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CNN Live At Daybreak
Race for White House Still Undecided at This Hour
Aired November 03, 2004 - 06:00 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: If you're just waking up, the answer is no. No winner yet. The race for the White House still undecided at this hour.
It is Wednesday, November 3.
This is DAYBREAK.
And good morning to you.
From the CNN Global Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Costello.
Here's a look at the election headlines for you. The race for the White House just may come down to Ohio and it's absentee and provisional ballots. A provisional ballot is one by a voter who showed up to vote but wasn't registered at the time. The state has 11 days to count those ballots. Twenty electoral votes are at stake. Right now, George Bush has a whisper of a lead in the electoral vote.
Some voting provisional ballots in Iowa, too, broken machines and absentee ballots delay -- absentee ballots, I should say, slow things down. Election officials say we won't know until later today who has won that state's seven electoral votes.
And another election result, this one overseas. Hamid Karzai can now celebrate his victory in Afghanistan. Investigators concluded a probe into possible voting fraud and determined that none of the problems were big enough to overturn President Karzai's election. His main challenger still has not conceded.
All right, let's get some numbers for you.
As you can see, President Bush right now has 51 percent of the vote. Senator John Kerry has 48 percent. If you're talking about electoral votes, we have it. President Bush has 254 electoral votes. John Kerry has 252. We think President Bush is ahead by some 3.7 million votes. That's in the popular vote. Andy Card just came out and said the president actually has 286 electoral votes and is ahead in the popular vote by three and a half million. And we're going to talk about that right now, because it has been a long night for everyone watching the election results. President Bush no exception.
Let's get right to Washington now and CNN's senior White House correspondent John King with more of what Andy Card had to say -- good morning.
JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol. No official winner, but the White House is certainly saying it is confident of victory. And, in fact, we are told in just a few hours here at the White House, the president himself will deliver a public statement saying he believes he has won the election and won the right to live in this house for four more years.
One aide said a while ago Mr. Bush was going to bed, but another aide told me just a few minutes ago they're not quite sure he's tucked himself in yet. It was a long night here at the White House. At one point, the president himself was supposed to go to the Ronald Reagan Building and address supporters. In the end, because there are still some outstanding questions, they decided to send the chief of staff, Andy Card. But Andy Card told the Republicans gathered that they believe at the end of this day the president will have more than 280 electoral votes, well in excess of the 270 needed for victory. And while the Kerry campaign is saying it still has some questions about the outcome in Ohio, Chief of Staff Andy Card says there's no doubt here at the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDREW CARD, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: In Ohio, President Bush has a lead of at least 140,000 votes. The secretary of state's office has informed us that this margin is statistically insurmountable, even after the provisional ballots are considered.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Now the White House again saying that President Bush himself will deliver a statement later today. By trying to create the impression and asserting that the president has an insurmountable lead in Ohio, the White House clearly trying to put pressure on Senator Kerry to wake up this morning, look at the numbers and decide that lead is, indeed, insurmountable.
The Democrats and the Kerry campaign say they will take their time, thank you, and study the numbers quite closely. They also say some other states still in play, New Mexico and Iowa.
The White House, though, Carol, saying it is quite confident it'll win New Mexico, fairly confident it will win Iowa, as well. Again, look for a statement from the president later today, the White House trying to get this election done and over with and settled by the end of today, not wanting a long post-election period, if you will, to determine the winner, like we had four years ago. And what they're most happy about here at the White House is that majority, 51 percent now in the popular vote count for this president. The last president to get a majority was this president's father way back in 1988 -- Carol.
COSTELLO: You know, the Republicans have got to be happy because they won all the way around. And if you look at the map and the number of electoral votes that President Bush took, it's amazing.
KING: Well, they picked up seats in the House. They picked up seats in the Senate. The president, if the White House math is right, will get somewhere in the area of 285, 286 electoral votes. Senator Kerry competing very well, as well. He has -- he's very close to the president right now with these final states to be decided.
But the White House will view this as a clear mandate if these numbers hold. We must be clear -- the White House is claiming victory. We have not called these states yet. There are still issues to be resolved in Ohio, in New Mexico and in Iowa, principally.
But if these numbers hold, certainly this is a president who will say that in the middle of war that is controversial in the country, at a time the economy is still quite sluggish, he won a big majority, a big 3 percentage point victory in the popular vote and he won an electoral college majority, picked up seats in the Congress. This president will claim a mandate, make no mistake about it.
COSTELLO: John King live from Washington.
And just to reiterate, New Mexico, Iowa, Ohio too close to call right now. In fact, in Iowa, they had problems with some voting machines and they all went home to get some sleep. They won't make a decision until tomorrow.
New Mexico still counting. Ohio too close to call, with its 20 electoral votes.
Of course, the Kerry camp, as you heard John say, is not throwing in the towel despite President Bush's apparent lead in Ohio. Kerry dispatched his running mate, Senator John Edwards, to deliver a message of hope to a partisan crowd in Boston.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's been a long night, but we've waited four years for this victory. We can wait one more night. Tonight, John and I are so proud of all of you who are here with us and all of you across the country who have stood with us in this campaign. John Kerry and I have made a promise to the American people that in this election, every vote would count and every vote would be counted.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: CNN's Kelly Wallace is covering the Kerry campaign.
She joins us live from Boston now -- Kelly, are they really that confident?
KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, I mean what a night it has been for this campaign. What a change, really, because early in the day, you had a sense that the Kerry campaign advisers were confident, feeling very confident. They were looking at the exit polling that news organizations like ours were seeing, as well, not reporting it, but definitely looking at it and showing that Senator Kerry looked like he had a commanding lead in many of the key battleground states. You had Joe Lockhart, the chief spokesman for Senator Kerry, saying he was encouraged in the middle of the day, and then late in the day the mood really, really changed.
Here's what their deal is. They are talking to their lawyers, they're looking at options. We're trying to get some reaction to White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card's comments. We don't have them just yet. The word we got after John Edwards came out on stage and then shortly after that, about 3:30 in the morning, the campaign basically saying you're not going to hear anything from us, don't expect anything until 10:00 this morning.
