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Election Day Excitement Sweeping the Nation; The Battlegrounds; Interview With Terrence J.
Aired November 04, 2008 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Election Day excitement sweeping the nation. All polls now open. Many voters waiting in line to cast their ballots, and as the nation votes, so do the candidates.
Republican John McCain and his wife Cindy voting just last hour in Phoenix, Arizona. They leave later this hour for a rally in Colorado.
Earlier, we saw Barack Obama and his wife Michelle, along with daughters Malia and Sasha, making it a family affair at a polling station near their Chicago home. Obama's got a rally in Indiana minutes from now. And we will, of course, bring that to you live.
And don't forget -- don't forget if you have trouble voting, let us know so we can report the problems immediately. Call the CNN voter hotline. Here's the number: 1-877-462-6608.
The best political team on television is all over the map this Election Day, and we have correspondents coast to coast in the make- or-break battleground states.
Coming to you live this hour, our Dan Lothian in Virginia; Sean Callebs in Florida; and CNN's Susan Candiotti in Ohio.
Lyndon Johnson, 1964, the last time Virginia voted a Democrat president.
CNN's Dan Lothian in the capital, Richmond.
And Dan, I understand there have been a few, just a few, hiccups, in Virginia so far.
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Really, you can call them hiccups.
We had one report, and it was confirmed by the state board of elections, that five of seven voting machines at a polling place about eight miles or so away from here broke, and so they had to shift over to the paper ballots. But we're told that they were able to get in some additional machines, and so that situation seems to be alleviated there.
Also, the board of elections telling us that of the more than 2,300 precincts that they have across the state, there were three that did not open on time. They said two of those were because of human error.
Now, we are at this polling place, about eight miles or so north of downtown Richmond. You see a few voters coming out here. It's amazing how a few hours' difference -- what can happen over a few hours.
Earlier this morning, when we were out here, the line was snaking out of this door, went all the way down the parking lot, and went around the corner. More than 100 people lined up here to vote this morning, but they all were in good spirits.
In addition to the long lines, Tony, we had rain. And it was pretty hard at times. These folks weren't going anywhere. In fact, they were handing out these plastic garbage bags for folks who didn't have umbrellas so they could stay dry, and also handing out bottled water for those who were waiting in line.
Now, the state board of elections telling us that they're encouraged by the number of voters who voted absentee. Ten percent of the more than five million registered voters voted absentee. That's about a half-million or so absentee ballots processed.
And what they said is that they were hoping that because so many people did vote early, it would alleviate some of the tensions, some of the problems that they might have on Election Day. It certainly seems like that's helping a bit. We've had the long lines, but right now everything is running smoothly -- Tony.
HARRIS: Boy, it really is. All right, Dan. We'll talk to you in just a couple of minutes.
Florida, the swing state with the most electoral votes, 27 up for grabs.
Our Sean Callebs in the state capital, Tallahassee -- Sean.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Tony.
We've been in the state about three weeks following things. We've all seen those long lines of early voters. Well, want to step out of the way.
Look at the Leon County Courthouse. No line here. Just some people kind of documenting things.
You know what? There is so much interest in this race. Want to give you some numbers on early voting. They're staggering, really.
4.4 million people, according to the secretary of state's office, have already voted early. Considering there are 11.2 million registered voters in the states, it gives you an idea on just how much people went to have their voices heard, they want to have it done early. They want to void any kind of problems.
Look, if there are problems, want to take you right across the street, the state capitol here. The secretary of state's office is there. They are on hand, they're monitoring everything.
We heard Dan talk about some problems at a handful of precincts where he is. We had two out of more than 6,200 precincts here open late.
One, they actually changed the locks. So when they went to open up the door, the keys wouldn't work. So they had to get somebody else to come and get those doors open.
Then in Palm Beach, one poll worker was inside doing some paperwork. That worker was supposed to open the polls. So there were some lines of people out front who had to wait just a little bit.
(VIDEO GAP) "The Orlando Sentinel." They did a really thoughtful, thought-provoking article on exactly who voted early.
Now, this is the I-4 corridor, which really could be a very, very key area in how this state votes, how it swings later on today. "The Sentinel" did an article, it pointed out that, look, 13 percent of the state is African-American, but blacks made up about 22 percent of the early votes.
So really, a staggering number. Tremendous amount of interest. Just one more reason to watch this key swing state. Right, Tony?
HARRIS: Absolutely. Sure will.
Sean Callebs for us in Tallahassee, Florida.
Sean, appreciate it. Thank you.
You know, a whopping 80 percent voter turnout possible in Ohio. Let's see how things are shaping up there in the Buckeye State.
Our Susan Candiotti is in northeast Ohio, in Cleveland.
Susan, good to see you.
If you would, describe the scene at your polling place.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's been steady but light here. The first thing this morning, when the polls opened at 6:30 Eastern Time, the line was out the door and down the sidewalk. But that quickly vanished. Ever since then, even though it looks like there's barely anybody voting behind me, about 130 people so far at this hour, nevertheless, the man in charge of this polling station who has worked here for 15 years says it is the busiest he's seen in 15 years for presidential elections.
