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American Morning
President Nominates Former CIA Chief; Conversation with Representative Murtha
Aired November 09, 2006 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR, AMERICAN MORNING: The president's nominated a former CIA chief from his father's era to take over. Is it going to make a difference on the ground in Iraq? We'll talk to a Rumsfeld critic, the Congressman John Murtha, ahead this morning. Also, the White House counselor to the president, Dan Bartlett. That's straight ahead.
We begin, though, this morning in Virginia. The Virginia Senate race is where the Democrats' sweep might just be complete. Ed Henry is live at Jim Webb's campaign headquarters in Arlington this morning.
Good morning, Ed.
ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT, AMERICAN MORNING: Good morning, Soledad.
It's not official yet, but Jim Webb, the Democratic candidate, is planning a press conference today to declare victory. He's already calling himself senator-elect, making preparations to move into an office on Capitol Hill.
Meanwhile, when you read the tea leaves the Republican camp of Senator George Allen, the incumbent, they're basically admitting, privately, that this state mandated review of the vote count is going a lot quicker than expected. Officials initially said it could last up to a week.
But, instead, we're told it will probably finish up today, without finding any widespread fraud, anything that would really change the vote count, which really stands right now with Jim Webb having about a 7,000-vote lead.
Allen advisers, admitting privately, all signs are pointing to the senator having to take a very hard look at the numbers and realize the mountain is getting higher and higher for him to climb. So the chances of there actually being a recount, which could have lasted weeks is dwindling by the hour. Because people close to Senator Allen say he does not want to drag this out.
The bottom line is, this has been a pretty spectacular fall for Senator Allen. Just a few months ago he was being talked about as a serious presidential contender in 2008. Now he's likely to lose his Senate seat. That is going to tilt control of the United States Senate to the Democrats. And, obviously, his presidential hopes are now finished -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Ed Henry for us this morning. Thanks, Ed.
Miles.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR, AMERICAN MORNING: Bipartisanship on the menu at the White House today. The president breaking bread with the Democratic House speaker in-waiting, Nancy Pelosi. The question is, can they break the ice? CNN's Elaine Quijano live at the White House with more.
Elaine, good morning.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT, AMERICAN MORNING: Good morning, Miles.
Two days after Republicans received what the President Bush called the "a collective thumping" at the polls, this morning will be a chance for the president and GOP leaders to sit down and perhaps take a look back, here at the White House, at the campaigns. But also to take a look at what might be ahead. What they might be able to accomplish in the remaining time left for these GOP leaders.
At the same time, later today, for lunch, as you noted, the president will be reaching across the aisle to reach out to Democrats, and specifically the incoming House speaker, Nancy Pelosi.
But the president certainly making clear that all of those harsh words on the campaign trail between Nancy Pelosi, and himself, were essentially going to be forgotten; something that he could move past. The president joking, yesterday, that this wasn't his first rodeo. Meaning that he's been around politics long enough to understand that it can sometimes be tough.
Now, in between the meetings today, with the lawmakers, the president will also be sitting down with members of his Cabinet including the now outgoing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. This will be the first post-election meeting with all of the Cabinet members.
Of course, Rumsfeld stepping down is certainly significant news. He is stepping down after six years. He, of course, had been a lightning rod for criticism when it came to the president's Iraq policy. The president moving quickly, though, yesterday, to announce his choice to replace Rumsfeld. And that is former CIA Director Bob Gates.
The announcement of Rumsfeld's departure, which had been in the works for several weeks, certainly gave the president a chance to grab the headlines at a time perhaps when Democrats really wanted to focus the spotlight on themselves, and their gains in Congress.
The president himself saying, though, that he waited until after the election to make the announcement, because he didn't want to insert such a major decision into the elections. Clearly, now, though, Miles, the White House trying to signal it wants to move forward and perhaps a change is coming in the Iraq policy -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Elaine Quijano, live at the White House. Thank you.
Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Now, to the dramatic move by President Bush, which was letting -- as we just heard from Elaine, letting the Defense secretary go and naming Bob Gates -- as Elaine just mentioned. More on that with CNN's Barbara Starr. Really a closer look this morning at just exactly who Bob Gates is.
Good morning, Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT, AMERICAN MORNING: Good morning, Soledad.
President Bush turned to an old hand from his father's administration to run the Pentagon, but a man who is no stranger to controversy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STARR (voice over): Bob Gates is new to the Pentagon, but a new secretary of Defense does not end the problems in Iraq.
ROBERT GATES, DEFENSE SECRETARY NOMINEE: Because our long-term strategic interests and our national and homeland security are at risk; because so many of America's sons and daughters in our armed forces are in harm's way, I did not hesitate when the president asked me to return to duty.
STARR: Gates, who served as CIA director, and national security adviser, for the first President Bush, is regarded as someone who understands both politics and policy.
JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: He's very well known to Democrats, and I think is seen across the aisle as a non- ideological person who would bring a realist's perspective to this job.
STARR: If confirmed, Gates is expected to have a smoother relationship with his generals than Secretary Rumsfeld had, at least for now.
MCLAUGHLIN: I think they will welcome Bob because he's generally well-known in the military. They'll welcome his style.
STARR: Gates is an old Washington hand from the Reagan/Bush years. He's currently part of the Iraq study group, co-chaired by former Secretary of State James Baker, one of the first President Bush's closest friends. That group is working on options for a new Iraq policy.
GATES: If confirmed by the Senate --
STARR: Gates is not without controversy. In 1991, he was investigated but cleared of any wrongdoing in the Iran-Contra scandal. Several political analysts tell CNN they do not expect that to hinder his confirmation.
He has not always agreed with the current administration. In 2004, he co-authored a study on Iran for the Council on Foreign Relations, which said in part, the United States should not defer a political dialogue with Iran until differences over its nuclear programs have been resolved.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: But Soledad, at the end of the day, of course, Mr. Gates' challenge remains the same as Secretary Rumsfeld, finding a way to stem the violence in Iraq and bring the troops home -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Interesting to see the title of that book on Iran, was a "new approach". Of course, people are going to say, OK, what potentially could be the new approach in Iraq that Bob Gates might look at right now?
STARR: Well, you know, there are actually options, ideas on the table being worked on already. And there's sort of three things that people are talking about as potential options to look at.
One of them is to pull some of the troops essentially off the front line, put them sort of in bases as a rapid reaction force, in the more peaceful areas when trouble breaks out. Somebody described it as making them firemen, not policemen.
Another idea in the works, doubling the size of the U.S. military training teams. That might help speed up the training of Iraqi security forces.
But perhaps the most important one, that people mention, is setting some deadlines, timetables, time frames, whatever you want to call it, for the Iraqi government to turn over security to the Iraqis in those more peaceful areas, holding their feet to the fire, making them take charge.
But Soledad, there's still the question on the table is the optics. As long as Baghdad is plagued with the sectarian violence, Baghdad is the face of Iraq to the world, that is going to be a problem, and nobody right now has any magic solution about what to do there -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Barbara Starr, at the Pentagon for us. Thanks, Barbara.
Straight ahead this morning, one of the most critical voices of the Iraq war, and Secretary Rumsfeld, too, is Congressman John Murtha. We'll talk to him this morning. Also, we'll talk to the counselor to the president, Dan Bartlett, straight ahead.
Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Also coming up, Pastor Ted Haggard tries to pick himself up after his fall from grace. We'll have more on his next move. Plus, severe floods on both coasts. A look at the damage and the latest forecast ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: The American people have spoken. Voting to give Democrats the majority in both the House and now it appears the Senate. The president has spoken, too, moving immediately to accept the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and nominating the former CIA Chief Robert Gates to replace him.
Is it going to bring change to the war in Iraq? John Murtha is one of the most outspoken critics of the administration's Iraq policy. He joins us this morning from Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
Nice to see you, sir. Thanks for talking with us.
