Express Line dispatch: On the bus in Iowa
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CNN's Judy Woodruff interviews candidate Sen. John Edwards.
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From Judy Woodruff:
(CNN) -- John Edwards is a man on a mission. I watched him today in West Des Moines shout to a crowd at a senior citizens center, that: "With your help, we can win!"
Until this week, Edwards had been considered an earnest but seriously long-shot contender here in Iowa. But the Sunday endorsement of the Des Moines Register breathed new life and hope into his effort. You could hear it in his voice and see it in his face as he looked out at the clutch of a couple hundred people, insisting "if I could grab each one of you by the shoulders, I would! I need your votes!"
He told me that he is leaving it up to the press to handicap his chances. He said, "I'm just doing all I can and no matter what happens, I'm having fun." Seeing the smile on his face, you had to believe him -- if only till the Iowa caucuses are over.
From CNN.com's Cody McCloy:
Posted: 4:57 PM ET
Today the Election Express made its way from Des Moines to Iowa State University in Ames. It's surprisingly warm out and the sun is shining.
The bus is full of activity as CNN crews prepare for two live shows back to back -- "Inside Politics" and "Crossfire." We've managed to draw quite a crowd, with students and candidate supporters who gather to watch the shows.
In a friendly placard contest, Kerry, Kucinich and Bush supporters showed their support with everything from huge posters to ads ripped from newspapers.
After the live shows, we'll pack up and head to Iowa City. We'll check in from there later.
CNN Election Express bus driver Dale Fountain.
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From Dale Fountain, CNN Election Express bus driver:
Posted: 11:20 PM ET
Crew call was at 3:45 a.m. today. We're up so early to get the CNN Election Express from Des Moines to Ames, Iowa, in time for correspondent Bob Franken's hit on "American Morning." "Hit" -- that's a new term I had to learn for my new job driving the CNN bus and it means his scheduled time to appear in the program.
There's lots of TV lingo I'm not familiar with. Right now, I'm trying to figure out why the producers keep talking about doughnuts. Then I found out a "donut" is actually a short TV report.
The drive to Ames is about 45 minutes and the roads are clear. We are really lucking out with balmy temps in the mid-40s this week.