Now, I can tell you that about 30 percent of Ohioans in Cuyahoga County here in the Cleveland area took advantage of early voting, where you either came in person to vote at the board of elections or used that absentee ballot. Now, they took a sampling at 10:00 this morning, just a small sampling, and they show that they only had a 15 percent turnout so far this day.
We're not getting any reports of any long lines. Nothing like that. We're hearing about a few minor glitches, including one tiny one here at this polling station. Twenty-five scan machines had a problem. Not here, but throughout the county. Five of the machines had to be swapped out, and they were able to repair the other 20.
We also heard of a problem involving the sample ballot. I'm going to show this to you. It's two pages here in Cuyahoga County, and only four voters at one precinct in Shaker Heights received only the second page, which had only -- this one's upside down -- which had only the state races listed on it, not the presidential races.
Can you imagine? So they had to void out those four ballots, got rid of them, and the four voters were able to vote a complete ballot. So they took care of that issue as well.
So we did talk to some voters to kind of poll their opinions. We saw and were introduced to a 20-year-old mom who brought along her 3-year- old baby, a toddler. And she said it was the first time she ever voted. So excited, said she couldn't sleep all night.
Then you had a 57-year-old man that I spoke with who said that he also voted, and has voted every presidential election. He said, "I'm just glad it's over, because I'm tired of all the TV commercials."
Tony, back to you.
HARRIS: Nice. OK.
Hey, Susan, stand right where you are there.
Let's bring our correspondents back for a quick little round table here.
Dan Lothian, again, in Virginia. Sean Callebs in Florida.
And let's -- here's my first question, and let me start with you, Dan.
There seems to be something of a good news scenario developing here all across the country. Long lines early and then a steady thinning.
I'm wondering where you are in the commonwealth there, Dan, is that the story across Virginia at this point?
LOTHIAN: Well, it really is. I mean, we heard a lot about those long lines all across the state early in the morning, and really, now, which, you know, typically -- I've covered so many elections over the past years. And usually around lunchtime is when you see the crowds materializing again.
We have not seen that yet. A lot of people came early. Part of that perhaps is because people were really eager to get out here to the polls.
And some of the people we were talking to in line, they had been standing there for more than an hour, and it's raining. And they really didn't want to go anywhere, because they were very excited. They were energized by this election, and they wanted to vote early. That was one of the things that election officials were asking people not to do, really. To kind of pace yourself.
HARRIS: Right. Right.
LOTHIAN: You know, not all go during the rush hours. But it really did seem that people wanted to get out early and vote. And it really has calmed down. Not just at this location, but across the state.
HARRIS: And Sean Callebs in Tallahassee, Florida, we're always a little nervous about Florida. But it sounds that even in Florida, at least early in the voting day, no real major problems to report.
CALLEBS: Right. But let's look back a bit, because you have to look at 2000 for the reason things are working so smoothly now.
It was such a fiasco, the state decided, look, let's not put all our eggs in one basket. If we can get early voting, let's let voters have a chance to do that. So really, early voting came out of that.
In 2004, there weren't nearly as many polling precincts open as there are this year. But there are still some little snafus. Some optiscan machines are having some jams, and then signatures on the -- on the screens, some of those are jamming as well.
So, I mean, there are little glitches here and there, but you know what? The secretary of state's office says thing are going great. And compared to 2000, they're dancing in the streets.
HARRIS: Yes. And Sean, is it the same situation there in Florida, where there were early lines and then there's been some thinning throughout the day?
CALLEBS: Yes. Yes, without question. We got here today, and there were probably 40, 50 people lined up who wanted to vote early.
And we're seeing a lot of interest down south, in what is a strong Democratic area. So let's follow that.
For our county, Miami-Dade, there are lines, people still waiting, two-plus hours. But our photographer Jerry Simons (ph) just spoke with his wife down in that area. And she waited a whopping five minutes to cast her ballot.
HARRIS: Wow. I mean, that is a great story that's developing.
And Susan Candiotti, in Cleveland, Ohio, I'm wondering if it's the same story where you are, where there were long lines early, folks trying to get their ballot cast and maybe get to work, and now we're seeing some thinning throughout the day? Maybe it will pick up again later today, but at least right now there's an opportunity to go vote.
CANDIOTTI: Tony, it's the typical lull of the day during the noontime hour, although some people might tend to come out a little bit more at the lunch hour. But they expect things to pick up again some time after 3:00, of course when people start getting out of work, to come here.
But here, too, in Ohio they also made some changes since 2004. You'll remember there were all kinds of problems.
They have the new optical scanning system here now. They have many more backup paper ballots here. They have better training for poll workers. That's what they say.
And so that could also be playing a role here. So, so far, so good.
HARRIS: That's terrific. All right.
It's great to see you all. We'll talk to you again a little later in the hour.
I believe we have some pictures finally of John McCain and Cindy McCain. And we've been waiting for these pictures to come in, and now we have them.
Arriving this morning, last hour, in fact, at Albright United Methodist Church there in Phoenix, Arizona, to cast their ballots. And boy, as we were saying last hour, what a day it must be for the McCains. What a long and adventurous tour this has been for John McCain.