REP. JOHN MURTHA, (D-PA): Good morning, Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: You called for Secretary Rumsfeld to go, time after time, after time, now he's out. Are you satisfied?
MURTHA: Well, I'm satisfied because the military lost confidence in him. And when I started speaking out over a year ago, the military leaders were telling me he was incompetent and doing things that hurt the military. And then he wasn't able to support the requests that the military made for money.
And so it's good that we have a new fresh face. Bob Gates, I've known him for years. When I was chairman, he was CIA director. I worked with him. So look forward to working with a new face.
S. O'BRIEN: So it's clearly sounds, to me, at least, that you think Bob Gates is a good choice, is that fair to say?
MURTHA: I think he's a good choice. But don't misunderstand that the policy hasn't changed. When I heard the speech, that apparently the White House gave him to make, when he was accepting his designation as secretary of Defense, I was not happy to hear -- it was no change in policy.
As I said to the White House, when they called and told me that Gates would be calling me, I said, well, I appreciate that. But I know who sets the policy. The policy's not set by the Defense Department. And if we're going to change the policy, you need to be talking to people that know what they're talking about, some experienced people.
And I hope that Baker and Hamilton will make a difference. I hope they'll make recommendations to start to redeploy the troops. Because that's what this election was all about. It was about redeploying troops, changing the direction of the country. I did not hear that in the press conference.
S. O'BRIEN: So, are you saying that you don't think Bob Gates, in fact, will bring a specific change in Iraq? Or you're sort of -- the jury's out?
MURTHA: No, he'll bring a specific change in the Defense Department. He'll listen the military. He's got an open mind. He's experienced. The people will have confidence in him. He'll call people in and listen to what they have to say. He won't reject the proposal of the military. If we were to go to war under him, he would listen to what the military suggests and he will go along with that.
S. O'BRIEN: But all that's not enough for you?
MURTHA: That's not enough. Because when I listened to the rhetoric, when I listen to what the president said, what the outgoing secretary of Defense said and what the new secretary said, in his speech, it's the same thing.
It's terrorism in Iraq, and we're going to stay the course. That's not what the American public's looking for. They're looking for a change in course and we have to implement that.
S. O'BRIEN: One of the things -- or a couple of the points from the Murtha plan, which you've talked about over a long time, is to redeploy. You were calling for it after the last election, December of '05. And also the footprint, or sort of the impact left by U.S. troops would be actually sort of a quick reaction force that would be outside of Iraq.
Do you think, if those two things do not happen, do you think Bob Gates is going to be a failure?
MURTHA: Well, I think he will be. And they'll try to blame him. They've been trying to blame the military here recently. A year ago, they said it's really the redeployment is up to the military. That was an indication to me they were going to start blaming the military. Then just two or three weeks ago, the Republican majority leader, Representative Boehner said, look, the military's made a lot of mistakes.
And then Lieutenant General Sanchez, who was the commander over there, said, look, the policy set by the White House. I never lose sight of who sets the policy in this whole thing. Gates, his success is going to depend not only on the military itself, because we can't win this militarily, but a change in policy.
I am hopeful that the bipartisanship that President Bush talks about, the bipartisanship that we're willing to extend, works. But the first step to stability in Iraq is to redeployment.
We have become the enemy. The polls all indicate the Iraqis want us out of there; 61 percent say it's all right to kill Americans and there's been no progress. We've had 130,000 troops on the ground for three and a half years, almost four years. And yet when I spoke out a year ago, we had 400 attacks a week. We now have 800 attacks a week. We had the highest rate of casualties last month, 776 casualties. We had over 100 killed. So it's not working. And we have to change the direction.
S. O'BRIEN: Not just a new --
MURTHA: The Iraqis have to settle this themselves.
S. O'BRIEN: Not just a new face, that's not going to be far enough for you.
Congressman John Murtha from Pennsylvania joining us this morning. Thank you for talking with us, sir.
MURTHA: Nice talking to you, Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Thank you very much.
