Kerry Campaign; "State of the Ballot"; Rehnquist Hospitalized
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. Just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. With seven days to go before the election, we're going to take a closer look at all that could go wrong. Jeff Toobin is going to join us this morning, looking at tracking down voters who double-dip, casting ballots in more than one state.</s>BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Kind of like</s>O'BRIEN: The top stories, though, first, before we get to any of that. Heidi Collins at the news desk for us. Good morning.</s>HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, guys, once again. There is word this hour almost 80 people have been killed after a riot in southern Thailand. Hundreds of people were apparently arrested and stuffed into trucks by Thai police following a major protest yesterday. Sources now say at least 78 of those people were crushed and suffocated on the way to the police station. To the Middle East now. The Israeli army says Palestinian militants have launched three rockets into Israel. No details yet on any damage. Meanwhile, Israel's Parliament is set to vote today on the controversial plan to pull out of Gaza. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon says the disengagement plan is a gateway to a new future with the Palestinians. But some Israeli critics call it treason. Investigators are planning to release a report today of the likely cause of the crash of American Airlines Flight 587 three years ago. This was the scene; 265 people were killed when the flight hit a New York City neighborhood. There is a dispute now, though, between Airbus, who manufactured the plane, and American Airlines over whether the pilot used the rudder incorrectly to steady the plane after it ran into turbulence from another flight. The country's largest wireless company is in the making. Cingular Wireless and AT&T; Wireless could officially join forces today. The Federal Communications Commission is expected to approve the merger. Some 47 million people could be affected. And if you think that's a lot, that's nothing according to the money: $41 billion acquisition.</s>HEMMER: Wow! A big company.</s>COLLINS: Yes.</s>HEMMER: Thank you, Heidi. Just a week to go now before Election Day 2004, and both candidates are trying to find some way to gain an edge with voters in those critical battleground states. One of those states is Wisconsin. That's where Kelly Wallace is this morning live in Green Bay. Good morning -- Kelly.</s>KELLY WALLACE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill. As you know, Wisconsin was won very narrowly by Al Gore back in 2000. Senator Kerry beginning his day with a speech on homeland security, which will include sharp attacks on President Bush; this, as this campaign is trying very, very hard to eliminate the president's national security advantage in these seven days.</s>SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The unbelievable incompetence again and again of this administration and this president has put our troops and our country at greater risk. George Bush has failed the essentially test of a commander-in-chief.</s>WALLACE: The senator in his speech today expected to continue hammering away at the president over missing explosives in Iraq, trying to convince undecided voters the war has increased the dangers for Americans.</s>KERRY: He brags about making America safer, but once again the president has failed to deliver.</s>WALLACE: A constant story line of this campaign, illustrated in the latest polls, Senator Kerry trailing the president by nearly 20 points when voters are asked who can better handle terrorism. Camp Kerry's goal in the final week? Narrowing the gap with tough rhetoric...</s>KERRY: How this administration has failed to make the American people safer.</s>WALLACE: ... and new faces on the stump. One of the September 11 widows traveling with Elizabeth Edwards in Minnesota yesterday. This, though, the photo-op of the day as far as team Kerry was concerned, former President Clinton turning out tens of thousands in downtown Philadelphia and later in Miami, trying to fire up the Democrats to get out and vote.</s>WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON (D), FMR.PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Remember, we won this state the last two times. They just didn't count them the last time. We can win it again. Let's go for three in a row.</s>WALLACE (on camera): And the former president will be stumping in Nevada, New Mexico and his home state of Arkansas, which aides say now looks very close. As for Senator Kerry, he will be going to Nevada and New Mexico. Bill, the campaign scrapping plans for him to visit Colorado on this day, a sign this campaign might not necessarily think that state remains within reach -- Bill.</s>HEMMER: Not much sleep with seven days to go, is there, Kelly?</s>WALLACE: Excuse me? Say that again.</s>HEMMER: Not much sleep with seven days to go. I understand Senator Kerry told his staff to go ahead and write that off, right?</s>WALLACE: Not much -- yes, exactly, right. Four rallies a day. And that's the key. Everywhere they go has to matter. I talked to one of the top Kerry advisors, asking about this. He said, look, we reserve the right to change the schedule at any time. Clearly, they are going to the states they think are most competitive and the most within reach right now -- Bill.</s>HEMMER: Thank you, Kelly. Kelly Wallace in Green Bay this morning -- Soledad.</s>O'BRIEN: It is not a crime to be registered to vote in more than one state, but actually casting two ballots is a whole different story. And tracking down double voters can be difficult, if not impossible. So could this be a factor in next week's election? To continue our series, "The State of the Ballot," I'm joined by CNN's senior legal analyst, Jeff Toobin. Good morning. Nice to see you.</s>JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Good morning, ma'am.</s>O'BRIEN: Many people are registered to vote in more than one state, I guess, because when you move it's hard or you don't have to always unregister. But how many people are we talking about are they concerned about could actually vote twice?