Can you think about it? This is a man who has wanted to be president since 2000, obviously.
It is not over. The McCains casting their ballot now, and then some interviews.
John McCain will make two quick visits to neighboring states that actually voted for President Bush four years ago, but now appear to be leaning for Barack Obama. There is a rally scheduled at 2:15 p.m. at an airplane hangar, Grand Junction, Colorado. And then there's a quick trip to Albuquerque, New Mexico.
So there are the pictures we had been waiting for. John McCain and his wife Cindy casting their ballot this morning in Phoenix, Arizona.
All right. The polls are now open at all 50 states. They opened in Hawaii this hour. The first polls begin closing at about six hours. At 6:00 p.m. Eastern polls close in most of Indiana and in eastern Kentucky. At 7:00 Eastern, polls close in most of Florida and in Georgia, western Indiana, western Kentucky, South Carolina, Vermont, and Virginia.
As the polls close, stay with CNN and the best political team on television for election results throughout the evening.
A young television star took up the mission to register 100,000 new voters. He is going to tell us how he did. That is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Boy, how about those pictures of Mitchellville, Maryland, as Marylanders casts their ballots in -- hi, good to see you.
You know, first votes are actually in and counted. Dixville Notch in New Hampshire, the tiny town with a long history of being the first to tally all of its votes, has picked Barack Obama. All 21 registered voters hit the polls around midnight. And here's the breakdown: 15 for Obama, 6 for John McCain.
And one young man who is making sure his audience gets out to vote is the host of BET's "106 & Park." Veejay Terrence J. went on a cross- country tour with his brother to register 100,000 new voters. You may not know him just yet, but his show is wildly popular among young people worldwide.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TERRENCE J., "106 & PARK": All right, you all. Welcome back to the show. This is BET "106 & Park."
Queen Latifah is in the house as well. She's in the brand new movie called "The Secret Life of Bees," which is in theaters this Friday. And we'll be talking with her real soon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: OK. There he is.
Joining me now, the man himself, Terrence J.
Young man, good to see you.
Thank you so much for having me on the show, Tony. How are you today?
HARRIS: Well, I am terrific. And all the young people in the room are just swooning here because you're such a good-looking young man.
I just want to know, who's your co-host? But anyway, we'll talk about that later.
Hey, good to see you. You've got to tell me what inspired you to get out here and crank the vote.
TERRENCE J.: Well, like you said, I host BET's "106 & Park." It comes on at 6:00 every day. And we have hundreds of thousands of young people that vote for the music videos that air on our show.
HARRIS: Yes.
TERRENCE J.: So I wanted to take some of that same enthusiasm and same passion that they have for music and try to see if it would translate into this year's election. So my brother Fred and I and OCF (ph) Productions, we went on a road trip across the country to try to get 100,000 young people registered to vote. And we had a really great time and we really learned a lot during our journey.
HARRIS: Oh, you didn't really need to do this! Come on. Young people were always going to vote. You know what? This was just an opportunity for you to get your face out and do a little self- promoting! Come on. You didn't need to do this, Terrence.
TERRENCE J.: Never, never. And actually -- it was really a humbling experience.
HARRIS: Really?
TERRENCE J.: When you look at this -- yes, when you look at this country and where we're at, and how we're at war and the things that we're talking about, there were parts of this nation that looked like third world countries. And I met so many people, I shared so many stories, that I'm really just humbled about the entire experience and I'm just really happy I got to go out on the trail.
HARRIS: Hey, Terrence, I've got to tell you, I'm giving you a hard time here, because I actually tuned into the show and I really -- I've got to give you a kudos and props. It was great to see you out there doing that and traveling across the country. That's why I wanted to have you on the show.
I've got to ask you, was it easier or more difficult that than you thought to crank the vote?
TERRENCE J.: It was extremely difficult.
HARRIS: Why's that?
TERRENCE J.: Because you met so many people with so many different stories. I met people that had been affected by lack of health care, that -- I met a lady that had her arms amputated. I met some young people that had to drop out of college because they couldn't afford their tuition bills.
So, when you meet these people and you share their stories, it just really -- it really inspires you to want to make a difference. So like I said, this was not about me.
HARRIS: Yes.
TERRENCE J.: It wasn't a self-promoting thing. It's really about the young people. The young people are the face of this election. And...
HARRIS: Hey, Terrence, I want to show you and your brother Fred in action here. We've got a clip.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TERRENCE J.: Me and my brother, we set out an a road trip. So we left from New York and we've been driving across the country. And our goal is to get 100,000 people registered to vote. It's about the people.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So what do I tell my landlord? What do I tell my kids when they're home? TERRENCE J.: It's about the issues.
GABRIELLE UNION, ACTRESS: If you're mad about something, vote, because otherwise, your voice doesn't count.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Well, hang on a second. Was that the actress Gabrielle Union there?
TERRENCE J.: Yes, that was my good friend Gabrielle Union. I had so many different celebrities that helped...
HARRIS: Your girlfriend?
TERRENCE J.: No, my good friend. My good friend.
HARRIS: Oh.
