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The Situation: Tuesday, February 14Editor'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. The Morning Grind George W. Bush's job approval rating is 39 percent in the latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll. On CNN TV
RelatedSEND YOUR COMMENTSYOUR E-MAIL ALERTSPosted: 9:50 a.m. ET Discontent with Bush President Bush's effort to turn public opinion on the Iraq War through major speeches highlighting the political and physical rebuilding successes of that country so far has failed, a new CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll shows. A majority of Americans, 56 percent, oppose the war and only 31 percent believe the U.S. is winning the battle against the insurgents, according to the poll of 1,000 Americans surveyed over the weekend. Unable to overcome the American public's dissatisfaction about the progress being made in Iraq, Bush went on the offensive late last year by delivering frequent updates about the situation through speeches here in Washington and outside the Beltway. While his national addresses initially helped move the needle slightly, discontent over the nation's involvement in Iraq remain. "Americans here talk of victory, but they don't see it," said CNN's Bill Schneider, who suggested Americans are viewing Iraq in similar terms to the Vietnam War. "Iraq syndrome may be setting in like the Vietnam syndrome that made Americans wary of military intervention for 15 years after the Vietnam War," Schneider said. Skepticism over the Bush administration's handling of Iraq, comes as concern is growing about neighboring Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon. But a majority of Americans, 55 percent, said they are not confident in the Bush administration's ability to handle Iran. And more Americans expressed confidence in the United Nations, 47 percent, than the Bush administration, 45 percent, to deal with the Iran situation. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is expected to be asked about Iran and other matters this morning when she testifies at 10 a.m. ET before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on budget matters. Tomorrow, the committee will be briefed by intelligence officials at 9 a.m. ET on Iran before opening a 10:15 a.m. ET public hearing to address this issue. The President is also having a difficult time instilling confidence in the American public over his ability to lead the nation in this midterm election year where control of the House and Senate are on the line. Only 39 percent of Americans approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president, while 56 percent disapprove of his stewardship of the country, the poll shows. Despite these numbers, Congressional Republicans dismiss talk about distancing themselves from Bush, but acknowledge individual candidates may do so in the run-up to the elections. Bush has a light public schedule that begins with a 1:05 p.m. ET meeting with members of the University of Texas football team, who recently won the NCAA title. The President then meets with the President's Council on Service and Civic participation at 2:10 p.m. ET with Art Linkletter, Patricia Heaton, Cokie Roberts and Stephen Baldwin expected to attend. At 7:40 p.m. ET, Bush and First Lady Laura Bush host the Valentine's Day Social Dinner in the State Dining Room. Meanwhile, filmmaker George Lucas of Star Wars fame will join House Democrats at their "Innovation Generation Town Hall" at 11 a.m. ET in the Capitol. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-California) and her colleagues will present a legislative agenda that they claim will help "create a new generation of innovators." House Democrats suffered a major blow this morning when Iraq War veteran Paul Hackett announced he would not run against Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio), after withdrawing from the Senate race. Hackett said he decided to end his pursuit of the Democratic nomination to challenge Sen. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) in November "only after repeated requests by party leaders, as well as behind the scenes machinations, that were intended to hurt my campaign." His withdrawal clears the path for Rep. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) to take on DeWine in November. As for his decision not to seek a rematch against Schmidt, who won a special election last year, Hackett said he had given his word to the Democrats already running he would not enter that contest. "In reliance on my word they entered the race," Hackett said in a statement released by his campaign this morning. "I said it. I meant it. I stand by it. At the end of the day, my word is my bond and I will take it to my grave." And Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tennessee) will be doing some advance work in anticipation of next month's Southern Republican Leadership Conference in Memphis. Frist will address the South Carolina State Executive Committee on March 4, less than a week before the SRLC, a meeting that is being widely viewed