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American Morning
Battle for California: Final Days
Aired October 01, 2003 - 07:07 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.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: With less than a week to go in the California recall race, there are yet more twists and turns. As we have said, Arianna Huffington has dropped out of the race and says she will oppose the recall.
Meanwhile, a new poll is out, and it doesn't offer very much good news for incumbent Gray Davis.
Bob Franken is live once again this morning for us in Los Angeles.
Hello to you -- Bob. Lots going on once again.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's not a surprise to anybody that Arianna Huffington decided to pull out, considering that in this new "L.A. Times" poll, she shows up with a point -- well, a one-half of 1 percent showing in the poll. That is down from her 3 percent in the last poll.
But, of course, what is most significant in this poll is the fact that if the election was held today, according to the "L.A. Times," there is an increase in the number of people who would vote for the recall; 56 percent would vote for the recall. That's up from the last "L.A. Times" poll, which put it at 50 percent. It tracks pretty much with the CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup Poll that was done over the weekend.
So, there has been an increase. The trend is against Governor Gray Davis, bad news for the Davis campaign.
Also, the same poll shows that Arnold Schwarzenegger has had a surge since the September 12 poll that was taken by the "L.A. Times. He is now at 40 percent compared to 25 percent last time. Cruz Bustamante, the lieutenant governor, the Democrat, is at 32. He is up a little bit -- he's down a little bit himself. But Schwarzenegger has gone way up. Tom McClintock, the other Republican, has fallen a little bit, too.
So, this is very, very strong, very favorable news for Arnold Schwarzenegger; bad news for Gray Davis, the governor, who is getting some high-powered support. General Wesley Clark, the new Democratic presidential candidate, is going to be in the state today campaigning for Davis. Former President Bill Clinton is coming tomorrow, and he's come out with some new radio ads.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM J. CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is the right thing to do to beat this recall. It's the right thing. It's the fair thing. It's the just thing. It's a good thing. Gray Davis hadn't lost heart. Don't you lose heart. You out and beat this thing. Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FRANKEN: So, that is the message from the former president, who has been out here one time before. All of the campaigning for Davis seems to, thus far, according to the polls at least, be very dismal news for him. The election less than a week away, and his trends are going in the wrong direction -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, we'll keep our eye on it as usual. Bob Franken, thanks so much, from Los Angeles this morning.
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 October 1, 2003 - 07:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: With less than a week to go in the California recall race, there are yet more twists and turns. As we have said, Arianna Huffington has dropped out of the race and says she will oppose the recall.
Meanwhile, a new poll is out, and it doesn't offer very much good news for incumbent Gray Davis.
Bob Franken is live once again this morning for us in Los Angeles.
Hello to you -- Bob. Lots going on once again.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's not a surprise to anybody that Arianna Huffington decided to pull out, considering that in this new "L.A. Times" poll, she shows up with a point -- well, a one-half of 1 percent showing in the poll. That is down from her 3 percent in the last poll.
But, of course, what is most significant in this poll is the fact that if the election was held today, according to the "L.A. Times," there is an increase in the number of people who would vote for the recall; 56 percent would vote for the recall. That's up from the last "L.A. Times" poll, which put it at 50 percent. It tracks pretty much with the CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup Poll that was done over the weekend.
So, there has been an increase. The trend is against Governor Gray Davis, bad news for the Davis campaign.
Also, the same poll shows that Arnold Schwarzenegger has had a surge since the September 12 poll that was taken by the "L.A. Times. He is now at 40 percent compared to 25 percent last time. Cruz Bustamante, the lieutenant governor, the Democrat, is at 32. He is up a little bit -- he's down a little bit himself. But Schwarzenegger has gone way up. Tom McClintock, the other Republican, has fallen a little bit, too.
So, this is very, very strong, very favorable news for Arnold Schwarzenegger; bad news for Gray Davis, the governor, who is getting some high-powered support. General Wesley Clark, the new Democratic presidential candidate, is going to be in the state today campaigning for Davis. Former President Bill Clinton is coming tomorrow, and he's come out with some new radio ads.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM J. CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is the right thing to do to beat this recall. It's the right thing. It's the fair thing. It's the just thing. It's a good thing. Gray Davis hadn't lost heart. Don't you lose heart. You out and beat this thing. Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FRANKEN: So, that is the message from the former president, who has been out here one time before. All of the campaigning for Davis seems to, thus far, according to the polls at least, be very dismal news for him. The election less than a week away, and his trends are going in the wrong direction -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, we'll keep our eye on it as usual. Bob Franken, thanks so much, from Los Angeles this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
