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The Situation Room
Rep. Tom DeLay Fingerprinted Today; Hurricane Wilma Churns Towards Mexico; Pressconference with National Hurricane Center Dir. Max Mayfield
Aired October 20, 2005 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: It's 4:00 p.m. here in Washington, and you're in THE SITUATION ROOM, where new pictures and information from around the world are arriving all the time. Happening right now, Florida under a state of emergency and facing a little longer wait before Hurricane Wilma crashes ashore. But Mexico, starting to feel the storm's fury. We'll have the latest forecast from your hurricane headquarters. That's coming up.
Arresting times for Congressman Tom DeLay. The former House majority leader under orders to respond to a warrant in Texas. This hour, the legal case and the political spectacle.
President Bush now feeling new heat over his Supreme Court nominee and White House links to the CIA leak. New developments and new distractions. That's coming up. I'm Wolf Blitzer, and you're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
A new warning today for Florida residents. Don't be fooled by Hurricane Wilma. The storm isn't as intense or moving as fast as it did yesterday, but the National Hurricane Center says there's still the potential for a large loss of life when it hits land. That's now expected some time Sunday, a day later than previously thought.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAX MAYFIELD, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: Certainly doesn't look as powerful as it did yesterday, but believe me, this is still a very, very powerful hurricane. Don't minimize that just because it's no longer a category five.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Still a category four right now, and might be upgraded to a category five once again. That's what they're saying. And we'll hear more, the latest information from Max Mayfield, the director of the National Hurricane Center. That's coming up later this hour.
Meantime, Florida residents are starting to take precautions, but mandatory evacuations for the Florida Keys have been put off until tomorrow. Evacuations have been ordered in Cuba and Mexico as Wilma is closing in. Let's go to CNN's hurricane headquarters, our severe weather expert Chad Myers with the latest information -- Chad?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Wolf, it appears that the storm may have turned to the right just a few degrees in the past probably three to four hours. I won't bore you really with what's going on. It was moving to the west- northwest, now it appears it's come off that line and possibly made that anticipated right hand turn, or even a jump to the north.
Now, this could only be a slight wobble, and in a couple hours, if it turns back to the left, we'll know that it was just a wobble. What I have dialed up for you is Cancun's radar. Big squalls coming right here on the way to Cozumel on up to Cancun, and right on down all the way through Playacar.
You can see the eye of the storm. From our radar down in Key West, you can see rain showers there. You can see rain showers over Havana, the Pinar Del Rio area. And also some stronger storms across south Florida already. Back to you, Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Chad, thanks very much. We're going to get back with you shortly. And once again, this hour we'll be hearing the latest forecasts from Max Mayfield at the National Hurricane Center. Stand by for that.
In the meantime, let's turn to some other stories we're following. In Texas specifically, indicted Congressman Tom DeLay's face is now a mug shot. The former House majority leader responded to a warrant for his arrest and turned himself into authorities today. CNN's Sean Callebs is joining us live from the Fort Bend County Sheriff's office in Richmond, Texas with the latest.
How did it go, Sean?
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, really a very eventful day. Some extraordinary measures here really unfolded today. We know that Tom DeLay was indicted on two counts, conspiracy and money laundering. His attorney, very powerful Texas attorney named Dick DeGuerin, had made an agreement with the sheriff here in Fort Bend County to show up here today to have his mug shot taken and to also have DeLay's fingerprints taken.
So a gaggle of media have been out here since the predawn hours. But we got word from the Sheriff here, Milton Wright, about an hour and a half ago that indeed, DeLay did have his mug shot taken. He did have each of the pads of his fingers in ink, fingerprinted. But it didn't happen here. It happened in Harris County, which is where Houston is.
Now, why did it happen in there? Well, under Texas law, when a state arrest warrant is issued, the defendant can go to any courthouse in the state. He could have gone to El Paso, Lubbock, Brownsville, anywhere and had this done.
He went to Harris County, which is near where his attorney's office is, and he did this without the glaring eye of the media, seeing this powerful lawmaker walk into the courthouse to have his mug shot taken. Still, just a short while ago, DeGuerin talked to the media, and clearly he's quite upset with what he considers partisan politics that led to all of this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DICK DEGUERIN, DELAY ATTORNEY: The mug shot so he can put it out to Congressman DeLay's political opponents. He's got what he wanted. There's no reason for this. It was pure retaliation on the part of Ronnie Earle because we have not let him up. We have exposed his prosecution for what it is. There it is. Take a good look at it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CALLEBS: Kind of loud out there where he was speaking. Ronnie Earle, the prosecutor he is talking about, is based in Austin. And Earle has been investigating this case for some time. Charges were made before -- Earle brought his information before two grand juries. The grand juries returned those indictments.
