in the past 24 hours.

O'BRIEN: And lots of experts say this election is the most divisive ever. But at least one presidential historian says he begs to differ. We're going to hear from him.

HEMMER: Also, don't forget later tonight, CNN's live coverage starts from the NASDAQ at 7:00 Eastern Time. We'll be there for you. Hope you are as well later tonight on CNN.

Back in a moment on this AMERICAN MORNING extended coverage up to noon Eastern Time.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CHEERING)

SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And when your son or daughter, who's serving this country heroically in Iraq calls, you tell them hope is on the way.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hope is on the way.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hope is on the way.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hope is on the way.

O'BRIEN: Just one stop on the road to the election. That was Senator Edwards there, obviously addressing the Democrats.

This special coverage of Election Day right here on AMERICAN MORNING, but to help us through the next several hours, Daryn Kagan and Rick Sanchez join us from the CNN Center in Atlanta.

Hey guys, good morning.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN CO-ANCHOR: Good morning to you.

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR: You know, I had a teacher once who used to say we're all here to loin -- "learn" actually is what he meant. This is what wee going to do. There's been a lot of talk about the 2004 election being the most important one of our lifetimes. Also, it's been said and I'm sure you've heard it; it's going to be the most divisive.

KAGAN: Ah, but what about history? What does that say about it? A presidential historian has another opinion. American University professor Allen Lichtman joins us from Washington, D.C.

Allen, good morning.

ALLEN LICHTMAN, PROFESSOR, AMERICAN UNIV.: Good morning.

KAGAN: Part of what's fun about talking to you is you have a system, 13 things you look at that helps you come up with a prediction for the popular vote. What did you predict for this election?

LICHTMAN: That's right. And the system is based on history. And it's big picture things like foreign policy successes and failures. The long and short-term economy. Policy change. A year and a half ago, April 2003, I said based on this Bush would win the popular vote, and it hasn't changed to this point. Only the popular vote.

KAGAN: So nothing so scientific, as let's say, did the Redskins win last weekend?

LICHTMAN: No. That would only tell you what happens in the Electoral College, of course.

KAGAN: Oh, OK. And that's important...

LICHTMAN: I've got my out.

KAGAN: That is an important distinction because there's a difference between the popular vote and the Electoral College. This system does not predict that?

LICHTMAN: Nobody can predict 537 votes in Florida, 300 some odd votes in New Mexico. The Electoral College is inherently unpredictable. And maybe that's the way the Founding Fathers wanted it to be. KAGAN: Let's talk about how things are right now. People -- some people say this is America has never been more split. But when you look back historically, as a professor is that what you see?

LICHTMAN: Absolutely not. Americans have been far more split at many times in our history. Certainly we are vastly more split in the middle of the 19-century when we fought a civil war over slavery. We were certainly move divided in the 1960s when people were dying in the streets and we were battling over the war in Vietnam. Civil rights, women's rights, and the environment.

And we were very polarized going into the election of 1980, when many were saying Ronald Reagan was a dangerous radical who would send the country down the river. And of course, there have been many critically important elections in recent memory. Nineteen sixty-four, when the consummate liberal, Lyndon Johnson defeated the ultimate conservative, Barry Goldwater.

And then conservatism became triumphant in the Republican Party, and in 1980 we got the Reagan revolution in foreign and domestic policies. I would even argue for 2000, because 2000 set the direction for post-9/11 American policy. And even if John Kerry is elected this year, he's going to be hard-pressed to fundamentally change course. That would be a real test of his governance.

KAGAN: And then just quickly looking forward, no matter who wins tonight, they have to be it. Which is a whole other story, than just winning it.

LICHTMAN: You've got to go from the exaltation of victory to the grim reality of governing with no cash in the till. A half a billion- dollar -- a half a trillion-dollar budget deficit, with no good plans to stop it. Real problems when my generation retires with Social Security and Medicare. And intractable situation in Iraq. And what I think is the real ticking time bomb, unlimited dependence on oil and fossil fuel, and true serious environmental problems.