TERRENCE J.: You're going to have me on a blog site, Tony. I've got to watch out for you.
HARRIS: Hey, I've got to ask you, Terrence, what did you learn from the experience?
TERRENCE J.: I just learned that it's really about the people. It's not about getting record numbers of voters. It's about the individual stories of the people.
And I just want to thank everybody at BET. They really supported me on this project.
Gas prices are high, so they really helped with getting us on the road, and helping produce it. And the network's been doing so much. I'm just happy that I got to step in and try to make a change.
HARRIS: Hey, 100,000 was the goal. How did you do?
TERRENCE J.: I think we probably registered about 25,000 people ourselves.
HARRIS: Yes. Yes.
TERRENCE J.: But it was really about the people that we touched. When we stopped at a barber shop, that barber shop now became an ambassador for the movement. So, you know, just so many young people were inspired. We're just really excited about today's election.
HARRIS: Hey, look, you've got a megaphone. Use it. BET is a great vehicle for you.
TERRENCE J.: Absolutely.
HARRIS: So use it. And stay in touch with us, with what you take on down the road. Will you please?
TERRENCE J.: I certainly will. Yes, I certainly will. I certainly will.
HARRIS: All right, Terrence. The best of luck to you. Good to see you.
TERRENCE J.: Thank you so much. Let's go Obama!
HARRIS: I was that close.
And still come in the NEWSROOM, how are John McCain and Barack Obama spending this Election Day? We have got the answers. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: OK. Webster Groves, Virginia, the live picture there as folk cast their ballots.
What did I say, Virginia? It's Missouri. I didn't say Virginia. I said Missouri. I always say Missouri. I do this for a living.
Call it a sign of how intense this election is. Both presidential candidates breaking with tradition and campaigning on Election Day.
Our correspondents are covering the last-minute push for votes.
Ed Henry is following the McCain campaign in Phoenix, and Don Lemon -- there he is -- in Chicago with the latest from the Obama camp.
Barack Obama's final campaign stop is this hour in Indiana. The Republican-leaning state next door to his home state.
Don Lemon has details live from Chicago.
Pretty nice assignment, Don. It's got to be good. Even great to be back in Chicago on this day.
DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is. And it's amazing, Tony, the weather. I mean, usually it's freezing here in Chicago. And by the way, all those details, whatever you say.
HARRIS: Yes, exactly.
LEMON: It's hard to keep hold of them, right, with so much going on?
Hey, you know, I have to tell you, though, it's been a very interesting week here, a couple days. We've been here since yesterday. And today is shaping up to be interesting as well.
You know, we saw Senator Barack Obama and his wife Michelle and his two daughters voting this morning in Hyde Park, Illinois, at the Beulah Shoesmith Elementary School, which is an historic school there, a multicultural school that's been there for quite some time. And we saw the senator taking a peak over at his wife's booth to, you know, make sure that she was getting everything correctly.
He was headed to that stop that you talked about in Indianapolis, Indiana. And a reporter asked him why he was cheating off the person sitting next to him in the voting booth. Here's what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, I'm sure I will tonight. When the polls close, the journey ends. But voting with my daughters, that was a big deal.
I noticed Michelle took a long time, though. I had to check to see who she was voting for.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: So he had to make sure, you know, who she was voting for, and he wasn't quite sure. But you know, Tony, just a joke.
But boy, look at this. It's November in Chicago.
HARRIS: Yes, where are you? Is that Grant Park behind you?
LEMON: I'm in short sleeves. It's in Grant Park. And here's what we call it. We call Grant Park Chicago's front porch, because it is so, so beautiful here.
You've got everything you need in one place here. You've got parks, you've got museums. This is a place where Chicagoans gather when they want to come out and celebrate.
Also happens here, summer, they have the movies in the park here.
I want to bring this gentleman in, Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr., because I want to tell you about sort of being tuned in to what's happening here in Illinois, being from Chicago.
What's making news is, if the senator actually does win, who's going to be his successor? That's what -- that's the outlook of what's to come next.
Your name is being tossed about as well. The senator is on record saying that he believes it should be an African-American because the lack of diversity in the Senate.
How do you feel about that?
REP. JESSE JACKSON, JR. (D), ILLINOIS: Well, Barack Obama has some extraordinary shoes that have to be filled in the United States Senate should he be elected president tonight. I'm confident that the governor of the state of Illinois is going to make a decision that's in the best interest of the state.
LEMON: He appoints for two years, he'll serve, right?
JACKSON: Right, appoints for two years, and then that senator would have to stand for re-election amongst Illinois voters. And so it's a decision of the governor. And I'm confident that after tonight's program, the governor will start reflecting upon what's necessary to move the state forward. LEMON: Reading the news and talking to sources, I hear the governor is interested in Tammy Duckworth, who's not an African-American, but an Iraq war veteran and head of veterans affair here in the state -- correct? And I'm also hearing the president of the Illinois Senate, Emil Jones, who is also an African-American. So it's going to be very interesting to see what happens.
JACKSON: All very capable and very able public servants.