We're going to have more on the resignation of Secretary Rumsfeld and the Democratic takeover in Congress, in just a moment, when we talk to the White House counselor, Dan Bartlett, straight ahead -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Happening this morning in Iraq, there is word Saddam Hussein could hang as early as next month. Iraq's prime minister Nouri al-Maliki asks the world to respect the judicial will of his country. Hussein is appealing his death sentence for ordering the mass murder of hundreds of Iraqi Shiites.
In Gaza, a dramatic outpouring of grief this morning, after what Palestinians are calling a massacre. Tens of thousands gathered for the funerals of 19 civilians, most of them women and children, killed in an Israeli artillery strike in Hanoun yesterday. Hamas calling for retaliation. Israel's defense minister ordering an investigation.
Disgraced evangelical leader Ted Haggard has agreed to begin spiritual restoration, the process involves counseling and confrontation from fellow church members can take three to five years. Haggard resigned as president of the National Association of Evangelicals and stepped down as pastor of his 14,000-member church after confessing to sexual immorality, last week after allegations of sex and drug abuse with a male prostitute.
NASA rolling out Space Shuttle Discovery to the launch pad right now. Just about there, as a matter of fact. The three-mile creep from the ship's garage, to the vehicle assembly building can take as long as six to eight hours. So far, they've had a nice speedy run this morning. The next shuttle launch is slated for December 7th.
Both sides of the country drying out this morning from heavy rain and flooding. Roads are still swamped in New Jersey after storms dumped more than four inches of rain in some parts yesterday. Several rivers expected to crest today.
On the West Coast, meanwhile, three people died in storms that hit Oregon and Washington State. At least 15 rivers in Washington reached record levels. Which brings us to Chad Myers with the "Travelers' Forecast" and word on whether there's improvement in the flooding situation.
(WEATHER REPORT) M. O'BRIEN: Coming up on the program, the new agenda in the House. A look at the top Democratic initiatives ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Come January, Democrats take control of the House. And it looks as if they'll take control of the Senate, too. Then it will be time to put their money where their mouth is. AMERICAN MORNING's Ali Velshi is with us this morning with a look at the Democrats plan.
They've been calling it "Six in '06".
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT, AMERICAN MORNING: "Six in '06": Six things they want to introduce, they say, within the first 100 hours of Congress.
One of them, Nancy Pelosi's talked a lot about, this is pulling back the tax credits that go to the oil companies. These are tax credits that are mainly for exploration. Nancy Pelosi, and others, particularly when gas was over $3 a gallon, were saying why do these oil companies need tax credits? So, they're going to talk about that.
It's a little dicey, because we do need a lot of oil, and the oil companies do explore for it. How they manage that one will be a little tricky.
What they don't have to probably manage very much is the commitment to increase the minimum wage, which as you know, has been stuck at $5.15 an hour. That is the federal minimum wage since 1997. They want to raise it 40 percent to $7.25 an hour. Prices have gone up 26 percent since the last time minimum wage was raised.
In the election on Tuesday, a number of states, six states passed increased minimum wages. So now, 29 states, plus D.C., have minimum wages that are higher than the federal level.
S. O'BRIEN: And there's bipartisan support for that?
VELSHI: They'll definitely get that one through.
The other thing is reducing student interest loan rates. Big deal, obviously. The Democrats are encouraging direct loans from the government. That's affecting the third-party banks that give loans. But they're going to do that.
And the fourth thing, which plays into the oil tax breaks, is the Democrats encouraging more research and use of alternative fuels. The oil companies don't like this. This is probably bigger than the tax breaks.
The Democrats want to find other ways for crediting companies for researching alternative fuels.
S. O'BRIEN: And those two things definitely going hand in hand. VELSHI: Yes, I wouldn't call it an anti-business agenda. It could be good. But there are some folks out there who are worried.
S. O'BRIEN: All right, 100 days.
VELSHI: Yeah, 100 hours, the want to start.
S. O'BRIEN: Oh, 100 hours, yeah.
VELSHI: Let's see. Let's see if that happens.
