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Firings Fallout: Senate Committee Expected to Authorize Subpoenas; Mrs. Edwards' Health; Iraq Reconstruction Report; Michael Eric Dyson Talks About Race and Barack Obama
Aired March 22, 2007 - 10:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. You're with CNN. You're informed.
I'm Tony Harris.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Heidi Collins.
Developments keep coming in to the NEWSROOM on Thursday, March 22nd.
Here's what's on the rundown.
New concern about the health of Elizabeth Edwards. Her husband, Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, plans an announcement today.
HARRIS: A Baghdad newcomer rattled when an explosion hits nearby. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon ducks. The Iraqi prime minister at his side barely notices the blast.
COLLINS: A veteran Chicago police officer is put on leave. Video shows him attacking a bartender. The officer outweighed the woman by more than 100 pounds.
You are in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: A showdown over White House subpoenas, it may be inching closer to the Supreme Court. Right now, the Senate Judiciary Committee is debating whether to authorize subpoenas for top administration aides. At issue, the firing of federal prosecutors. At stake, the power of the White House versus Congress.
CNN Congressional Correspondent Dana Bash is on Capitol Hill.
Dana, a pretty fiery exchange, oh, about an hour ago between the committee chair and the ranking member over the question of whether or not to accept the White House's offer. And if you don't like what you get, use the subpoenas.
DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. You know, we really thought that we were going to have a vote by now, but they have been really sparring in the Judiciary Committee over in the Senate for about an hour now. It's kind of surprising, but really interesting and telling about where we are in this whole sort of showdown between Congress and the president. Specifically, as you mentioned, the Democratic chairman is saying over and over again, look, you know, what I heard from the president, what I heard from his counsel was this is our offer. Karl Rove and others will come, they will talk to lawmakers, they will do it in private, there will be no transcript, no oath. And that's our final offer.
And you see him, Tony, as sort of playing the bad cop to the ranking Republican Arlen Specter's good cop, because Arlen Specter is saying, look, let's just offer a counter-proposal.
Listen to this brief exchange between the two of them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. ARLEN SPECTER (R-PA), JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: If we don't like what we get, we can always issue a subpoena and move with the subpoena if we don't like what we hear.
SEN. PATRICK LEAHY (D-VT), CHAIRMAN, JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: That's not...
SPECTER: Why not take what we can get in the interest of...
(CROSSTALK)
LEAHY: No, what we're told we can get is nothing, nothing, nothing. We're told that we can have a closed-door meeting with no transcript, not under oath, limited number of people. And the White House will determine what the agenda is. That to me is nothing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Now, what you see there is the Democratic chairman instituting a negotiating tactic. He is clearly trying to make it look as though the president and the White House is -- they're not being reasonable. He even took a jab at the president, saying, well, he said it, he's the decider, that this is his offer, take it or leave it.
And that's what you're seeing the sparring over, in addition to the issue that's really at hand here, Tony, and that is whether or not to authorize Patrick Leahy, the chairman, to issue subpoenas. Republicans are saying over and over, let's just wait, it's not ready -- it's not time yet to actually give you that authority. Let's see how this plays out. And you see Democrats saying, no, let's get this authorization in place as leverage.
HARRIS: Well, Dana, is there any indication telling you -- Arlen Specter and other folks we're watching having this very discussion about taking that offer and then holding the subpoena over everyone's head if you don't like the information you're getting. Is there any indication that Arlen Specter floated this trial balloon at the behest, on behalf of the administration?
BASH: You know, that's unclear. Arlen Specter is -- and I'm sure he would appreciate this -- is a guy who marches to the beat of his own drum, you know, within his party and here in the Senate. But he is also somebody who has been the person who has prompted compromise in the past on lots -- in the past on lots of different issues.
He's a moderate Republican, certainly has sparred with the White House on issues just like this, legal issues before. But he started telling us yesterday, Tony, he thinks that just digging in is not the way to go...
HARRIS: Yes.
BASH: ... because this is going to end up in the courts for years and years. And that's why what he floated is essentially to have an open hearing, to have a transcript, which neither those -- the White House wants, but to limit the number of senators who are going to be in this room in order to make it less of a political circus, as the White House has called it.
Senator Leahy is saying, you k now, what's the point of doing that?
HARRIS: Yes.
BASH: Again, sort of playing the bad cop there. Unclear if the White House would -- would accept anything like that, but if Senator Specter does send that over to the White House, it at least could open the negotiations, something that is not going on right now.
HARRIS: Our congressional correspondent, Dana Bash, for us this morning.
Dana, thank you.
BASH: Thank you.