Chicago and the state of Illinois has an extraordinary litany of people from which the governor can choose. And we're all excited. I mean, this is Barack's night, and that's our focus.
LEMON: All right. Great. Thank you very much. Thanks for joining us here.
And again, Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr.
Tony, I'm going to throw it back to you. But also, I'm going to talk to some sources and talk to the governor's office to see if we can make some news to see who he has in mind if Barack Obama is actually elected president.
HARRIS: What a great day in Chicago. What a scene behind you.
Good to see you, Don.
LEMON: Oh, beautiful.
HARRIS: Thanks, man.
John McCain now making a final appeal in two western battleground states today.
Ed Henry, live from Phoenix with details.
Wow, Ed. A pretty busy day still for John McCain.
ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Good morning again, Tony.
You know, what's interesting is that John McCain voted himself, obviously, just like Barack Obama did, but now he's going out and focusing on bringing more people to the polls in battleground states beyond Arizona.
Usually on election night he'd say for Senate races here in Phoenix, but he's deciding to go out on the road. In fact, McCain campaign officials say that over the course of this year they've reached out to 36 million voters either by telephone or by knocking on their doors, and they're still going to do more of it today.
John McCain going to Colorado and New Mexico himself. He wants to sort of implement a strategy that the Republicans think could still lead to victory for him. Even though they acknowledge he's down in many of the polls, they believe that if he holds many of the Republican states that George Bush carried in 2004, that's going to be a struggle, but if he can do it, they'll get about 264 electoral votes.
Then the 10 more they would need to reach 270 either two different paths. Either win Pennsylvania with 21 electoral votes or cobble together a combination of western, Midwestern states like Colorado, New Mexico. But it's been difficult. He's been down in those polls. And it's interesting because he's trying to turn out the vote and normally, as I said, he stays here in Phoenix on election night. In fact, aides say he usually goes to the movies. But not this time. He's working right on down to the wire and obviously his secret service detail is a little too large to be going to the movies on a night like this.
Tony.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, that's for sure.
All right, Ed, appreciate it. Thank you.
You know, not everything is going smoothly this Election Day. We'll get the latest on what's being reported to our voter hot line. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: OK. Let's figure out the order here. What do you want to do? Henderson -- oh, we'll split the screen. Great. Great. That's like -- like I thought of that myself. Boy, am I taking the credit for stuff I have nothing to do with.
All right. On the left, Henderson, Nevada, right now. Voting going on there. And on the right, take a look at the rally on the Dow. The Dow, as you can see, three hours or so into the trading day, up 259 points -- 260 now. What a nice Election Day rally.
Election Day has not been without its problems. We have reports coming in from voters across the country having some problems at the ballot box. Let's go to Ali Velshi now who is monitoring the calls coming in to our CNN voter hotline.
Ali, good to see you.
I've got to tell you, I thought we would be seeing more problems than we have at this point in the day. But what's the latest you're hearing?
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, let me tell you what we've got. We have 56,000 calls that have come into our voter hotline so far. The number is 877 -- on the bottom of your screen -- 877-GOCNN08 or 462-6608.
And I'll tell you, of those 56,000 calls, 22,000 of them are complaints. And, by the way, fully half of those have come in since voting started today.
I want to tell you one thing, Tony, it is voting day in America. Now you may think that's a silly thing to say, but we're getting a lot of complaints from people who are saying they are getting e-mail, phone calls, text messages or other information telling them that they're particular voting has been postponed possibly until tomorrow. Doesn't matter what you get, today is the day you vote. Nobody can call you and tell you something's wrong with the polling or your precinct has changed. Today's the day you vote. If you have a problem, call the hotline. We can tell you where to go. If you go to CNN.com, you can punch in your zip code, it can identify where you precinct is where you vote.
Now, Tony, let me tell you how it breaks down. If you look at the map of what's going on. You can go to CNN.com and you can see a map of where the trouble areas are. But let me show you how it graphs out in terms of what the biggest problems are.
The single biggest complaint that we've received right now is about registration. People who have got incorrect registration information or believe that it's incorrect. That's the blue line.
The second biggest number of complaints we have are about absentee ballots. People who did not receive their absentee ballots.
The third biggest issue, and this is growing. This was not even the fifth biggest issue yesterday. It is growing now quickly, mechanical issues. We are hearing from people that machines are not working. Now the kind of calls we get when people call in are very much like this one that we received from Barbara in Lansing, Michigan. Let's just play this for you and see what Barbara's got to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CALLER: I'm calling from Lansing, Michigan, county of AM (ph). And at my polling place, I brought up an error message. And when they finally could get the machine going again, they had to come in and zero all the votes and then re-enter them.
(END VIDEO CLIP) VELSHI: OK. So we followed up on that. We have now heard from the Lansing Township clerk who said that there are three things that need to match in those type of machines. The number of ballots issued, the number of ballots that have gone through the tabulator and the number of entries into the poll book.
There was a ballot jammed in the tabulator. When that problem was fixed, they did, as Barbara, the caller, said, zero out the totals, reran all the ballots through there and everything matched. So the right numbers tallies. Everything is moving quickly now in Lansing, Michigan.