There was just a report a few days ago that was stunning. It said global warming is here. It's already wreaking major changes in the environment that could be cataclysmic. And neither guy has prepared us for this. They both have been kind of like the old perfume commercial, "promise them anything."

(LAUGHTER)

KAGAN: Well, setting the table for 2008. Never too soon for that.

LICHTMAN: Never.

KAGAN: Allen Lichtman, thank you for your predictions and your perspective.

LICHTMAN: Thanks, Daryn.

SANCHEZ: Wouldn't it be great to be in his class? KAGAN: It would. But I bet the final is really hard.

(LAUGHTER)

SANCHEZ: By the way, CNN's going to be with you all night long, we're going to bring you election coverage.

KAGAN: And Rick and I will be way into the early mornings.

SANCHEZ: Yes, we will.

KAGAN: You weren't planning on going to sleep tonight, were you?

SANCHEZ: No. As a matter of fact, I won't. Maybe a cat nap here or there.

KAGAN: Yes. Anyway, we're going to be with you from 2:00 a.m. Eastern until 5:00 a.m. We're going to have the latest results, presidential key congressional races, as well as big ballot initiatives. We're not going to forget about those of you on the West Coast.

SANCHEZ: And then we're going to be back a little later with Tucker Carlson, Paul Begala. We're going to be talking with Bill Schneider. So we've got a lot for you planned. Stay with CNN for complete election coverage.

Guys, back to you.

O'BRIEN: Thank you very much. And lots of coffee, that's my little tip of the morning, you guys.

KAGAN: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: We'll check in with you later.

Still to come this morning, long lines. Will they make for a long day? We're keeping an eye on the polling stations this morning.

Plus, there's a lot more on the ballot today. Besides just the choice for president, several of the decisions made could have an even bigger impact on who wins the White House. We'll explain ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: There are pictures from central Florida, where Senator John Edwards is meeting and greeting with some of the electorate. The campaign -- the Election Day, rather, just means another day of campaigning for the candidates. Busy, busy day in Florida, obviously. A contested state. Could be very close. And of course that's why the candidates are making their appearance there.

HEMMER: Yes. We had some fun a bit earlier today, wondering where we were four years ago. Well, here's where one of us was in Tallahassee, Florida. Look here. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

Hemmer (on camera): Gore on one side and George W. Bush on the other. I don't know if it's come to that just yet. I'll watch it for you.

I tell you, I thought on Friday we were either going home or we were going to Pluto, and...

DAVID CARLISLE, ELECTION ANALYST: Pluto is getting closer.

(LAUGHTER)

HEMMER: We're in the orbit!

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

HEMMER: David Carlisle elections analyst from four years ago. Great guy. Sat out and rode out the whole thing for us for our 37 days and counting.

You know, everyone says about Tallahassee, David Boies or Jeff Toobin was down there. So many people were down there. It was darn cold in Tallahassee. Every day you wake up, you know, your mind is set to think that Florida's kind a got nice weather. It was chilly.

CAFFERTY: It was a nightmare for this country, too; the whole thing that happened down there.

HEMMER: Should have been in the middle of it.

CAFFERTY: No, thank you. Maybe we can avoid that this time around.

Anyhoo, there's supposed to be a very close election. And that said if it turns out to be that way, a lot of you are going to be unhappy tomorrow because your guy will lose. And the question this morning is how are you going to react if that happens, if you're on the losing side of this thing?

Phyllis in Oxford, Indiana, "I will be disappointed but no drama. Being a lower middle class, single white woman, I can't afford drama."

Ryan in Wakefield, New Hampshire, "I will not be at all surprised if my guy loses, but will not be overjoyed if he wins either. I've heard very little of substance from either candidate this election. Both are disconnected from the realities facing our nation."