Now, DeGuerin says today was simply a walk in the park for his candidate. And we know DeGuerin, as well as Tom DeLay, will be in the Austin courtroom at 9:00 in the morning as pretty much as a procedural matter there, Wolf. They will go before the judge and basically, DeLay at that time has the opportunity to declare who his attorney will be.
But also, something that could turn out important here, the judge could also rule on a couple of motions that the defense counsel has before the judge, including one very important one to toss the whole case out. DeGuerin maintains that this is just politically motivated. There's really nothing to all of these allegations -- Wolf?
BLITZER: Sean Callebs reporting for us from Texas. Thanks, Sean, very much.
Even before his indictment, Congressman DeLay was a political lightning rod. Let's find out how the American public sees him now. Our senior political analyst Bill Schneider is standing by with new poll numbers just coming in to CNN -- Bill?
BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, the image of Tom DeLay has been getting worse all year, going back to the Terri Schiavo case in March. Right now, 18 percent of Americans say they have a favorable opinion of Mr. Delay, 45 percent unfavorable. That's more than two to one negative with 37 percent who have no opinion at all.
Now, that two to one negative is actually more negative than the public's view of former House speaker Newt Gingrich when he resigned from office in November 1998. How does DeLay stand in his own party? Republicans are divided. About a third say they have a favorable opinion of the former majority leader, a third say they have an unfavorable opinion. And a third of Republicans have no opinion at all -- Wolf?
BLITZER: All right, Bill Schneider, thanks very much. And we're going to get to more numbers for you from this latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll. That's coming up later this hour.
President Bush, meanwhile, offered yet another defense of his embattled Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers earlier today. He promised Miers will answer all the questions asked of her. But some senators of both parties are complaining she hasn't done that so far. Our congressional correspondent Ed Henry has more on that, and new word on Miers' views on abortion -- Ed?
ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. One day after top senators in both parties declared that questionnaire Harriet Miers filed to the Senate Judiciary Committee will need a do- over, she's back on Capitol Hill today.
In just about an hour, she's going to go behind closed doors, try to round up support with the key swing voter, moderate Democrat Ken Salazar of Colorado. But it was earlier today when she went behind closed doors with Herb Kohl, a member of the Judiciary Committee, where she did not clear up her position on abortion.
Maybe added a little bit more confusion, just a few days after there were White House allies circulating that 1989 questionnaire where she checked off the box saying, when she was running for the city council in Dallas, that she support a constitutional ban on abortion. Conservatives suggested maybe she was anti-abortion. Senator Kohl said he raised that during his private meeting, and Harriet Miers suggested maybe not.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HERB KOHL (D), WISCONSIN: In terms of trying to get at where she might be on Roe v. Wade -- and you know, she made the point that was at a different time for a different purpose, that we should not read too much into that in terms of where she might be on the issue of privacy and a woman's right to choose.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: Now, at the White House, as you mentioned, much the same message from President Bush, where he told reporters that Harriet Miers will get this questionnaire finished to the satisfaction of senators in both parties and that, in the end, she'll answer the doubters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Harriet will answer all the questions asked. But out of this will come a clear picture of a competent, strong, capable woman who shares the same judicial philosophy that I share.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: But today, Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein said that this nomination is, quote, "facing an uphill road all the way." She said turning over documents from Harriet Miers' time as White House counsel, something the White House does not want to do, could help that nomination fight though -- Wolf?
BLITZER: Ed, switching gears dramatically on that Powerball lottery last night, we know there was one winner of the $340 million, but there were a lot of other winners for a lot less, but still some significant sums including one United States Senator.
HENRY: That's right, very interesting. In fact, Senate Budget Chairman Judd Gregg, he oversees trillions of dollars in the federal budget, also a wealthy man himself, he was one of 47 winners who got five out of six winning numbers today. Today, he picked up an $850,000 check. Take a listen at what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUESTION: Do you feel rich?
SEN. JUDD GREGG (R), NEW HAMPSHIRE: Well, I feel very lucky and fortunate. That's for sure.
QUESTION: What are you going to do with the money?
GREGG: Whatever my wife at tells me to do.
QUESTION: Are you a regular player or are you just...
GREGG: I just play very occasionally, so I feel extraordinarily lucky.
QUESTION: Where do you live?
GREGG: New Hampshire.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: Now, Senator Gregg's Democratic counterpart on the Budget Committee, Kent Conrad, joked to me that given the size of the soaring federal deficit, we'll take all the money. I have severe doubts, though, that Senator Gregg will turn it over to the federal government, Wolf.
