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Inside Politics

Bush Talks Transition; Gore Surrogates Say it's Not Over Yet

Aired November 10, 2000 - 5:00 p.m. ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GEORGE W. BUSH (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I understand there's still votes to be counted, but I'm in the process of planning in a responsible way a potential administration.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: George W. Bush keeps talking transition while his undecided race against Al Gore becomes even more of a political football.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES BAKER, FRM. SECRETARY OF STATE: What's happening now, if I may say so, is not in the best interest of our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERNARD SHAW, CNN ANCHOR: Bush surrogates warn the Florida recount could spin out of control and prompt tit-for-tat battles in other states.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM DALEY, GORE CAMPAIGN CHAIRMAN: Calls for a declaration of a victor before all the votes are accurately tabulated are inappropriate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WOODRUFF: Gore surrogates defend the recount process and remind Americans that it is not over yet.

ANNOUNCER: This is a special edition of INSIDE POLITICS with Judy Woodruff in Washington and Bernard Shaw at election headquarters.

SHAW: Thanks for joining us.

In the absence of a final, official vote count from Florida, both the Bush and Gore camps rushed again this day to fill the void with political spin. George W. Bush's chief observer in Florida drew something of a line in the sand. But, as our Candy Crowley reports, Bush himself, tried to send a more presidential message: that he is getting ready for the White House without jumping the gun.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): George Bush is working in two tenses: the uncertainty of what is; the possibility of what will be.

BUSH: I understand there's still votes to be counted, but I'm in the process of planning in a responsible way a potential administration.

CROLWEY: At the governor's mansion in Austin, the potentials sat beside him: Vice-Presidential Nominee Dick Cheney; Larry Lindsay, chief economic adviser; Condoleeza Rice, chief foreign policy adviser; and Andrew Card, said to be bush's first choice as chief of staff.

The Gore camp calls this transition talk presumptuous. The Bush camp calls it planning.

BUSH: There's been a series of ongoing meetings that the secretary and I've had on a variety of subjects, so that should the verdict that has been announced thus far be confirmed, we'll be ready. And I think that's what the country needs to know, that this administration would be ready to assume office and be prepared to lead.

CROWLEY: The picture and the words seem designed to send out a signal of certainty and serenity. The rough stuff was left to Bush's man on the ground in Florida.

BAKER: If we keep being put in the position of having to respond to recount after recount after recount of the same ballots, then we just can't just sit on our hands, and we will be forced to do what might be in our best personal interests.

CROWLEY: To wit, there are other squeaker states out there that can be brought back into play. Under scrutiny by Republicans: New Mexico, where Bush campaign officials are on the ground; Oregon, the Republican National Committee has personnel there; Iowa where two Republican lawyers are awaiting a final count; and Wisconsin, where Governor Tommy Thompson is the designated point man.

We hope Florida ends this, said one aide to Thompson, but if it doesn't, all bets are. Right now it's saber rattling, an effort to push back the talk of legal action from the Gore team. Republicans in touch with the Bush camp say no decisions have been made about other challenges. And the decisions will be up to Bush. They hope Florida, after the overseas vote, will end it, and the Gore team will drop legal threats.

Our first hope, said one top Republican official, is that we do not have to rip the skin off the electoral process for the outcome to be satisfactory to everyone. When you get into legal disputes about the outcomes of elections in every single county in American, it's nothing less than mutually assured destruction.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CROWLEY: In two cases, Iowa and Wisconsin, any kind of demand for a recount would have to be filed before the overseas votes have been counted in Florida. As one Republican put it, we could always put the process in place, and then draw it back -- Judy.

WOODRUFF: All right, Candy Crowley, in Austin.

As for Vice President Gore, his strategy today involved some pulling back and loosening up without ceding any ground to Governor Bush.

Here is CNN's John King.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "Relax, what's the rush?" was the vice president's unspoken message. This leisurely family outing was designed to portray an image of calm. But the Gore team is also adjusting its strategy to calm jitters among fellow Democrats: focusing more on the Florida recount and stepping away from aggressive talk of challenging the results in court.

DALEY: I hope that our friends in The bush campaign will join us in our efforts to get the fairest and most accurate vote count here in Florida.

KING: The vice president's team shrugged at suggestions from the Bush camp that if the Democrats that don't concede defeat, Republicans will demand recounts in states narrowly carried by Mr. Gore, like Iowa and Wisconsin. The Gore team's response: Go right ahead.

WARREN CHRISTOPHER, OBSERVER FOR GORE CAMPAIGN: It seems to me that the team of Governor Bush has every right to consider challenges in other states if they think that is in their interest to do so.

KING: The day's goal was to turn the focus from talk of lawyers and lawsuits to simply making sure the Florida count is accurate.

DALEY: I hope all Americans agree that the will of the people, not a computer glitch, should select our next president.

KING: The Florida results have not been certified, and won't be for at least another week. And the vice president still leads in the popular vote and the Electoral College count. So the Gore campaign makes the case that Governor Bush has no reason and no right to be in a rush to claim he is the president-elect.

DALEY: Waiting is unpleasant for all of us. But suggesting that the outcome of a vote is known before all the ballots are properly counted is inappropriate.

KING: Senators Robert Toricelli of New Jersey and John Breaux of Louisiana said publicly what many Democrats are voicing privately: that a long, drawn-out battle is not in the country's best interests. So while not ruling out a legal challenge, the Gore team said it hoped all this could be resolved through the recounts under way in several Florida counties. And House Democratic leader Dick Gephardt stepped up to help the vice president in the public-relations war.

REP. RICHARD GEPHARDT (D-MO), MINORITY LEADER: Look, if the shoe were on the other foot, I can assure you the Bush campaign would be making all these points, and, in the end, wanting what everybody should want, which is a competent, successful, conclusive election. We need to know when an election is this close who had the most votes to win the Electoral College.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KING: Note that public support from Congressman Gephardt and other Democrats focused on the recount. Democrats will support the vice president pushing for a recount in Florida. Perhaps that will take another week or so, they say. Democrats angry behind the scenes, though: They believe the Gore campaign made a major tactical mistake when it came out of the box yesterday threatening lawsuits.

WOODRUFF: John, are you suggesting now, though, that this could end once all the ballots are counted and recounted to everyone's satisfaction?

KING: You'll look over the weekend for several steps. There are a couple of counties that have already begun the recounts. The Gore campaign wants to see what the officials in those counties say. Palm Beach will have an experiment tomorrow in which it will do a limited test. And if it sees any missed numbers -- the numbers are so inconsistent with Tuesday's numbers -- they will announce a broader recount.