Betsy in Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania, "I'll pour another class of wine, I'll weep for my country. And then I'll join the rest of us pre-lobotomy folks and continue fighting the good fight because it's the right thing to do. And America is worth struggling for. But I don't think my guy is going to lose."

Optimism springs eternal. And on to the election, looking at some of the political humor over the last few months. "John Kerry, keeping a low profile this week. He said he wanted to go away, go someplace where one would expect to see him so he showed up in the Senate. Nobody is looking for him to be there." That would be Jay Leno. Took a second, didn't it? The Senate, that's where he's been for 20 years.

(LAUGHTER)

O'BRIEN: I get it.

CAFFERTY: And this one, "Yesterday the president met with a group he calls the 'coalition of the willing.' Or as the rest of the world calls them, Britain and Spain." Jon Stewart, Comedy Central.

HEMMER: You were telling us earlier you haven't heard from anybody who've had any problems waiting in lines?

CAFFERTY: No. No. I've heard from people who say that there have been lines. But I haven't heard anybody. Nobody has written in and said, you know, it was impossible and my whole day was ruined. There have been...

HEMMER: Good sign.

CAFFERTY: ... crowds in a lot of places. A lot of places not crowded. People went early, got right through and got out. And I just brought that up in the interest of not belaboring the fact that, you know, it might take awhile someplace. Go do it anyway. You got nothing better to do with your time today.

HEMMER: Thank you, Jack.

CAFFERTY: Capiche?

HEMMER: In a moment here, we'll get the latest reports from the battleground states. Voters heading off to the polls today.

Plus, at one time he was the Democratic front-runner. Today, Howard even is watching the election and rooting for John Kerry. He'll be our guest in a moment as we continue after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired November 2, 2004 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You have a choice. All Americans today get this choice. George Bush has made his choices.

GEORGE W. BUSH (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The people will make the right decision. And I believe I'm going to win.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

BILL HEMMER, CNN CO-ANCHOR: George Bush or John Kerry? It's in the hands of the people now. The start of a long day of waiting for some. Polls are open across the country now. Turnout said to be very heavy in parts.

And Ohio voters face a challenge. They may have to prove themselves before they can vote on this AMERICAN MORNING.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN CO-ANCHOR: Welcome, everybody. The election is what's making headlines this morning. The polls are opening now out west. If the turnout proves to be as big as some people are predicting, could there be problems today? Here's a question for you, could the voting places be overwhelmed? Could the voters be intimidated by some challengers? And what happens, in fact, when a voter does turn up at the wrong polling place?

The secretary of state for Nevada and Iowa are going to join us in just a little bit.

HEMMER: Also this hour, if President Bush wins the election, his cabinet will keep their jobs. But if Senator Kerry wins there be new faces in Washington. Get an insider's look at the Bush campaign from Secretary of Commerce Don Evans. From the Kerry campaign, Howard Dean is our guest about all those issues. We'll get to that this hour.

O'BRIEN: Mr. Cafferty.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN HOST: How are you doing, Soledad? What are you doing if your guy loses? A lot of you are going to be unhappy tomorrow. I got an e-mail from a guy who voted in Ohio and there was a challenger at the polling place.

And in the e-mail, and I'm paraphrasing now. He said, "I'm 6'4", weigh 240 pounds, and my son who's bigger than I am, was voting with me. If this guy had challenged ether one of us it would have been the last challenge we'd made all day today.

So apparently the challenger was very quiet when these two fellows went through the line.

O'BRIEN: I'm curious to know what literally happens.

CAFFERTY: What's the process? Sure.

O'BRIEN: Does the challenger say show me your I.D.?

CAFFERTY: He didn't say anything to this guy who is 6'4", and weighed 230 pounds, who was with his son bigger than he was.

(LAUGHTER)

O'BRIEN: Only small people will be challenged today.