S. O'BRIEN: It might be 100 days. Thanks, Ali.
Coming up at the half hour, we're going to take a closer look at whether the Democrats are actually going to be able to accomplish what they've set out for this 100 hours.
Coming up this morning, the new reality facing the White House. We'll talk to President Bush's counselor, Dan Bartlett, straight ahead.
And can president work with the new Congress? Plus, a look at what's behind the shakeup at the Pentagon. That's all ahead, stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: So, what happened to the seemingly invincible Grand Old Party election machine? Did it breakdown and leave a lot of Republicans stranded on the road to reelection, or did the Democrats build a better machine this time around. Joining us now from the White House, the counselor to the president, Dan Bartlett, to talk about all that.
Dan, good to have you back with us on the program.
DAN BARTLETT, COUNSELOR TO THE PRESIDENT: Good morning, Miles. How are you doing?
M. O'BRIEN: Very well, thanks.
Let's -- couple of words here from outgoing, now, Senator Lincoln Chafee, as he was conceding defeat, said this. Let's put that on the screen and we'll take a look at it for you.
BARTLETT: OK.
M. O'BRIEN: He said essentially that the -- basically he's talking about the "rage toward our president was insurmountable." How do you respond to that? Do you think he was on target there?
BARTLETT: Well, as the president said yesterday in his press conferences, he recognizes that part of the mood in the national electorate on Tuesday night was about the Iraq war. But there are a lot of different issues that were facing various candidates. I think it will take several days to sort out which ones made the biggest impact in certain elections.
M. O'BRIEN: But that term --
(CROSS TALK)
That term, "rage".
BARTLETT: But the bottom -- I know -- but bottom line is, Miles, the president stood up and said as leader of the Republican Party that he shares a lot of responsibility for the election results. Now the question is, what are we going to do?
He's, as we speak right now, meeting with the Republican leadership over breakfast. And then he is going to be meeting with the Democratic leadership in the House for lunch to discuss the way forward.
We've got a lot of work to do before this year is out. We have a budget to pass and a lot of other important items. We've got to start talking about next year. That's where the president's focus is right now.
It was a big election. It was a big night for the Democrats. He recognizes they had a big victory. He's congratulating the Democrats for their victory. Now, the question is, what are we going to do as a party, what are we going to do as a nation to come together on the big issues facing our country? And that is where his focus is today.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, Tom DeLay was on our program yesterday. I don't know if you saw it.
B BARTLETT: I missed it.
M. O'BRIEN: I want to share with you a little excerpt here.
BARTLETT: OK.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM DELAY, FMR. HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER: I don't think the Democrats won. I think the Republicans lost. Republicans staying home, Republicans disgusted with Republican leadership.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. O'BRIEN: Is that your take as well?
BARTLETT: Well, it's interesting. I think there will be a lot of introspection about where we are as party. I don't think it's accurate to say the Republicans stayed home. We had some of the largest turnouts for a midterm, I believe we'll find, in many of these states and districts.
The fundamental question is, what is the Republican Party going to do going forward? Are we going to present to the American people bold, optimistic proposals to address the challenges and concerns they have? Or are we going to continue to fight with each other?
I think you'll find, as this president will do, and he'll set the tone for his party, is that we're going to be the party of change. We're going to be the party that continues to reform the institutions that are broken. We're going to continue to fight this war in offense. And we're going to continue to make sure we grow our economy.
Understandably, in a week like this, there's got to be a lot of commentary. But the bottom line is, the president's going to look forward. We have to work with Republican and Democrats if we're going to get things done here in Washington. And that's kind of the message we take from the American people, from that election on Tuesday night.
M. O'BRIEN: The climate in Washington has a lot to do with this. The fact that a party has held power for so long has been factored into this whole discussion. Let's listen to Senator McCain and see what he had to say yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R-AZ): This is a wakeup call to the Republican Party. We've got to change our practices. Some of our people think we came to Washington to change government, and government changed us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. O'BRIEN: Would you go along with that?
