Gore, Bush face 3 p.m. EST deadline to file Florida high court briefs

Monday, December 4th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

TALLAHASSEE, Florida (CNN) -- A day after a ruling that denied his request for a Florida vote recount, Al Gore has an appeal in the works Tuesday. But the Democrat is short on time and courtrooms as he hopes to keep alive his bid for the U.S. presidency. Republican George W. Bush, already the certified winner in Florida, is forging ahead with his transition plans.

Latest developments:
â€¢ Bush running mate Dick Cheney, who served for a decade as a U.S. representative from Wyoming, returned to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to meet with GOP leaders in the House and Senate. Cheney said Monday's decision by the U.S. Supreme Court "validated" Republican legal efforts to settle the presidential race. He also looked ahead to Inauguration Day: "We'll continue to work on putting together a Cabinet and to begin exercising our duties to the American people on January 21." Cheney also said Bush was "reaching out on a limited basis" to congressional Democrats who might work with a Bush administration. But, he said, many Democrats might feel "uncomfortable" under the current circumstances.

â€¢ Gore running mate Sen. Joseph Lieberman also visited his former workplace Tuesday, meeting in the Capitol with the House Democratic Caucus. Lieberman described the meeting as positive, saying his fellow party members expressed their support for Gore's continued efforts to contest the election. He also indicated that the impending case before the Florida Supreme Court would signal an end to Gore's legal battles. "We think this will be the final judgment, and we hope and sincerely believe it will be favorable for us," Lieberman said.

â€¢ Former President George Bush was scheduled Tuesday to undergo hip replacement surgery at Minnesota's Mayo Clinic.

â€¢ Attorneys for both sides have until 3 p.m. Tuesday to submit written arguments to the Florida Supreme Court in response to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling. The nation's highest court on Monday asked the Florida high court to clarify its decision that extended the state's certification deadline in the state. The extension allowed for the addition of some manual ballot recounts that cut Bush's lead in Florida from 930 to 537.

â€¢ The Florida Supreme Court must also consider an appeal filed by Gore's attorneys after Leon County Circuit Court Judge N. Sanders Sauls rejected Gore's request for a manual recount of thousands of contested ballots. The judge on Monday also refused the vice president's request to overturn Bush's certified 537-vote victory in Florida.

â€¢ In Atlanta, Georgia, legal experts said the U.S. Supreme Court's decision on the Florida recount will have no effect on two appeals by Bush and his supporters being heard Tuesday in federal court. The Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is hearing oral arguments in two separate but related cases aimed at throwing out election results that include manual recounts. Both cases argue that hand recounts in selected counties make those votes more important than ballots cast in other Florida counties. They also argue that changing standards on how to count questionable ballots was unfair. (More on the 11th U.S. Circuit court appeals)

â€¢ A federal judge in Pensacola, Florida, will hear arguments Tuesday in a Republican effort to increase Bush's slim lead with a few more overseas ballots, mostly from military voters. Republicans have sued canvassing boards in seven counties that rejected undated overseas ballots. Bush led Gore by about a 2-1 margin among overseas voters.

â€¢ Leon County Circuit Court Judge Nikki Clark is scheduled to hear motions Tuesday in a case that could potentially swing the presidential election either way. A Democratic activist seeks to disqualify up to 15,000 absentee ballots in predominantly Republican Seminole County on the grounds that Republican Party workers illegally altered absentee ballot applications. If Democrats are successful, that would give Gore a net boost of more than 4,000 votes.

â€¢ A similar suit is before Leon County Circuit Court Judge Terry Lewis, who is scheduled to hear attorney stipulations Tuesday afternoon. The case was filed by a Democratic voter seeking to disqualify 9,800 absentee ballots cast in Republican-leaning Martin County, which would give the vice president a net gain of more than 2,800 votes.

â€¢ Bush meets Tuesday with his likely choice for national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice. Aides to the Texas governor also said he would receive his first post-election intelligence briefing from the CIA on Tuesday at the governor's mansion in Austin, Texas.

â€¢ "I do believe that I have won this election," Bush said Monday. In something of a softening in tone, Bush seemed eager to give Gore room to concede without undue pressure. The vice president, he said, is "going to have to make the decisions that he thinks are necessary and I know he'll put -- the interests of the country will be important in his decision-making, just like it would be in mine."

â€¢ Florida legislative leaders took no action Monday on a proposed special session to select presidential electors to ensure Bush's victory in Florida. Several Democratic senators held a news conference to criticize the plans for a session.

â€¢ With the fight over recounting Florida's presidential ballots entering its fourth week, Gore's campaign has begun a new fund-raising effort. The Gore campaign took in $3 million within a few days after Election Day, then stopped its fund-raising. But the campaign's Web site (http://www.algore2000.com) now features a plea for more money, its first fund-raising on the Internet for the recount battle.

What's at stake
Florida's 25 electoral votes are the balance that will determine who wins a presidential contest still in dispute four weeks after the November 7 election that gave Gore a 337,576 lead in the popular vote.

Presidents are chosen by electoral votes, and the states officially select their elector slates on December 12, the first deadline that worries the Gore camp. The Electoral College casts its votes -- 270 are needed to win -- on December 18, in the state capitols. The outcome will be reported to the new Congress by January 6. (More on Congress)

CNN National Correspondents Gary Tuchman, Bob Franken and Tony Clark, Correspondents Jonathan Karl, Mark Potter, Susan Candiotti, Bill Hemmer, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.