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CNN Today

Florida Supreme Court Expedites Consideration of Gore Appeal

Aired December 5, 2000 - 2:41 p.m. ET

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

NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: Florida's Supreme Court put what could be Al Gore's last appeal and best chance for the presidency on a fast track today. CNN's Bill Hemmer has that from Tallahassee.

It may not feel like a fast track to many people, as long as it's been going on, but apparently it is -- Bill.

BILL HEMMER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Natalie, thanks again. Day 28 as you mentioned. Tomorrow we start the fifth week here in Tallahassee.

What we know now, the state Supreme Court has ordered briefs to be filed tomorrow by noon local time, and then on Thursday at 10:00 a.m. they'll hear oral arguments.

Now, the state Supreme Court has pointed out two things on this case. No. 1, they will to decide if they should take the case, and then, No. 2, they'll rule on the merits of the case if they get to point No. 2.

We'll talk more about that in a second, but first, we want to bring in our next guest here: Frank Keating, Republican governor from the former of Oklahoma with us now in Tallahassee.

Welcome here.

GOV. FRANK KEATING (R), OKLAHOMA: Thanks, Bill.

HEMMER: Nice to see you.

KEATING: Good to see you.

HEMMER: Joe Lieberman said earlier today in Washington that this court behind us is the final arbiter. Is that where it ends?

KEATING: Well, not necessarily. Hopefully, that's where it ends, but remember this court has been squeezed. It's squeezed on the top from the U.S. Supreme Court that kicked them right in the shins, vacated their opinion, basically gave George Bush 930 votes and said, don't forget us, don't forget the federal Constitution, don't forget the federal statutes, and certainly don't forget the Florida legislature. Then they're being squeezed on the bottom, because Judge Sauls, a widely respected judge, a Democrat, ruled on all the factual issues, the legal issues, basically canned them. I mean, every one, it was chop, chop, chop.

And squeezed top, squeeze bottom -- it doesn't look like they are too many places for Al Gore to go.

HEMMER: David Boies and his other team of lawyers here representing Al Gore will say that the judge ruled incorrectly because he ruled on the wrong law. Did he misread it?

KEATING: Well, obviously, if you lose, you have to say the guy ruled incorrectly, and you have to have some grounds for appealing. But I think Judge Sauls' opinion and the research that went into it was very complete. The attitude of both sides at the time it was delivered was that this was a very sound, soundly reasoned, soundly researched judgment. Obviously, we're going to argue on both sides as to whether or not it was accurate.

But I think Judge Sauls did a very, very thorough job, and I think he was right on the law.

HEMMER: If Governor Bush is our next president, will you go with him to Washington?

KEATING: Well, first, he has to be our next president. I sincerely hope he is. I'm one of his most ardent supporters and flag- wavers. And secondly, it depends, and it depends on the position. It depends on what my family thinks of it all.

But the reason I'm here is not just because of George W. Bush. I'm here to scout Florida State University. We are playing them in the Orange Bowl on New Year's Day...

(LAUGHTER)

... and I want you to know Oklahoma will win, and that's why, I'm here to make sure that they win fairly.

HEMMER: Go Sooners.

KEATING: Yes, go Sooners.

HEMMER: They're your words, not mine.

Get back to the issue quickly here. Have you talked about a Cabinet position with Governor Bush?

KEATING: No.

HEMMER: Would you be the next attorney general if he asked you?

KEATING: Well, if he asked me, I'd be thrilled to consider, but again, he's got to win all these rounds. We still have a lot of laps before this race is over. Hopefully, it'll be over soon, because we have to have a new president on January 20th.

HEMMER: There are a lot of people who talk about it, especially on the Republican side, that the transition period is in danger because we have gone now 28 days. Do you agree with that? Is it in danger, the fact that we have gone nearly entering five weeks without a president?

KEATING: Well, remember that the process of vetting people -- I've been through six comprehensive FBI background investigations and been confirmed by the U.S. Senate five times for positions in D.C. But the average person, whether the Cabinet officers or sub-Cabinet officers who will run the new -- run the new government, whether the Gore people or Bush people, it takes a long time to fill out all the paperwork, to be vetted, to be backgrounded. And as this clock is ticking, it suggests, unless we resolve it fairly quickly, come January 20th, there will not be a new administration in place, and that would be terribly unfortunate.

HEMMER: When was the last time you had contact with Governor Bush?

KEATING: Probably about a week or so before the election.

HEMMER: How was he doing then?

KEATING: Oh, he's doing great. He has a great attitude. He's very optimistic about the campaign and obviously the results.

HEMMER: Would you feel compelled to give him a call after being here in Tallahassee and visiting with his brother, or not?

KEATING: Well, I'm going to stay with his brother tonight. He and I are going to be on the same program this evening. But stay the course, you'll win. That's my message.

HEMMER: Governor Frank Keating, appreciate your time.

KEATING: Thanks, Bill.

HEMMER: And good luck on January 3rd, all right.

KEATING: Thank you.

HEMMER: Although you're in a town here that is in enemy territory.

KEATING: That's right. I'm watching it closely.

HEMMER: Thank you very much, Republican governor from Oklahoma.

Once again, I want to update you now, the U.S. Supreme Court, those briefs are due no later than 3 o'clock local time, about 14 minutes away. This has to do with the U.S. Supreme Court and the decision they remanded back to the state Supreme Court from yesterday.

A lot to watch, Natalie. Back to you now in Atlanta.

ALLEN: Thanks, Bill. Now over to Lou.

LOU WATERS, CNN ANCHOR: The vice presidential candidates were up on Capitol Hill today, and CNN congressional correspondent Chris Black can tell us all about that -- Chris.

CHRIS BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lou, Congress came back into town for an unusual lame-duck session, but all the attention is focused on the undecided presidential race. Both vice presidential candidates came to the Hill today to speak to their respective caucuses on both sides of Capitol Hill. Republican Dick Cheney also held private meetings with House and Senate Republican leaders. Cheney is acting as if this election was already over. He's talking about the transition.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DICK CHENEY (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hopefully, we will be able to get on in fairly short order with the business of preparing for -- for governing. And the transition is up and running and operational now, and we look forward to working with members of Congress of both parties.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACK: But Democrats are saying this election is not over yet. Joe Lieberman admitted that yesterday was a bad day for the Democratic ticket, but he asked Democrats to hang with them as they make one final appeal to the Florida Supreme Court.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN (D-CT), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This was a most encouraging meeting for me, and I will certainly convey the substance and the spirit of it to Vice President Gore. I think the members of the House Democratic caucus feel, as Al Gore and I did, proud of the race we ran, proud of the principles we ran on, grateful for the support we -- we received throughout America, winning in the popular vote.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACK: There is a lot of concern about Democratic defections, but even the conservative "Blue Dog" Democrats in the House of Representatives are saying that they'll stick with the ticket for at least another week, saying they're reluctant to jump off the ship if it looks like their fortunes could suddenly change.

But there is a lot of fatalism here on the Hill among Democrats. As one Democrat, a big supporter of Gore and Lieberman, said, "They need a 'hail Mary' pass" -- Lou.

WATERS: Chris Black on Capitol Hill.

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