We are getting on top of these problems. We've got people all across the country getting in touch with boards of electors or secretary of state. Our reporters are on these stories. So we want to make sure that everybody who wants to cast a ballot today, Tony, can do so.
HARRIS: And none of that voter suppression nonsense. Boy, you were on top of this. You're the man.
VELSHI: And we're going to stay on top of it.
HARRIS: And, Ali, good to see you. Thank you, Ali.
VELSHI: OK.
HARRIS: And don't forget, if you have trouble voting, let us know so we can report the problems immediately. Call the CNN voter hotline. Here's the number again, 1- 877-462-6608.
Let's hit more of the battleground states. Now CNN's Brian Todd in Philadelphia.
And, Brian, Pennsylvania hasn't been red since the first President Bush, way back in 1988.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Tony. And this is one year that John McCain thinks he can turn that around for the Republicans, but he's got an uphill climb to do it. He was trailing in the polls most of the pre-election period. He was trailing in the polls going into today, but they think that they can turn some of though kind of conservative Democrats in the middle of the state towards their advantage and other pockets as well.
But this is not one of the pockets that they're going to do it. This is Obama country here in Overbrook Park in Philadelphia. The mood here, I can say -- I can describe it in two ways. Number one, they're very excited just to be here. Number two, they're very patient because there were long lines here at this precinct. You can see clearly that's not the case now. The lines have completely disappeared. But earlier today the line snaked from that entrance down to the corner here and all the way down the adjoining street. It was very, very long and it moved slowly but it did move.
And there were some problems with voting machines in areas of Philadelphia. We're told that in eight of the nearly 1,700 voting stations around the city, will there were malfunctions of the voting machines. It did happen here. But in all eight of those places, those problems were corrected very, very quickly and paper ballots were issued. And there were no really extended problems.
Tony.
HARRIS: Outstanding.
All right, Brian, appreciate it. Thank you. You'll be back in just a moment with us.
Now to Missouri. It went for President Bush in the last two elections. Today it is a toss-up. Our Ed Lavandera at a polling station just outside of St. Louis.
And, Ed, pretty smooth sailing at your polling station right now. What was it like this morning?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This morning about an hour and a half wait, Tony. We come inside the United -- Congressional United Church of Christ in the town of Webster Groves, Missouri, just a suburb on the west side of St. Louis. And this is an unbelievable moment.
There's actually no line. This way we can take you inside the voting room here and we can walk right in. And this has been exceptional. This morning there was an hour and a half wait for many voters here this morning as they came in. But this morning, or at this moment, it's actually wide open.
So, as you can see, as the voters show up here, they have two different ways of voting. They can either use the optical scan machines, filling in the bubbles there. That's what you see there before you is the ballots going into the machine and counting them. You can also do the touch screen system as well. And election workers here are telling us that most of the people here prefer to have the paper ballots in front of them.
One issue that was, this morning, was in Kansas City. Some voter rolls and voter books that were not delivered properly. That problem has been fixed. And it was only a handful of precinct locations in Kansas City.
Tony.
HARRIS: All right. And, Ed, if I could ask you one more quick question. I'm just curious as to the general mood there this morning and throughout the day so far. What are the voters saying to you about this election?
LAVANDERA: Well, you know, this is a fascinating area that we're in. Webster Groves is a suburb of St. Louis. Traditionally the way all this has worked is Democrats will campaign like crazy in St. Louis and Kansas City. The Republicans will focus on the rural parts of the state. So really a lot of people are saying that it will come down to these suburban voters and how people will be voting.
And, you know, you drive around town. This is an area that has that been predominantly Republican in recent elections. But many people here are saying, in fact some people have told us here this morning, do not be surprised if this area goes heavily Democratic, at least in the presidential race. So we'll be watching that closely later on today. And if that does happen, many people think that that will be a very good sign that Barack Obama will win the state of Missouri. But right now it's dead heat according to the polls.
HARRIS: Very interesting. Appreciate it, Ed. Thank you.
Let's bring back in our Brian Todd.
And, Brian, the same question to you. I'm just curious as to what people are saying to you as they head into the polling station and to cast their ballot this morning. What are they saying to you about this election?
TODD: Well, Tony, I'm going to let you hear it from one of them, just from his own . . .
HARRIS: Oh, great.
TODD: This is Ron Jones, a Philadelphia area voter. Ron has agreed to join us after voting here.
You know, you said it went pretty smoothly for you in there. But I really want to get a sense from you of the mood here in Overbrook Park. This area of Philadelphia. What are people saying about the excitement of voting in this particular election?
RON JONES, PHILADELPHIA VOTER: It's time for change, man. Fed up with the -- time for change. It's time for a new face.
TODD: And are they -- were they really galvanized to try to get out here and vote and were they talking a lot in the neighborhood about just the excitement of day building up?
JONES: Yes. A long, long lines out here. 7:00 this morning.
TODD: And you came out and saw the long line and you decided to come back.
JONES: Yes, decided to come back a couple times.
TODD: I think that's against the law, but it's OK. All right. Well, thanks, Ron, very much.