</s>TOOBIN: No one knows for sure. The "New York Daily News" did an investigation involving New York and Florida, two states between which a lot of people move. It showed 1,600 people voted in both states in the last election.</s>O'BRIEN: Voted or were registered?</s>TOOBIN: Voted, they claim. I mean, no one knows for sure, because, you know, people registered differently under slightly different name, middle initials, middle name change. It's very hard to merge and purge these lists. Clearly it is illegal to do it. How you track it down, how often it happens, it's very hard to tell.</s>O'BRIEN: So it's illegal to vote more than once, obviously, but it's not illegal to be registered. Why is there no real process for keeping track of who is registered?</s>TOOBIN: Like so much with voting, it's dealt with in kind of a casual way. The usual way it's supposed to be dealt with is that when you register in a new state, the board of elections of the new state is supposed to contact your former state and get you off the rolls there. That process rarely works at all, and it certainly rarely works well. Florida, this is a particularly big issue, because 400,000 people a year move to Florida, all of whom presumably were registered in some other state.</s>O'BRIEN: And as we've seen, a very small number of voters could play a big role in the election. Why not with the state of technology as it is today, why not is this more -- done in some kind of a better fashion where you can just rely on technology to</s>TOOBIN: There is not even a central database for individual states, much less the whole country. So the idea of doing this sufficiently is way off in the future.</s>O'BRIEN: So then give me a sense of what the potential implications are in this election.</s>TOOBIN: Well, the big issue is going to be in Florida. And Democrats are very concerned that Republicans are going to challenge lots of voters, saying, look, you're registered in another state, you can't vote there. First of all, they say it's no crime to be -- there's nothing wrong with being registered in two states. Second, they'll say there's no way you can prove that someone else voted. Republicans are saying we are simply trying to enforce the law; that it is illegal to vote in two states and we're not going to sit by for vote fraud. I think the most interesting thing to watch will be how does the process work? Because the mere act of challenging lots of voters by tying up the polls that may be as significant as any result. And I think this is in many states, Ohio, Florida, the issue of challenges at the polls and how that affects voters online is going to be something to watch on Election Day.</s>O'BRIEN: Another issue is the Supreme Court has suddenly become a campaign issue with news, of course, that Chief Justice Rehnquist is battling thyroid cancer. He's now recovering after throat surgery this past weekend. We've got more from justice correspondent Kelli Arena on that.</s>KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It took nearly everyone by surprise, but the seriousness of the chief justice's health problem was immediately apparent.</s>BRAD BERENSON, FMR.SUPREME COURT CLERK: Everybody has been aware really for years that there could be a Supreme Court vacancy, but this is a very, very visible reminder of it in the homestretch of a presidential campaign.</s>ARENA: Chief Justice William Rehnquist remains in the hospital. He's been diagnosed with thyroid cancer. His doctors aren't talking. The Supreme Court says he is expected to be on the bench when the court reconvenes next Monday.</s>WILLIAM REHNQUIST, CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE U.S. SUPREME COURT: Nothing is so dear and precious as time.</s>ARENA: Several senior government sources tell CNN the situation is far more serious than the public statement reveals, but say it's unlikely the court will elaborate, especially with one week to go before the election.</s>EDWARD LAZARUS, AUTHOR, "CLOSED CHAMBER": They don't like the idea of the Supreme Court being a sort of political football that the candidates trot out at their convenience. They want to be seen above politics.</s>ARENA: Rehnquist is described as both proud and stubborn.</s>REHNQUIST: Don't get in my way.</s>ARENA: At 80, he's the second oldest serving chief justice, a post he's held for 18 years. He joined the bench in 1972 and has led an increasingly conservative course.</s>BERENSON: The court has steadily but slowly moved more in his direction.</s>ARENA: The public knows him best from the impeachment trial of President Clinton.</s>REHNQUIST: And he hereby is acquitted of the charge in the said article.</s>ARENA: And then there was the Bush v. Gore decision four years ago. (on camera): In 2000, the Supreme Court sided with Bush in a 5-4 decision. If this election ends up in the high court as well and Rehnquist is unable to participate, that could leave the justices split 4-4. Kelly Arena, CNN, Washington.</s>O'BRIEN: All right, right back to Jeff Toobin. That is the $64,000 question. OK, the justices, let's say hypothetically, are split 4-4. What happens?</s>TOOBIN: You know, many appeals courts and even state supreme courts have procedures for using substitute justices for when there is a vacancy. Not the Supreme Court. A 4-4 decision affirms the decision of the lower court. What that would have meant four years ago is that the Florida Supreme Court would have been affirmed, the recount would have proceeded, Al Gore might be president. So that gives you an idea of how significant a vacancy can be.</s>O'BRIEN: Of course, they're saying that actually he's going to be back on the bench next week. So...</s>TOOBIN: We shall see.</s>O'BRIEN: ... we shall see. Jeff Toobin, thanks, as always -- Bill.</s>HEMMER: Twenty minutes before the hour.</s>O'BRIEN: Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, a major milestone for Google, and it's bad news for its main rival. Andy is "Minding Your Business" just ahead.</s>HEMMER: Also, an inspiring store in a moment. Six years after his leg was amputated, a Gulf War veteran gets back in the pilot seat to make history. He shares that story live in a moment on AMERICAN MORNING.