BARTLETT: I think he makes an interesting point. Many of these House races that we lost were directly related with ethical conduct. And that's something that we ought to -- as people who are entrusted with the responsibilities that we have here in Washington -- that we have to live up to that trust. I think Senator McCain makes a very good point.
M. O'BRIEN: Let's talk about Donald Rumsfeld, on his way out as the secretary of Defense. The president just a few days before the election said he was doing a fantastic job.
BARTLETT: Right.
M. O'BRIEN: He's going to be there through the end of the term.
And then yesterday said, you know, I wasn't really giving you the full story there because I didn't want to tilt the election. If, in fact, there was a serious thought about having Rumsfeld step down, why didn't everybody in the White House say, let's do this before the election? Perhaps the Senate would be in red control this morning?
BARTLETT: I think that would send a very wrong signal to the American people. That the president was making calculations about the conduct of this war, based upon short-term political gain. And whether it be the question of troop levels in Iraq, or whether it be the leadership, the civilian leadership at the Pentagon. I think most Americans would be comforted by the fact that the president was going to make that devoid of the campaign politics.
He explained this issue himself yesterday, and felt frustrated he couldn't share his internal thinking on this issue. But he recognized that if he did so in that interview last week, that that would send out the equivalent of an earthquake in the political arena, and that was something that he felt would send the wrong signal to the troops and to the enemy.
M. O'BRIEN: Was he waiting to see which way the wind blew on Tuesday, perhaps?
BARTLETT: No. And I know this, because I was involved in the decision-making process. He had met with the Bob Gates, the new candidate to be secretary of Defense, on Sunday. This decision was going to happen regardless of the outcome of the election.
M. O'BRIEN: Dan Bartlett, counselor to the president, thank you for your time.
BARTLETT: You're welcome.
M. O'BRIEN: Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Coming up this morning, we'll take a look at those severe floods in Washington State. Residents there are really getting a first opportunity to check out the damage. And it is bad. We'll take a look ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: A new leader coming in at the Pentagon, new leadership coming to Congress. The landscape dramatically shifted in Washington in the last 48 hours.
CNN's congressional correspondent Andrea Koppel has reaction from Capitol Hill for us this morning.
Good morning, Andrea.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles. Well, heads were still spinning here on Capitol Hill following the surprise announcement yesterday. No one, not Republicans or Democrats, saw it coming. And while the woman who is poised to become the next speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, and her Democratic colleagues, firmly believe that their victory on the polls on Tuesday gives them a mandate for change in Iraq policy. No one, including Pelosi, expected heads to roll so quickly. That said, you are seeing the move welcomed on both sides of the aisle.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), NEW YORK: The president made the right decision today. I wish he'd made it earlier. But now we can have a new beginning, a new face at the Pentagon, who doesn't carry the baggage that secretary Rumsfeld carried. SEN. CHUCK HAGEL (F), NEBRASKA: Well, I'm glad the president's made the move to replace Rumsfeld. He has lost the confidence of the troops, of senior commanders, certainly lost the confidence of the Congress a long time ago. Obviously lost the confidence of the American people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOPPEL: Now, the next step will be for the Senate to hold confirmation hearings for Robert Gates, the former CIA chief tapped by President Bush to replace Rumsfeld. The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which will lead these hearings, John Warner said yesterday, that he hoped to hold these hearings as quickly as possible, presumably before the end of the year when the new Congress will take over next year. Now, reaction to the Gates nomination has been mostly positive, pointing out his background, pointing out his strong intelligence background, and also with military connections.
Nevertheless, we've had senior lawmakers, Miles, say that while it is a good first step, they believe it has to be more than just a new face on a failed policy -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Andrea Koppel on Capitol Hill, thanks -- Soledad.