So, Tony, people here very, very excited about voting. And, you know, the lines were very long earlier. They're probably going to pick up here again after about 3:00 p.m. The officials inside here told us that they expected that to happen. If we get another really long line, we'll certainly show you those pictures.
HARRIS: We kid about it all the time, Brian, but you really can't vote early and often. Brian Todd . . .
TODD: No, you . . .
HARRIS: You can't do that.
Brian Todd from Philadelphia for us.
Brian, appreciate it. Thank you.
You know, there is more at stake today than the presidency. Who will control Congress?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Balance of power in Congress hanging in the balance in today's election. Thirty-five Senate seats being decided. Democrats are hoping to make some significant gains. Republicans hoping for only modest losses. Joining us now to highlight some of the key Senate races, CNN deputy political director Paul Steinhauser, live from New York.
Paul, good to see you.
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Tony, good to see you.
HARRIS: Man, no sleep for you.
Let's start with the Senate here. And how many Senate seats, Paul, do you see turning from red to blue tonight?
STEINHAUSER: You know, the Democrats, they want nine. That's the magic number for them, Tony, because they want to get to 60. That's the number that would allow them to stop a filibuster. A filibuster is a method of blocking votes and legislation by the minority party. So the Democrats really want to get to 60. They need nine seats. They might be able to do it.
HARRIS: OK. So there are four races, I understand, that you are watching closely. Let's start with Kentucky. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in a tight race, I understand, with Bruce Lunsford?
STEINHAUSER: You got it. And this is a seat the Democrats would really love to take. They really want to knock out the minority leader, Mitch McConnell. But he's pretty powerful. Right now it's about five points up in the polls. And this is a state where Barack Obama really may not help him because it looks like Kentucky's going to go -- could go for the Republican in the presidential race.
HARRIS: Boy, the North Carolina Senate race has really turned nasty. Elizabeth Dole versus Kay Hagan. Now what are your thoughts on this race?
STEINHAUSER: This is a real tough one. And as you mentioned, it got really ugly. Elizabeth Dole, freshman senator, Republican from North Carolina, but she's down in the polls to Kay Hagan, who's a state senator. Elizabeth Dole just came out with an ad in the last couple of days where she basically kind of insinuated that maybe Kay Hagan was godless. And Kay Hagan has definitely taken offense at that. This is a nasty race.
HARRIS: Who hangs on -- who wins this seat?
STEINHAUSER: I tell you right now, the polls are too tight. Kay Hagan's up by a few points. But we'll just have to wait and see tonight, Tony.
HARRIS: Mitch McConnell, Bruce Lunsford. Who wins that race? STEINHAUSER: You know what, right now, the polls indicate that McConnell's ahead by about five, six points. Still a close one.
HARRIS: All right. Minnesota. Senator Norm Coleman versus Al Franken. How do you see this race?
STEINHAUSER: Here's another freshman Republican senator who's fighting for his life. That's Norm Coleman, the Republican there. He's up against Al Franken. We all remember him from "Saturday Night Live" and then the liberal radio host or Air America. Al Franken was behind in the polls by double digits this summer. It's a tough, ugly race. A lot of nasty ads up there, but it's really tight now, Tony. Really tight in the polls.
HARRIS: You want to hazard a guess on this race who wins here?
STEINHAUSER: No. I'm not in the prediction game here.
HARRIS: All right. We'll move on. Georgia now. Senator Saxby Chambliss versus Jim Martin. How do you see this race?
STEINHAUSER: You know, this is a similar story to North Carolina and to Minnesota because you've got a freshman senator here, a freshman Republican in Saxby Chambliss who's fighting for his political life. Jim Martin, a Democrat from the state down where you are, in Georgia, has really tightened things up in the poll. And also the presidential contest has tightened up as well. So the enthusiasm for Obama down there in Georgia may be helping Jim Martin. Another state that could swing from the Republicans to the Democrats.
HARRIS: Boy, you make quick work of that. Paul Steinhauser for us. Paul, good to see you. Thank you.
STEINHAUSER: Thanks, Tony.
HARRIS: What are voters telling us about their experiences today? Today our i-Reporters are weighing in.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Well, people all over the country are becoming first-time voters today. And some of them are also first-time i-Reporters. Josh Levs joining me now with video from two i-Reporters celebrating their first chance to cast a ballot in the -- you know what, it's just a great day to be here. To be doing what we're doing. It's just a great day, isn't it?
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is great. It is. It's incredible. You know what, it's all about the i-Reporter today. Check this out. This is dot com right here, CNN.com. Main picture. Right there is, of course, i-Reporters voting.
And here's what I love about what I'm going to show you. You know, obviously, we focus a lot on the race between the two major candidates. But today's also about the biggest exercise of democracy. It's that fundamental fact that we have the power. And these two guys here, experiencing it for the first time. This is 21-year-old Geoffrey Sorensen of Long Island.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEOFFREY SORENSEN, LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK: I think it's a great thing. We have people out in Iraq and Afghanistan and around the world fighting for us. The least I could do is vote. And people aren't just fighting for us now. They've fought for us for centuries. It's very patriotic thing, obviously. It's just too important not to do. And I thought it would be cool to cast my vote for the first time as early as I'm allowed to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: And, Tony, this one now is Ronnie Senique. He's a 34-year-old sixth grade math teacher in Landover, Maryland. He's from the Bahamas. Recently got citizenship. And you're going to hear some people in line cheer for him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RONNIE SENIQUE, LANDOVER, MARYLAND: So, I'm done. I'm finished. Voted for my candidate. Voted for my issues. Did (ph) have support. And -- you see -- 4:30 in the morning pays off. Man, this feels great. I love voting. And I should have been a citizen a long time ago.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: How good is that?