If the answers are consistently no, the Gore people will be under enormous pressure next week, the 17th, when the absentee ballots have to be finished counted, to call it off, if the numbers haven't changed by then. They insist that they believe they will. They think that since they have already narrowed in that unofficial count to 300- something, they believe when you go back and count the bigger counties, that the numbers will change even more.

They don't rule out, though, that if that happens -- if Palm Beach and those other counties say there is more votes for Gore and that he pulls ahead -- that the Bush camp will then say: Well, then we want a recount in the Republican counties of Florida. So this could go on a little bit, depending how these recounts turn out.

WOODRUFF: But we are looking at least another week -- at least -- are we not?

KING: At least another week: but the Gore campaign under heavy pressure from Democrats privately to try to bring it to end by then and to stop talking about going to court. They don't think the American people will support going into court. Now, if some private citizens in Florida are suing -- if they are successful -- that would of course benefit the vice president. But the Democrats are telling the Gore campaign: Stop talking about lawyers and lawsuits. That is not a case to make to the American people.

WOODRUFF: All right, John King, reporting on the Gore efforts. Thanks very much.

Well, further complicating the efforts to tally the presidential vote, New Mexico's secretary of state announced today that Gore's lead over Bush has eroded there to just 106 votes, making the winner in that state unclear. Another 515 ballots remain to be counted by hand. And 252 ballots, believed to be from a Republican area of the state are missing. A computer glitch apparently resulted in a misleading tally on election night, when Gore appeared to have won New Mexico by a solid margin.

Now, as a result of all this, CNN is taking New Mexico and its five electoral votes out of the Gore column in our electoral vote tally, and putting it in the still undecided category. That means Gore now has 255 of the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House. And Bush has 246 -- Bernie.

SHAW: Now, let's get an update on the Florida recount. For that we go to ground zero for the operation: Tallahassee, Florida, and CNN's Mike Boettcher -- Mike.

MIKE BOETTCHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Bernie.

Well, here it's a matter of process. And there are three major parts of unfinished business that we must accomplish here.

First is the official recount. Today they moved up on the number of counties which have reported officially on the recount vote. We now have 65 of 67. The vote total will change when those other two come in. We know the unofficial total, but that is from the Associated Press. That shows a gap of 327 votes. That's why the official total is very important. The one county missing is one of the big ones, that is Palm Beach County.

Now the second item of business: the overseas ballots. In this county alone, which is not a heavily populated military district, 140 of those ballots arrived in the last two days. They're expecting many more up until Friday, a week from today, when they must be counted. And the Republicans in this state say primarily those ballots are weighted towards the Republicans. They have in past elections, although the Democrats say, hold on, let's wait, let's see.

Now the third item of business to be accomplished is the matter of the hand count, which is being overseen from here. The hand-count business is a very complicated sort of thing, and there's one person in the state who really knows it well. His name is David Cartwell. If anyone knows it -- he's a former executive director of the election process here. If anyone knows it, he does.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID CARTWELL, FORMER FLORIDA ELECTIONS DIRECTOR: Every ballot has to be physically inspected. There are teams of two people each, one from each political party, that would examine the ballot, and they would have to come to an agreement if the ballot is to be registered as a change in the vote. So they will have to go through all the ballots. They can't pull out just the 19,000.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOETTCHER: So it's a very complicated business, the hand counting. Those three things must be accomplished, but they won't be accomplished until next Friday, seven days away -- Bernie.

SHAW: Thank you, Mike Boettcher, with the latest on that.

Now to Judy.

HOPKINS: And now we travel to Palm Beach County, Florida, for the latest on the controversy over the now-infamous "butterfly" ballot.

CNN's Martin Savidge joins us from West Palm Beach -- Martin.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good evening to you, Judy.

And now all eyes seem to be focusing on the recount that will take place in Palm Beach County starting tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. Actually, it's going to be two recounts. First there is going to be a recount, a partial recount, conducted by hand of about 4,000 ballots. That's about 1 percent of the votes that were cast in the presidential election in this particular county.

After that is concluded, then they will do a machine recount of all of the votes that were cast in the presidential election for Palm Beach County. That is expected, the machine at least, is expected to finish up its work after a matter of hours. However, the results of both of those recounts are not expected to be released to the public any time before Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Democratic Party officials here, even though it's a holiday, have been very busy working to gather affidavits from people who claim that they believe due to the confusing butterfly ballot that they may have misappropriately or accidentally voted for the wrong presidential candidate.

Now there are two sites that have been set up in Palm Beach County where they have been gathering these affidavits, and party officials say so far they believe they have several thousand affidavits in hand from people who believe they made an error.

So, that is pretty much how it stands outside here, the elections board. You can see it continues to be a gathering point for many people as they come to express their political opinions. They are still very much, like the rest of the nation, divided at this hour, debating sometimes heatedly, sometimes very loudly among themselves as to what happened and what should happen next.

There is one other issue that came out of last night, and that was a West Palm Beach judge that ruled for a temporary preliminary injunction. Now that would basically prevent Florida from certifying officially the results of the election. That injunction will go until Tuesday. The state, of course, has 10 days until after the election, so right now it doesn't seem to play into the official results. However, if the judge were to decide to extend that injunction, well, it could get very interesting, beyond what it already is here -- Judy.

WOODRUFF: All right, Martin Savidge in West Palm Beach, thanks very much.

Still ahead on INSIDE POLITICS, opposing views on the state of the presidential election and the recount in Florida. We'll talk with Gore adviser Ron Klain and Florida Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SHAW: As the presidential race remains in a state of suspense, due in large part to the recounts in Florida, we are joined by Gore campaign spokesman Doug Hattaway in Tallahassee, and we'll talk to Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough in Pensacola in just a moment.

We begin with Doug Hattaway. In Palm Beach County, do you support a revote?

DOUG HATTAWAY, GORE CAMPAIGN SPOKESMAN: We support whatever process that the legal system determines is going to provide a remedy to all those voters, 19,000 and some, who feel that their votes weren't counted or were discarded.

SHAW: Does vice president -- does Vice President Gore support a revote in that county?

HATTAWAY: What he supports is whatever is going to get us to a full, fair and accurate count in this election. This is about the voters making sure that their voices were heard. A number of voters are bringing legal action. It's up to the courts to determine what remedy there is. I think that is only one option of a number of remedies.

SHAW: How long do you intend to pursue this process?

