Return to Transcripts main page
Live From...
Elections in Full Swing
Aired November 05, 2002 - 14:02 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.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: We're not electing a president today, but President Bush has been campaigning almost as if it were an election for him.
CNN's John King tells us what's at stake today for the White House.
JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Marty the president is not on the ballot, as you noted, but he does have a great deal at stake -- his own personal prestige at stake, in many of the races in which he personally recruited candidates and campaigned aggressively for them.
And of course, his domestic agenda at stake as well. The president wants to make tax cuts permanent. You're seeing a picture here of the president and first Lady arriving back here at the White House, just moments ago.
The president wants to get that new department of Homeland Security. He wants his Faith-Based Initiative a priority, since the days of the 2000 campaign. Much of that and more tied up, because of partisan debates with the democrats who run the Senate right now, Mr. Bush hoping and quite optimistic that his party will keep control of the House of Representatives.
He is somewhat cautiously optimistic that perhaps Republicans will make history, and not only not lose seats but gain enough seats to take control of the Senate tonight. That's Marine 1, the president's helicopter leaving, if you're having trouble hearing me.
You see Mr. Bush here, play with the dogs. This is his return to the White House earlier today. He and the first lady cast their ballots in Crawford, Texas, visiting a firehouse, near the Bush ranch. The president voting for his successor as governor Rick Perry running for a full time, also voting in a key Senate race, therefore, joined John Cornin, the Republican and if there is a new congressman named (UNINTELLIGIBLE), that will be, in part, thanks to the president's vote as well. He is the republican candidate in the District that covers the bush range in Crawford, Texas, now represented by Democrat Chet Edwards.
Mr. Bush will await the results here at the White House. Tonight, again, Marty, cautious optimism here. But this president remembers, all to well, election day, two years ago, when he was told in the morning, he was headed for a convincing victory. It took the recount in Florida, the supreme court case and all. So this president not one to believe the pollsters, he wants to await the results.
SAVIDGE: Who could blame him on that one? John King.
His work as a campaigner is over for now. Where does he focus next, as far as his agenda, the president?
KING: There's a dual track, if you will. You mentioned in the news alert, the vote on the Iraq resolution could come as early as tomorrow, perhaps Thursday. We will hear from the president about that tomorrow, we are told, on Iraq. He also, of course, is working on his state of the union, his legislative agenda for the next Congress. And there is this wildcard, a lame duck session of Congress that could begin a week, 10 days from now. They need to finish up some budget and spending issues.
The president hoping to get -- compromise legislation on terrorism insurance, a key economic item out of that lame duck session, as well as, perhaps, depending on the results tonight, perhaps the long-awaited compromise creating new department of Homeland Security.
And you may get to this later in the program, there's a possibility one Senate race in Louisiana will not be decided today. So the president's campaigning could quickly resume, if there is a runoff down there.
SAVIDGE: That's something to think about. John King live at the White House. Thanks very much.
Packed polling places today in Minnesota, where it could take all night to count the votes in the Senate race. And Republican Norm Coleman is a former mayor of St. Paul; Democrat Walter Mondale, the former vice president. He was nominated after Senator Paul Wellstone died in a plane crash. Our national correspondent Bob Franken, live, in St. Paul.
How's the turnout, Bob?
BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The turnout is heavy, as a matter of fact, Marty, turnout heavy because our passions are high in the wake of all that has happened here on both sides of the political spectrum. So the officials are saying that, throughout the state, there's a heavy turnout which could delay things this evening.
Remember, because of the late entry of Walter Mondale, they're going to have to count ballots -- supplemental ballots by hand, much slower than the normal high-tech way that they do it in Minnesota. They're optimistic, they say, when they think it'll be done by midnight. That, we'll have to see.
We did see Walter Mondale, who last campaigned 18 years ago, voting for himself, presumably, this morning, when he went to the polling place, following a day of campaigning yesterday and that followed this remarkable debate on the last day of the campaign. Mondale voted and then had a little conversation with reporters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) WALTER MONDALE, MINNESOTA SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: So we have the best of Minnesota today, as you can see, the snow and the brisk weather and freedom.
QUESTION: What will it take for you to prevail tonight?
MONDALE: I think more votes for me than the other guy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FRANKEN: The brisk weather here, of course, is what is normal in November. The Republican candidate Norm Coleman also voting, also in a crowded precinct He had a major headline, after he came out and talked to reporters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NORM COLEMAN, MINNESOTA SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: I know I voted for me. I think she voted for me, so.
LAURIE COLEMAN, SPOUSE OF NORM COLEMAN: I did, absolutely.