COLLINS: Her health, his political future. Presidential candidate John Edwards and his wife Elizabeth expected to discuss both today. They're holding a news conference next hour. It comes one day after a doctor's visit to follow up on treatment for breast cancer.
CNN's Mary Snow is in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where the news conference will take place.
Mary, any idea what we can expect to hear from this news conference?
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, as you know, the campaign has been very tight-lipped about this news conference. It was announced late last night.
A pretty informal setting, as you can see behind me. The press setting up. It's about to start in just about an hour from now.
And what we have learned, as CNN has been reporting, that sources close to John Edwards have been saying that this could possibly deal with a possible development with Elizabeth Edwards' health. And we do know that John Edwards cut short his trip to Iowa on Tuesday, and sources have been saying that the two went to a doctor yesterday after Elizabeth Edwards had a routine checkup on Monday.
She's had a very public, brave battle with breast cancer. That cancer detected in the final days of the 2004 campaign. She has since written a book about it, talked so much about it, and had talked about these routine checkups that she has to go for.
COLLINS: Yes, certainly. Mary, we want to be as sensitive as we possibly can be here, but have they talked about how her health issues might actually affect his presidential campaign?
SNOW: Obviously, that is the big question. And people are staying away from speculating. But in terms of that question being asked before, you know, Elizabeth Edwards has said that she was 100 percent behind her husband running for president.
Back in May, in an interview with ABC News, John Edwards was asked whether there would be anything that would stop him from running. And he said that his wife's health problems would be the only factor that would make him reconsider. So that is what he has said in the past. But as far as what exactly will be said here today, not 100 percent sure.
COLLINS: All right.
Mary Snow for us in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Mary, we'll come back to you just as soon as this announcement is made.
Thanks so much.
Well, it's a battle waged by more than two million women in the United States. More on Elizabeth Edwards' fight against breast cancer and possible developments today regarding her health. We're going to be talking with medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen coming up in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: A blast of reality for the new U.N. chief. U.N. Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon ducks behind a podium. He is unhurt but clearly shaken by a mortar blast that hit the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad.
It rocked the room where Ban Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki were holding a televised news conference. Maliki didn't appear fazed by the blast in the least.
This is the U.N. chief's first visit to Iraq since taking office in January.
COLLINS: Showdown session on Capitol Hill. House lawmakers debate a measure aimed at troop withdrawal from Iraq. Specifically, a spending bill that calls for American forces to come home by next year.
A vote on the bill was postponed until tomorrow, we are told. Democrats are scrambling to find the 218 votes needed to pass it. A Senate committee could vote today on a version of the pullout plan. President Bush vows to veto any such legislation that reaches his desk. HARRIS: Multimillion-dollar mistakes. A new report describes the U.S.-led reconstruction effort in Iraq as chaotic, poorly managed and fraught with problems. This comes as the president meets with the Iraq provincial reconstruction team.
CNN Senior Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre joins us.
And Jamie, how devastating is this report?
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, are you familiar with the principle of the six Ps?
HARRIS: No. Fill me in.
MCINTYRE: Prior proper planning prevents poor performance.
HARRIS: I like it.
MCINTYRE: And that principle was generally violated by the Pentagon, which showed a paucity of planning. This report from the special inspector General for Iraq reconstruction, Stuart Bowen. It outlines really a litany of problems.
Here's some of them -- you know, a complete lack of planning back in 2003 after the war started; the failure to predict the insurgency or the collapse of the Iraqi government; and massive confusion between the State Department and the Pentagon, including, you know, who had the lines of authority. All of that contributed to $400 billion being spent, in many cases without anybody knowing exactly what the money was going for.
But Stuart Bowen wasn't all bad news today. He said he's just returned from his 15th trip to Iraq. And he says for the first time in more than almost two years he actually has a sense that things are getting better.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STUART BOWEN, JR., INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR IRAQ RECONSTRUCTION: What I learned across the board is that preliminary results of this latest initiative in the Baghdad security plan have been positive. And so I wanted to begin my discussion by saying that that cautious optimism is a good sign and something that I had not returned from Iraq with -- I guess it was the last 20 months.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCINTYRE: Don't forget, as an auditor, Stuart Bowen is kind of a skeptic. So he's going to take that skeptic's eye. And for the first time he feels a little optimistic, but he said, make no mistake about it, February was one of the worst months ever, but there's been a sharp decline in both bomb attacks and insurgent attacks in the last couple of weeks, and that seems to be holding -- Tony.
HARRIS: OK, Jamie. So mistakes were made. What's the Pentagon going to do to correct them? MCINTYRE: Well, you know, that's the whole reason they have these auditors. These stories always look like bad news stories, but the good news part of it is they pay a lot of people to go over every dollar that's spent and try to figure out if it was done correctly.
