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The Situation: Tuesday, December 6Editor's Note: The Situation Report is a running log of dispatches, quotes, links and behind-the-scenes notes filed by the correspondents and producers of CNN's Washington Bureau. Watch "The Situation Room" with Wolf Blitzer on CNN 4 p.m. ET to 6 p.m. ET and 7 p.m. ET to 8 p.m. ET weekdays. Public helping on jewel thefts On CNN TV
RelatedSEND YOUR COMMENTSYOUR E-MAIL ALERTSPosted 5:23 p.m. ET The FBI has succeeded in getting the public's attention and help in the search for a multi-million dollar jewelry theft ring -- but so far the thieves are still on the loose. Since the FBI last week released photos, sketches and videotapes to enlist the public's assistance, investigators have received at least 170 tips from callers who thought they may have relevent information. "The tips included a couple of very good ones," said FBI spokesman Richard Kolko in Washington. The newly formed task force of FBI, local police departments, and the jewelry store industry is trying to catch the "Gate Cutters"--a crew of five or six sophisticated burglars who have hit 56 jewelry stores in shopping malls from New Hampshire to Florida over two and a half years without getting caught. Their stolen loot is now valued at more than $5 million. Their last known jewelry store theft occurred in a Bay Shore, New York shopping mall last Wednesday--one day before the FBI announced the formation of its task force to catch the thieves. The Morning GrindPosted: 9:30 a.m. ET A mix of bad news for DeLay Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R) scored a partial legal win Monday, but the Texan must still secure full exoneration in court as well as regain the trust and support of his constituents. A new CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll of registered voters in his district shows a majority, 52 percent, have an unfavorable opinion of DeLay and nearly half, 49 percent, indicated they would vote for an unnamed Democratic candidate over him in the 2006 elections. The poll was conducted December 1 through December 4, and does not reflect the decision by Texas District Judge Pat Priest to toss out a conspiracy charge against DeLay, who has been indicted for allegedly breaking state campaign finance laws. Priest let stand money laundering charges against the former House majority leader for allegedly funneling $190,000 in corporate contributions through the Republican National Committee back to GOP legislative candidates in 2002. Texas law prohibits corporations from donating to state political campaigns. There is a bright spot for the former majority leader in the poll, with 45 percent of registered voters saying they believe Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle is taking action against DeLay to hurt him politically, with 46 percent believing Earle is fairly enforcing the law. And more than half of those surveyed, 61 percent, have never heard of or had no opinion of DeLay's likely Democratic opponent, former Rep. Nick Lampson (Texas). Only 28 percent had a favorable opinion of Lampson and 11 percent registered an unfavorable opinion of him. Overall, while these numbers are a "mix of bad news" right now for DeLay, CNN Polling Director Keating Holland said it is too early to tell whether this will hurt his re-election prospects. "Don't write Tom DeLay's political obituary yet," Holland said. "His challenger is unknown, a significant number of his constituents think the charges are politically motivated and only 15 percent think the charges are definitely true. He might get the benefit of the doubt next year." Some Democrats said they are concerned about the perception that Earle is pursuing this case based solely for political purposes, and added if DeLay is fully exonerated it "will water down the Democrat's culture of corruption message. "If DeLay beats this case before the election, it will put a damper on what else is out there," said a Democratic strategist, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. By all accounts, DeLay is preparing for a tough re-election battle. Vice President Cheney appeared at a Houston fundraiser last night for him, and defense lobbyists will host a breakfast fundraiser Thursday in his honor. Today, Cheney heads to Fort Drum in New York to deliver a speech on the progress being made in Iraq. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld spoke on the war yesterday and criticized the media for being negative in its Iraq coverage. President Bush will deliver a speech on Iraq tomorrow. Bush will spend the noontime hour today helping the Republican National Committee raise about $1 million, CNN's Dana Bash reports. Several potential 2008 presidential candidates are also raising money or meeting with activists in key primary states. Virginia Gov. Mark Warner (D) is expected to raise $1.5 million at a Virginia event for his Forward Together political action committee; former President Bill Clinton headlines a New York fundraiser for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-New York), who is seeking re-election in 2006; Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tennessee) visits New Hampshire to meet with Republican activists; and New York Gov. George Pataki (R) attends a fundraiser for Taxpayers United in Iowa. In California, voters in the 48th District head to the polls to choose