COLEMAN: So if we win by two, it will be us that put us over the top, so we're excited about that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FRANKEN: Well, It's close, but probably not that close, Marty. As a matter of fact, it's too close to call, according to all the polls. They're all with statistically insignificant margins. Some have Coleman in the lead; some have Mondale, and it's not going to be decided probably until late tonight. Nobody is calling this race -- Marty.
SAVIDGE: Get another cup of coffee, Bob. It's going to be a late one for you. Thanks very much, live from St. Paul, Minnesota.
Georgia is another state where a Senate seat in very much play. Emcumbent Democrat Max Cleland faces a strong chapel from Republican Saxby Chambliss. For the first time, all Georgia voters are using touch-screen electronic voting machines. It cost $54 million to equip all 159 counties with the high tech machines, if you were wondering.
Missouri is the ultimate bellwether state, supporting the winning candidate in 24 of the past 25 presidential elections. Today's focus is on the Senate race, where Republicans think they have a real chance to unseat Democrat Jean Carnahan. She's trying to win the final four years of her late husband's Senate term. The Republican challenger is Jim Talent, a former state representative. Talent narrowly lost a race for governor two years ago. But in this race he's had a lot of help from President Bush.
So what do you think? Which party will win control of the Senate? To cast your ballot in the quick vote, head to cnn.com. The AOL keyword is CNN. Right now, 54 percent of those voting say the Republicans, 41 percent say the Democrats. And this important reminder, we're not talking science, when it comes to this kind of poll.
Only a few minor glitches were reported in the early voting in Florida, a state -- you may remember -- that had a history of election problems. The race to watch is for governor and the Republican incumbent is the president's brother, Jeb Bush. He's challenged by Democrat Bill McBride, an attorney who commanded an infantry platoon and won a bronze star in Vietnam.
Our John Zarrella is live from Miami today. John, how is the turnout in that state?
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Marty, I hope the folks in Georgia have a lot better first time with those electronic machines than we did down here. You know, the September primary was the first time they used the electronic machines statewide, and in the counties that have them. And of course, we had major problems here in Miami-Dade County and in Broward County.
Not so today. Everything is going extremely smoothly except for maybe a few minor glitches being reported in the counties. Statewide, we don't hear of too many problems at all.
In Broward County where we thought there might be tremendous problems because the ballot is 11 pages long, thought the wait might be anywhere from two to four hours to vote. Not hearing any of those reports. Steady lines, but not the interminable nightmarish lines that they had expect the. And if there is an indication of the success of these electronic machines, it was witnessed in Miami-Dade County at the Thena Crowder (ph) Elementary School.
Now Thena Crowder (ph), was one of the -- was the elementary school that had the worst problems in September, with the machines even not getting turned on until 4:00 in the afternoon. Well, today, a credit to the success of the people there, they brought a voting machine that's the size of a laptop, they brought it out to the curbside.
An elderly 92-year-old woman, she couldn't get out of her car. They brought the machine right to her. She signed the registry that, indeed, this was her and she was going to vote. They stuck this machine, the Ivotetronics (ph) machine inside the window, a worker read her what the races were. She told the poll worker what they were.
The poll worker punched them in. And all she had to do was punch the final red button at the end to say, in fact, those were selections for the her constitutional amendments and the candidates of her choice. And that's a credit to those Ivotetronics (ph), machines, how good they are.
Now Jeb Bush, the incumbent governor here, voted at about 9:30 this morning, down in Coral Gables, Florida. Everything we've heard in the last several days or a week or so is that Bush has held on to, if not continued to expand his lead in the race for re-election, if he is re-elect. The first Republican governor, now there have only been three Republican governors in Florida, but the first one to be reelected. Now, Bill McBride, the Democratic challenger, he's been stuck on 43 percent for the last week or so. He voted this morning also, North of Tampa in his home town of Homosassa. I think that's how it's pronounced. I may be wrong, but that's where he voted this morning.
McBride really needs huge voter turnout in Miami-Dade County and in Broward County and in Palm Beach County, southeast strongholds, if he has any chance of overtaking the incumbent governor.
Now they're saying the lines are not long in Miami-Dade County, in particular, because we had early voting opened in Miami-Dade and in Broward. And in Miami-Dade, the number of people that have voted, before the actual polls opened this morning at selected precincts, 108,000, that's almost one-fifth of the total number of expected voters to turn out today. So a real good indication that things are going to go a lot more smoothly in Florida, than they have in recent times. So anybody out there who was hoping for a meltdown in Florida, may not get it today. They may have to look somewhere else for that -- Marty.