HARRIS: Good point.
MCINTYRE: And they do recommend -- he has a series of nine recommendations to make things better. Some of it might require some congressional legislation, but the main thing is to know that there's constantly people going over the spending plans and trying to find out, you know, how the money was spent, whether there was enough accountability. And they have a series of things to make things better.
HARRIS: Senior Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre for us.
Jamie, thank you.
COLLINS: Want to go ahead and get you some tape that with have in here now at CNN. As you may know, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales met today with some of the regional groups of U.S. attorneys. That first session was today. There will be more.
He was asked by them whether or not he should resign and whether or not he has the support of the president.
Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALBERTO GONZALES, ATTORNEY GENERAL: I'm not going to resign. I'm going to stay focussed on protecting our kids.
There's a lot of work that needs to be done around the country. The department is responsible for protecting our kids, from making our neighborhoods safe, for protecting our country against acts of terrorism, going after gangs, going after drug dealers. I'm staying focused on that.
QUESTION: General, you were kept out of the loop from the U.S. attorney firings. Can you still be an effective attorney general?
GONZALES: I think if you look at the record of the department over the past two years, it has been tremendous in the area of public corruption, in the area of civil rights enforcement, in the area of going after child pornographers. And so the record of the department has been extremely strong.
I am committed to work with Congress to make sure that they have the information that they need to determine what happened here. At the end of the day, we have a situation that the president of the United States has the authority to hire and to fire United States attorneys. I'm going to go up to the Congress and provide further clarification about what happened here. We are working with Congress voluntarily.
No United States attorney was fired for improper reasons. And that's the message that I'm going to deliver to the United States Congress.
Thank you very much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Just quickly, obviously, that tape from a press conference, not directly from those meetings that he had with a regional group of U.S. attorneys. Those meetings were private. So those questions coming from the press about whether he should resign or not.
Also, that happening while we are watching some of the live proceedings taking place in the Senate Judiciary Committee, trying to make a decision on whether or not to authorize the subpoenas for people such as Karl Rove, Harriet Miers, in the wake of the firing of eight U.S. attorneys. You see the chairman there, Patrick Leahy, and by his side we also have ranking member Arlen Specter. Some heated exchanges between them.
So we're going to continue to monitor this, let you know what else happens.
HARRIS: And still to come this morning, race relations in America. Something to talk about, that's for sure. The author of "Debating Race" joins us straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: It's the last thing you want to find in the pastry case.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I thought I was going to spend $200 in groceries, I ended up leaving with nothing other than pictures of rats on doughnuts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Not that it's important, but are those rats or mice? We'll tell you which retailer the rodent visited and what the chain is doing about it.
You're in the NEWSROOM.
KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A violent beating in a Chicago bar is a story with a twist. It turns out the accused attacker is a cop.
I'm Keith Oppenheim in Chicago. More and new details coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: A bartender attacked by a customer. The brutal beating caught on tape. But the real shock came later.
CNN's Keith Oppenheim reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) OPPENHEIM (voice over): The regulars gathered at this neighborhood bar in Chicago while a security camera recorded tape. In this surveillance video, notice the man in the upper right corner of your screen. The bartender, Karolina, didn't know it at the time, but that customer was an off-duty Chicago police officer. Karolina would give her first name only, but agreed to review the tape with me.
KAROLINA, BEATING VICTIM: I think I've been telling him that I'm not going to serve him anymore.
OPPENHEIM: Because you're concerned that he's getting wasted?
KAROLINA: Yes. Exactly.
OPPENHEIM: He has since been identified as Officer Anthony Abbate. At one point, Abbate surprises Karolina and comes around to her side of the bar. But when Abbate bumps into the bar, he explodes. He punches her repeatedly.
Keep in mind, according to prosecutors, Abbate is 6'1" and 250 pounds. Karolina says she's 5'4" and 130 pounds. As frightened bystanders keep a difference, Officer Abbate walks away. Karolina gets up, despite multiple hits to her head, back and ribs.
DAVID NAVARRO, ASST. COOK COUNTY STATES ATTORNEY: It is one of the most brutal and savage attacks that I've ever seen caught on tape.
OPPENHEIM: Prosecutors have charged Officer Abbate with aggravated assault, a felony. Abbate's attorneys did not return CNN's calls.
Karolina, what is your reaction that the person who beat you is a police officer?
KAROLINA: Actually, I couldn't believe. I was like, police are to serve and protect, not to beat up people.
OPPENHEIM: Chicago police released a statement about Officer Abbate which said, "A recommendation for termination is expected pending the completion of the internal investigation." Karolina says she's left with bad headaches, and as you might imagine, bad memories from what happened in this bar.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Keith Oppenheim joining us now from Chicago.