So what you had, though, is you had Mary Beth Cahill, the Kerry campaign manager, issuing a statement even before Senator Edwards came out. And they clearly believe Ohio is an issue, Cahill saying, "There are more than 250,000 remaining votes to be counted. We believe when they are, John Kerry will win Ohio.
So clearly, Carol, they are looking at options, watching the numbers. And we're just waiting to hear what their strategy will be this morning.
COSTELLO: And, you know, I heard you say they have lawyers standing by.
What could that mean?
WALLACE: Well, both sides certainly, Carol, we knew going into last night had lawyers at the ready. They had planes at the ready to take off and to go to any state in question. Clearly right now, this campaign looking at Ohio. As you and John were just talking about, though, the closeness and questions in New Mexico and Iowa could also be an issue.
But then it does come down to the numbers game, also. If during this day it does look like, based on the number of provisional ballots, that the numbers are against Senator Kerry, it remains to be seen if this campaign will continue to push or if Senator Kerry will look at the numbers and decide this election is not going his way. We can't underestimate the disappointment that this campaign is feeling. It really felt based on the number of identified voters out there, turnout, it felt like this was going to go Senator Kerry's way and if it doesn't in the end, there'll be a lot of questions about what happened and why they were not successful.
COSTELLO: Well, you know, Kelly, we all remember the bitter end to the 2000 election. I mean does there come a point in time, from the Kerry campaign, that they just call it a day and don't prolong the process for the good of the country?
WALLACE: Sure. But there is some criticism -- there were criticisms of Al Gore back in 2000, some believing that he conceded or went off to concede a little bit too early. And so now you have, four years later, you have a Democratic Party angry and still reeling over 2000, the 2000 election, very much wanting to make sure, as you hear Senator Edwards say, as we have heard Senator Kerry say on the stump, that every vote is counted.
So this campaign wants to make sure that every vote is counted, that it looks at these states and makes sure that there is not a victory there for Senator Kerry. Obviously, it comes to a point where it has to look at the numbers and there is that issue, too, Carol, of President Bush winning by more than 3.5 million votes in the popular vote, whether that plays a role in Senator Kerry's decision and his team. We just don't know the answer to that yet.
COSTELLO: Kelly Wallace reporting live from Boston.
Thank you.
Sometimes it seems like we've all become experts on the electoral college over the past four years.
But let's talk to a real expert right now.
John Fortier is a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and the editor of "After the People Vote: A Guide To the Electoral College."
Good morning.
JOHN FORTIER, AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE: Good morning.
COSTELLO: So is Ohio going to be another Florida?
FORTIER: I don't think so. We see a pretty wide margin in Ohio. We'll have to see how it shakes out. But you have to realize that 2000 election was a set of circumstances that all came together to create that 36 day storm. We were separated by less than a couple thousand votes going into the 36 day recount. Here we're looking at over 100,000. I think it's going to resolve itself probably today, or at least in the next couple of days.
COSTELLO: So the provisional ballots, how might they affect things? You say it's going to be resolved in a day or two, but Ohio has 11 days to count those ballots.
FORTIER: We really don't know how many there are. And I think John Kerry is going to have to take a look and see does he have a realistic chance of winning. If he doesn't, he'll concede. If it really looks like he's got a chance, well then maybe we do start moving toward a Florida scenario.
My guess is we probably don't.
COSTELLO: There was a lot of talk about the electoral college in the days leading up to this election, actually, in the months leading up to it. Colorado, for example, had an issue on the ballot. They wanted to change the way the vote worked in that state. That went down to defeat.
Is that a good thing? FORTIER: I think it probably is. One, they were doing it in a retroactive way on the same ballot as they were voting for president. That was somewhat problematic. Also, I don't think it's in the interests of Colorado to split their votes. They become somewhat less important in a presidential election. Instead of having nine electoral votes, they essentially have a five-four split each time. I don't think you're going to see that movement spread to other states.
COSTELLO: Is this still the best way to vote, the electoral college? Is it the best way?
FORTIER: Well, I do think that it's generally an effective system. We had, in 2000, the popular vote go the opposite way of the electoral college vote. It doesn't look like we will have that today. It had been 1888 for that to happen beforehand.
So it's really only in the very, very closest of elections, and any sort of electoral system in essentially a tie scenario, is going to be under stress and have its own problems.
COSTELLO: You know, everybody was talking about whether there would be a tie, like 269-269. That obviously didn't happen. But are you glad? I'm sure the whole country is glad, because that would really prolong things and make things rather complicated.
FORTIER: Right. It would have been good for my book, but bad for the country, I think. So I'm rooting for the country and I'm glad we're likely to have a decisive result.
COSTELLO: All right, John Fortier joining us live from Washington this morning.
Thank you.
Let's continue to look at how Ohio stands this morning.
Here are the latest results for you. And this is how close it is right now -- 51 percent of the vote goes to President Bush, 49 percent goes to Senator John Kerry. But keep in mind there are all of those provisional ballots out there, all of those ballots coming in from overseas and we do not know how many there are. There could be anywhere between 75,000 and 270,000 ballots uncounted. They just won't know until everything comes in. As I said, they have 11 days to count them. The absentee ballots, though, have been counted, so I guess that is a good thing.
Karl Rove says that -- I'm sorry, Andy Card says that President Bush, though, has won the electoral votes in Ohio and his lead in Ohio now stands at about, oh, 120,000 to 130,000 votes.
Ohio officials say they don't just want a result, though, they want a result that is right.
Let's listen to what officials there have to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KENNETH BLACKWELL (R), OHIO SECRETARY OF STATE: What we're going to give you is a solid tabulation when we give it to you. If it takes two hours, two days to two weeks, the result that we give you will be a good result that the voters of the State of Ohio can have confidence in.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And for more on the goings on in Ohio we're joined again by CNN's Adaora Udoji.
She's in Canton, Ohio, in Stark County -- Adaora, what do voters think about the situation in Ohio right now, that it came down to them?
ADAORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
And, in fact, we actually spoke to about half a dozen folks this morning and they kept saying we knew it, we knew it, that's why we had to get to the polls today. And I think it was clear even as we stood outside one of the polling stations yesterday where the lines were just a steady flow of people and some of the poll workers telling us that they had just never seen so many voters coming through their doors, there is this general sense, or there has been from the folks that we've spoken to, that Ohio was going to be very important. And that's why they needed to make sure that their vote was going to be counted.
COSTELLO: What was the voter turnout like there?
UDOJI: Well, there were lots of estimates to begin with. I mean Governor Taft yesterday was saying that he thought there would be record-breaking voter turnout, somewhere north of 70 percent. And at this point, it's looking like there was roughly 700,000 more voters this go around than there was in 2000. But again, as you noted a few minutes ago, some of these votes are still coming in. You have all of these provisionals to still count and we also have, in Ohio, or at least the secretary of state also has to count those overseas ballots.
COSTELLO: Definitely. And we also heard that some of the polling places were still open as of 2:30 a.m. Eastern time because the lines were so long. In fact, one young man said he waited -- this is at Kenyan College -- said he waited in line from 4:30 in the afternoon and he finally got to vote at 2:30 a.m. That's just crazy.
UDOJI: Well, actually, Carol, what's interesting there is I think there were some reports that the last voter, it was actually 4:00 a.m. Eastern time, at Kenyan College.
COSTELLO: Ooh, I understand. Got you.
So really the votes were still coming in well after the polls closed down.
UDOJI: Ooh, absolutely. I think there were several counties that the lines, the number of people that were in line when the polls closed at 7:30 were just extensive. So it took them several hours to get those voters to cast their ballots.
COSTELLO: What was the issue in Ohio that may put President Bush over the top?
UDOJI: Well, when you take a look at what some of the polls said early on, or at least in the past week or so, is that those folks that were most concerned about the war in Iraq and the war on terror were supporting President Bush. And those who were most concerned about economic issues, about prescription drugs, that they were more likely to support Senator Kerry. And at the end of the day, though, the polls consistently showed the two candidates in a dead heat. And certainly there will be a lot of talk in the coming days as to what specifically put President Bush over the top, if, indeed, he does win the State of Ohio and its 20 electoral votes.
COSTELLO: Adaora Udoji live in Canton, Ohio, in Stark County.
Thank you.
Florida was the big story in the last presidential election, but not this time around. Here are the latest results from the Sunshine State.
President Bush wins with 52 percent of the vote. Senator Kerry wins with 47 percent of the vote. And I believe there are 300,000 votes separating the two candidates. So Bush actually won handily when you compare it to the election of 2000, when he won the entire election -- or, rather, 537 votes separated the two candidates then.
This year it seems like Florida may have avoided the pitfalls of 2000.
CNN's Gary Tuchman is in West Palm Beach.
What a surprise. Nothing happened. Nothing.
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Nothing happened, Carol, although a lot of people turned out. You know, we know at this point, obviously, that Ohio is the whole enchilada. It doesn't even matter -- as nice as the people are in Iowa and New Mexico, they're electorally irrelevant right now because if George W. Bush wins Ohio, he's the president of the United States. And if John Kerry somehow wins Ohio, he'd be the president of the United States.
But Ohio would be irrelevant if John Kerry would have won the State of Florida.
It appears at this point that Florida has been very unkind to two Democrats in a row. The fact is, mathematically, John Kerry would have 279 electoral votes if he won the State of Florida, which he did think he would win.
Now, yesterday the polls, the voters went in huge numbers and the Democrats thought that was a very good sign for them. It turns out that John Kerry got 547,000 more votes in 2004 than Al Gore got in Florida in the year 2000. Ordinarily, Democrat strategists would think that's a good sign. However, George W. Bush also got more votes, 923,000 more votes.
So everyone was talking about how a high turnout, and, indeed, it was a high turnout, 1.5 million more Floridians cast votes in 2004 than 2000, they thought it would benefit the Democrats, most strategists. It did not. It ended up benefiting George W. Bush more.
COSTELLO: And you know something...
TUCHMAN: George W. Bush did...
COSTELLO: Go ahead.
TUCHMAN: Go ahead, Carol.
COSTELLO: Go ahead, Gary.
TUCHMAN: Go ahead.
COSTELLO: No, I was just going to say that...
TUCHMAN: I just want...
COSTELLO: Go ahead. Say the rest of your thing.
TUCHMAN: OK. It's like a dance. I'm stepping on your toes, Carol. But I will tell you that George W. Bush did very well on the I-4 corridor. That was considered key. That's the area of the state from Tampa to Orlando to Daytona Beach. That's Interstate 4. He did very well there. He had to do well, John Kerry, in south Florida.
Here in Palm Beach County, for example, Al Gore got 268,000 votes. Kerry got 7,000 more votes than Al Gore did. But Bush also got a lot more, 22,000 more votes. So, in other words, Bush closed the gap here in south Florida.
COSTELLO: OK, I was going to say in the "Tampa Tribune" this morning, they said that the three issues that mattered to voters in the State of Florida, one, terrorism; two, morals and values; and, three, Iraq.
Values has seemed to play a big role in this year's election.
TUCHMAN: I found when we were at the polls yesterday, and we spent the whole day at the polls, that a lot of voters who I would have typically thought would fit the Democratic profile, when we talked to them afterwards. Some of them said I voted for George W. Bush because I didn't want to jump off the Bush horse while we are fighting this war against terrorism.
COSTELLO: Interesting. Very interesting.
Did the moral issues like the issue of gay marriage, for example, did that play into voters' minds this election?
TUCHMAN: Well, we can tell you, the very first voter who cast his ballot in the precinct we were at yesterday at Firehouse Number 33 in the City of West Palm Beach, which is a heavily Democratic area -- the very first voter, we asked him who'd you vote for and he said I voted for George W. Bush. And I said why? And he said because of morality. That's what he said it was.
COSTELLO: Interesting.
Gary Tuchman live in West Palm Beach, Florida this morning.
Thank you.
Kerry won Pennsylvania's 21 electoral votes, but not without controversy. In Allegheny County, a lawyer for the Kerry campaign said at least a dozen precincts ran out of provisional ballots and Republicans have now filed a lawsuit to challenge absentee ballots. Some people in at least seven counties were voting beyond the official poll closing time. Heavy voting and some faulty voting machines forced the polls to stay open late.