CAFFERTY: Well, that's probably true. You know, I mean if human nature works its magic, that's the case. You challenge those you think you can get away with it with. And if somebody looks like this guy, you look the other way. It's been my experience.

HEMMER: Jack, thanks for that.

Election officials now across the country predicting strong voter turnout. Polling stations now open across 48 states. States to join the process this hour include: California, Washington State, Nevada, Oregon and Idaho. Alaska and Hawaii are the only two states not to open voting yet. CNN counting down to the crucial time when polls close. The first polls close at 7:00 Eastern Time later tonight.

George W. Bush cast his vote last hour at a fire station in Crawford, Texas. Returning to his ranch in the overnight hours last night, after barnstorming across six different battleground states. Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Iowa, all those states hold a total of 85 electoral votes. He'll make one last appearance later today in Columbus, Ohio before heading back to the White House to await the election results there.

A couple of hours from now, the Democratic challenger John Kerry due back in his home state of Massachusetts. Kerry's campaign blitzed across the same five swing states yesterday and called it quits a little bit after midnight last night.

A very long day yesterday for both men -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Well, now the candidates step back and the voters weigh in, and the selection of the nation's president hangs in the balance. Let's check in this morning with a couple of polling places. Miguel Marquez is in Henderson, Nevada, where voting has just gotten underway. And national correspondent Gary Tuchman at a polling place in West Palm Beach Florida.

Miguel, let's begin with you. Good morning. MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Soledad. They are weighing in here in Henderson, Nevada just outside of Las Vegas. We're in Clark County where about 70 percent of the votes come from in Nevada. Nevada is unique in that they have electronic voting statewide. They also have a paper backup statewide. I want to show you some of this.

This is one of the newer machines here. And the thing that's interesting about this is that the voter can actually see their votes as they are casting it here on the side. You can't keep this paper but it's like a receipt that you get at a grocery store. The older machines, there's a paper backup, but it's on. You can see the voters are just starting to pour in here. They expect this thing to be busy today. If early voting, they vote early for about 14 day before the election and absentee voting is any sign it's going to be a very, very busy day.

Nevada cast -- Nevadans cast over 400,000 votes in early and absentee balloting. Voter registration is also up hugely here, 15 to 18 percent. Nevada finally cracked over 1 million registered voters this time around. They expect when the polls close around 7:00 p.m. tonight, about 12 hours from now, that shortly after that once those absentee voting and those early voters are released, all those numbers, they expect to have a pretty good idea of who will take Nevada.

And they believe it's going to be close -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: All right. We hear that a lot. Miguel Marquez for us.

Gary Tuchman, as we mentioned, is in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Hey, Gary. Good morning again.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Soledad, good morning again. With all the talk about long lines here in Florida, here's a note worthy headline for you. Here in Palm Beach County, the hotbed, the epicenter of the electoral chaos in the year 2000 at Precinct 2092 at Firehouse 33 in West Palm Beach, there is no line whatsoever. As a matter of fact you can see right now there are five touch screen electronic machines. One of them is even empty.

So come to this precinct if you want to vote and you can vote right away. Of course you have to be eligible to come here. But this gives you an idea of how it's not nearly as bad as one might have thought, considering that this state has had early voting for the last two weeks.

Right now there are 692 precincts open in Palm Beach County. There were only eight for the early voting and that's one of the reasons the line were so long, up to four to five hours. There was a line here this morning. There were about 30 people in line at one time. But this gives you an idea of how so far, things are going relatively smoothly at this precinct and others in the area.

Back to you, Soledad. O'BRIEN: Was it crowded over the last two weeks?

TUCHMAN: It was very crowded over the last two weeks. You had during the early voting waits of up to 46 hours. And yesterday, Soledad, people were waiting in the heat that went up to 90 degrees. And then they were waiting in pouring rain. And right now, the fire engine doors are going up and that's why it's loud. We're in a firehouse without the trucks right now! The trucks are waiting outside.

