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American Morning

In South Dakota, Recount Looks Likely

Aired November 06, 2002 - 09:05   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: In South Dakota, the recount look quite possible, and Jonathan Karl is tracking that right now as we go from a windy Miami to a chilly Sioux Falls -- Jonathan.
JONATHAN KARL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bill, we are head for a recount in South Dakota, and I just have news for you here, and that is the very latest numbers just a minute ago from the secretary of state's office here in South Dakota is the Democrat has now moved ahead. Tim Johnson is now ahead of the Republican John Thune by about 200 votes. That's with the latest results coming in. They are still counting some votes, still counting some votes on the Pine Ridge Indian reservation, and this one is extremely close, close enough to trigger a mandatory statewide recount in South Dakota. That mandatory recount is triggered when the margin is within one quarter of one percent, and we're, believe it or not, well within one-quarter of one percent. The Republican had been leading all morning, and now the Democrat has pulled ahead.

And as you know, this has been a marquee match-up, a match-up that has not only pitted Thune and Johnson, two relatively unknown figures, but also President Bush who chose John Thune and campaigned hard for him, and majority leader Tom Daschle who is from South Dakota and worked very hard for Tim Johnson.

So that's where we are now. This has, you know, no what has been a very gray, dark gray day for Democrats, this is the chance for Tom Daschle to have a silver lining. He really wants to pull out a win here. But it looks like he's going to have to wait, because we're going to have a recount here in South Dakota, and that may take several weeks.

HEMMER: Jonathan, quickly, not a very populated state. How was the turnout last night for this?

KARL: The turnout was extremely high. Here in the most populous county, Minnehaha County, where Sioux Falls is, it was, believe it not, 75 percent of registered voters came out to turn out. Statewide it's about 70 percent, really an incredible turnout when you consider this was a midterm election.

HEMMER: You're right. Those are presidential numbers. Thank you, Jonathan.

HEMMER: To Minnesota, youth versus experience and last night youth has claimed victory in part. Republican Norm Coleman is now the senator-elect in Minnesota, beating former Vice President Walter Mondale. Of course the former vice president stepping in after the tragic and untimely death of Senator Paul Wellstone. To Bob Franken now in St. Paul.

Bob, last time we talked we were awaiting talk from the Mondale camp. Anything to talk about this hour?

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's simply that they haven't decided yet whether it's going to be the candidate who comes here in an hour to hold the news conference and recognize what many people consider to be the handwriting on the wall, or whether he's going to wait before he concedes. The bet is he'll be conceding very soon. The various projections show he has lost the race to Norm Coleman.

In a campaign that was less about politics at the end and more about emotion, the nostalgia for a time gone by among Democrats supporting Walter Mondale, and of course all the intense emotion about the loss of Wellstone who died in the plane crash. In the case of the Republicans, an antagonism that built up after a memorial service for Wellstone turned in their eyes to be really just a political rally.

It was a remarkable campaign, of course, with the 74-year-old Mondale doing something he hadn't done in 18 years, crisscrossing the state, retail campaigning, a low-key campaign. Coleman, the 53-year- old, also aggressive at the end, campaigning, trying say, at 53, he was the one who could deal with the issues of the future.

And then of course, there was the intense long lines at the polls. We don't have precise figures yet but there may be record- breaking turnout here. Certainly more than in the 1998 election when more than 60 percent showed up, and that caused long, long counting procedures. because they had to use paper ballots, supplemental ballots. It was a close race anyway, and that's why we still have not had anything that resembles an official decision on who won this race. It could be several days before that is accomplished. But as you know, the various news services, including CNN, are now saying Coleman is the winner, and that tracks with just about what all the expert were saying -- Bill.

HEMMER: How about the debate, 11:00 a.m. on Monday this past week? Is it your sense that helped shift things in any one direction or the other?

FRANKEN: I have a feeling that what really helped shift things was the visit over the weekend by President Bush, preceded by the first lady coming the day before and Dick Cheney. That probably solidified Republican intentions to get out there and vote. The debate, one gets the impression, accomplished what each candidate wanted to accomplish. Mondale wanted to show that he wasn't too old to be an aggressive debater, and Coleman wanted to show that he wasn't so young that he would be intimidated by Mondale. It looks like each his ground there. It was probably an important end, possibly an unprecedented end, but it was just an entire dynamic that attributed to this result.