So, what will the stand-off in the presidential election do to the financial markets today? We'll get you a little "Business Buzz" next.
And the balance of power -- regardless of who's elected president, what will the changes on the Hill do to the political process? We'll get you that in about six minutes.
You are watching DAYBREAK.
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COSTELLO: The election, of course, isn't over yet. With Ohio still in play, the race between President Bush and Senator Kerry will not be resolved for at least another day. But unlike 2000, President Bush is ahead in the popular vote count.
In Colorado, voters had the chance to decide whether to split their electoral votes, but the ballot measure failed by a nearly two to one margin. That means all nine of the state's electoral votes went to President Bush. Maine and Nebraska remain the only states that split their electoral votes.
California voters decided not to change the state's three strikes law. The proposal would have changed the scope of the law to only include violent crimes in the mandatory sentencing. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger opposed the change to the law. He said as many as 26,000 dangerous criminals would be released.
The balance of power in the Senate is apparently shifting to the right. Take a look at the board here. Republicans are picking up as many as four Senate seats. That will give them 55 seats to 44 for the Democrats. Going into this election, the balance of power was 51 Republicans to 48 Democrats and one Independent. The Democrats suffered one of their biggest blows in South Dakota. The highest ranking Senate Democrat, Tom Daschle, lost his seat to Republican John Thune. Thune claimed victory just about two hours ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN THUNE, (R-SD), SENATOR-ELECT: It would be nice just once to have an election settled before 4:00 a.m. in the morning. But I have to tell you, I've been on the other end of this equation and if I have to wait until 4:00 a.m. in the morning, I'd much rather be on this end.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: In Georgia, Republican Johnny Isakson defeated Democrat Denise Majette for the Senate seat being vacated by Democratic Senator Zell Miller. Of course, as you know, Miller crossed the aisle frequently to support President Bush.
And in Kentucky, Republican Senator Jim Bunning has won his second term in a surprisingly close race against Democratic State Senator Don Mangiardo. The margin there was just 51 percent to 49 percent in a race once considered safe for the GOP.
So let's talk about what happens now and the election fallout.
Chuck Todd, editor of the "National Journal's" "The Hotline," joins us live from Washington.
Good morning.
CHUCK TODD, EDITOR, "THE HOTLINE": Good morning.
COSTELLO: I want to put up a map of the entire United States showing the red states and the blue. Take a look at this, viewers. You're going to see it in just -- there it is.
TODD: There it is.
COSTELLO: Look at all of those red states for President Bush.
What does that say to you, Chuck?
TODD: It's a sea of red. It says that Democrats have some serious cultural provisional ballots. They have lost the culture war. They're on the losing side of this. They have to make some huge inroads in the South. They are not doing well with rural and sort of ex-urban voters. One way, you know, one pop culture way to talk about this is they don't do well in towns that have Wal-Marts but don't have Starbucks.
COSTELLO: That's just...
TODD: And it's a serious problem the Democrats have. They are not going to be a governing party for a long time, until they solve this problem.
COSTELLO: Is it because the Democrats are picking the wrong candidates or is it just issues here? TODD: No, I think they're going to -- I don't think it's the candidates. And I think a lot of people are going to try to dump on John Kerry just the same way people maybe overly dumped on Al Gore. This isn't about candidates. This is about -- some of it's tactics, I'll be honest with you. You know, the Bush campaign spent a lot of money on cable and radio. The Democrats, between John Kerry and these 527 Groups, didn't spend as much on cable and radio. It was the one place that the Bush campaign outspent the Democrats. And it's cable and radio is how you reach out to -- it's how you touch rural voters.
You know, a lot of people say well, John Kerry, he's just out of touch with rural voters. No. He just didn't touch these folks. He didn't go to these smaller markets. It was a strategic mistake in that respect.
COSTELLO: And you would think traditionally the Democratic Party would be for the common man. So it's...
TODD: No, it's something they have completely -- when you think about where the Democratic Party was 30 and 40 years ago, and even 15 and 20 years ago and where they are now, or at least perception wise where they are now, it's a -- they're a long way from what they used to be.
COSTELLO: Let's talk about the biggest blow, perhaps, for the Democrats besides if John Kerry, of course, loses the presidential election. It was Tom Daschle losing in South Dakota to John Thune.
TODD: Hey, you know, that was a -- it was a big loss. In some ways not, I mean, look, South Dakota is a very red state. It always has been. This is a presidential election year. This was, hey, this was a big feat for Tom Daschle if he could have won reelection. I mean I don't, John Thune barely lost in 2002 when they, when Democrats sort of were able to control the turnout situation in South Dakota. Much tougher, much bigger time...
COSTELLO: Yes, but Tom Daschle has been around forever.
TODD: Well, and that is the problem a lot of times. You see these senators, you know, he -- you know, the campaign against him was more is he too Washington, D.C. now? Is he more of a -- they ran an ad, for instance, the Thune campaign ran an ad, they got a recording of Daschle saying I'm a D.C. resident. Where they got the recording, I don't know, but it's a video of him saying that. And they played it over and over. And guess what? That didn't play well in South Dakota. No shock there, I'm sure, to you, Carol.
COSTELLO: No. No doubt that didn't play well.
Let's talk about the race in Georgia, because Johnny Isakson won and, of course, he replaces Zell Miller, a Democrat who's retiring.
TODD: Yes, a lot of people will say that Johnny Isakson will actually be more to the left of Zell Miller. Isakson known, long known to be a very moderate Republican from Georgia, only he sort of moved to the right a little bit in order to win his primary. But a lot of people think he'll actually be a rising star pretty quickly in the Senate. But the bigger story is not just Georgia. It's the fact that there were five white Democratic male senators who retired and all five seats went to Republicans.
COSTELLO: Interesting.
Chuck Todd from the "National Journal."
You do the online "Hotline."
Thank you for joining DAYBREAK this morning.
TODD: You've got it, Carol.
COSTELLO: Four years ago, Florida and hanging chads were in the election spotlight. This year it's provisional votes. Coming up, we'll talk with CNN election analyst Ken Gross about the legal hoops this election just may be going through.