(LAUGHTER)

O'BRIEN: Gary Tuchman for us. Gary, thanks -- Bill.

HEMMER: You heard from Miguel a short time ago, polls just now opening in Nevada. Voters have been casting ballots there for about, well really how has the turnout been so far?

Let's get out to Nevada right now and talk with the Dean Heller, secretary of state out there.

Welcome back here. Good morning to you.

DEAN HELLER (R), SECRETARY OF STATE, NEVADA: Thanks, Bill. Good to be back on the show.

HEMMER: All right. Listen, I don't know if you have a sense yet of what's happening in your state. But if you do, give it up now.

(LAUGHTER)

HELLER: Well, I'll tell you, we had early voting two weeks of early voting. And I'm predicting that over 50 percent perms of the votes have already been cast in this particular presidential election. I was with the vice president yesterday. He wouldn't have been in Nevada yesterday if he didn't think that this state was important, and it wasn't close.

So clearly, we've got a dogfight on our hands here, and polls have just opened and voters are now casting their votes. So let's see what happens in the next twelve hours.

HEMMER: If 50 percent of the ballots have already been cast in your state, what were the indications you were getting whether it was Republican or Democrat?

HELLER: Well, the only indication that I have is turnout. And frankly, Democrats, which this is unusual, beat Republicans in turnout in early voting. Generally it's Republicans that you'll see using absentee voting and early voting. But in this case, the get out the vote effort by the Democrats here in the state of Nevada was well organized. And they outcast or outvoted the Republicans by just a few thousand votes. But clearly it was an indication that their machine is working well.

HEMMER: Also, in your state, how many people are newly registered voters? And how do you believe that will impact the outcome in Nevada?

HELLER: Well, the increase in voter registration was 15 to 20 percent this year. And historically here in the state of Nevada, we're the fastest growing state in the country. But people who moved to Nevada don't generally -- the first thing they do, they don't generally register to vote. They have to feel really a part of their community before they participate.

And because of that, voter turnout had always been one of the lowest states. We're seeing a trend change. People really want to be involved in this presidential election. A lot of new voters. A lot of people coming in from all over the country that are getting jobs here, in the state of Nevada. So, most of those are newly, and frankly I'd have to add, young voters also. The MTV efforts, the Smack Down the Votes and those organizations that did a great job in registering young voters.

HEMMER: Give me a sense about poll watchers in your state. What's the law? What are the rules?

HELLER: Well, first of all, I encourage poll watchers. And we've always had poll watchers in the state of Nevada. Usually it's a Democratic Party who will have a poll watcher. A Republican Party and maybe an Independent or third party would have a poll watcher, also.

But clearly this election is going to change. We have thousands of these lawyers now that are coming to the polls here in Las Vegas, and also in Reno.

HEMMER: So if you have a partisan in a particular precinct, how do they challenge someone that they're suspicious of walking into that booth?

HELLER: Well, first of all, we had a challenge a week or so ago. Again I thought it was a little bit too much intimidation. In fact, I spoke out against it. We had an individual that wanted to challenge 17,000 Democratic registered voters. Fortunately that got cast out.

But in order to challenge a voter here in the state of Nevada, you have to be a member of that precinct. So if you're going to challenge a voter, you've got to be a member of that precinct to challenge a voter within that precinct. And that pretty much limits down to maybe 200 or 250 voters that you can actually challenge.

So you'd literally have to have a 100, hundreds of poll workers at every polling place, watchers in order for that to occur. So hopefully, we put a damper on that. And frankly, I hope I don't see much of it.

HEMMER: Good luck today, all right.

HELLER: Thank you very much.

HEMMER: Dean Heller, secretary of state of Nevada back with us here -- Soledad. O'BRIEN: The election is not our only story, of course, today. Let's check in with Heidi Collins for a look at what else is making news this morning.

Hey, Heidi. Good morning again.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning. Thanks, Soledad.