HEMMER: Thank you, Bob, Bob Franken. Good to see you inside today, too, away from that snow of yesterday. Bob Franken in Minnesota, Jonathan Karl in South Dakota. 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 6, 2002 - 09:05   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: In South Dakota, the recount look quite possible, and Jonathan Karl is tracking that right now as we go from a windy Miami to a chilly Sioux Falls -- Jonathan.
JONATHAN KARL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bill, we are head for a recount in South Dakota, and I just have news for you here, and that is the very latest numbers just a minute ago from the secretary of state's office here in South Dakota is the Democrat has now moved ahead. Tim Johnson is now ahead of the Republican John Thune by about 200 votes. That's with the latest results coming in. They are still counting some votes, still counting some votes on the Pine Ridge Indian reservation, and this one is extremely close, close enough to trigger a mandatory statewide recount in South Dakota. That mandatory recount is triggered when the margin is within one quarter of one percent, and we're, believe it or not, well within one-quarter of one percent. The Republican had been leading all morning, and now the Democrat has pulled ahead.

And as you know, this has been a marquee match-up, a match-up that has not only pitted Thune and Johnson, two relatively unknown figures, but also President Bush who chose John Thune and campaigned hard for him, and majority leader Tom Daschle who is from South Dakota and worked very hard for Tim Johnson.

So that's where we are now. This has, you know, no what has been a very gray, dark gray day for Democrats, this is the chance for Tom Daschle to have a silver lining. He really wants to pull out a win here. But it looks like he's going to have to wait, because we're going to have a recount here in South Dakota, and that may take several weeks.

HEMMER: Jonathan, quickly, not a very populated state. How was the turnout last night for this?

KARL: The turnout was extremely high. Here in the most populous county, Minnehaha County, where Sioux Falls is, it was, believe it not, 75 percent of registered voters came out to turn out. Statewide it's about 70 percent, really an incredible turnout when you consider this was a midterm election.

HEMMER: You're right. Those are presidential numbers. Thank you, Jonathan.

HEMMER: To Minnesota, youth versus experience and last night youth has claimed victory in part. Republican Norm Coleman is now the senator-elect in Minnesota, beating former Vice President Walter Mondale. Of course the former vice president stepping in after the tragic and untimely death of Senator Paul Wellstone. To Bob Franken now in St. Paul.

Bob, last time we talked we were awaiting talk from the Mondale camp. Anything to talk about this hour?

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's simply that they haven't decided yet whether it's going to be the candidate who comes here in an hour to hold the news conference and recognize what many people consider to be the handwriting on the wall, or whether he's going to wait before he concedes. The bet is he'll be conceding very soon. The various projections show he has lost the race to Norm Coleman.

In a campaign that was less about politics at the end and more about emotion, the nostalgia for a time gone by among Democrats supporting Walter Mondale, and of course all the intense emotion about the loss of Wellstone who died in the plane crash. In the case of the Republicans, an antagonism that built up after a memorial service for Wellstone turned in their eyes to be really just a political rally.

It was a remarkable campaign, of course, with the 74-year-old Mondale doing something he hadn't done in 18 years, crisscrossing the state, retail campaigning, a low-key campaign. Coleman, the 53-year- old, also aggressive at the end, campaigning, trying say, at 53, he was the one who could deal with the issues of the future.

And then of course, there was the intense long lines at the polls. We don't have precise figures yet but there may be record- breaking turnout here. Certainly more than in the 1998 election when more than 60 percent showed up, and that caused long, long counting procedures. because they had to use paper ballots, supplemental ballots. It was a close race anyway, and that's why we still have not had anything that resembles an official decision on who won this race. It could be several days before that is accomplished. But as you know, the various news services, including CNN, are now saying Coleman is the winner, and that tracks with just about what all the expert were saying -- Bill.

HEMMER: How about the debate, 11:00 a.m. on Monday this past week? Is it your sense that helped shift things in any one direction or the other?

FRANKEN: I have a feeling that what really helped shift things was the visit over the weekend by President Bush, preceded by the first lady coming the day before and Dick Cheney. That probably solidified Republican intentions to get out there and vote. The debate, one gets the impression, accomplished what each candidate wanted to accomplish. Mondale wanted to show that he wasn't too old to be an aggressive debater, and Coleman wanted to show that he wasn't so young that he would be intimidated by Mondale. It looks like each his ground there. It was probably an important end, possibly an unprecedented end, but it was just an entire dynamic that attributed to this result.

HEMMER: Thank you, Bob, Bob Franken. Good to see you inside today, too, away from that snow of yesterday. Bob Franken in Minnesota, Jonathan Karl in South Dakota. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com