And Keith, I don't want to get off point here, but you have spoken with Karolina. Any idea, her thoughts on the other people in the bar that didn't help?
OPPENHEIM: Well, she described that to me. First of all, there were some things going on before he attacked her.
He had come around the bar once, and she pushed this guy away, the officer in question. But he was also -- excuse me -- kind of play punching some of the other guys at the bar. And she said it was not funny, that he was actually hurting them. So she felt that they were intimidated and, obviously, as you can see from the video, they didn't come to help her.
COLLINS: Yes. I see one guy on the phone, to be fair there. And hopefully he was calling for help. And I also know that it took quite a while for this officer to actually be arrested. What was the holdup?
OPPENHEIM: Part of the answer to that, Heidi, is that he went into rehab. We talked about that with Chicago police this morning, and they said when he went into a rehab center in Chicago, by law, they could not pull him out. So he was actually not arrested. He turned himself in a little more than a week ago.
COLLINS: What's the latest, too, Keith, on some of this that you were reporting yesterday, authorities investigating whether after the attack there were actual real threats made against Karolina, the bartender?
OPPENHEIM: Exactly. This is a potentially significant aspect of this story as it goes on, because the state's attorney's office is questioning whether or not there were people who went into the bar, offered money to Karolina and the bar owner, essentially threatening them possibly that they should not go forward and pursue this case. If those charges prove to be true, then it's also possible there could be intimidation charges and obstruction of justice charges, too.
COLLINS: Did she tell you she's going through with it no matter what?
OPPENHEIM: Yes. I mean, right now she's gotten an attorney and she is pursuing it. But I talked to one of her attorneys this morning, and he said after all the interviews that she did yesterday, she's not really feeling better about this. She is terrified that there could be someone who could come after her. So, you know, she's brave, but she's also scared.
COLLINS: Yes, I imagine so. It's pretty incredible video.
Keith Oppenheim live for us from Chicago today.
Keith, thanks.
HARRIS: A presidential candidate's wife and her battle against breast cancer. Possible development today regarding the health of Elizabeth Edwards. We will talk with medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Potential health concerns for a presidential candidate and his wife. John and Elizabeth Edwards are holding a news conference at the top of the hour. Sources say they will discuss possible developments with her health.
Elizabeth Edwards underwent treatment for breast cancer in 2004. It's a battle waged by more than two million women in the United States.
Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here now. She has some specifics of Elizabeth Edwards' fight against the disease.
So what do we know about her cancer, other than what we've just said here?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: What we know is that she discovered it in October 2004. It was a lump in her breast about the size of a half-dollar.
We also know that after a mammogram and ultrasounds, they also found that it was in -- when they had the surgery, they found that it was in some surrounding lymph nodes as well. And she had those lymph nodes removed.
After having surgery and chemo and radiation, Elizabeth Edwards wrote her book, "Saving Graces," "The cancer seems to be gone." But she said in television interviews -- and cancer survivors know this -- that it's never definitely gone.
There could be microscopic pieces of cancer, little cells that have lingered in the breast or lingered in the lymph nodes. And doctors may have thought they got everything, but it doesn't necessarily mean that they've gotten everything.
COLLINS: Yes. And certainly not speculating here, because we certainly...
(CROSSTALK)
COHEN: Right.
COLLINS: But we're not exactly sure what we are going to hear in this announcement coming up in about a half an hour. So just to reiterate that.
But let's talk for a minute about survival rates now of breast cancer. Have there been any changes in those numbers?
COHEN: Yes, breast cancer treatment has gotten much more effective over the years. So, where some would feel years and years ago that a breast diagnosis was a death sentence, that is no longer true.
In fact, if you take a look at statistics from the time a woman is diagnosed until five years out -- well, first of all, 178,000 women are diagnosed each year in this country. Five years after their diagnosis, 88 percent are still alive. Ten years after the diagnosis, 80 percent are still alive.
So those are definitely terrific numbers for women with breast cancer.
COLLINS: Yes, definitely.
What about the chances of recurrence, though? COHEN: There's no good number that says what your chance is for recurrence. And, of course, women ask that all the time. Once they've gone through the treatment, they say to their doctor, OK, so I'm clean now, what are the chance this is going to come back?
And the reality is, is that they don't know those numbers, but if it comes back, it is more likely to come back within the first five years. And if it does come back within the first five years, that means it is probably a more metastatic cancer. In other words, it's cancer that's more likely to spread and more likely to grow quickly.
So, if it comes back within those first five years, it's not good because it's not good to have cancer again, but it's also not good because it's more likely to be fast growing than if it came back later.