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Aired November 3, 2004 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: If you're just waking up, the answer is no. No winner yet. The race for the White House still undecided at this hour.
It is Wednesday, November 3.
This is DAYBREAK.
And good morning to you.
From the CNN Global Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Costello.
Here's a look at the election headlines for you. The race for the White House just may come down to Ohio and it's absentee and provisional ballots. A provisional ballot is one by a voter who showed up to vote but wasn't registered at the time. The state has 11 days to count those ballots. Twenty electoral votes are at stake. Right now, George Bush has a whisper of a lead in the electoral vote.
Some voting provisional ballots in Iowa, too, broken machines and absentee ballots delay -- absentee ballots, I should say, slow things down. Election officials say we won't know until later today who has won that state's seven electoral votes.
And another election result, this one overseas. Hamid Karzai can now celebrate his victory in Afghanistan. Investigators concluded a probe into possible voting fraud and determined that none of the problems were big enough to overturn President Karzai's election. His main challenger still has not conceded.
All right, let's get some numbers for you.
As you can see, President Bush right now has 51 percent of the vote. Senator John Kerry has 48 percent. If you're talking about electoral votes, we have it. President Bush has 254 electoral votes. John Kerry has 252. We think President Bush is ahead by some 3.7 million votes. That's in the popular vote. Andy Card just came out and said the president actually has 286 electoral votes and is ahead in the popular vote by three and a half million. And we're going to talk about that right now, because it has been a long night for everyone watching the election results. President Bush no exception.
Let's get right to Washington now and CNN's senior White House correspondent John King with more of what Andy Card had to say -- good morning.
JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol. No official winner, but the White House is certainly saying it is confident of victory. And, in fact, we are told in just a few hours here at the White House, the president himself will deliver a public statement saying he believes he has won the election and won the right to live in this house for four more years.
One aide said a while ago Mr. Bush was going to bed, but another aide told me just a few minutes ago they're not quite sure he's tucked himself in yet. It was a long night here at the White House. At one point, the president himself was supposed to go to the Ronald Reagan Building and address supporters. In the end, because there are still some outstanding questions, they decided to send the chief of staff, Andy Card. But Andy Card told the Republicans gathered that they believe at the end of this day the president will have more than 280 electoral votes, well in excess of the 270 needed for victory. And while the Kerry campaign is saying it still has some questions about the outcome in Ohio, Chief of Staff Andy Card says there's no doubt here at the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDREW CARD, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: In Ohio, President Bush has a lead of at least 140,000 votes. The secretary of state's office has informed us that this margin is statistically insurmountable, even after the provisional ballots are considered.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Now the White House again saying that President Bush himself will deliver a statement later today. By trying to create the impression and asserting that the president has an insurmountable lead in Ohio, the White House clearly trying to put pressure on Senator Kerry to wake up this morning, look at the numbers and decide that lead is, indeed, insurmountable.
The Democrats and the Kerry campaign say they will take their time, thank you, and study the numbers quite closely. They also say some other states still in play, New Mexico and Iowa.
The White House, though, Carol, saying it is quite confident it'll win New Mexico, fairly confident it will win Iowa, as well. Again, look for a statement from the president later today, the White House trying to get this election done and over with and settled by the end of today, not wanting a long post-election period, if you will, to determine the winner, like we had four years ago. And what they're most happy about here at the White House is that majority, 51 percent now in the popular vote count for this president. The last president to get a majority was this president's father way back in 1988 -- Carol.
COSTELLO: You know, the Republicans have got to be happy because they won all the way around. And if you look at the map and the number of electoral votes that President Bush took, it's amazing.
KING: Well, they picked up seats in the House. They picked up seats in the Senate. The president, if the White House math is right, will get somewhere in the area of 285, 286 electoral votes. Senator Kerry competing very well, as well. He has -- he's very close to the president right now with these final states to be decided.
But the White House will view this as a clear mandate if these numbers hold. We must be clear -- the White House is claiming victory. We have not called these states yet. There are still issues to be resolved in Ohio, in New Mexico and in Iowa, principally.
But if these numbers hold, certainly this is a president who will say that in the middle of war that is controversial in the country, at a time the economy is still quite sluggish, he won a big majority, a big 3 percentage point victory in the popular vote and he won an electoral college majority, picked up seats in the Congress. This president will claim a mandate, make no mistake about it.
COSTELLO: John King live from Washington.
And just to reiterate, New Mexico, Iowa, Ohio too close to call right now. In fact, in Iowa, they had problems with some voting machines and they all went home to get some sleep. They won't make a decision until tomorrow.
New Mexico still counting. Ohio too close to call, with its 20 electoral votes.
Of course, the Kerry camp, as you heard John say, is not throwing in the towel despite President Bush's apparent lead in Ohio. Kerry dispatched his running mate, Senator John Edwards, to deliver a message of hope to a partisan crowd in Boston.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's been a long night, but we've waited four years for this victory. We can wait one more night. Tonight, John and I are so proud of all of you who are here with us and all of you across the country who have stood with us in this campaign. John Kerry and I have made a promise to the American people that in this election, every vote would count and every vote would be counted.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: CNN's Kelly Wallace is covering the Kerry campaign.
She joins us live from Boston now -- Kelly, are they really that confident?
KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, I mean what a night it has been for this campaign. What a change, really, because early in the day, you had a sense that the Kerry campaign advisers were confident, feeling very confident. They were looking at the exit polling that news organizations like ours were seeing, as well, not reporting it, but definitely looking at it and showing that Senator Kerry looked like he had a commanding lead in many of the key battleground states. You had Joe Lockhart, the chief spokesman for Senator Kerry, saying he was encouraged in the middle of the day, and then late in the day the mood really, really changed.
Here's what their deal is. They are talking to their lawyers, they're looking at options. We're trying to get some reaction to White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card's comments. We don't have them just yet. The word we got after John Edwards came out on stage and then shortly after that, about 3:30 in the morning, the campaign basically saying you're not going to hear anything from us, don't expect anything until 10:00 this morning.