HATTAWAY: I understand that the authorities here who are in charge of this process are moving expeditiously to reach a conclusion. Everybody is frustrated. But I think the founders were wise in giving us this time after elections to work things out like this. It's only been three days and I think that process is moving ahead, as it should.

I think the bottom line is it's about the voters. The campaign is over, and our people are focused here on making sure that the people's votes here are counted so that their voice is heard, that we have a full, fair and accurate count.

SHAW: Doug Hattaway, how are you and the vice president responding to the rumblings, the criticisms within your party that it was a major tactical mistake to talk about threatening lawsuits yesterday? HATTAWAY: I think we're focused on the bottom line of ensuring that this process is fair to everybody and that the voters' voices are heard. I think, you know, the campaign is over. We're shifting to a legal fact-finding process, trying to make sure that people whose votes weren't counted or thrown out have the remedies they seek.

The voting -- the counting isn't even done yet. So I don't think we are responding to criticism of tactics, because the bottom line here is it's about the people of Florida making sure they have a full, fair and accurate count.

SHAW: So you're not listening to critics within your own party who say it was a mistake to threaten lawsuits?

HATTAWAY: I think everybody -- well, I think we're looking at several factors in determining who won the popular vote here in Florida. The absentee ballots that haven't come in yet from overseas, the recount that the secretary of state is doing, and a matter of 19,000 votes in Palm Beach -- voters there have already said they are bringing forth legal action to make sure that they have some remedy.

And what we have simply said is that we may support some legal actions by voters. So, you know, people -- I can understand people being frustrated by the process taking a little time here, but it's still very early in the process, there's no crisis at hand; and, you know, again, the campaign is over. It's time to focus on the voters here and make sure that their voice is heard. That's really what it's all about.

SHAW: Is that what you're telling your Republican counterparts also?

HATTAWAY: Well, I think it would behoove both sides to, you know, watch our language, as Secretary Christopher said today. There's no crisis at hand; this is part of our process. Where it stands right now, Al Gore won the popular votes all across the United States he got more votes than anybody running for president other than Ronald Reagan. He's ahead in the Electoral College as well.

We believe that a full, fair and accurate count here in Florida will show that Al Gore won it. But you know what? The count's not done yet, so everyone needs to take a breath, relax, let the authorities here in Florida carry through with the legal process that's underway. It's part of the process, the count that's going on now, the absentee ballots that are coming in that still need to be counted.

You know, it's Veterans Day, we need to think about the men and women in uniform overseas who took the time to send in a ballot, make sure their voices are heard. And the people in Palm Beach, 19,000 of whom were confused by a ballot that's, apparently, illegal came out to vote on Tuesday. I think they deserve the chance to make sure their votes were counted properly.

SHAW: Well, wait a minute, just a moment. When you say a ballot that is illegal -- says who? HATTAWAY: Legal experts here in Florida familiar with Florida law tell us they believe very strongly that the ballot that was used in Palm Beach County -- it was the only county in the state that used a ballot like this -- that confused, obviously, so many people, was illegal.

SHAW: Doug Hattaway for the Gore campaign, thanks very much for joining us.

Now to Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough.

You just heard Mr. Hattaway -- your response.

REP. JOE SCARBOROUGH (R), FLORIDA: Well, I'll tell you, it's a 180-degree turn, and I think the reason why is exactly what you were citing, Bernie.

First of all, the Gore campaign was criticized by "The New York Times" this morning in which Bill Schneider got an honorable mention for saying things like he just said: that the ballot was illegal. In fact, "The New York Times" said that Vice President Gore escalated the atmosphere of combat surrounding the presidential election by going to court or threatening to sue before we even finished the first round of counts.

Now, they were also criticized by "The New York Times;" "The Washington Post" called Bill Daley reckless for invoking the language of constitutional crisis. They have been remarkably reckless these last two days, and now they're demanding a third recount; and I've got to tell you, I agree with "The New York Times" and "The Washington Post" and "The Wall Street Journal" that this Gore campaign team, over the past two days, has pushed us to the brink of a constitutional crisis by their language; and now you look at New Mexico...

SHAW: Congressman, Congressman -- let me interrupt you for a moment.

SCARBOROUGH: Sure.

SHAW: How can the country be on the brink of a constitutional crisis because of mere word, hot words, uttered by both the Democrats and your side?

SCARBOROUGH: Well, and again, I'm looking at "The New York Times" editorial from this morning, which I'm sure you and everybody there has read, and what they're talking about is, by their language, by invoking the words of a constitutional crisis; by, as "The Washington Post" said...

SHAW: Well, I'm just asking you, how can there be a crisis because of words?

SCARBOROUGH: And I am, I am; because we see what's happened today in New Mexico. And if you start pulling this apart and asking for five or six or seven recounts to get the desired result -- now you see New Mexico open, and now we hear California's going to be reopened. We're hearing reports of unprecedented voter fraud in Los Angeles and San Francisco...

SHAW: And your point?

SCARBOROUGH: My point is that we had an election, Bush won. We had a recount, Bush won. What we need to do is we need to be patient, we need to wait and see what the military overseas ballots do, and then we need to accept the election. We need to accept the recount, and we need -- whoever it is, George Bush or Al Gore -- we need to let somebody begin the transition to become the 43rd president of the United States. We can't be reckless anymore.

SHAW: I only have time for one more question; but, again I go back to the original question sparked by your use of your phrase "constitutional crisis." The United States of America is not in a constitutional crisis right now?

SCARBOROUGH: Absolutely not.

SHAW: Correct.

SCARBOROUGH: All I'm doing is quoting "The New York Times," which said -- the Gore associates are using the language of a constitutional crisis.

SHAW: But I want to know what you think. I want to know what you think about this talk of a revote.

SCARBOROUGH: Well, we've had a -- well, no, there's not going to be a revote. And any statements that Florida law would suggest that this ballot, which Palm Beach County used before is illegal in Florida -- you know, they know that's not the truth.

SHAW: OK.

SCARBOROUGH: It's simply -- there is not a nonpartisan attorney who knows election law in Florida that would say it's illegal, because what they are saying is that you have to have a vote on the left-hand side of the name. Actually, that's not the case. That's for counties that have paper ballots. The next chapter in Florida law says for counties that have electronic ballots, it can be on the left-hand side or the right-hand side. They know that. It's a clear reading of the law. And once again, they're trying to cloud an issue. We've had two elections. We don't need to have this decided in the courts.

SHAW: Thanks very much for joining us, Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough.