BLITZER: All right. Judd Gregg, a big winner in the Powerball, $850,000. Ed, thanks very much.
Harriet Miers and Tom DeLay are both hot topics online. Let's check in with our Internet report, Jacki Schechner -- Jacki?
JACKI SCHECHNER, CNN INTERNET CORRESPONDENT Well, Wolf, while Harriet Miers works on the redo of her own questionnaire, Progress for America, a conservative 527 has a questionnaire of its own online trying to get people more comfortable with Harriet Miers. You can do this yourself.
For example, which Supreme Court nominee was a liberal activist in college? You check the box and you click here for your answer. And it's correct, it's Clarence Thomas. Then you go on to the next question. This goes all the way through.
Which Supreme Court nominee worked in a president's administration? I'll give you the right answer in the interest of time. Click on it, there it goes. Well, it'll will come up. Anyways, it's all of the above. It's a little wonky sometimes.
But another thing we wanted to show you online, of course, is in relation to Tom DeLay, and Thesmokinggun.com now has the arrest warrant up if you want to take a closer look at that yourself. They have got his mug shot. And if you can't get enough of that shot, there's also the public campaign action fund online where you can preorder your t-shirt. Those are going for $15. Not only getting his big mug shot online, you can also wear it around if you'd like -- Wolf?
BLITZER: Maybe get a coffee mug out of it, too, at some point. Some smart entrepreneur out there. Thanks very much, Jacki.
SCHECHNER: A mug shot, there you go.
BLITZER: Thank you. As if the Miers and DeLay controversies weren't enough, there's that CIA leak investigation hanging over the Bush White House. President Bush insisted today that he's not being distracted despite new information about a conversation between two top administration aides. Our White House correspondent Dana Bash standing by in the North Lawn with details.
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: On that CIA leak, Wolf, you remember we already knew that Karl Rove discussed with both columnist Robert Novak and "Time" magazine's Matt Cooper the issue of Valerie Plame working at the CIA. Now, we do have new information perhaps of how he came to know about that at all. And all of this is swirling around a White House trying very hard to focus on what they can control.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BASH (voice-over): In the Rose Garden to talk Mideast peace, the president insisted he's not distracted by the slew of political problems coming at him at once.
BUSH: There's some background noise here, a lot of chatter, a lot of speculation and opining. But the American people expect me to do my job, and I'm going to.
BASH: The biggest question, is the special prosecutor investigating who leaked the classified identity of Valerie Plame about to indict anyone at the White House? New information about what top Bush aide Karl Rove told the grand jury added to the drama.
Rove may have first learned Plame worked for the CIA from Cheney chief of staff Scooter Libby during a discussion what they were hearing from reporters. According to an informed source sympathetic to Rove, that discussion took place before her name appeared in this column by Robert Novak, which outed Plame's covert identity. This further puts into question past White House statements neither Rove nor Libby had anything to do with the matter.
SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I spoke with those individuals, as I pointed out, and those individuals assured me they were not involved in this. BASH: Rove's attorney insists he did not leak classified information, but experts warn Rove's account is just his perspective.
DAVID SCHERTLER, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: What the prosecutor's looking at are not exculpatory statements that Karl Rove may have given when he testified four times before the grand jury, but he's looking at other evidence that comes from other witnesses or other documentation.
BASH: And over two years, special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald has called dozens of witnesses, from the White House to the CIA. But the public might never get a full accounting. Department of Justice guidelines do not call for a final report in such cases. And Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez, who recused himself from any involvement, would not answer when asked by CNN if such a report is in the public interest.
ALBERTO GONZALES, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: I don't want to be viewed in any weigh way influencing one way or the other.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: You know, there are so many unanswered legal questions here, Wolf, but one of the most intriguing might be a political one, and that is, why are people close to Rove putting out his perspective, and Libby's side has really gone stone silent here?
BLITZER: All right, good question. I don't know the answer. Dana, thank you very much. Then again, we don't know a lot about the specifics, but presumably in the coming days, we will.
Let's check back with Jack Cafferty. He's in New York watching all of this and smirking.
Was that a smirk, Jack?
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: No, no. Not at all. I was listening to Dana Bash's report. Didn't President Bush at one time say that he would fire anyone in his administration that was associated with leaking Valerie Plame's name?
BLITZER: Let's ask Dana to clarify that -- Dana?
BASH: He did. What he's actually -- what he said, I believe, I don't have the quote in front of me, obviously, is that anybody in his administration who was involved in leaking classified information would not be in his administration any more. That is what he said a couple of years ago, I believe it was two years ago in 2003.
CAFFERTY: How's that working out?