So what you had, though, is you had Mary Beth Cahill, the Kerry campaign manager, issuing a statement even before Senator Edwards came out. And they clearly believe Ohio is an issue, Cahill saying, "There are more than 250,000 remaining votes to be counted. We believe when they are, John Kerry will win Ohio.
So clearly, Carol, they are looking at options, watching the numbers. And we're just waiting to hear what their strategy will be this morning.
COSTELLO: And, you know, I heard you say they have lawyers standing by.
What could that mean?
WALLACE: Well, both sides certainly, Carol, we knew going into last night had lawyers at the ready. They had planes at the ready to take off and to go to any state in question. Clearly right now, this campaign looking at Ohio. As you and John were just talking about, though, the closeness and questions in New Mexico and Iowa could also be an issue.
But then it does come down to the numbers game, also. If during this day it does look like, based on the number of provisional ballots, that the numbers are against Senator Kerry, it remains to be seen if this campaign will continue to push or if Senator Kerry will look at the numbers and decide this election is not going his way. We can't underestimate the disappointment that this campaign is feeling. It really felt based on the number of identified voters out there, turnout, it felt like this was going to go Senator Kerry's way and if it doesn't in the end, there'll be a lot of questions about what happened and why they were not successful.
COSTELLO: Well, you know, Kelly, we all remember the bitter end to the 2000 election. I mean does there come a point in time, from the Kerry campaign, that they just call it a day and don't prolong the process for the good of the country?
WALLACE: Sure. But there is some criticism -- there were criticisms of Al Gore back in 2000, some believing that he conceded or went off to concede a little bit too early. And so now you have, four years later, you have a Democratic Party angry and still reeling over 2000, the 2000 election, very much wanting to make sure, as you hear Senator Edwards say, as we have heard Senator Kerry say on the stump, that every vote is counted.
So this campaign wants to make sure that every vote is counted, that it looks at these states and makes sure that there is not a victory there for Senator Kerry. Obviously, it comes to a point where it has to look at the numbers and there is that issue, too, Carol, of President Bush winning by more than 3.5 million votes in the popular vote, whether that plays a role in Senator Kerry's decision and his team. We just don't know the answer to that yet.
COSTELLO: Kelly Wallace reporting live from Boston.
Thank you.
Sometimes it seems like we've all become experts on the electoral college over the past four years.
But let's talk to a real expert right now.
John Fortier is a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and the editor of "After the People Vote: A Guide To the Electoral College."
Good morning.
JOHN FORTIER, AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE: Good morning.
COSTELLO: So is Ohio going to be another Florida?
FORTIER: I don't think so. We see a pretty wide margin in Ohio. We'll have to see how it shakes out. But you have to realize that 2000 election was a set of circumstances that all came together to create that 36 day storm. We were separated by less than a couple thousand votes going into the 36 day recount. Here we're looking at over 100,000. I think it's going to resolve itself probably today, or at least in the next couple of days.
COSTELLO: So the provisional ballots, how might they affect things? You say it's going to be resolved in a day or two, but Ohio has 11 days to count those ballots.
FORTIER: We really don't know how many there are. And I think John Kerry is going to have to take a look and see does he have a realistic chance of winning. If he doesn't, he'll concede. If it really looks like he's got a chance, well then maybe we do start moving toward a Florida scenario.
My guess is we probably don't.
COSTELLO: There was a lot of talk about the electoral college in the days leading up to this election, actually, in the months leading up to it. Colorado, for example, had an issue on the ballot. They wanted to change the way the vote worked in that state. That went down to defeat.
Is that a good thing? FORTIER: I think it probably is. One, they were doing it in a retroactive way on the same ballot as they were voting for president. That was somewhat problematic. Also, I don't think it's in the interests of Colorado to split their votes. They become somewhat less important in a presidential election. Instead of having nine electoral votes, they essentially have a five-four split each time. I don't think you're going to see that movement spread to other states.
COSTELLO: Is this still the best way to vote, the electoral college? Is it the best way?
FORTIER: Well, I do think that it's generally an effective system. We had, in 2000, the popular vote go the opposite way of the electoral college vote. It doesn't look like we will have that today. It had been 1888 for that to happen beforehand.
So it's really only in the very, very closest of elections, and any sort of electoral system in essentially a tie scenario, is going to be under stress and have its own problems.
COSTELLO: You know, everybody was talking about whether there would be a tie, like 269-269. That obviously didn't happen. But are you glad? I'm sure the whole country is glad, because that would really prolong things and make things rather complicated.
FORTIER: Right. It would have been good for my book, but bad for the country, I think. So I'm rooting for the country and I'm glad we're likely to have a decisive result.
COSTELLO: All right, John Fortier joining us live from Washington this morning.
Thank you.
Let's continue to look at how Ohio stands this morning.
Here are the latest results for you. And this is how close it is right now -- 51 percent of the vote goes to President Bush, 49 percent goes to Senator John Kerry. But keep in mind there are all of those provisional ballots out there, all of those ballots coming in from overseas and we do not know how many there are. There could be anywhere between 75,000 and 270,000 ballots uncounted. They just won't know until everything comes in. As I said, they have 11 days to count them. The absentee ballots, though, have been counted, so I guess that is a good thing.
Karl Rove says that -- I'm sorry, Andy Card says that President Bush, though, has won the electoral votes in Ohio and his lead in Ohio now stands at about, oh, 120,000 to 130,000 votes.
Ohio officials say they don't just want a result, though, they want a result that is right.
Let's listen to what officials there have to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KENNETH BLACKWELL (R), OHIO SECRETARY OF STATE: What we're going to give you is a solid tabulation when we give it to you. If it takes two hours, two days to two weeks, the result that we give you will be a good result that the voters of the State of Ohio can have confidence in.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And for more on the goings on in Ohio we're joined again by CNN's Adaora Udoji.
She's in Canton, Ohio, in Stark County -- Adaora, what do voters think about the situation in Ohio right now, that it came down to them?
ADAORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
And, in fact, we actually spoke to about half a dozen folks this morning and they kept saying we knew it, we knew it, that's why we had to get to the polls today. And I think it was clear even as we stood outside one of the polling stations yesterday where the lines were just a steady flow of people and some of the poll workers telling us that they had just never seen so many voters coming through their doors, there is this general sense, or there has been from the folks that we've spoken to, that Ohio was going to be very important. And that's why they needed to make sure that their vote was going to be counted.