And good morning to you, everyone. Scott Peterson's defense will sum up their case today in Redwood City, California. The jury in the double-murder trial could begin deliberating as early as tomorrow. Yesterday, prosecutors said Peterson murdered his wife and child to freely pursue a bachelor life. The proceedings are set to get under way at 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time.

Iraqi police are looking into this morning's car bombing in central Baghdad. At least six people were killed in the blast near Iraq's Ministry of Education. Eight people were also injured.

And U.S. officials awaiting word of an American seized yesterday along with five others from a compound in Baghdad. Two of the hostages have reportedly been released.

A diagnosis for Yasser Arafat 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.

And the U.S. Supreme Court will begin hearing arguments at this hour in a death penalty case, minus one justice on the bench. Chief Justice William Rehnquist will not be present. He's undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatment for thyroid cancer. In a statement yesterday Rehnquist said he'll work on court matters from home.

And of course, he did hope to return this week. But, he's going to be receiving that radiation/chemotherapy as an outpatient.

O'BRIEN: He said it was a little bit ambitious.

COLLINS: Well, too optimistic. Yes.

HEMMER: Hey, by the way, you've got a new challenge this year. New residence, state of New Jersey. Have you gotten your voting figured out yet?

COLLINS: Well, it's a long and sordid story. But we are...

O'BRIEN: Share.

COLLINS: ... We're so new...

O'BRIEN: We love sordid stories.

(LAUGHTER) COLLINS: ... that we were not able to register in time. So now, today what we will do is -- I mean this happened like the day before we moved in. So now we will go before a judge today and try to get the right to vote. And then go stand in the possible lines.

HEMMER: Oh, lucky you.

O'BRIEN: That shouldn't take much time at all.

COLLINS: So I'll be leaving very quickly.

HEMMER: Good luck, OK.

O'BRIEN: A short day for Heidi today.

COLLINS: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

O'BRIEN: Not.

Still to come this morning. Howard Dean was once the Democratic front-runner. Well, now he's rooting on John Kerry. What does Dean have to say about a possible cabinet position for him if John Kerry wins? We're going to talk about that ahead.

HEMMER: Also, back out to some of the polling stations across the country. How are things going so far in Ohio? The scene of much controversy, back and forth legally in the past 24 hours.

O'BRIEN: And lots of experts say this election is the most divisive ever. But at least one presidential historian says he begs to differ. We're going to hear from him.

HEMMER: Also, don't forget later tonight, CNN's live coverage starts from the NASDAQ at 7:00 Eastern Time. We'll be there for you. Hope you are as well later tonight on CNN.

Back in a moment on this AMERICAN MORNING extended coverage up to noon Eastern Time.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CHEERING)

SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And when your son or daughter, who's serving this country heroically in Iraq calls, you tell them hope is on the way.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hope is on the way.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hope is on the way.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hope is on the way.

O'BRIEN: Just one stop on the road to the election. That was Senator Edwards there, obviously addressing the Democrats.

This special coverage of Election Day right here on AMERICAN MORNING, but to help us through the next several hours, Daryn Kagan and Rick Sanchez join us from the CNN Center in Atlanta.

Hey guys, good morning.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN CO-ANCHOR: Good morning to you.

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR: You know, I had a teacher once who used to say we're all here to loin -- "learn" actually is what he meant. This is what wee going to do. There's been a lot of talk about the 2004 election being the most important one of our lifetimes. Also, it's been said and I'm sure you've heard it; it's going to be the most divisive.

KAGAN: Ah, but what about history? What does that say about it? A presidential historian has another opinion. American University professor Allen Lichtman joins us from Washington, D.C.

Allen, good morning.

ALLEN LICHTMAN, PROFESSOR, AMERICAN UNIV.: Good morning.

KAGAN: Part of what's fun about talking to you is you have a system, 13 things you look at that helps you come up with a prediction for the popular vote. What did you predict for this election?