LEVS: That's -- see, this is the stuff I love, you know? I mean these are the moments that we kind of stop from all the political craziness and we think, you know what? We're all in this awesome process.
HARRIS: Yes, it's wonderful. LEVS: It fundamentally define what's we are in terms of the structure of our government.
Of course, got to say, we encourage you, keep sending your stories, photos, videos. Keep them coming. And keep in mind state laws. You can't always bring cameras inside polling places. And, of course, Tony, we're going to keep bringing you these awesome stories all day long.
HARRIS: It's awesome.
Josh, appreciate it. Thank you.
LEVS: So happy. Thanks.
HARRIS: And keeping an eye on the voting. Stay with CNN. We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: OK. So you made your way to the polls. You've cast your vote. And now you get a reward. Our Veronica De La Cruz joins us now to break down some Election Day freebies.
I like the sound of this, Veronica.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up. It's not a reward.
HARRIS: What do you mean?
DE LA CRUZ: It's not a reward. Let me just go ahead and start by saying that the Washington secretary of state's office says a federal statute absolutely prohibits any, hang on I'm quoting, any freebies, cash payments for registering, voting or not voting. Therefore, Tony, if someone is denied any of these "freebie," and that is absolutely against the law. So the way it works, Tony, is that they're celebrating Election Day. All these restaurants, these stores are celebrating Election Day and they're giving out treats. They're giving out treats.
HARRIS: Gotcha.
DE LA CRUZ: So let me go and show you where you can get these treats today. We're going to go ahead and start off with our first spot and that is Ben & Jerry's ice cream. What do you think about that?
HARRIS: I love it. DE LA CRUZ: Ben & Jerry's ice cream. They're going to be handing out a free scoop of ice cream from 5:00 to 8:00 tonight. Go ahead and tell them that you want to celebrate Election Day. Somebody else who's celebrating Election Day, just in case ice cream is not on your list. Maybe you have a sweet tooth. Maybe like Krispy Kreme doughnuts? What do you think of that?
HARRIS: That's like some drug I need to go into rehab for. Are you kidding me, Krispy Kreme doughnuts?
DE LA CRUZ: Right. Krispy Kreme doughnuts is handing out star-shaped doughnuts with red, white and blue sparkles.
HARRIS: Oh, man, I love some Krispy Kreme.
DE LA CRUZ: And then possibly the biggest give-a-way of all, Tony, free Starbucks coffee.
HARRIS: OK.
DE LA CRUZ: Take a look at this. This is a Starbucks ad that ran during "Saturday Night Live." Surprisingly enough, I checked with Starbucks web site. There's not a mention of it on the web site. Though I did see ads running on Facebook this morning. There was actually a FaceBook group of more than 130,000 people. They all said that they were going to go down there and grab their cup of joe. Did you do it today?
HARRIS: I love it. Yes, I love it. I love it.
DE LA CRUZ: So did Brent Wilson (ph). He's on our FaceBook group. He sent us some pictures. He voted this morning in New Hampshire.
And just in case, Tony, just in case you're into all these freebies, there's a web site out there called heyitsfree.com. They have even more there for places like Chick-fil- A, Daily Grill, Shane's Rib Shack. And if you have an Election Day freebie to report, go ahead and let us know. Log on to our FaceBook group. All you have to do is search for Veronica De La Cruz in the CNN NEWSROOM with Tony Harris.
HARRIS: Well, I tell you what, I got to go vote now, OK, because I'm plenty hungry. No doubt about that.
All right, Veronica, see you tomorrow. And, wait a minute. Q.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: She forgot a freebie. No, she forgot a freebie.
HARRIS: What did she forget?
PHILLIPS: You can get your tattoo removed for free in Dallas, Texas. Hey, you can get all those girlfriends taken off your arm. If you go vote, free tattoo removal. And apparently this tattoo guy, he says that his parlor is packed.
HARRIS: You better believe it. What do you have her?
PHILLIPS: Would you like some Obama O's or maybe some Cap'n McCain?
HARRIS: Well, no wait a minute, you don't have a preference?
PHILLIPS: Anybody hungry? Do you?
HARRIS: Yes, yes, growing up as a kid, oh, I'd love some Cap'n -- oh Cap'n McCain's. If they had some crunch berries, it would be off the chart.
PHILLIPS: What about Obama O's? Didn't you eat Cheerios? You mama didn't have Cheerios in a cup?
HARRIS: No. Couldn't take the Cheerios. But some crunch berries and some -- yes, indeed.
CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with this lady, Kyra phillips.
Have a great show.