S. OB'RIEn: There was more reaction on our air within the last half hour from Ken Adelman. He's a veteran aide to Donald Rumsfeld. Says Robert Gates is the right man for the job now. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEN ADELMAN, FMR. ASST. TO DEF. SECY. RUMSFELD: And I hope he gets confirmed quickly, and he looks at the alternatives, and Iraq really, really needs to be addressed in a new fashion, because we are not winning there. And the situation -- the stakes are very, very critical.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
S. O'BRIEN: And this was the reaction from one of the administration's biggest critics, Democratic Congressman John Murtha. He says feels the White House still not quite getting the message. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOHN MURTHA (D), PENNSYLVANIA: Because when I listen to the rhetoric, when I listen to what the president said, what the outgoing secretary of defense said and what the new secretary said in his speech, it's the same thing, it's terrorism in Iraq, and we're going to stay the course. That's not what the American public's looking for. They're looking for a change in course, and we have to implement that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
S. O'BRIEN: Obviously it's a story we keep following for you this morning and beyond that.
(NEWSBREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: The Washington State residents now getting at least a much-needed break. They've had a three-day drenching. People are drying out trying to assess the damage, because another round is due.
CNN's Kareen Wynter live for us in Mount Vernon, Washington this morning for us.
Good morning, Kareen.
KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Soledad, good morning to you.
We're just about an hour north of Seattle. And these sandbags you see here, this entire wall, well, it's staying put for now, despite the fact that the weather's going to be cooperating, very little rain in the forecast today. Also the water levels for the Skatcha (ph) River off to my left, those are quickly falling as we speak. But it's what's right around the corner that has residents in this region extremely concerned, and that's another storm.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After three days of record rains people in western Washington are beginning to survey the damage.
VICTOR FUNCK, FLOOD VICTIM: It's gone down. It was ugly there for a while. There was actually a current coming through right over here. You could stand there and it would splash up against you, the current was coming through so fast. It came up quick.
WYNTER: Storms pushed rivers over banks, causing widespread flooding. Roads, bridges and homes were submerged. This house in Preston, Washington now hangs over a raging river. The owner spent 10 years building his dream home, and was just about ready to move in. Now it's about to be swept away.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was moving in. And I guess I'm not now. But all the years of shopping with my wife, and, you know, for all the light fixtures and the plumbing fixtures and picking colors out and doing this, and all my vacation time. All your spare time during the day and weekends, to see it all -- this happen to it, it's really hard to take.
WYNTER: In King County, Washington, there was flooding as far as the eye could see. The rising waters caught many offguard.
Hundreds were stranded and had to be rescued by the Coast Guard and National Guard crews.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is crazy. I've never been through this before.
WYNTER: Authorities say as many as 1,000 hunters rode out the storms and mountain camp sites, and right now have no way out. Washington's governor has issued emergency declarations in 18 counties.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We tried to just get as much valuables up off -- you know, to try to ease the pain of the home owner, because nothing's going to be more frustrating than to come home to this.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WYNTER: So how do you try to dig out when there's such little time. The next front expected to move in late Sunday. While officials all across the region say priority right now is trying to open up some of those road closures and let residents in, those who had to evacuate or go to other shelters so they can survey some of the damage -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Kareen Wynter for us. Kareen, thanks for the report.
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M. O'BRIEN: Coming up on the program, blue in Virginia? So it seems. That would mean the Democrats will control both houses of Congress. We'll get an update on the recount in the race between George Allen and Jim Webb.
And what kind of changes can we expect in the house once Democrats take over? We'll have a closer look for you ahead.
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S. O'BRIEN: So the question is now, what the new Congress is going to look like, and what power it's going to have when it comes to working with the Bush White House. Let's get right to the "Congressional Quarterly's" Jodi Schneider. She's in our D.C. bureau this morning. Jodi, good morning. Nice to see you.
JODI SCHNEIDER, "CONGRESSIONAL QUARTERLY": Good morning.
S. O'BRIEN: We've been hearing a lot, of course, that the Democrats now get to set the agenda. But if you're a voter, or even a non-voter, you're an American at home, how does it change for you today?
SCHNEIDER: Well, you're absolutely right, the Democrats who have long been unable to set the agenda now get to make their priorities the American people's priorities. They are going to look at the things they've wanted to do, and here's their chance.