LICHTMAN: That's right. And the system is based on history. And it's big picture things like foreign policy successes and failures. The long and short-term economy. Policy change. A year and a half ago, April 2003, I said based on this Bush would win the popular vote, and it hasn't changed to this point. Only the popular vote.

KAGAN: So nothing so scientific, as let's say, did the Redskins win last weekend?

LICHTMAN: No. That would only tell you what happens in the Electoral College, of course.

KAGAN: Oh, OK. And that's important...

LICHTMAN: I've got my out.

KAGAN: That is an important distinction because there's a difference between the popular vote and the Electoral College. This system does not predict that?

LICHTMAN: Nobody can predict 537 votes in Florida, 300 some odd votes in New Mexico. The Electoral College is inherently unpredictable. And maybe that's the way the Founding Fathers wanted it to be. KAGAN: Let's talk about how things are right now. People -- some people say this is America has never been more split. But when you look back historically, as a professor is that what you see?

LICHTMAN: Absolutely not. Americans have been far more split at many times in our history. Certainly we are vastly more split in the middle of the 19-century when we fought a civil war over slavery. We were certainly move divided in the 1960s when people were dying in the streets and we were battling over the war in Vietnam. Civil rights, women's rights, and the environment.

And we were very polarized going into the election of 1980, when many were saying Ronald Reagan was a dangerous radical who would send the country down the river. And of course, there have been many critically important elections in recent memory. Nineteen sixty-four, when the consummate liberal, Lyndon Johnson defeated the ultimate conservative, Barry Goldwater.

And then conservatism became triumphant in the Republican Party, and in 1980 we got the Reagan revolution in foreign and domestic policies. I would even argue for 2000, because 2000 set the direction for post-9/11 American policy. And even if John Kerry is elected this year, he's going to be hard-pressed to fundamentally change course. That would be a real test of his governance.

KAGAN: And then just quickly looking forward, no matter who wins tonight, they have to be it. Which is a whole other story, than just winning it.

LICHTMAN: You've got to go from the exaltation of victory to the grim reality of governing with no cash in the till. A half a billion- dollar -- a half a trillion-dollar budget deficit, with no good plans to stop it. Real problems when my generation retires with Social Security and Medicare. And intractable situation in Iraq. And what I think is the real ticking time bomb, unlimited dependence on oil and fossil fuel, and true serious environmental problems.

There was just a report a few days ago that was stunning. It said global warming is here. It's already wreaking major changes in the environment that could be cataclysmic. And neither guy has prepared us for this. They both have been kind of like the old perfume commercial, "promise them anything."

(LAUGHTER)

KAGAN: Well, setting the table for 2008. Never too soon for that.

LICHTMAN: Never.

KAGAN: Allen Lichtman, thank you for your predictions and your perspective.

LICHTMAN: Thanks, Daryn.

SANCHEZ: Wouldn't it be great to be in his class? KAGAN: It would. But I bet the final is really hard.

(LAUGHTER)

SANCHEZ: By the way, CNN's going to be with you all night long, we're going to bring you election coverage.

KAGAN: And Rick and I will be way into the early mornings.

SANCHEZ: Yes, we will.

KAGAN: You weren't planning on going to sleep tonight, were you?

SANCHEZ: No. As a matter of fact, I won't. Maybe a cat nap here or there.

KAGAN: Yes. Anyway, we're going to be with you from 2:00 a.m. Eastern until 5:00 a.m. We're going to have the latest results, presidential key congressional races, as well as big ballot initiatives. We're not going to forget about those of you on the West Coast.

SANCHEZ: And then we're going to be back a little later with Tucker Carlson, Paul Begala. We're going to be talking with Bill Schneider. So we've got a lot for you planned. Stay with CNN for complete election coverage.

Guys, back to you.

O'BRIEN: Thank you very much. And lots of coffee, that's my little tip of the morning, you guys.

KAGAN: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: We'll check in with you later.