SAVIDGE: Yes. That may still happen somewhere else. John Zarrella. Thanks very much, live, from Florida.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired November 5, 2002 - 14:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: We're not electing a president today, but President Bush has been campaigning almost as if it were an election for him.
CNN's John King tells us what's at stake today for the White House.
JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Marty the president is not on the ballot, as you noted, but he does have a great deal at stake -- his own personal prestige at stake, in many of the races in which he personally recruited candidates and campaigned aggressively for them.
And of course, his domestic agenda at stake as well. The president wants to make tax cuts permanent. You're seeing a picture here of the president and first Lady arriving back here at the White House, just moments ago.
The president wants to get that new department of Homeland Security. He wants his Faith-Based Initiative a priority, since the days of the 2000 campaign. Much of that and more tied up, because of partisan debates with the democrats who run the Senate right now, Mr. Bush hoping and quite optimistic that his party will keep control of the House of Representatives.
He is somewhat cautiously optimistic that perhaps Republicans will make history, and not only not lose seats but gain enough seats to take control of the Senate tonight. That's Marine 1, the president's helicopter leaving, if you're having trouble hearing me.
You see Mr. Bush here, play with the dogs. This is his return to the White House earlier today. He and the first lady cast their ballots in Crawford, Texas, visiting a firehouse, near the Bush ranch. The president voting for his successor as governor Rick Perry running for a full time, also voting in a key Senate race, therefore, joined John Cornin, the Republican and if there is a new congressman named (UNINTELLIGIBLE), that will be, in part, thanks to the president's vote as well. He is the republican candidate in the District that covers the bush range in Crawford, Texas, now represented by Democrat Chet Edwards.
Mr. Bush will await the results here at the White House. Tonight, again, Marty, cautious optimism here. But this president remembers, all to well, election day, two years ago, when he was told in the morning, he was headed for a convincing victory. It took the recount in Florida, the supreme court case and all. So this president not one to believe the pollsters, he wants to await the results.
SAVIDGE: Who could blame him on that one? John King.
His work as a campaigner is over for now. Where does he focus next, as far as his agenda, the president?
KING: There's a dual track, if you will. You mentioned in the news alert, the vote on the Iraq resolution could come as early as tomorrow, perhaps Thursday. We will hear from the president about that tomorrow, we are told, on Iraq. He also, of course, is working on his state of the union, his legislative agenda for the next Congress. And there is this wildcard, a lame duck session of Congress that could begin a week, 10 days from now. They need to finish up some budget and spending issues.
The president hoping to get -- compromise legislation on terrorism insurance, a key economic item out of that lame duck session, as well as, perhaps, depending on the results tonight, perhaps the long-awaited compromise creating new department of Homeland Security.
And you may get to this later in the program, there's a possibility one Senate race in Louisiana will not be decided today. So the president's campaigning could quickly resume, if there is a runoff down there.
SAVIDGE: That's something to think about. John King live at the White House. Thanks very much.
Packed polling places today in Minnesota, where it could take all night to count the votes in the Senate race. And Republican Norm Coleman is a former mayor of St. Paul; Democrat Walter Mondale, the former vice president. He was nominated after Senator Paul Wellstone died in a plane crash. Our national correspondent Bob Franken, live, in St. Paul.
How's the turnout, Bob?
BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The turnout is heavy, as a matter of fact, Marty, turnout heavy because our passions are high in the wake of all that has happened here on both sides of the political spectrum. So the officials are saying that, throughout the state, there's a heavy turnout which could delay things this evening.
Remember, because of the late entry of Walter Mondale, they're going to have to count ballots -- supplemental ballots by hand, much slower than the normal high-tech way that they do it in Minnesota. They're optimistic, they say, when they think it'll be done by midnight. That, we'll have to see.
We did see Walter Mondale, who last campaigned 18 years ago, voting for himself, presumably, this morning, when he went to the polling place, following a day of campaigning yesterday and that followed this remarkable debate on the last day of the campaign. Mondale voted and then had a little conversation with reporters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) WALTER MONDALE, MINNESOTA SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: So we have the best of Minnesota today, as you can see, the snow and the brisk weather and freedom.
QUESTION: What will it take for you to prevail tonight?
MONDALE: I think more votes for me than the other guy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FRANKEN: The brisk weather here, of course, is what is normal in November. The Republican candidate Norm Coleman also voting, also in a crowded precinct He had a major headline, after he came out and talked to reporters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NORM COLEMAN, MINNESOTA SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: I know I voted for me. I think she voted for me, so.
LAURIE COLEMAN, SPOUSE OF NORM COLEMAN: I did, absolutely.