COLLINS: Yes. That five-year mark always such a big one.
COHEN: It's so important. So important.
COLLINS: Yes. All right. Well, we will be watching this, alongside you as well.
COHEN: OK. Thanks.
COLLINS: Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.
Thanks.
HARRIS: John Edwards and his wife have been through challenges in their nearly 30 years of marriage. They lost their oldest child in a car accident in 1996. And she learned she had breast cancer after the 2004 presidential campaign.
She wrote about the tough times in a book, "Saving Graces," as Elizabeth Cohen was just mentioning just a moment ago. And she talked about the breast cancer diagnosis with Soledad O'Brien on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING" last October.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: You begin with (INAUDIBLE), which is the discovery of the lump in your breast.
ELIZABETH EDWARDS, JOHN EDWARDS' WIFE: Yes.
O'BRIEN: And I read this and the reaction is not panic. It's not, oh, my god, I'm going to die. The reaction is sort of bizarrely calm.
Why that reaction?
EDWARDS: I think there's probably a little bit of denial in that. And probably everyone who has been through this, either gotten a benign or a malignant diagnosis, ultimately has at first convinced herself that this is going to be benign. And I had just convinced myself that I was going to get through the next days believing that what I had was a cyst.
O'BRIEN: Because you're on the campaign trail...
EDWARDS: I'm on the campaign trail.
O'BRIEN: ... working ridiculous hours. I mean, it's very stressful.
EDWARDS: Right. I have 11 cities to go to between the time I found out...
O'BRIEN: You can't have breast cancer. You're too busy.
EDWARDS: Absolutely. In fact, one of the people who wrote me after I had the breast cancer said, you know, "I have five children. This diagnosis is unacceptable." You know?
And so you just -- you have things you need to do. And it was easier just to push that aside, say this -- it can't possibly be serious. And I need to focus on this.
O'BRIEN: You don't tell your husband, who you're talking to several times a day as you sort of campaign in different directions.
EDWARDS: Right. Yes. And partly because I didn't know for certain. And why should I send him into a whirlwind, as I knew he would, you know, go? Because I know he'd want to take care of me, so I needed to make certain that unless -- until I was certain, I didn't throw this at him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Again, John and Elizabeth Edwards will hold a news conference at noon Eastern, and we will carry it live for you right here in in the NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: And moving on now to a different story that we have been following as well. The attorney general under the gun. Just minutes ago we heard from the embattled central figure in the fired prosecutors probe, Alberto Gonzales.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALBERTO GONZALES, ATTORNEY GENERAL: The record of the department has been extremely strong. I am committed to work with Congress to make sure that they have the information that they need to determine what happened here. And at the end of the day, we have a situation with the President of the United States, has the authority to hire and to fire United States attorneys.
I'll go up to the Congress and provide further clarification about what happened here. We are working with Congress voluntarily. No United States attorney has been fired for improper reasons. That's the message that I'm going to deliver to the United States Congress.
Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: And right now the Senate Judiciary Committee is debating whether to authorize the subpoenas for the president's inner circle. We're hearing that that vote should be just minutes away. Democrats want political guru Karl Rove to publicly answer questions about the firings of the eight federal prosecutors.
Subpoenas could also force sworn testimony from former White House Counsel Harriet Miers, who you see on the right there. The White House says it will allow the aides to answer questions in private and not under oath. That sparked this terse partisan exchange among committee members.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. ARLEN SPECTER, (R) JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: If we don't like what we get, we can always issue a subpoena and move with the subpoena if we don't like what we hear.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's not ...
SPECTER: Why not take what we can get in the interests of ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, what we're told we'd get is nothing, nothing, nothing. We're told that we can have the closed door meeting with no transcript, not under oath, limited number of people, and the White House will determine what the agenda is. That to me is nothing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Some lawmakers are working behind the scenes to avoid a constitutional showdown. Otherwise the issue could ultimately be decided by the Supreme Court.
HARRIS: Race relations in America, something to talk about. The author of "Debating Race" joins us straight ahead, in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In favor say aye? Opposed? I would say the ayes have it. The subpoenas are authorized.
HARRIS: There you have it, the Senate Judiciary Committee giving its Chairman Patrick Leahy the authority to issue subpoenas to White House staffers who testify in the firings of eight U.S. attorneys that happened in December. Our Congressional Correspondent Dana Bash is with us now. Dana, with Democrats in control, was there ever much doubt that this vote would turn out the way it has?