Still to come this morning, long lines. Will they make for a long day? We're keeping an eye on the polling stations this morning.

Plus, there's a lot more on the ballot today. Besides just the choice for president, several of the decisions made could have an even bigger impact on who wins the White House. We'll explain ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: There are pictures from central Florida, where Senator John Edwards is meeting and greeting with some of the electorate. The campaign -- the Election Day, rather, just means another day of campaigning for the candidates. Busy, busy day in Florida, obviously. A contested state. Could be very close. And of course that's why the candidates are making their appearance there.

HEMMER: Yes. We had some fun a bit earlier today, wondering where we were four years ago. Well, here's where one of us was in Tallahassee, Florida. Look here. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

Hemmer (on camera): Gore on one side and George W. Bush on the other. I don't know if it's come to that just yet. I'll watch it for you.

I tell you, I thought on Friday we were either going home or we were going to Pluto, and...

DAVID CARLISLE, ELECTION ANALYST: Pluto is getting closer.

(LAUGHTER)

HEMMER: We're in the orbit!

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

HEMMER: David Carlisle elections analyst from four years ago. Great guy. Sat out and rode out the whole thing for us for our 37 days and counting.

You know, everyone says about Tallahassee, David Boies or Jeff Toobin was down there. So many people were down there. It was darn cold in Tallahassee. Every day you wake up, you know, your mind is set to think that Florida's kind a got nice weather. It was chilly.

CAFFERTY: It was a nightmare for this country, too; the whole thing that happened down there.

HEMMER: Should have been in the middle of it.

CAFFERTY: No, thank you. Maybe we can avoid that this time around.

Anyhoo, there's supposed to be a very close election. And that said if it turns out to be that way, a lot of you are going to be unhappy tomorrow because your guy will lose. And the question this morning is how are you going to react if that happens, if you're on the losing side of this thing?

Phyllis in Oxford, Indiana, "I will be disappointed but no drama. Being a lower middle class, single white woman, I can't afford drama."

Ryan in Wakefield, New Hampshire, "I will not be at all surprised if my guy loses, but will not be overjoyed if he wins either. I've heard very little of substance from either candidate this election. Both are disconnected from the realities facing our nation."

Betsy in Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania, "I'll pour another class of wine, I'll weep for my country. And then I'll join the rest of us pre-lobotomy folks and continue fighting the good fight because it's the right thing to do. And America is worth struggling for. But I don't think my guy is going to lose."

Optimism springs eternal. And on to the election, looking at some of the political humor over the last few months. "John Kerry, keeping a low profile this week. He said he wanted to go away, go someplace where one would expect to see him so he showed up in the Senate. Nobody is looking for him to be there." That would be Jay Leno. Took a second, didn't it? The Senate, that's where he's been for 20 years.

(LAUGHTER)

O'BRIEN: I get it.

CAFFERTY: And this one, "Yesterday the president met with a group he calls the 'coalition of the willing.' Or as the rest of the world calls them, Britain and Spain." Jon Stewart, Comedy Central.

HEMMER: You were telling us earlier you haven't heard from anybody who've had any problems waiting in lines?

CAFFERTY: No. No. I've heard from people who say that there have been lines. But I haven't heard anybody. Nobody has written in and said, you know, it was impossible and my whole day was ruined. There have been...

HEMMER: Good sign.

CAFFERTY: ... crowds in a lot of places. A lot of places not crowded. People went early, got right through and got out. And I just brought that up in the interest of not belaboring the fact that, you know, it might take awhile someplace. Go do it anyway. You got nothing better to do with your time today.

HEMMER: Thank you, Jack.

CAFFERTY: Capiche?

HEMMER: In a moment here, we'll get the latest reports from the battleground states. Voters heading off to the polls today.

Plus, at one time he was the Democratic front-runner. Today, Howard even is watching the election and rooting for John Kerry. He'll be our guest in a moment as we continue after this.

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