SCARBOROUGH: Thank you.

SHAW: You are quite welcome -- Judy.

WOODRUFF: And much more ahead on this extended edition of INSIDE POLITICS. Still to come: are there more recounts on the horizon? A look at the concerns and close races, from Wisconsin to New Mexico. Plus...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GEORGE W. BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What the country needs to know, that this administration will be ready to assume office and be prepared to lead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WOODRUFF: ... George W. Bush considers his Cabinet choices in preparation for the possible transition to the White House.

And later: Is the presidential contest causing uncertainty in the markets? A financial update ahead, here on INSIDE POLITICS.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SHAW: The recount in Florida still officially under way. Now, claims of voter irregularities in Wisconsin and razor-thin margins in three other states raise the possibility of more recounts.

Pat Neal takes a closer look at how three states could become the next battlegrounds of Election 2000.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAT NEAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Wisconsin, Republicans are asking the Milwaukee district attorney to investigate claims of voter irregularities.

RICHARD GRABER, WISCONSIN GOP CHAIRMAN: These concerns range from the improper handling of marked ballots to voters being told they had voted when in fact they had not to voters being given multiple ballots.

NEAL: Al Gore won Wisconsin by just 6,000 votes. Republicans do not claim Democrats were behind any of these new problems. But in another incident, recorded by a local Milwaukee TV station, Republicans are crying fouls over claims a Democratic volunteer offered cigarettes to homeless people in exchange for casting a vote for Gore. The D.A. is already looking into this charge.

MARVIN PRATT, MILWAUKEE CITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT: There was a 6,000-vote margin here in the state, and Al Gore and Joe Lieberman won this state.

NEAL: Wisconsin elections officials doubt any irregularities would change the outcome of the state's decision, but efforts here and in many other states show Republicans are ready to fight fire with fire, if necessary.

(on camera): There is no automatic recount in Wisconsin. The Bush campaign will likely wait until the official tally here is complete next week before deciding whether to request one.

(voice-over): In Iowa, another state Gore narrowly won, absentee ballots will keep trailing in until next week. There, the margin between George Bush and Al Gore is .2 of 1 percent. CHET CULVER, IOWA SECRETARY OF STATE: We'll look at each county and we'll see if there are any aberrations or anything that doesn't look like it would be in the normal flow.

NEAL: Under Iowa state law, if the margin is less than 1 percent, a candidate may ask for a recount. Republicans are talking with county auditors while the Bush campaign is mulling over a recount request.

Even though there's been no declared winner yet in Oregon, a recount is almost certain. With 98 percent of the precincts reporting, Gore leads by .3 of 1 percent. Under state law, if the final margin is only .2 of one percent, a recount is automatic. In all these states, Republicans of the Bush campaign are moving in teams to investigate and lay the groundwork for recounts if Florida doesn't go Bush's way.

Pat Neal, CNN, Milwaukee.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WOODRUFF: Well, joining us to talk more about events in Florida and possible challenges to vote counts in other states, Ron Brownstein of "The Los Angeles Times."

Ron, do you think it's certain that the Gore people will pursue this, assuming the final recount, absentee ballot count and all of the rest of it in Florida does not end up in their favor?

RON BROWNSTEIN, "THE LOS ANGELES TIMES": No, I don't think it's certain at all. I think that is a decision they very much feel they have not made yet and probably don't have to make that this point. It is a momentous decision, obviously, whether to pursue this in court.

One school of thought says, look it is the voters in Florida who are pursuing this. Who are we to stop them? How could we stop them? But in fact, of course, if Al Gore got up at the end of next week and said, you know, I concede, the odds are that a judge would take that into account and possibly dismiss the cases. But they are nowhere near that decision at this point and I think it's going to be several days before a consensus begins to form inside the Gore camp.

WOODRUFF: How much of their decision, do you think, will hinge on what the Bush camp is now saying maybe potential challenges on their part across the country?

BROWNSTEIN: I think the order may be more reversed. I mean, I think the question is, will the Bush camp respond to litigation from the Gore side in Florida with challenges elsewhere? And I suspect that they will.

At the moment, we have a little bit of a balance of terror here, like in the old arms race days, where neither side wants to fire the next missile out of a fear that they will look as though they're trying to undermine the popular will. Democrats in New Hampshire, for instance, talked about possibly pursuing a recount there. But they now say the possibility is very remote. Republicans are obviously talking about Iowa and Wisconsin, and what makes all this so intriguing and so tempting is that both sides are so close that 270 electoral vote margin that if you could tip some of these states through a recount, you might be able to keep Bush or Gore for that matter under 270 even if Florida goes their way.

WOODRUFF: What are the people you're talking to, Ron, say about which side is coming out better in the court of public opinion?

BROWNSTEIN: I don't think anybody really knows that yet. I think that's -- it's a really intriguing question. I think both sides feel they have not yet seriously misstepped.

The Bush camp may have misstepped a little bit by suggesting the other day it was going to name its transition team. My sources tell me they were planning to announce it as soon as Florida certified him the winner, perhaps as soon as last night or this morning. They obviously decided not to do that.

As you mentioned, there are some Democrats who feel that the Gore camp overstepped by threatening litigation even before the final vote tally.

Both sides are doing this with one eye on the courts and one eye on the court of public opinion. I think neither wants to be seen as undermining the popular will, or for that matter, on the other side, be presumptuous in trying to grab the presidency before it's really theirs.

WOODRUFF: And just quickly, Ron, not an easy question to answer in a few seconds, but will the American people who favored the losing candidate be able to accept the result?

BROWNSTEIN: No, I think that's an easy question to answer. I think that we will have half the country feeling they were robbed no matter what. Even Solomon could not come up with a right solution at this point.

If you leave the vote the way it is in Florida, Democrats will forever believe that Al Gore actually won. If you have a revote in Palm Beach, there is no way that you could create the environment of election day. People who voted for Nader, for instance, will probably switch over to Gore, and Republicans will feel they were robbed.

It will put an extraordinary burden on the next president to reach out across party lines, perhaps in ways we've never seen in American history, to try to bring in the other side, because, Judy, the other point is this was as close to a tie as we've had in an American political election since 1980.

The Senate could be tied. The popular vote could be the second- narrowest majority ever if Bush wins. The popular vote is as close as it gets. We really have an evenly divided the country, and the next president would have a hard enough time even without this. And with this, the burden will be very high for him to try to bring everybody together.

WOODRUFF: And that's the toughest part of it all.

