Thursday, February 15, 2007
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Compiled by Stephen Bach CNN Washington Bureau Making news today... Closing arguments are scheduled for next Tuesday. (AP) KING: Are you running or not? GIULIANI: Yes, I'm running. Sure. Click here for more. FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT. President's Schedule: Also on the Political Radar: ================================================================= Political Hot Topics (Today's top political stories from news organizations across the country) BUSH DENIES USING IRAN ALLEGATIONS AS A "PRETEXT TO GO TO WAR WITH TEHRAN": President Bush bluntly accused Iranian agents yesterday of providing sophisticated explosives to kill U.S. troops in Iraq but said he did not know whether they were acting on orders of the Islamic republic's leaders and denied using the allegations as a pretext to go to war with Tehran. As the House entered its second day of debate over the Iraq war, Bush tried to quiet talk that he is heading down the same road with Iran that he did with its neighbor four years ago. At his first news conference since announcing that he will send more troops to Iraq, Bush said he sees fresh progress in Baghdad and warned Congress not to cut off funding or set timetables for withdrawal. Washington Post: Iranians Aid Iraq Militants, Bush Alleges HILLARY WARNS AGAINST "MISTAKE OF HISTORICAL PROPORTION" ON IRAN: Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton warned President Bush on Wednesday not to take any military action against Iran without getting congressional approval first. "If the administration believes that any, any use of force against Iran is necessary, the president must come to Congress to seek that authority," Clinton said in a Senate speech. Clinton, a member of the Armed Services Committee, voted in 2002 to give Bush the authority to use military force in Iraq - a vote that has prompted some Democrats to demand that she repudiate... "It would be a mistake of historical proportion if the administration thought that the 2002 resolution authorizing force against Iraq was a blank check for the use of force against Iran without further congressional authorization," Clinton said. AP via Yahoo! News: Clinton warns Bush about action in Iran 11 HOUSE REPUBLICANS SUPPORT DEM IRAQ RESOLUTION: In a striking display of dissension, a group of Republican lawmakers broke ranks with the White House on Wednesday and embraced a resolution opposing more U.S. troops in Iraq — airing their criticism even as President Bush publicly defended his plan. Bush questioned the message that expected House approval of the nonbinding resolution would send, saying at a news conference: "People are watching what happens here in America. The enemy listens to what's happening. The Iraqi people listen to the words... They're wondering about our commitment to this cause." Undaunted, 11 GOP lawmakers, including normally staunch Bush allies who represent districts he carried in his presidential campaigns, took to the House floor to express their support for a Democratic-sponsored resolution renouncing Bush's decision to add 21,500 troops to the roughly 135,000 already in Iraq. Los Angeles Times: 11 more Republicans get behind Iraq rebuke "CONSERVATIVE REVOLT" OVER N.K. DEAL: The White House yesterday found itself fending off a conservative revolt over the North Korea nuclear deal, even scrambling to mollify one of its own top officials who expressed sharp disagreement with a provision that could spring Pyongyang from the list of countries that sponsor terrorism, U.S. officials said yesterday. Elliott Abrams, a deputy national security adviser, fired off e-mails expressing bewilderment over the agreement and demanding to know why North Korea would not have to first prove it had stopped sponsoring terrorism before being rewarded with removal from the list, according to officials who reviewed the messages. Washington Post: Conservatives Assail North Korea Accord WH LOBBYING LAWMAKERS "MORE INTENSELY THAN IN RECENT YEARS": Even as Congress debates President Bush's controversial proposal to increase U.S. troops in Iraq, the White House has been quietly negotiating with key lawmakers to try to advance some of its leading domestic priorities with the hope of rounding out a legacy now defined by an unpopular war. Bush has dispatched Cabinet officials to Capitol Hill in recent weeks to kick off talks with both Democratic and Republican Senators and House Members on immigration reform, health care legislation, energy proposals, No Child Left Behind reauthorization and Social Security and entitlement revisions. The campaign began in earnest after Bush's Jan. 23 State of the Union address. A knowledgeable White House official this week said the administration is lobbying lawmakers more intensely than in recent years, not only because Democrats now control the Congressional agenda but because the window is narrowing to pass Bush's priorities with just two years remaining in his second term. Roll Call: Bush Steps Up Hill Lobbying DEFENSE RESTS IN LIBBY TRIAL; CLOSING ARGUMENTS TUESDAY: The testimony phase of the long-anticipated trial of former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby ended with a whimper rather than the bang of testimony from high-profile defense witnesses like Vice President Dick Cheney and Libby himself. Libby's attorneys rested a trimmed down defense Wednesday after the judge barred much of their classified evidence because Libby decided not to testify in his perjury trial. Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald wrapped up the government's rebuttal in minutes. That clears the way for the jury to hear closing arguments next Tuesday over whether the former chief of staff to Cheney lied to the FBI and a grand jury about whether he leaked to reporters in 2003 that Valerie Plame, the wife of prominent Iraq war critic Joseph Wilson, worked for the CIA. AP via Yahoo! News: Libby ends abbreviated defense testimony LIBBY JUDGE SAYS HE WAS MISLED, DEFENSE "PLAYING GAMES" WITH PROCESS: The lawyers defending I. Lewis Libby Jr. against perjury charges rested their case on Wednesday, but not before suffering a series of defeats in rulings by the presiding judge. The judge, Reggie B. Walton, expressed in the strongest terms yet that he had been misled by the defense team about whether Mr. Libby would take the stand in his own defense. Judge Walton said he "believed all along in the process that Mr. Libby was going to testify" and that his lawyers were now "playing games with the process." New York Times: Saying He Was Misled by Defense, Judge in Libby Case Puts Some Evidence Off-Limits JUSTICE KENNEDY ARGUES AGAINST CAMERAS IN THE COURT: Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy pleaded with senators Wednesday not to try to force the high court to televise its oral arguments, saying it could undermine substantive legal discussion and lead the justices to speak in "sound bites." Kennedy's comments, which echoed previous statements by some of the nine justices but had a more impassioned tone, came during a Senate Judiciary Committee session in which he emphasized a need for higher salaries for federal judges. Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the panel's senior Republican, sought instead to highlight federal judges' resistance to cameras in their courtrooms. Specter and a few other Republicans and Democrats, including committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., have pushed legislation to allow federal court proceedings to be televised. The bills have never gotten very far in Congress. USA Today: Justice pleads with Senate: No cameras in high court TANCREDO DEFENDS HIS RIGHT TO A CIGAR: Smoking has become the hot topic on Capitol Hill. Who is, who isn't, and where the lawmakers puff -- closeted or not -- are among the whispers in the hallways and on the presidential campaign trail. There have been at least 35 news reports about Sen. Barack Obama's long battle with a cigarette habit, and how the Illinois Democrat has been chewing Nicorette to kick that habit as he runs for president. And in the latest installment, staffers for Rep. Keith Ellison tattled to Capitol Police that Rep. Tom Tancredo was smoking a cigar inside his congressional office. "We already have the biggest air-purifying unit you can get, and I would be happy to try to make sure that it's even less odiferous around here, but I'm not going to stop because we still have the right to do so," Mr. Tancredo, Colorado Republican, told The Washington Times. Washington Times: There's much huffing over puffing on Hill FRANKEN DECLARES HIS CANDIDACY, SAYS "MINNESOTANS HAVE A RIGHT TO BE SKEPTICAL": As he announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate Wednesday, Al Franken confronted the central question he may face in the early going -- whether a lifelong comic should be taken seriously. "Minnesotans have a right to be skeptical," Franken said in a video message on his campaign website that declared his run for the U.S. Senate seat now held by Republican Norm Coleman. "I want you to know: Nothing means more to me than making government work better for the working families of this state," Franken said. "And over the next 20 months I look forward to proving to you that I take these issues seriously." Minneapolis Star Tribune: Seriously, Franken's running for Senate WHO WILL WIN THE SENATE PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY? In 2000, it was easier to troll for favorable quotes about John McCain among his Democratic colleagues than to find Republican senators ready to say nice things about a man they had served with for years. In the end, McCain snared a grand total of four endorsements from GOP senators for his presidential campaign. Almost a year until the first primary, McCain has already outpaced his 2000 total. He has six endorsements, and his campaign