as a must attend for Republicans eyeing a 2008 White House bid. "Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has been an outstanding leader in the Senate for the conservative cause," Katon Dawson, chairman of the South Carolina GOP, said. "He has delivered victory after victory for the Republican Party, and continues to fight for lower taxes on families and small businesses, protect the sanctity of marriage, and ensure the confirmation of President Bush's conservative judges." Political Hot TopicsPosted: 9:50 a.m. ET CHENEY'S CHOICE TO WAIT 14 HOURS BEFORE DISCLOSING SHOOTING: The 78-year-old Texas lawyer who was shot by Vice President Cheney in a hunting accident this weekend was moved from intensive care in stable condition yesterday as new details emerged showing that the White House allowed Cheney to decide when and how to disclose details of the shooting to the local sheriff and the public the next morning. President Bush and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove were told of the shooting Saturday night but deferred to Cheney on providing information to the public, White House aides said. In what one official described as a break with the White House practice of disclosing such high-level mishaps immediately, Cheney waited more than 14 hours after the shooting to disclose it publicly. Washington Post: White House Deferred to Cheney on Shooting "ROUGH COUPLE OF DAYS" FOR WH, McCLELLAN: What do you do when the vice president shoots someone? That was the question the White House grappled uncertainly with on Monday, after Dick Cheney made history as the second vice president to fire a gun at someone -- though accidentally in this case -- while in office. By the end of a bizarre day in Washington, with only Aaron Burr as a precedent and the late-night comedians and Cheney Internet shooting games going at it full force, the only answer for the White House seemed to be to run for cover. "You can always look back at these issues and look at how to do a better job," Scott McClellan, the White House spokesman, said in what by this White House's standards was a forthright admission that it had been a rough couple of days. New York Times: Groans at Home Re: (Cheney Joke Here) CHENEY AND PAL LACKED HUNTING STAMP: Vice President Dick Cheney and the 78-year-old man he shot on a weekend hunting trip will receive warnings from state wildlife authorities for lacking a $7 upland hunting stamp, the only official action in the investigation into what has been ruled a hunting accident... Cheney and Whittington will be mailed a written warning for the lack of a bird stamp, said Texas Parks and Wildlife Department communications director Lydia Saldana. The stamp was not required until the beginning of quail season in October, Saldana said. "The department has informed us that it is issuing warnings, and the vice president expects to receive one," a statement from Cheney's office read. "He will take whatever steps are needed to comply with applicable rules." Cheney has sent a $7 check to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department for an upland game bird stamp. Corpus Christi Caller-Times: State warns VP, friend A WINDFALL FOR THE COMEDY WRITERS: John Mack, a comedy writer for ``Tonight Show'' host Jay Leno, figured he had terrific material for a full week of jokes: a hockey gambling scandal, the Olympics and the driving habits of pop star Britney Spears. And then Vice President Dick Cheney shot a lawyer. "Nothing can get better than that," Mack said. "As a comedy writer, this ranks right up there with Bill Clinton dating an intern."... In the offices of comedy writers, it was a bonanza. As soon as they heard about the shooting of 78-year-old Texas lawyer Harry Whittington at a private ranch in Texas, writers said they knew they'd have material for weeks' worth of shows and months' worth of political speeches. Bloomberg: Cheney's Hunting Accident Provides a Bonanza for Joke Writers HOW WELL DID ROVE KNOW JACK? Three former associates of Jack Abramoff say the now-convicted lobbyist frequently told them he had strong ties to the White House through presidential confidant Karl Rove. The White House said Monday night that Rove remembers meeting Abramoff at a 1990s political meeting and considered the lobbyist a "casual acquaintance" since President Bush took office in 2001... Three former business associates of Abramoff, who worked with the lobbyist in various roles between 2001 and 2004, told The Associated Press that Abramoff routinely mentioned Rove when talking about his influence inside the White House. One said he was present when Abramoff took a call from Rove's office to confirm a White House meeting had been approved between Malaysia's prime minister and Bush in May 2002. Abramoff was being paid by Malaysia for helping it in Washington, according to evidence the Senate has made public. All three associates would describe the Abramoff comments only on condition of anonymity, citing the ongoing investigation of Abramoff's work and fears that speaking out could affect their current businesses. At least