BROWNSTEIN: Absolutely.

WOODRUFF: Ron Brownstein, thanks a lot.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks, Judy.

WOODRUFF: Coming up next on INSIDE POLITICS, George W. Bush moving ahead with plans for what he hopes will be a Bush White House.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SHAW: Despite the recount in Florida and despite sharp criticism from the Gore campaign, George W. Bush said today he is going ahead with plans for a new administration.

CNN's Tony Clark reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TONY CLARK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): George W. Bush met with his international policy and economic advisers Friday, as he makes preliminary plans for the new administration he believes he will head.

BUSH: Should the verdict that has been announced thus far be confirmed, we'll be ready. And I think that's what the country needs to know, that this administration will be ready to assume office and be prepared to lead.

CLARK: The Gore campaign and other Democrats have criticized the Bush campaign's talk of a transition effort, calling it a public relations ploy to make Bush appear to be the president-elect. And University of Texas government professor Bruce Buchanan says being too obvious about the transition before the election is resolved could hurt Bush.

BRUCE BUCHANAN, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS: It could backfire, I think, create the -- create ill will in the minds of those with whom they'll have to work in the Congress if they do wind up capturing the White House.

CLARK: But observers also note that even under normal circumstances a president-elect just has two months between election and inauguration to get a staff organized and set out policies, which may leave Bush, a Texas governor with little Washington experience, no choice but to get the process moving.

PAUL LIGHT, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: This is a fixed target here. The transition is a very brief very moment of time. And if they don't do some transition planning today, they are going to be in serious trouble Inauguration Day.

CLARK: During the campaign, Mr. Bush insisted he was running as something more than just the son of a former president. But during the recount battle and the transition planning, Bush has turned to key players in his father's administration. Besides his running mate, former Bush Defense Secretary Dick Cheney, bush his turned to former Secretary of State James Baker to oversee the Florida recount.

Former Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff Colin Powell is being discussed as a possible secretary of state.

Condoleeza Rice, who was part of President Bush's national security team is being touted for a key adviser role.

And Andy Card, former secretary of transportation, is expected to manage the Bush transition, if and when it formally begins.

Professor Buchanan says those ties to the elder administration can make a possible transition smoother.

(on camera): In Washington, two floors of a downtown building are vacant and waiting to house the president-elect's transition team. The only question is who's transition team will occupy them.

Tony Clark, CNN, Austin, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WOODRUFF: Just ahead, resolving the presidential election. The options and the long-term impact with Al Hunt and Bob Novak.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D), NEW YORK SEN.-ELECT: I believe strongly that in a democracy, we should respect the will of the people. And to me, that means it's time to do away with the electoral college and move to the popular election of our presidents.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHAW: Senator-elect Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York saying she is prepared to co-sponsor a constitutional amendment to abolish the Electoral College. There has been much discussion about that course of action as a result of this historic presidential race.

Joining us now, Al Hunt of "The Wall Street Journal" and Bob Novak of the "Chicago Sun-Times."

Clearly it would take time to dismantle the bricks in the Electoral College. In the meantime, you have the situation in Florida.

Do you gentlemen have any options for resolving this crisis, Al Hunt? AL HUNT, "WALL STREET JOURNAL": Well, I think the importance here is not the speed of the resolution, Bernie, but the acceptance of the validity of the election. To my way of thinking, I think the only way to do that is to have a revote of the whole state of Florida, not just Palm Beach County. I think that is the only way people would accept it as valid. That is what happened when you had a contested Senate race 25 years ago. It worked. But to be frank, I think the only way that could occur would be if both sides agree to it and I think there is almost no chance of that happening.

(CROSSTALK)

SHAW: Go ahead, Bob.

ROBERT NOVAK, "CHICAGO SUN-TIMES": You know there is, Bernie, there's a contested election in New Mexico. They're challenging Wisconsin by the Republicans. Democrats are challenging in New Hampshire. So, if Al thinks a revote is very good, why don't we have a revote for the whole country? And then let's have another six months of campaigning, too. You know, so I think that we better stick to what happened on November 7th as messy and as inadequate as it was.

SHAW: Al, do you think that the combatants -- and that's what they are in this case -- the Gore and the Bush camps would even think about suggesting that, proposing that? that all Floridians, be allowed to march back into the polling place?

HUNT: Well, I think that it's highly doubtful, as I said a moment ago. And Florida really is quite a different situation than those other states that my dear friend just cited. I mean, you are talking, now, about 350 votes. But also, this -- we have a while to go in this. There are a number of ballots that are going to be hand- counted now. I don't know what the final number may be. If one candidate wins that state by a couple of thousand votes, I think that's quite different than winning it by a couple hundred votes.

NOVAK: I think New Mexico, Al, is down to about 150 with about 200 missing.

HUNT: But of course, New Mexico doesn't affect the outcome.

NOVAK: It could in the long run. The interesting thing to me is that the Gore people have really modified their rhetoric. They're not talking about going to court. And it's not only that they've gotten a bad reaction in the -- from the fellow Democrats. They think they can win this recount now, and the way they're going to win it is that in Broward County, they're going to look at these ballots and divine the intent of the voters. They say, you really intended to vote for Gore, even though you didn't punch through as required by law. This is really dangerous stuff.

It could be contested in court if the all-Democratic canvassing committee in Broward County, all three of them, agree to that. And then, you know what might happen, Bernie, is we might not have the 25 electors from Florida's certified by December 18th, when the electoral college votes. And that would be OK as of now with the Gore people, because they would have the edge and win the presidency without a full electoral college.

HUNT: Bernie, that is a make-believe crisis. That is utter, complete nonsense. I mean, there are 6,000 people in Broward County, 10,000 people in Palm Beach County who blanked the vote for president. You look at those ballots, you see if it went halfway through and if the machine didn't, you count it, if it didn't you don't count it. This is just utter nonsense. There is -- there is no crisis in this country right now.

SHAW: Hear this very simply worded question. We know about the dates. We know that a week from today, all of the absentee ballots will be in Florida. We know about December 18th, when the electoral college members, the electors gather. We know about January 6th, when the House of Representatives sits down to certify the election.

My simple question to you is this: At what point should one of these presidential candidates, Gore or Bush, at what point should somebody concede?

NOVAK: I think they have to concede when they know it is lost, but this is going to be a long time coming, Bernie. And please, I hope people will pay attention to what I'm saying -- they're going to have lawyers and politicians looking at ballots to say this person meant to vote for Al Gore, even though it didn't come through, they didn't push the punch hard enough. This is really, I think, a tremendous precedent for America. It's a real problem. I don't think it'll stand. But you might, as I repeat, you might not have those votes in the Electoral College.

