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Saturday Morning News

Candidates Prepare to Submit Court Filings

Aired November 18, 2000 - 8:16 a.m. ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: With a victory ruled out today, at least, the Bush campaign focuses on the latest legal filing. That's due this afternoon.

CNN National Correspondent Tony Clark is in Austin with the latest from the Bush camp and that filing is before the Florida Supreme Court, right, Tony?

TONY CLARK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is, indeed. In fact, that filing has put really everything on hold. Things changed a lot. Governor Bush was at his ranch in Crawford, Texas. He returned to the state capital here in Austin yesterday and the anticipation at that time was that he would be able to declare victory, declare himself the president elect today, that there would be a celebration today.

But all of that changed with the State Supreme Court's ruling that allowed the manual count to continue on and the hearing set for Monday.

The Bush campaign, like the Gore campaign, has observers watching that manual count. Tucker Eskew is one of the Bush observers who is in West Palm Beach watching there and he says what he is seeing shows some flaws in the manual count.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TUCKER ESKEW, BUSH CAMPAIGN SPOKESMAN: There's a lot of fatigue setting in here, Bill. There are people who are working into the wee hours of the morning in a dimly lit room under inconsistent procedures and with not much training.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLARK: And so what they are seeing, trying to see is they're saying that the manual count is, in fact, it's almost a mantra now, is fatally flawed. The manual count is fatally flawed and ought to be stopped. That's the argument that they will put before the State Supreme Court, that hearing on Monday. It will be part of their legal papers being filed there.

In the meantime, Governor Bush waits here at the Governor's mansion for all the legal maneuvering to be wrapped up. As I said, he thought he was going to be able to declare himself the president elect today. All of that, for the time being, put on hold -- Miles. O'BRIEN: All right, not over until it is over. Tony Clark in Austin, we'll be checking in with him a little bit later.

Let's get, send it back down to Tallahassee, Florida, our sub- headquarters for our Florida coverage. Bill Hemmer there and a guest -- Bill.

HEMMER: Yeah. Hey, Miles, good morning once again.

Ron Klain, Gore legal adviser here. You have a very busy today. Your brief is due in six hours time. This is the man who is actually writing the brief for the Gore team. What's your argument?

RON KLAIN, SENIOR GORE ADVISER: Well, I think we'll leave our arguments for the court. But our argument here is very clear. We want to see the ballots counted and we want to see them counted fully, fairly and accurately and of course once they're counted, we want to see that number added to the total.

We think Secretary of State Harris's various efforts to try to cut off that count or to try to make sure that count isn't added to the total are improper and that's what we have been fighting about all week down here, Bill.

HEMMER: The Supreme Court, seven members here in Florida, six are known Democrats. Does that favor you?

KLAIN: I don't think so, Bill. I think everyone knows this is a very fair court. It's a court that, I think, is a very well respected Supreme Court. Jurists from around the country look at the decisions before the Supreme Court and I'm sure they'll give everyone a fair hearing on Monday when they hear this case.

HEMMER: If you're writing the brief and you've got a six hour deadline, what are you doing out here talking to us?

KLAIN: Well, obviously, there's a lot of folks writing the brief and our legal team, led by Mr. Boise (ph), is working on the brief. I'm obviously always happy to be out here and talk to you folks about what's going on.

HEMMER: Well, we appreciate the time. But tell us again specifically, what is the argument that you will file with the court that will challenge the Secretary of State's order to go ahead and try and certify today that we all well know won't happen this weekend?

KLAIN: Right. Well, Bill, I think we have a couple of arguments. First and foremost, we think that hand counts are legal under Florida law and Secretary of State Harris's opinion to the contrary is wrong.

Secondly, her position that she doesn't have to consider the hand counts at all, we think, is contrary to the spirit of Florida law and contrary to the decision by Judge Lewis earlier this week that said that she should look at the hand counts before she makes the decision whether or not to accept them. And most importantly, we think that as long as those hand counts proceed at a reasonable pace and in accord with Florida law, as they are, then those hand counts should be added to the total under Florida law.

HEMMER: The time frame may be speeding up in some counties. It appears it may be slowing down in others. But given that, how do you explain to the court the potential for discrepancies, given the hand count?

KLAIN: Well, the hand count is going to be, I think, the most accurate total because it's the count that comes after the machine counts and it's a chance to fix the errors that the machines have made. Look, everyone in America has gotten a wrong bill or gotten their reservations messed up by a computer knows that computers are great, but they lack that final piece of judgement. The hand count is a chance to bring that final piece of judgment to bear.

And in terms of the time of the hand count, I hope everyone's clear on why it's taken so long. It's taken so long because Governor Bush and his supporters and Secretary of State Harris have thrown a series of legal impediments in the way of those hand counts, impediments that have been rejected by the Florida courts four times this week alone.

HEMMER: Quickly, I know you're a lawyer and not a politician. However, ultimately whoever is crowned king in this race for the White House, how difficult will it be to bring the country back together, knowing how much this has galvanized a lot of people across the nation?

KLAIN: Well, I think that's a very fair question, Bill, and that's why Vice President Gore went out this week and said to the American people, let's keep the rhetoric low, let's keep the tone appropriate, let's heal the nation. He offered to meet with Governor Bush, as you know, not just after the result was in, but before the result was in as well, to try to begin the process of bringing everyone together across bipartisan lines.

I'm sorry Governor Bush rejected that offer. I think we would be better off if he would have accepted it. But we're going to continue to work to keep our tone in this controversy appropriate and to try to bring people together after it's over one way or the other.

HEMMER: Ron Klain, a busy man today, Gore legal advisor. Thanks for stopping by today.

KLAIN: Thanks, Bill.

HEMMER: OK.

Let's go back to Kyra now in Atlanta with more on CNN SATURDAY MORNING -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, we're going to continue with the note of Gore and move on with favorable court rulings and recounts continuing. Al Gore's quest for the White House still, of course, stays alive.

CNN's Eileen O'Connor is in Washington with the latest from the Vice President's campaign.

Eileen, we just heard from the Gore advisor. He talked about the arguments that they will make in court on Monday. What do you hear in D.C.?

EILEEN O'CONNOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'm hearing that basically, you know, aides right now are very relieved that today they are not in a pitched public relations battle against any certification by the Secretary of State because of that Supreme Court ruling yesterday. And they are insisting that things should be toned down, that as you heard Ron Klain say, the rhetoric needs to come down, as the hand recounts continue.

The Vice President insisting, like the Bush camp, he wants finality, he wants a conclusion, but he says the only way to arrive at a correct conclusion is to ensure that you finish those hand recounts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AL GORE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We need to get a fair and accurate count to resolve this election. The American people want to make certain that every vote counts and that every vote is counted fairly and accurately.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'CONNOR: The Vice President went out to dinner last night in Georgetown with his family. This, again, an attempt to show that business as usual now, that the Gore camp is just going to be patiently waiting for those hand recounts to continue. They are encouraged, you know, Kyra, that Miami-Dade County is also going to be starting its hand recount. But because it is starting so late, it could until the end of the week before that hand recount is finished.

So, again, they say they do want closure just like the Republicans, but that closure only comes after all the hand recounts are in -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Eileen O'Connor, thank you for the latest from D.C.

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