one said he had been interviewed by the FBI. AP via Yahoo! News: Abramoff Said to Claim Close Ties to Rove EVACUEES IN $400 HOTEL ROOMS: In the frenetic search to find emergency housing for victims of Hurricane Katrina, the government last October turned to Chicago and found space at a Gold Coast hotel -- for $399 a night. Richard Skinner, inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security, told a Senate committee Monday that hotel bills in Chicago and other cities were "excessive compared to [the] contract's estimated cost." One New York hotel charged $438 a night, he said. In the Chicago instance, a staff member for the Senate homeland security committee confirmed that Skinner was referring to the Marriott Residence Inn at 201 E. Walton Place. The hotel charged $399 a night for one room for four nights to house two families, said Jim McSwigan, the Residence Inn's general manager. Marriott spokesman Roger Conner said the tab for other hurricane victims there averaged $174 a night. Chicago Tribune: Some evacuees were sent to $399 Gold Coast hotel ANNAN: U.S. SHOULDN'T "ESCALATE" TENSIONS ON IRAN: U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan yesterday warned President Bush not to "escalate" tensions over Iran's nuclear ambitions because the world wants to "find a way out of this crisis." "We need to be able to resolve it, and I hope there will be no steps taken to escalate this approach," Mr. Annan told the president at the end of a meeting in the Oval Office. Mr. Bush did not publicly mention Iran, although he discussed the topic with Mr. Annan before reporters were ushered in at the conclusion of the meeting. White House press secretary Scott McClellan later railed against Iran without escalating the administration's rhetoric. "Iran has shown that they can't be trusted with nuclear technology because they have hidden their activities for some two decades," he said. "They failed to comply with their international obligations." Washington Times: Annan calls for U.S. calm on Iran AMERICANS WORRIED ABOUT IRAN NUKES: Americans are deeply worried about the possibility that Iran will develop nuclear weapons and use them against the USA, a USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll finds, but they also fear that the Bush administration will be "too quick" to order military action against Iran. Nearly 7 of 10 of those surveyed over the weekend say they are concerned that the United States will move prematurely to use force, but they also seem to recognize the quandary that policymakers face. There is almost as much concern that the Bush administration won't do enough to prevent Iran from gaining a nuclear arsenal. USA Today: Poll: Americans fear Iran will develop, use nukes HACKETT DROPS SENATE BID: Paul Hackett, an Iraq war veteran and popular Democratic candidate in Ohio's closely watched Senate contest, said yesterday that he was dropping out of the race and leaving politics altogether as a result of pressure from party leaders. Mr. Hackett said Senators Charles E. Schumer of New York and Harry Reid of Nevada, the same party leaders who he said persuaded him last August to enter the Senate race, had pushed him to step aside so that Representative Sherrod Brown, a longtime member of Congress, could take on Senator Mike DeWine, the Republican incumbent. New York Times: Popular Ohio Democrat Drops Out of Race, and Perhaps Politics HILLARY "AIDS AND ABETS" THE ENEMY, SAYS CHALLENGER: Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's likely Republican Senate race challenger charged Monday that the New York Democrat's criticism of the Bush administration "aids and abets our enemies" in the battle against terrorism. John Spencer's comments to reporters came after a fiery speech to the state Conservative Party leadership in which, during a defense of the Patriot Act, he also attacked the administration of former President Bill Clinton. "I wish we had it before 9-11," said the former mayor of Yonkers. "And, I wish we had an administration in Washington that wasn't an appeasing, liberal, whining administration in the 90's that allowed the terrorists to build up the way they built up." There was no immediate comment from the former first lady. AP via Yahoo! News: Likely Challenger Lashes Out at Clinton JANITOR GAVE GOV. $$$: A janitor who worked for former Gov. George Ryan testified Monday he voluntarily gave $15 to $25 cash to Ryan at Christmas for years but acknowledged on cross-examination that the gifts usually came after Ryan's campaign sent him $50. "Nobody twisted my arm," Donald Skoda said in answer to a question from a Ryan lawyer about his annual gift of cash to Ryan since 1991. On cross-examination, Skoda didn't remember the payments from Ryan's campaign committee, but a prosecutor showed him records indicating he had been given $50 apiece in December of 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001. Skoda admitted he cashed or deposited the $50 check and then gave Ryan $15 to $25. Chicago Tribune: Janitor got $50, gave $25 
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