HUNT: Bernie, I pay careful attention to what Bob's saying and he's just simply wrong on this score. I think if this is a protracted struggle there will be tremendous pressure for the person who is behind in the vote to concede. But this is not a protracted struggle yet. I don't think any serious Democrat, a Tom Daschle or Chris Dodd, a Bob Graham -- they aren't saying, let's finish this thing in the next couple days. Let it run its course. If we get to Thanksgiving and beyond, then you may have trouble.

NOVAK: That's because the Democrats think they are going to win the recount. But the way they win the recount, Bernie, may be a little fishy. I think it's OK to talk about fish in Florida, I think.

SHAW: And besides, it's Friday.

HUNT: That's right.

SHAW: Bob Novak, Al Hunt, thanks very much.

HUNT: Thank you, Bernie.

SHAW: You're welcome.

Well, when we come back, Wall Street's response to the election deadlock. We will have a live report from New York.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WOODRUFF: The election limbo has investors on edge. Stocks were hammered again today.

Joining us in New York to talk more about this: Stuart Varney of the "MONEYLINE NEWS HOUR."

Stu, tell us, just how is the election uncertainty playing on the markets?

STUART VARNEY, "MONEYLINE" CO-HOST: I think you have to remember, Judy, that before this election uncertainty occurred we had investors anxious about the state of the economy; it is slowing down. Anxious, also, about corporate profits. They are being reduced; anxious also about higher oil prices, which has produced a little blip up in inflation.

If you then overlay extreme political uncertainty on top of that backdrop, you have stocks sliding. In times of uncertainty, you don't buy stocks, you sell. You run for cover and take your money off the table, and that's what happened today.

The blue chip sell-off was really fast and furious today, lead by financial and tech stocks. Among them IBM, Hewlett-Packard and J.P. Morgan sending the Dow down 231 points at 10600. That comes out to a 2 percent loss. Even worse showing on the Nasdaq, actually. It was way down by sharp losses in Sun, Intel, Microsoft and Dell, which reported disappointing sales numbers. The index dropped more than 5 percent, finishing the day down 171 at 3028. That sell-off brought the Nasdaq to its lowest closing level in one year. Including today's sell-off, the index is down 25 percent, year-to-date.

What's next? We'll ask Jack Brennan on "MONEYLINE" tonight. He runs the second-largest mutual fund company in America.

Now, stock prices may be sensitive to the uncertainty, but two common indicators of political instability bucked the typical trend. The dollar shrugged off the Florida recount -- it actually gained some ground today; and gold, a long-time safe haven, actually slipped today -- Judy.

WOODRUFF: All right, Stuart Varney, we look forward to hearing all that.

There's even more INSIDE POLITICS ahead. The latest on this race for the White House -- the recount in Florida and the amazing events of the past four days.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SHAW: The political gamesmanship continues as the would-be presidents await the final recount in Florida.

WOODRUFF: We'll continue our focus on the battle over ballots in the sunshine state with an eye toward the problems in Palm Beach.

SHAW: With all that is going on, is it possible to find one political play of the week?

ANNOUNCER: This is a special edition of INSIDE POLITICS. Once again, Bernard Shaw at election headquarters and Judy Woodruff in Washington.

WOODRUFF: Welcome back to this extended edition of INSIDE POLITICS.

One of the only things the Bush and Gore camp seem to agree on is the fact that the final results of the Florida recount and the presidential election will not be known for a number of days. Beyond that, the partisan bickering continues with Bush surrogates warning Gore's team not to prolong the process.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BAKER: For the good of the country and for the sake of our standing in the world, the campaigning should end and the business of an orderly transition should begin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DALEY: All we're trying to do is see this election be completed according to the laws, obviously, and the people of Florida, not us, are the ones that want to see this election completed according to the laws of Florida.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WOODRUFF: Vice President Gore tried today to appear less uptight about the election uncertainty while Governor Bush cautiously moved ahead with the presidential transition process.

Our Candy Crowley is covering Bush in Austin, Texas, and our John King is covering Gore here in Washington.

Candy, as far as the Bush people are concerned, it's a matter of waiting for this recount to be done with?

CROWLEY: It is. Now, they're talking about the overseas votes, which obviously depending on how many there are, you know, could make a difference. They're quite confident that the overseas vote, which historically they say has favored Republicans, will simply expand the lead they say he now has.

What you heard and what they're upset about and what we heard through James Baker and others in the Bush campaign is that they go through a recount and then they feel the Gore campaign says, OK, now let's hand recount, and that they're just looking for a way to make this election the way they want it.

The Bush campaign says we've had a count and then we've had a recount, and now we need to wait for the overseas ballots. So, that's the view from their vantage point. WOODRUFF: And John King, from the Gore perspective, it's not just the recount and the waiting for the absentee ballots that are going to satisfy them necessarily, right?

KING: Well, they hope so. They have been warned by other Democrats to stop talking about taking this to court. Now, some individuals already are, so let that run its course, the Gore campaign is being told.

What they hope is then, as Candy said, the Bush campaign doesn't want this hand recount. But some counties are already doing it, at least on a limited basis. So what the Gore campaign hopes to hear by Monday or Tuesday, perhaps even early signs over the weekend, that they are indeed making up ground and perhaps even pulling ahead. Then those absentee ballots from overseas.

And then the Gore campaign doesn't rule out that if indeed they do pull ahead, through the hand recount, that the Bush campaign then will counter by asking for a hand recount from the Republican counties.

So this could go on and on, tactically back and forth. The one thing the Gore campaign is trying to do now is talk much less about lawyers, because they've been warned by Democrats that doesn't play well with the American people.

WOODRUFF: Just quickly to both of you, Candy, in the meantime, literally in limbo, the Bush people?

CROWLEY: Well, in limbo, but you know, I think as we saw today the Bush campaign is not trying to hide the fact that they do have some skeletal transition plans out there. Bush is meeting with foreign policy adviser Condoleezza Rice and with Larry Lindsey, who's his chief economic policy adviser.

So they say, look, you know, there's not that much time to plan a transition. The Gore camp keeps saying they're arrogant. But they say, we're just -- we're planning because we have to do that and we really owe that to the American people should this vote, with the overseas votes, come our way.

WOODRUFF: And John, the same thing, the Gore people literally zeroed in on this balloting question.