DANA BASH, CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No, there wasn't any doubt. They just passed it by voice vote. They didn't record every senator's vote because they didn't have to, for that very reason. But now what you have, Tony, is the power in the hands of the chairman of the Judiciary Committee in the Senate and in the House to actually issue subpoenas to Karl Rove, the president's top political adviser, and about four other current and former Bush officials if they don't come forward and do what Democrats want them to do, which is testify in public, with a transcript, under oath.
Now, there was a lot of sparring between Democrats and Republicans about an hour and a half, actually, in this hearing about the need for the subpoenas and about just the issue in general and the propriety of this constitutional fight, whether it's political or policy related. And Republicans, by and large, said this is not necessary. You're getting too far ahead of things, that we need to take it step by step and even using the s word or giving the authority of the chairman, it is too much for that.
But they're very clear in their public posture right now in this showdown with the White House. And that is the president, the White House gave us an offer they said was their final offer, which is only private discussions with no transcript and no oath with Karl Rove and others, and the Democrats are saying, the Democratic chairman actually said I don't take "take it or leave it" offers very lightly. There you sort of see the chairman and the Democrats trying to sort of put their, dig in their heels just like the White House is.
Again, that's happening in public, but you did see some discussion in this meeting about the possibility of compromise from the top Republican on the committee, Tony.
HARRIS: Just one quick one, Dana, if I could. The president's offer does not come off the table with this vote, does it? My understanding is that the deal comes off the table if subpoenas are actually issued?
BASH: That's right. That's what the White House spokesman said. He said that the offer is off the table if the subpoenas are issued, but in a way, if you're looking at this from maybe 10,000 feet, that is almost maybe besides the point.
Why? Because Democrats have already rejected the offer to begin with. So this is a lot of public posturing as they try to figure out which side is going to blink or whether they'll keep doing this in public and in private try to work something out.
HARRIS: I'm just trying to be a little optimistic here. Congressional Correspondent, Dana Bash for us, thank you.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: Seven years old, 254 pounds. How do you get that big at just seven years? This South Carolina boy weighs more than most heavyweight boxers, now his mother is on notice.
Craig Beatty with our affiliate, WSPA, has this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CRAIG BEATTY, WSPA REPORTER: Justin Painter is a lot bigger than most boys his age. At just seven years old, Justin weighs more than the average adult, 254 pounds.
JOYCE PAINTER, JUSTIN'S MOTHER: I just noticed he started putting on weight.
BEATTY: His mother, Joyce, says she first realized Justin's weight problem when he was three, and for the past four years has visited doctor after doctor looking for a cause and a solution. But most every time, Joyce says, she was told to watch his diet.
PAINTER: I've got him on three meals, meat and two vegetables and give him a plate and that's it.
BEATTY: No snacking.
PAINTER: No snacking. We don't have chips. I've removed all the chips, all the cookies, all that stuff. I quit buying it.
BEATTY: Despite a strict diet and physical activity, Joyce says her son continues to grow. Now she says the Department of Social Services has visited her after getting a complaint about Justin's size. Joyce says she was shocked at what DSS told her.
PAINTER: We have a report that all you're doing is just feeding your child all the time. That's why he's gaining weight.
BEATTY: Joyce says that's not the case. Polk County DSS wouldn't comment on the situation, citing confidentiality laws, but Joyce says the agency gave her two months. If Justin doesn't show signs of losing weight, they'll remove him from her home.
PAINTER: I do the best I can to cook him healthy meals and everything. If I'm doing something wrong, somebody come show me. Come into my home and look what I've got in my cabinet. If there's something in there that I don't need to have, show me so I can throw it out.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: A political whodunit solved. Hillary Clinton attack ad maker revealed. Details coming up in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: And once again we're getting very close at the top of the hour for a news conference with John and Elizabeth Edwards. We will bring that to you live in the NEWSROOM. That's coming up at the top of the hour. New health concerns for Elizabeth Edwards.
COLLINS: In fact, we take a look at those live pictures coming in now as we wait to hear from John Edwards and his wife, Elizabeth. We're learning this. According to politico.com, we're hearing that John Edwards will suspend his campaign for president and may drop out completely because his wife Elizabeth has again, according to politico.com, suffered a recurrence of the cancer that made her sick first in 2004. This is breast cancer. This is what we're hearing now. At a minimum, he is going to suspend that campaign and no one knows exactly right now how serious her recurrence is. CNN, of course, is working to confirm this. But at this moment politico.com reporting that John Edwards will suspend his campaign for president because his wife has suffered a recurrence of breast cancer. We'll continue to follow it and bring you that news conference as soon as it happens.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Quickly, we want to get you to a story that we've been following all morning here. Awaiting a news conference, coming up in about 156 minutes, or so, from John Edwards and his wife. We have Mary Snow on the ground.