promises more soon. That McCain is already on the way to doubling his 2000 take is a vivid illustration of the onetime maverick's ability to make amends with colleagues and the conservative establishment that many of them represent. A Politico survey among the 49 Republican senators also found three senators backing former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for president... Thirty-two Republican senators said they were still undecided on whom to support, and four said they expected to sit out the primary process. The Politico: McCain Leads Chase for Senate Support OBAMA SCORES VA GOV ENDORSEMENT: Gov. Timothy M. Kaine plans to endorse Illinois Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign when Obama appears in Richmond on Saturday, a political source said last night. Kaine would not confirm the endorsement, which was also reported by The Associated Press and The Washington Post. He did urge reporters to attend the Jefferson-Jackson Day dinner sponsored by the Democratic Party of Virginia on Saturday at the Greater Richmond Convention Center. Kaine will be with Obama at the dinner. Obama is the featured speaker at the annual fundraising event. The dinner is named for Presidents Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson. Richmond Times-Dispatch: Kaine expected to back Obama GIULIANI ON IRAQ - "NOT CONFIDENT IT'S ALL GOING TO TURN AROUND" : Former New York mayor and 2008 presidential contender Rudolph Giuliani said Wednesday he is not sure the tide will turn in the war in Iraq, as President Bush has said. "I'm not confident it's all going to turn around," Giuliani told CNN's "Larry King Live." "Who knows that? I mean, you never know that in the middle of the war. "I'm confident that we have to try to make a turnaround, and we just can't walk out, and that it is critical to us that things get to the point in Iraq that we have some degree of stability and not the way they are now," Giuliani continued. "Because if we leave it the way it is now and we run out, then we're going to face further difficulties in the future." CNN: Giuliani 'not confident' war will turn around RUDY "REMOVED ANY LINGERING DOUBTS" WITH LKL APPEARANCE: Rudolph W. Giuliani yesterday removed any lingering doubts that he was running for president, and, without mentioning President Bush by name, offered pointed criticism on how the Iraq war has been handled... Mr. Giuliani has behaved like a presidential candidate for months, forming an exploratory committee, raising money, building a campaign staff and making appearances around the country. But until now, he has repeatedly stopped short of a definitive statement of his intentions - even joking about his nondeclarations in recent days. Republican activists and consultants, citing his early withdrawal from the 2000 Senate race, said he needed to put to rest fears that he might not follow through. But in characteristic fashion, Mr. Giuliani said he would do things on his own timetable. But on "Larry King Live" on CNN yesterday, Mr. Giuliani twice said, "Yes, I'm running," according to a transcript provided by CNN before the interview was broadcast. New York Times: Giuliani Says He Is Running for President in '08 WHAT ABOUT ALL THOSE PREVIOUSLY SCHEDULED $100K ENGAGEMENTS? Former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani has continued to make paid speeches at a standard fee of $100,000 since forming his presidential exploratory committee last November, mixing personal business with campaigning in a way many of his rivals in the race cannot. Presidential candidates who are not federal officeholders are allowed to take money for speeches, as long as they are not raising campaign money at the event, distributing campaign material or delivering an overtly political speech. But campaign aides said yesterday he will wait to collect his fee for a speech he gave last night until his campaign has discussed the arrangement with the Federal Election Commission and determined how best to handle a handful of speaking engagements already scheduled through the spring. Washington Post: Giuliani to Seek Advice From FEC About Speaking Fees GORE EXPECTED TO ANNOUNCE GLOBAL WARMING CONCERT: Al Gore's next gig: concert promoter. Using popular music to bring attention to his pet issue of global climate change, the former vice president is planning a single-day series of concerts modeled after Live 8. Gore is scheduled to announce the concerts today in Los Angeles. He's expected to be joined there by rock stars Jon Bon Jovi and Sting, rap musician Pharrell Williams and media executive Kevin Wall, who served as worldwide executive producer for Live 8, the 2005 concerts that drew attention to African debt relief. The Gore-promoted event will be held July 7, according to published reports, with seven major concerts on seven continents. Washington Post: Al Gore to Sound Off On Climate Change With Concert Event |
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