KING: Zeroed in on the recount. What they say about the Bush transition planning is they don't begrudge them the planning. They think it's arrogant to talk about it in public.

Gore campaign people are planning privately. They also say that obviously, having been vice president, Mr. Gore has a pretty good idea about who he would want in senior administration posts.

The one thing the Gore campaign keeps taking offense to, as Secretary Baker said, they want the vice president to concede he has lost. The Gore people say, we don't have a winner, Florida has yet to certify the results, so how can we have a loser? WOODRUFF: All right, John King here in Washington, Candy Crowley in Austin, thank you both -- Bernie.

SHAW: Of course, in Florida, much of the recount controversy stems from Palm Beach County. A circuit court judge has issued an injunction freezing certification of ballots in that county until she can hear arguments Tuesday in a civil lawsuit filed by two voters.

CNN's Mark Potter looks at the legal issues involving Palm Beach's allegedly confusing ballot.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is for people who double-punch their ballots.

MARK POTTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At the Palm Beach County Democratic headquarters, volunteers took affidavits from voters who say they were confused by their presidential ballot. They claim they may have voted for the wrong candidate or voted twice, which disqualified them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is this true and correct?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm sure it is.

POTTER: Party officials say they have heard from thousands of residents and are gathering all their statements in case the Gore campaign decides to file a lawsuit. An attorney specializing in election law was on hand, but the party would not confirm whether it is preparing legal action.

JAMAL SIMMONS, DNC SPOKESMAN: This isn't just one, you know, small mixup or problem. There's something very serious that's going on here. We want take a really close look at it before we come to any conclusions.

POTTER: Over and over, the party says, it has heard from Democrats who say they accidentally voted for Pat Buchanan.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am confused, and I believe I voted Buchanan, and it's just tearing me apart that I could actually do a thing like that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I looked up and I saw Gore's name, but then when I went to push the pin, it ended up on Buchanan.

POTTER: The party also argues poll workers weren't always willing to give out new ballots when voters complained they made a mistake.

PEYTON MCARTHUR, PALM BEACH DEMOCRATIC PARTY: But in all too many cases, they were told, well, there's nothing we can do about it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good morning, Democratic headquarters. POTTER: A law firm in West Palm Beach, which supports the Democratic Party, continues to operate a hotline, taking calls from concerned voters, urging them to fill out affidavits.

SIMMONS: It's a very close race in Florida, and we need to be patient and deliberate, yet move at a steady speed to be able to resolve this issue for the American people.

POTTER: But an adviser to the Bush-Cheney campaign says it is time to bring all this to an end.

TUCKER ESKEW, BUSH CAMPAIGN ADVISER: There has been a vote. There's been a recount. It's time to get over disappointment with the result and move forward.

POTTER: On Saturday morning, Palm Beach County election officials will begin their second vote recount.

(on camera): Several lawsuits have already been filed by voters. But Florida's top election officials say the presidential ballot in Palm Beach County was legal, and despite the complaints, say there was nothing wrong with the way it was designed.

Mark Potter, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SHAW: And when we return, Bill Schneider joins us with his political "Play of the Week."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SHAW: This presidential election that is still being played out is one we will always remember.

Here now with his reflections on the past week, our Bill Schneider.

SCHNEIDER: Bernie, we have just been through the wildest week in American political history. Now was there a "Play of the Week" in there somewhere?

Let's review the bidding.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): Monday, election eve: polls show the presidential race neck-and-neck. Sensing how close things are, the candidates campaign for every last vote.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: What a great way to start the last day of a presidential campaign.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GORE: You fling open the door to the warm rays of that sun, and you pick up the newspaper and it says, Gore-Lieberman win, Missouri wins. Let's do it. Let's vote tomorrow, thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHNEIDER: That's not exactly what happened. It was more like, well, this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIT HUME, FOX ANCHOR: Fox News projects that Al Gore will carry the state of Florida.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHAW: Stand by, stand by. CNN right now is moving our earlier declaration of Florida back to the too-close-to-call column.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN WILLIAMS, MSNBC ANCHOR: George W. Bush, the governor of Texas, is projected now to win the presidency of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN RATHER, CBS ANCHOR: The CBS News has now, for the second time tonight, pulled back Florida.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DALEY: Until the results -- the recount is concluded and the results in Florida become official, our campaign continues.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHNEIDER: The voters spoke, but what did they say? Look at the results. A near-tie in the national popular vote with Gore leading by less than one quarter of 1 percent of the vote. A close call in the electoral vote with neither candidate getting a 270 vote majority.

When an election is so close, it gives the impression the voters are deeply polarized. But it can also mean something else. Namely, that voters can't make up their minds. They see things they like and dislike about both parties and both candidates. In Tuesday's exit poll, about one-third of voters said Gore was the candidate who reflected their view of government. A third said Bush, and a third saw no difference between them. That is not a polarized electorate. The candidates seemed to understand that, at first.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GORE: Despite the fact that Joe Lieberman and I won the popular vote, under our Constitution it is the winner of the Electoral College that will be the next president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: Secretary Cheney and I will do everything in our power to unite the nation, to call upon the best, to bring people together after one of the most exciting elections in our history.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHNEIDER: But almost immediately, the situation deteriorated and the country seemed on the verge of a political civil war. One side threatened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DALEY: I believe that their actions to try to presumptively crown themselves the victors, to try to put in place a transition, run the risk of dividing the American people and creating a sense of confusion. Let the legal system run its course.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHNEIDER: The other side counter-threatened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BAKER: What if we insisted on recounts in other states that today are very, very close, for example in Wisconsin or in Iowa?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHNEIDER: So, where are we? Back to where we were on election eve: a neck-and-neck race. No winner, and a tough, hand-to-hand campaign for every last vote. This was the week that was. And what it was, was the political "Play of the Week."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCHNEIDER: Now just think of it as the longest election night in history. And if we all go to sleep tonight, maybe we'll wake up and discover it was all a dream -- Bernie.

SHAW: As long as it's a constitutional dream. SCHNEIDER: That's the requirement.

SHAW: Thank you, Bill Schneider.

SCHNEIDER: Sure.

SHAW: And INSIDE POLITICS will return in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SHAW: This is a very emotional time for me, but please permit me to share a decision with you, our viewers across the United States and around the world, and to share with every woman, every woman, every man working so hard day and night for my favorite network: I am leaving CNN.