a successor for Rep. Chris Cox (R), who resigned his seat to head the Securities and Exchange Commission. State Sen. John Campbell (R) is heavily favored to win this special election, but the race is attracting attention because one of the candidates, Jim Gilchrist, is co-founder of the Minuteman Project. Gilchrist is running on a platform that calls for a tougher stand on illegal immigrants, a hot button topic of late. Former Connecticut Gov. Lowell Weicker is making noise about challenging Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Connecticut) in 2006, which would set up a rematch of the 1988 Senate race between the two men. Lieberman won that race, knocking Weicker out of the Senate. But Weicker said he is considering running against Lieberman next year because the Connecticut Democrat continues to support the Iraq War. "When you've become the president's best friend on the war in Iraq, you should not be in office, especially if you're in the opposing party," Weicker told the New York Times. "I'm going to do everything I can to see that Joe Lieberman does not get a free pass." But Weicker, a Republican turned Independent, acknowledged the odds of him defeating Lieberman were "probably pretty poor." The Associated Press reports that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) spent more than $77 million in his successful re-election last month, $68 million more than his Democratic opponent Fernando Ferrer. And the House is back on Capitol Hill today to work on wrapping up its unfinished legislative business. The Senate will return next week. Political Hot TopicsPosted 9:30 a.m. ET ITALY SAYS CIA DELIBERATELY LIED, DISRUPTED TERROR PROBE: In March 2003, the Italian national anti-terrorism police received an urgent message from the CIA about a radical Islamic cleric who had mysteriously vanished from Milan a few weeks before. The CIA reported that it had reliable information that the cleric, the target of an Italian criminal investigation, had fled to an unknown location in the Balkans. In fact, according to Italian court documents and interviews with investigators, the CIA's tip was a deliberate lie, part of a ruse designed to stymie efforts by the Italian anti-terrorism police to track down the cleric, Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, an Egyptian refugee known as Abu Omar. Washington Post: CIA Ruse Is Said to Have Damaged Probe in Milan DeLAY JUDGE TOSSES CONSPIRACY CHARGE, KEEPS OTHERS: Judge Pat Priest ordered U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay and two co-defendants to be tried next year on charges that they laundered corporate money into political donations during the 2002 elections. The judge, however, threw out the indictment accusing the defendants of conspiring to violate a Texas law prohibiting the spending of corporate money in connection with a campaign. The judge ruled that conspiracy charges did not apply to the state's election code until the Legislature changed state law in 2003 -- after the alleged offenses had been committed. The ruling means DeLay, R-Sugar Land, and his associates, John Colyandro of Austin and Jim Ellis of Washington, D.C., could stand trial sometime early next year. The defense still hopes to derail the prosecution by accusing prosecutors of misconduct in their handling of the grand juries that indicted them. Austin American-Statesman: Money laundering charge against DeLay left to stand LEADERSHIP VOTE LIKELY: A Texas judge's decision to require former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay to stand trial on money-laundering charges makes it more likely that Republicans will hold an election to choose new leaders early next year. At least three lawmakers, including acting House Majority Leader Roy Blunt, House Education Committee Chairman John Boehner and National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Reynolds, are possible candidates to succeed DeLay. Some House Republicans say new leadership elections early next year are likely if DeLay hasn't resolved his legal battles when the House returns from its year-end recess at the end of January. The judge's decision yesterday makes it unlikely DeLay could be cleared before Congress reconvenes. Bloomberg News: DeLay Court Ruling Makes Republican Leadership Vote More Likely BUT WHO WANTS TO LEAD IF GOP LOSES BIG TIME IN '06? The ruling means that the case will continue through the first part of next year and that DeLay will remain under indictment, denying him a chance for an immediate return to his job as majority leader and possibly opening the door for a number of ambitious GOP lawmakers to make a run. But any GOP lawmakers mulling such a bid are doing so in the face of a difficult political climate that has become increasingly negative for congressional Republicans. Prominent indictments, including DeLay's, and sagging poll numbers have made the terrain uncertain for next year's midterm elections. While that uncertainty creates a rare opportunity for would-be challengers, it also sets the stage for possible failure should anyone supplant a current member of leadership, only for Republicans to lose seats in 2006. "It's not good for anyone right now," one GOP leadership aide said. "If you break it down, a leadership race wouldn't benefit anyone." The Hill: Second thoughts for GOP pols eyeing leadership bid 5 F'S, 12 D'S, AND 2 INCOMPLETES: The federal