COLEMAN: So if we win by two, it will be us that put us over the top, so we're excited about that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FRANKEN: Well, It's close, but probably not that close, Marty. As a matter of fact, it's too close to call, according to all the polls. They're all with statistically insignificant margins. Some have Coleman in the lead; some have Mondale, and it's not going to be decided probably until late tonight. Nobody is calling this race -- Marty.
SAVIDGE: Get another cup of coffee, Bob. It's going to be a late one for you. Thanks very much, live from St. Paul, Minnesota.
Georgia is another state where a Senate seat in very much play. Emcumbent Democrat Max Cleland faces a strong chapel from Republican Saxby Chambliss. For the first time, all Georgia voters are using touch-screen electronic voting machines. It cost $54 million to equip all 159 counties with the high tech machines, if you were wondering.
Missouri is the ultimate bellwether state, supporting the winning candidate in 24 of the past 25 presidential elections. Today's focus is on the Senate race, where Republicans think they have a real chance to unseat Democrat Jean Carnahan. She's trying to win the final four years of her late husband's Senate term. The Republican challenger is Jim Talent, a former state representative. Talent narrowly lost a race for governor two years ago. But in this race he's had a lot of help from President Bush.
So what do you think? Which party will win control of the Senate? To cast your ballot in the quick vote, head to cnn.com. The AOL keyword is CNN. Right now, 54 percent of those voting say the Republicans, 41 percent say the Democrats. And this important reminder, we're not talking science, when it comes to this kind of poll.
Only a few minor glitches were reported in the early voting in Florida, a state -- you may remember -- that had a history of election problems. The race to watch is for governor and the Republican incumbent is the president's brother, Jeb Bush. He's challenged by Democrat Bill McBride, an attorney who commanded an infantry platoon and won a bronze star in Vietnam.
Our John Zarrella is live from Miami today. John, how is the turnout in that state?
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Marty, I hope the folks in Georgia have a lot better first time with those electronic machines than we did down here. You know, the September primary was the first time they used the electronic machines statewide, and in the counties that have them. And of course, we had major problems here in Miami-Dade County and in Broward County.
Not so today. Everything is going extremely smoothly except for maybe a few minor glitches being reported in the counties. Statewide, we don't hear of too many problems at all.
In Broward County where we thought there might be tremendous problems because the ballot is 11 pages long, thought the wait might be anywhere from two to four hours to vote. Not hearing any of those reports. Steady lines, but not the interminable nightmarish lines that they had expect the. And if there is an indication of the success of these electronic machines, it was witnessed in Miami-Dade County at the Thena Crowder (ph) Elementary School.
Now Thena Crowder (ph), was one of the -- was the elementary school that had the worst problems in September, with the machines even not getting turned on until 4:00 in the afternoon. Well, today, a credit to the success of the people there, they brought a voting machine that's the size of a laptop, they brought it out to the curbside.
An elderly 92-year-old woman, she couldn't get out of her car. They brought the machine right to her. She signed the registry that, indeed, this was her and she was going to vote. They stuck this machine, the Ivotetronics (ph) machine inside the window, a worker read her what the races were. She told the poll worker what they were.
The poll worker punched them in. And all she had to do was punch the final red button at the end to say, in fact, those were selections for the her constitutional amendments and the candidates of her choice. And that's a credit to those Ivotetronics (ph), machines, how good they are.
Now Jeb Bush, the incumbent governor here, voted at about 9:30 this morning, down in Coral Gables, Florida. Everything we've heard in the last several days or a week or so is that Bush has held on to, if not continued to expand his lead in the race for re-election, if he is re-elect. The first Republican governor, now there have only been three Republican governors in Florida, but the first one to be reelected. Now, Bill McBride, the Democratic challenger, he's been stuck on 43 percent for the last week or so. He voted this morning also, North of Tampa in his home town of Homosassa. I think that's how it's pronounced. I may be wrong, but that's where he voted this morning.
McBride really needs huge voter turnout in Miami-Dade County and in Broward County and in Palm Beach County, southeast strongholds, if he has any chance of overtaking the incumbent governor.
Now they're saying the lines are not long in Miami-Dade County, in particular, because we had early voting opened in Miami-Dade and in Broward. And in Miami-Dade, the number of people that have voted, before the actual polls opened this morning at selected precincts, 108,000, that's almost one-fifth of the total number of expected voters to turn out today. So a real good indication that things are going to go a lot more smoothly in Florida, than they have in recent times. So anybody out there who was hoping for a meltdown in Florida, may not get it today. They may have to look somewhere else for that -- Marty.
SAVIDGE: Yes. That may still happen somewhere else. John Zarrella. Thanks very much, live, from Florida.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