I am stepping back from the table to write books, including an autobiography. Also, I am leaving to give back to my wifely friend, Linda, her husband and to our adult daughter Anil (ph) and son, Amar (ph), their father. Their sacrifices have kept me here this long.

Over the years, I have had a role in meeting your expectations of CNN. However, there is a collage of hands, shoulders and minds unknown to you. Their weighty and talented presence are the heart, the soul of CNN, Ted Turner's vision of informing an entire planet.

My best time has been simply being here, helping to do what attracts you, our viewers, your demand to be informed instantly with knowledgeable context and insight. And to you around the world and across our great land here in the United States, more than your praise I have valued your criticism and your suggestions. Scrutiny can be instructive.

Harder than entering this business, is leaving it and leaving CNN, especially after 20 years here. But you know, some roses are so fragrant. And as a gardener, I want to grow and smell them more -- when I'm not writing.

From time to time, I hope to pull up a chair to the CNN table. After all, we are quite a family here.

By my last day, February 28th, early next year, I expect to be hoarse from "thank yous" and limp from hugging goodbyes. But that's to come later.

For now, thank you -- Judy.

WOODRUFF: Bernie, I hate to...

(APPLAUSE)

WOODRUFF: Bernie, that's the newsroom in Atlanta responding from the heart of every one of them.

I wish I were there in Atlanta to give you one of those first hugs right now. This is a day that no one at CNN wanted to have come, and I know I speak for everyone at this news organization when I say how hard it will be to see you go. But at the same time, we know that you will love having the time and the space to write and to be with your beautiful family.

I'm going to have more to say later. We have a full three and a half months to bid you farewell. But for now, I want our audience to know what a joy it has been for me to be your professional partner for the past seven years and to work alongside one of the pillars of journalistic integrity.

Beyond that, I'm going to let our colleague Bruce Morton remind us all of what Bernie Shaw has meant to CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRUCE MORTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Bernie Shaw and CNN? He was like Adam in Eden, present at the creation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHAW: You can depend on us being here all the time -- and please pass the word.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MORTON: All the time? Yes, all the time. Take a minute and remember the last 20 years. You hear his voice.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHAW: Details are very sketchy at this moment. We are told that shots were fired at his party as he left the hotel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MORTON: Bernie and Saddam Hussein.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHAW: You say if God wills war, there will be war. What is going to happen?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MORTON: Then he reported on what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHAW: The skies over Baghdad have been illuminated. This is thunder, this is lightning, this is death -- this is hell.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHAW: We were just told by the government of China that the government will pull the plug. That is why we are rushing to get our report on the air to you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MORTON: The Chinese government did shut down the satellites. CNN gave tape to departing travelers, fed video freeze frames on fax machines. Bernie kept telling the world what was happening. He covered everything, an earthquake in Los Angeles...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHAW: But there's no visible panic in the streets. In fact, there are not people in the streets. It's just -- I'm surprised that the switchboard and the phones are working at our hotel because it really was a big one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MORTON: Wars, earthquakes, the death of a princess. He was in a hotel across from the palace where Diana had lived...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHAW: And I would go across the road into Kensington Garden, and at 2:00, 3:00, 4:00 in the morning -- no exaggeration -- people were bringing flowers, bouquets, roses. And the flowers just continued to stack up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MORTON: ... the Oklahoma City bombing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHAW: One thought about the people in this state, these Oklahomans. They are tough people. They have pride. They're deeply religious. They have what I like to call "loving grit." I do not think one terrorist bomb, with all the carnage, will shatter either the faith or the future of the people of Oklahoma.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MORTON: He has covered just about everything. He interviewed just about everybody, all these folks among others. He has covered everything, but politics was always special.

SHAW: Without a second thought, my favorite program -- and this is heresy to say -- but my favorite program in all of television, not just on my favorite program, CNN, my favorite program is INSIDE POLITICS, five days a week for an entire hour, nothing but politics. Of course, the greatest time for us is during a presidential campaign year.

MORTON: An early memory: the GOP convention in 1980.

SHAW: I had finished a cut-in, and we were the only ones in the hall, to the point that the hall was darkened except for the lights on the stage, of course, our lights way up in the rafters. I looked in and who is walking out on the stage but Ronald Wilson Reagan, the great communicator, they called him. And what he was doing was coming into the hall to rehearse his acceptance speech. So I quickly told Atlanta what was going on, and we put it on the air live.

MORTON: Bernie has always liked questions that startled the interviewee. His most famous may have been to Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis in 1988.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHAW: Governor, if Kitty Dukakis were raped and murdered, would you favor an irrevocable death penalty for the killer?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MORTON: Dukakis, who needed to show some emotion, didn't.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. MICHAEL DUKAKIS (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No, I don't, Bernard...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MORTON: And, of course, he's anchored the amazing puzzle of this campaign and its aftermath.

SHAW: Well, if you are just joining us, just waking up, I hate to sound repetitious, but assuming that you might be getting up and wondering, are these people still here, yes, we are.

MORTON: What is it about Bernie? Judy Woodruff, his co-anchor, knows him better than most.

WOODRUFF: And what makes me so comfortable with him is that he is completely knowledgeable about the story. He is a complete professional in his approach to talking to the audience. He is articulate, he is enthusiastic, he is smart. I mean, you pull it all together, and he is the consummate television news man.

MORTON: More than most, Bernard Shaw has lived through the history of his time -- lived it, written it, made it come alive for others.

SHAW: That camera does not lie, and that's what I like most.

MORTON: Maybe a last word from the first day, 20 years ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHAW: You can depend on us being here all the time -- and please pass the word.

(END VIDEO CLIP) MORTON: And now one of us, the main man here, is leaving. One thing, Bernie: You've got to stay until they get this election sorted out. Trying to figure out who won just wouldn't be the same without you.

SHAW: It's not over. It simply is not over.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WOODRUFF: And we can't tell you how many people have been involved. We're not wrapping up here by any means.

SHAW: Well, I will say, Bruce, I thank you.

WOODRUFF: Bernie, you have a few more gray hairs. This organization is far richer for your having spent the last 20 months. But I will remind you again you've got three and a half months. We're not letting you off the hook so easily. We're going to spend a good amount of time between now and the end of February talking about and you this network.

SHAW: Thank you, Judy. I do not want to be left off the hook.

WOODRUFF: Well, we won't. INSIDE POLITICS won't be the same.

That's it for this Friday edition of INSIDE POLITICS. I'm Judy Woodruff in Washington.

SHAW: And I'm Bernard Shaw in Atlanta.

THE MONEYLINE NEWS HOUR is next.

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