government received failing and mediocre grades yesterday from the former Sept. 11 commission, whose members said in a final report that the Bush administration and Congress have balked at enacting numerous reforms that could save American lives and prevent another terrorist attack on U.S. soil. The 10-member bipartisan panel -- whose book-length report about the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks became a surprise bestseller -- issued a "report card" that included 5 F's, 12 D's and two "incompletes" in categories including airline passenger screening and improving first responders' communication system. The group also said there has been little progress in forcing federal agencies to share intelligence and terrorism information and sharply criticized government efforts to secure weapons of mass destruction or establish clear standards for the proper treatment of U.S. detainees. Washington Post: U.S. Is Given Failing Grades By 9/11 Panel STOP BEING SUCH A DRAG, GUYS: Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld urged the American press yesterday to reassess what he called repeated negative coverage of Iraq as his commanders in Iraq push an extensive information war to counter terrorists' propaganda. "We've arrived at a strange time in this country, where the worst about America and our military seems to so quickly be taken as truth by the press and reported and spread around the world," Mr. Rumsfeld said. The reporting is "often with little context and little scrutiny, let alone correction or accountability after the fact." Mr. Rumsfeld's remarks were part of the new Bush campaign of forceful answer to partisan criticism of the war and domestic policies. Washington Times: Rumsfeld scores press 'negativity' SAVIOR OF SANTA: It is the time of year when bedtime stories and television specials often recall the plucky reindeer and the little girl of Whoville who managed to save Christmas. This year, some conservative groups are hoping to add a new name to that pantheon of heroes: Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr., the Supreme Court nominee. "Liberal groups like People for the American Way and the A.C.L.U. have opposed public Christmas and Hanukkah displays and even fought to keep Christmas carols out of school," declares a radio commercial paid for by the conservative Committee for Justice beginning Monday in Colorado, Wisconsin and West Virginia, states whose senators are considered pivotal votes on Judge Alito. "Some courts and judges have supported this radical agenda, but not Judge Sam Alito," it continues. "Throughout his career, Judge Alito has consistently upheld the Constitution's protection of free religious expression." New York Times: Ads Portray Nominee as Protector of Christmas "STARBUCKS MOMS." LEARN IT. LOVE IT: In 1996, "soccer moms" drove their minivans to the polls and helped deliver Democrats around the country to victory. In 2004, "security moms" and "NASCAR dads" were credited with pushing Republicans across the finish line, a decade after the "angry white men" produced 1994's GOP tidal wave. Along the way "office-park dads" and "wired workers" have had their say, too. This time around, Florida-based Democratic pollster Dave Beattie has his eye on "Starbucks Republicans" as a bloc of swing voters who could decide next year's midterm elections. Even before the 2004 presidential election was decided, Beattie was affixing that label to the independent-minded voters who populate high-growth areas in the South and West. They are the individuals who agonized before ultimately backing President Bush over Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and the voters House and Senate Democrats must win over in order to make significant gains in next year's elections. Roll Call: Will '06 Stir Up 'Starbucks Republicans?' $103 A VOTE: Billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg spent more than $77 million to get re-elected, breaking the $74 million record he set in 2001 during his first try at politics, according to campaign finance reports released Monday. The spending amounts to more than $103 per vote. Bloomberg was elected in a landslide Nov. 8 over Democrat Fernando Ferrer, who had trouble raising money and spent just over $9 million during the race. The candidates will file a final report early next year, so the numbers are expected to grow slightly. No mayor has ever spent so much to get re-elected, and few candidates have come close to that kind of spending for any office, other than president. AP via Yahoo! News: Re-election Cost Bloomberg $77 Million O.C. VOTERS CHOOSE COX REPLACEMENT: The final day of campaigning in an Orange County congressional race that has received national attention because of its focus on immigration played out on the airwaves Monday as the front-running Republican and aggressive third-party challenger sniped at each other. State Sen. John Campbell (R-Irvine) could be heard with Irvine attorney Hugh Hewitt on KRLA-AM (870) while Jim Gilchrist, co-founder of the border security group called the Minuteman Project, was a guest on "The John & Ken Show" on KFI-AM (640). The race is being closely watched in part because it underscores a deep division among conservatives over securing borders and dealing with illegal immigration. Los Angeles Times: Race for Cox Seat Heats Up Airwaves 
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