Mary, we've been learning about a report that's come out from politico.com regarding what will be said in that news conference.
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Heidi. Politico is quoting, or sourcing what a friend close to the Edwards, saying that John Edwards is suspending his campaign for president and may drop out completely because, as politico is reporting, his wife has suffered a recurrence of the cancer that has made her sick back in 2004.
Both John Edwards and Elizabeth Edwards are expected here very shortly. An aide to the Edwards campaign said this was their decision, to do this together, and that this was a family issue that they wanted to get this news out themselves and they want to be the first to talk about it. So again, we're expecting them not far from where they live in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Of course, Elizabeth Edward's battle with cancer, such a public battle. She did talk about it, wrote a book about it. She was diagnosed just as the 2004 campaign had ended.
Heidi?
COLLINS: Mary, as we remember those press conferences with their young children in a lot of that video as well, looking at some of the statements that politico.com has here, saying that right now the number one priority is her health and the security of their two young children. Also saying that you don't shut this machine off completely, but everything will go on hold regarding his presidential run.
SNOW: That's right. This is something that John Edwards has stressed repeatedly since his wife had been diagnosed, that her health was really the number one issue. And he had said in previous interviews that that would be the only thing that would possibly derail his seeking the Democratic nomination.
COLLINS: Well, there we have it. Mary Snow standing by in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, waiting for that press conference to happen just about ten minutes or so from now. We, of course, will check in with you again, Mary, and have the entire press conference coming to you live in just a few minutes.
HARRIS: Debating race. A controversial topic but one our next guest says is essential to improving race relations in America. "Debating Race" is the title of a new book by Michael Eric Dyson. He's an author, preacher, professor, talk show host, doctor. Good to see you.
America's great problem, you write, is race. We're spending a lot of time here at CNN talking about that topic. Paula Zahn is almost nightly devoting her show to the topic. I'm wondering what is the most interesting about the race discussion as you hear it playing out in this country in 2007?
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON, AUTHOR, "DEBATING RACE": What's interesting, Tony, it really is a great thing for America to come to grips with the pervasive forms of racial amnesia that we live with.
HARRIS: Racial amnesia?
DYSON: Yes, we live in the United States of amnesia, which means we'd rather deny, sweeping under the carpet, refuse to engage. The governor here in Georgia says that stuff is over, we're not going to apologize, let's make sure our children have nothing to apologize for. The priest told you 33 years ago it didn't happen, get over it, the holocaust. We don't do that.
We have to not only apologize, but make good on those apologies. What's interesting about the race debate in America, on the one hand, we know there are bitter conflicts that need to be dealt with, on the other hand, but we refuse to do so because we have so much guilt and inability to tell the truth about what has occurred.
HARRIS: What would it sound like if we were more open, more honest? What would it sound like?
DYSON: First of all, Martin Luther King Jr. The night before he died said, America, all we're asking you is to be true about what you said on paper. If you said the ideals of the constitution are available for everybody, let's make that reality.
The first thing it would look like is this, we messed up. Slavery was terrible. Let's make reparations for what we did wrong. Reparations are not just, give black people a bunch of money and just go on. It is about education, transfer of resources. The new book is out, another person that promotes his book that talks about the racial cleansing right here in Atlanta, an author -- the racial cleansing where black people were told get out or die, we're taking your houses, we're taking your homes. That kind of thing has to be put right. That's what the conversation would look like.
HARRIS: You know, but let's talk about -- get some observations from you on some stories in the news these days. A lot of discussion over the candidacy for president of Senator Barack Obama.
The discussion, is America ready for a black president? Is he black enough for black America? Who is this Barack Obama anyway that he would think he can run for the presidency at 45-years-old?
Let me have you listen to someone that you know very well, Cathy Hughes, the developer of Radio One, a huge radio operation here in this country. This is what she had to say about Barack Obama and his candidacy. And then let me have you respond. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CATHY HUGHES, TVONE: I called it a dazzling deception. And black folks have historically gone for dazzling deception. African- Americans, if it looks good to us, we're like, OK, well, let's give it a try.
I'm not going for this dazzling deception because I think this election is too critical to the future of America, not just African- Americans but all Americans. I want someone in there who knows what they're doing, who's qualified for the position and who has done more than taken photos, waved at the crowd and kissed babies.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Michael Eric Dyson, what do you think about the comments from from Cathy Hughes and what do you think about the candidacy for president of Senator Barack Obama?
DYSON: Well, first of all, Cathy Hughes is one of the most brilliant entrepreneurs in America, and I have deep respect for her. She's right about the fact that many dazzling deceptions have been put before African American people, but they would have names like Condoleezza Rice and Clarence Thomas.