COSTELLO: What was the voter turnout like there?
UDOJI: Well, there were lots of estimates to begin with. I mean Governor Taft yesterday was saying that he thought there would be record-breaking voter turnout, somewhere north of 70 percent. And at this point, it's looking like there was roughly 700,000 more voters this go around than there was in 2000. But again, as you noted a few minutes ago, some of these votes are still coming in. You have all of these provisionals to still count and we also have, in Ohio, or at least the secretary of state also has to count those overseas ballots.
COSTELLO: Definitely. And we also heard that some of the polling places were still open as of 2:30 a.m. Eastern time because the lines were so long. In fact, one young man said he waited -- this is at Kenyan College -- said he waited in line from 4:30 in the afternoon and he finally got to vote at 2:30 a.m. That's just crazy.
UDOJI: Well, actually, Carol, what's interesting there is I think there were some reports that the last voter, it was actually 4:00 a.m. Eastern time, at Kenyan College.
COSTELLO: Ooh, I understand. Got you.
So really the votes were still coming in well after the polls closed down.
UDOJI: Ooh, absolutely. I think there were several counties that the lines, the number of people that were in line when the polls closed at 7:30 were just extensive. So it took them several hours to get those voters to cast their ballots.
COSTELLO: What was the issue in Ohio that may put President Bush over the top?
UDOJI: Well, when you take a look at what some of the polls said early on, or at least in the past week or so, is that those folks that were most concerned about the war in Iraq and the war on terror were supporting President Bush. And those who were most concerned about economic issues, about prescription drugs, that they were more likely to support Senator Kerry. And at the end of the day, though, the polls consistently showed the two candidates in a dead heat. And certainly there will be a lot of talk in the coming days as to what specifically put President Bush over the top, if, indeed, he does win the State of Ohio and its 20 electoral votes.
COSTELLO: Adaora Udoji live in Canton, Ohio, in Stark County.
Thank you.
Florida was the big story in the last presidential election, but not this time around. Here are the latest results from the Sunshine State.
President Bush wins with 52 percent of the vote. Senator Kerry wins with 47 percent of the vote. And I believe there are 300,000 votes separating the two candidates. So Bush actually won handily when you compare it to the election of 2000, when he won the entire election -- or, rather, 537 votes separated the two candidates then.
This year it seems like Florida may have avoided the pitfalls of 2000.
CNN's Gary Tuchman is in West Palm Beach.
What a surprise. Nothing happened. Nothing.
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Nothing happened, Carol, although a lot of people turned out. You know, we know at this point, obviously, that Ohio is the whole enchilada. It doesn't even matter -- as nice as the people are in Iowa and New Mexico, they're electorally irrelevant right now because if George W. Bush wins Ohio, he's the president of the United States. And if John Kerry somehow wins Ohio, he'd be the president of the United States.
But Ohio would be irrelevant if John Kerry would have won the State of Florida.
It appears at this point that Florida has been very unkind to two Democrats in a row. The fact is, mathematically, John Kerry would have 279 electoral votes if he won the State of Florida, which he did think he would win.
Now, yesterday the polls, the voters went in huge numbers and the Democrats thought that was a very good sign for them. It turns out that John Kerry got 547,000 more votes in 2004 than Al Gore got in Florida in the year 2000. Ordinarily, Democrat strategists would think that's a good sign. However, George W. Bush also got more votes, 923,000 more votes.
So everyone was talking about how a high turnout, and, indeed, it was a high turnout, 1.5 million more Floridians cast votes in 2004 than 2000, they thought it would benefit the Democrats, most strategists. It did not. It ended up benefiting George W. Bush more.
COSTELLO: And you know something...
TUCHMAN: George W. Bush did...
COSTELLO: Go ahead.
TUCHMAN: Go ahead, Carol.
COSTELLO: Go ahead, Gary.
TUCHMAN: Go ahead.
COSTELLO: No, I was just going to say that...
TUCHMAN: I just want...
COSTELLO: Go ahead. Say the rest of your thing.
TUCHMAN: OK. It's like a dance. I'm stepping on your toes, Carol. But I will tell you that George W. Bush did very well on the I-4 corridor. That was considered key. That's the area of the state from Tampa to Orlando to Daytona Beach. That's Interstate 4. He did very well there. He had to do well, John Kerry, in south Florida.
Here in Palm Beach County, for example, Al Gore got 268,000 votes. Kerry got 7,000 more votes than Al Gore did. But Bush also got a lot more, 22,000 more votes. So, in other words, Bush closed the gap here in south Florida.
COSTELLO: OK, I was going to say in the "Tampa Tribune" this morning, they said that the three issues that mattered to voters in the State of Florida, one, terrorism; two, morals and values; and, three, Iraq.
Values has seemed to play a big role in this year's election.
TUCHMAN: I found when we were at the polls yesterday, and we spent the whole day at the polls, that a lot of voters who I would have typically thought would fit the Democratic profile, when we talked to them afterwards. Some of them said I voted for George W. Bush because I didn't want to jump off the Bush horse while we are fighting this war against terrorism.
COSTELLO: Interesting. Very interesting.
Did the moral issues like the issue of gay marriage, for example, did that play into voters' minds this election?
TUCHMAN: Well, we can tell you, the very first voter who cast his ballot in the precinct we were at yesterday at Firehouse Number 33 in the City of West Palm Beach, which is a heavily Democratic area -- the very first voter, we asked him who'd you vote for and he said I voted for George W. Bush. And I said why? And he said because of morality. That's what he said it was.
COSTELLO: Interesting.
Gary Tuchman live in West Palm Beach, Florida this morning.
Thank you.
Kerry won Pennsylvania's 21 electoral votes, but not without controversy. In Allegheny County, a lawyer for the Kerry campaign said at least a dozen precincts ran out of provisional ballots and Republicans have now filed a lawsuit to challenge absentee ballots. Some people in at least seven counties were voting beyond the official poll closing time. Heavy voting and some faulty voting machines forced the polls to stay open late.