Beyond having the majority in the chamber, and of course if they do take this in the Senate, as we expect now, it will be an extraordinarily slim majority, they get to -- they basically are in charge of the chairmanships, and that's Where all the bills come through first before he hit the floors of the chambers most of the times. That's where we will see a huge change.
S. O'BRIEN: Where do you think you'll see the most forcing of President Bush to compromise?
SCHNEIDER: I think on spending. The Democrats have long complained, certainly the last four to six years, that the Bush presidency that it has been Bush's spending priorities largely spent on the war and on other things that the Bush administration, the Republicans wanted. The Democrats are now going to seek to spend more on things like education and health programs. They've talked about health insurance. I think they're really going to look at all the appropriations bills in a very different kind of way.
S. O'BRIEN: What about judges? You always hear, of course, about the Senate confirming the judges. Do you think that's going to be an area of necessary compromise?
SCHNEIDER: Right, I think the Republicans are very happy that the two Supreme Court openings came up when they were in charge, because getting the Supreme Court nominee through a Democratic Congress would be, I think, almost next to impossible for George Bush. That doesn't look like that's going to be in the offing, at least not anytime soon. But at the same time, there are other judgeships that will come up. And I think there's going to be a lot of tangles between the Democratic controlled chamber, and the Judiciary Committee and the president.
S. O'BRIEN: And, again, assuming that the Democrats do in fact take the Senate.
SCHNEIDER: Right.
S. O'BRIEN: There's a majority, but it's a slim one. Does that mean gridlock, that we should just expect to hear, see, read about gridlock now until 2008?
SCHNEIDER: Yes, I hope not. I think that there's a way that if they, first of all, come up with a more centrist agenda. Harry Reid, who would be the likely Senate majority leader -- he's the Senate minority leader now -- has certainly made noises about that in terms of working with the Democratic House, that they are going to have a much more agenda that's more down the middle of the road, and that's going to include many more of the centrist kinds of things, that even Nancy Pelosi, who's a liberal from a liberal district is talking about.
Again, they'll have a very slim majority. I think they know, first of all, to keep that majority in the next two years, when people need to run again. But also to get anything through a Republican president, they're going to need to look more toward the center.
S. O'BRIEN: We've been hearing, of course, from the Democrats about the six in '06, coming out strong with a slogan.
SCHNEIDER: Right. S. O'BRIEN: Some of the things we've been hearing about, minimum wage, immigration reform, maybe even taking on the oil companies, six sort of top line issues for them, not in 100 days, but in 100 hours. How realistic is any of that?
SCHNEIDER: First off, in the Senate, things move a lot more slowly, so I'm not sure what they could get through in 100 hours. But I think that the -- that it's good to have the talking points, and I think they've clearly set their agenda. Getting things through quickly is, I think, going to be difficult. ANd then, of course, the president has the veto pen. He hasn't used it much yet, but I think if the -- and he hasn't need to, because the Republicans sent him the legislation largely what he wanted, and didn't sent him what he didn't want. The Democrats now, their trick is going to be to get that legislation to him that he will sign, and the legislation that he won't, that they have enough votes to override, and that's 60 votes in the Senate, and that's hard.
S. O'BRIEN: And that kind of brings us back to the gridlock question.
SCHNEIDER: Right. That's right, exactly.
S. O'BRIEN: "Congressional Quarterly's" Jodi Schneider joining us this morning from our D.C. bureau. Thanks, Jodi -- Miles.
SCHNEIDER: Thank you.
S. O'BRIEN: Stories we're watching for you right now, Donald Rumsfeld gets sacked and the world applauds. We'll tell you what they're saying.
M. O'BRIEN: Plus, disgraced pastor Ted Haggard tries to put his life back together. What is next for him? That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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(NEWSBREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: All right, some of the stories we're watching for you. Washington's power shift. The president breaks bread today with Democratic leaders.
Plus, the president's pick to become the new secretary of defense. Is Bob Gates the right man for the job at this time? We'll ask someone who worked with him at the CIA.
Stay with us.
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