What's interesting about Barack Obama, we can't do a genetic profile or a kind of racial profiling of him. We fought against that, a DNA examination. Let me see, he's a metaphor for all of us. Look at me. Somebody's been in the gene pool is not exactly dark. So the reality is that he's a metaphor for all black people. Some of all of us have white people who are parents, so to speak, grandparents, great grandparents in the white in our communities.
Number two, what's interesting about Barack Obama, here's a guy, undergraduate of Columbia, graduate from law at Harvard, he got a black wife, black family, he goes to a black church, he's lived in the black community on the south side, he's pretty black to me.
The question is how black are his politics? And I think that Barack Obama deserves the chance. If we've got a man in the White House right now who basically by his own admission was drunk until he was 40, his wife told him to clean up his act, then he became governor, and now the president Barack Obama should be a cosmic dictator.
HARRIS: Michael Eric Dyson, there's the sleeve on the book, the cover there, "Debating Race." Michael, it's always great to talk to you.
DYSON: Always good to talk with you.
HARRIS: Heidi.
COLLINS: Finally go ahead and get back to this developing story that we are watching. Live cameras trained on a whole gob of microphones, if you will, because we're waiting to hear from John Edwards and his wife Elizabeth regarding her health.
We are learning from politico.com that apparently Edwards will either suspend or drop out completely his campaign because his wife has suffered a recurrence of breast cancer. More details on this and a live news conference coming up in just few moments after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: And right now we are standing by just minutes away now, in fact, from a news conference from John and Elizabeth Edwards. Obviously, news developing of new health concerns for Elizabeth Cohen -- or Mary or Elizabeth Edwards. I knew I was going to do that at some point this morning.
Our Mary Snow is in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, as we await the top of the hour and this news conference. And Mary, if you would, set the scene for us outside of what I think is the Carolina Inn there, is that correct?
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Tony, at the University of North Carolina. And this is not far from where the Edwards live. Now, we were just told that this press conference will not be starting right on time, that it will be a few minutes late. And obviously you can see behind me such a crowd of reporters waiting for this news conference called last night.
As we have been reporting, politico, the political Web site, is now quoting a friend of the Edwards saying that John Edwards will suspend his campaign, possibly withdraw it completely. This according to a friend reported by the politico. CNN, of course, making a lot of calls on this. But we'll tell you more as soon as we find out.
But this because Elizabeth Edwards' cancer has come back. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004. Now, last night, this advisory went out and an aide to the Edwards campaign says that this was a decision that John and Elizabeth Edwards made to have this joint news conference.
In fact, it's not even going to be a podium. They're going to be wearing wireless mikes. It is expected to last about 15 minutes.
But as the aide explained, this is a family issue, this is news that they wanted to deliver themselves and let people hear from themselves. They have been very outspoken about Elizabeth Edwards' battle with cancer. Cancer was diagnosed just at the end of the 2004 presidential election. And the day that Senator John Kerry and then his vice presidential candidate John Edwards conceded.
Soon after that is when Elizabeth Edwards did get her diagnosis -- Tony?
HARRIS: OK, and Mary, I know this is a huge event for North Carolina. If you would, we've got a bit of a shot there. We can get a sense of the interest locally there. But if you would, just give us a sense of that scene there, the reporters on hand, and the kind of interest that I know is just palpable there in North Carolina.
SNOW: Yes, absolutely, Tony. And as you know, the campaign has really said nothing about what will be said here today. We're only finding out bits and pieces through reports. But you know, any time you see John Edwards in public so many times, one of the first things he says in public is that he gives updates on his wife's health because that is the one question that so many people continue to ask him.
So there has been an enormous amount of attention to this. And interest in Elizabeth Edwards' health. If you can remember, she wrote a book "Saving Graces." She's been interviewed a number of times talking about her battle and the hopes of helping other women who develop breast cancer.
So, this is something and also that she started to -- that she's gotten so many letters and e-mails from people around the country.
HARRIS: OK, Mary Snow, you're watching that for us and we'll come back to you in just moments. Mary, thank you.
COLLINS: And we now have standing by our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen sitting beside me here as we wait for this news conference to happen, once again stressing we are not certain of exactly what is going to come out of this news conference. All we know is that, as Mary Snow reported, it was announced last night that he would hold this news conference alongside his wife.
And so as we wait for that, we do know, obviously, that Elizabeth Edwards was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right.
And so, the question is, what are they going to tell us today, are they going to tell us that there are new concerns, we just don't know, we will learn that shortly.
But let's talk about what we do know. As Heidi says, she was diagnosed in October 2004 with a lump the size of a half dollar.
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