So, what will the stand-off in the presidential election do to the financial markets today? We'll get you a little "Business Buzz" next.
And the balance of power -- regardless of who's elected president, what will the changes on the Hill do to the political process? We'll get you that in about six minutes.
You are watching DAYBREAK.
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COSTELLO: The election, of course, isn't over yet. With Ohio still in play, the race between President Bush and Senator Kerry will not be resolved for at least another day. But unlike 2000, President Bush is ahead in the popular vote count.
In Colorado, voters had the chance to decide whether to split their electoral votes, but the ballot measure failed by a nearly two to one margin. That means all nine of the state's electoral votes went to President Bush. Maine and Nebraska remain the only states that split their electoral votes.
California voters decided not to change the state's three strikes law. The proposal would have changed the scope of the law to only include violent crimes in the mandatory sentencing. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger opposed the change to the law. He said as many as 26,000 dangerous criminals would be released.
The balance of power in the Senate is apparently shifting to the right. Take a look at the board here. Republicans are picking up as many as four Senate seats. That will give them 55 seats to 44 for the Democrats. Going into this election, the balance of power was 51 Republicans to 48 Democrats and one Independent. The Democrats suffered one of their biggest blows in South Dakota. The highest ranking Senate Democrat, Tom Daschle, lost his seat to Republican John Thune. Thune claimed victory just about two hours ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN THUNE, (R-SD), SENATOR-ELECT: It would be nice just once to have an election settled before 4:00 a.m. in the morning. But I have to tell you, I've been on the other end of this equation and if I have to wait until 4:00 a.m. in the morning, I'd much rather be on this end.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: In Georgia, Republican Johnny Isakson defeated Democrat Denise Majette for the Senate seat being vacated by Democratic Senator Zell Miller. Of course, as you know, Miller crossed the aisle frequently to support President Bush.
And in Kentucky, Republican Senator Jim Bunning has won his second term in a surprisingly close race against Democratic State Senator Don Mangiardo. The margin there was just 51 percent to 49 percent in a race once considered safe for the GOP.
So let's talk about what happens now and the election fallout.
Chuck Todd, editor of the "National Journal's" "The Hotline," joins us live from Washington.
Good morning.
CHUCK TODD, EDITOR, "THE HOTLINE": Good morning.
COSTELLO: I want to put up a map of the entire United States showing the red states and the blue. Take a look at this, viewers. You're going to see it in just -- there it is.
TODD: There it is.
COSTELLO: Look at all of those red states for President Bush.
What does that say to you, Chuck?
TODD: It's a sea of red. It says that Democrats have some serious cultural provisional ballots. They have lost the culture war. They're on the losing side of this. They have to make some huge inroads in the South. They are not doing well with rural and sort of ex-urban voters. One way, you know, one pop culture way to talk about this is they don't do well in towns that have Wal-Marts but don't have Starbucks.
COSTELLO: That's just...
TODD: And it's a serious problem the Democrats have. They are not going to be a governing party for a long time, until they solve this problem.
COSTELLO: Is it because the Democrats are picking the wrong candidates or is it just issues here? TODD: No, I think they're going to -- I don't think it's the candidates. And I think a lot of people are going to try to dump on John Kerry just the same way people maybe overly dumped on Al Gore. This isn't about candidates. This is about -- some of it's tactics, I'll be honest with you. You know, the Bush campaign spent a lot of money on cable and radio. The Democrats, between John Kerry and these 527 Groups, didn't spend as much on cable and radio. It was the one place that the Bush campaign outspent the Democrats. And it's cable and radio is how you reach out to -- it's how you touch rural voters.
You know, a lot of people say well, John Kerry, he's just out of touch with rural voters. No. He just didn't touch these folks. He didn't go to these smaller markets. It was a strategic mistake in that respect.
COSTELLO: And you would think traditionally the Democratic Party would be for the common man. So it's...
TODD: No, it's something they have completely -- when you think about where the Democratic Party was 30 and 40 years ago, and even 15 and 20 years ago and where they are now, or at least perception wise where they are now, it's a -- they're a long way from what they used to be.
COSTELLO: Let's talk about the biggest blow, perhaps, for the Democrats besides if John Kerry, of course, loses the presidential election. It was Tom Daschle losing in South Dakota to John Thune.
TODD: Hey, you know, that was a -- it was a big loss. In some ways not, I mean, look, South Dakota is a very red state. It always has been. This is a presidential election year. This was, hey, this was a big feat for Tom Daschle if he could have won reelection. I mean I don't, John Thune barely lost in 2002 when they, when Democrats sort of were able to control the turnout situation in South Dakota. Much tougher, much bigger time...
COSTELLO: Yes, but Tom Daschle has been around forever.
TODD: Well, and that is the problem a lot of times. You see these senators, you know, he -- you know, the campaign against him was more is he too Washington, D.C. now? Is he more of a -- they ran an ad, for instance, the Thune campaign ran an ad, they got a recording of Daschle saying I'm a D.C. resident. Where they got the recording, I don't know, but it's a video of him saying that. And they played it over and over. And guess what? That didn't play well in South Dakota. No shock there, I'm sure, to you, Carol.
COSTELLO: No. No doubt that didn't play well.
Let's talk about the race in Georgia, because Johnny Isakson won and, of course, he replaces Zell Miller, a Democrat who's retiring.
TODD: Yes, a lot of people will say that Johnny Isakson will actually be more to the left of Zell Miller. Isakson known, long known to be a very moderate Republican from Georgia, only he sort of moved to the right a little bit in order to win his primary. But a lot of people think he'll actually be a rising star pretty quickly in the Senate. But the bigger story is not just Georgia. It's the fact that there were five white Democratic male senators who retired and all five seats went to Republicans.
COSTELLO: Interesting.
Chuck Todd from the "National Journal."
You do the online "Hotline."
Thank you for joining DAYBREAK this morning.
TODD: You've got it, Carol.
COSTELLO: Four years ago, Florida and hanging chads were in the election spotlight. This year it's provisional votes. Coming up, we'll talk with CNN election analyst Ken Gross about the legal hoops this election just may be going through.
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