BASH: Well, if you ask the White House, they'll say nobody has been indicted and nobody, certainly, has been convicted of doing that right now. So, you know, the big difference and the big issue here is the difference between legal culpability and what they may have been doing in terms of a political strategy. And that is certainly what Patrick Fitzgerald is trying to find out, and they're certainly waiting here at the White House with bated breath to find out too.
CAFFERTY: We all are. Thanks, Dana.
All right, back to the Harriet Miers thing. Skimpy, insufficient, and incomplete to insulting. Those are quotes from Democratic and Republican senators talking about Harriet Miers' answers on her judicial questionnaire for her nomination to the Supreme Court.
Now, she's being asked to resubmit parts of this thing. That's humiliating, isn't it? I mean, if you don't properly fill out the application, you're probably going to have trouble getting the job, been my experience. Some Republicans want to vote on her confirmation by Thanksgiving. My guess is that ain't going to happen.
First, she has to get the questionnaire right. And apparently, that's going to take a little time. Then she has to go through those hearings, which may get higher TV ratings than the final episode of "Dallas." I just can't wait for those hearings. And then, if she survives those, there'll be a vote.
So here's the question. How big a problem is it that Harriet Miers has to redo this questionnaire? You can email us at caffertyfile@CNN.com and we'll read some of your thoughts in a half hour or so -- Wolf?
BLITZER: All right, Jack, thanks very much. We'll get back to you soon.
Coming up, watching Wilma. Will this powerful storm do Katrina- like damage in Florida? We're waiting to hear from the National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield. We'll bring you his updated forecast live. That's coming up.
Also ahead, the military mission in Afghanistan and a report, very disturbing, that U.S. soldiers burned the bodies of suspected Taliban fighters. NATO Supreme Allied Commander General James Jones, he's standing by to join us live here in THE SITUATION ROOM with an update.
And later, the Bush administration under fire as we see on several fronts. Has Vice President Cheney taken a political hit? More from our new poll. New numbers, that's coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back. Iraq and Afghanistan still critical battlegrounds for the United States military and for NATO forces, as well. NATO Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, General James Jones, is joining us here in THE SITUATION ROOM on a visit to Washington. Thanks very much, General, for joining us.
GEN. JAMES JONES, NATO SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER: Good to be here, Wolf. Thanks.
BLITZER: These picture are so disturbing, the desecration, if you will, the burning of these bodies, supposedly Taliban fighters in Afghanistan and American troops sort of standing around watching. You know it's going to be used for propaganda against American and NATO forces operating in Afghanistan right now, about 12,000 NATO forces in Afghanistan, 18,000 American troops overall. How do you deal with the backlash that's presumably going to develop?
JONES: Well, I think anything that gives the enemy a chance to stimulate the passions of the masses and rally their fighters is concerning. But I associate myself with General Abizaid, who's going to run a complete investigation, in the words of the Defense Department, on this. Obviously, this is breaking news, we'll have to see where it takes us. But we have to guard our troops against the backlash of these kinds of announcements.
BLITZER: Supposedly, this Australian journalist, who was embedded with the American troops and filmed this that was going on, seems to suggest there's one rule for regular soldiers, if you will, but a sort of second rule for the special operations forces. They basically can do whatever they want. Have you ever heard anything like that in your practical on-the-ground experience?
JONES: No, absolutely not. There's one uniform code of military justice, and it affects all of us in uniform, regardless of our military occupational skills or whatever we do. It's very clear. So I'm quite convinced that this will be thoroughly investigated, and those who might have to be held accountable will be held accountable.
BLITZER: You're beefing up the NATO presence in Afghanistan, right?
JONES: We are expanding the NATO mission. NATO, as an alliance, is getting ready in the not too distant future to take over the southern part of the country, which means that NATO will have roughly three-quarters of the country under its mission envelope.
BLITZER: And presumably, that will free up strictly American troops to go and do other things. Is that designed to allow American troops to focus more on the hunt for Osama bin Laden?
JONES: No, not so much. It means that as NATO expands its operation, the coalition forces will also be subsumed by that operation, and we will have for the sake of unity of command, unity of effort, one NATO command on the ground as we buy up more real estate. Eventually, we'll move to the east where the Americans are located, U.S. forces, and then back to the capital region where France and Turkey have volunteered to be the dominant countries and the lead nations.
BLITZER: How much of a priority is it to find bin Laden?
JONES: Well, I think it's a high priority, obviously, for a lot of reasons, some of which are symbolic. The truth of the matter in Afghanistan today is, the number one problem on the ground is narcotics. It's not Al Qaeda, and it's not any particular fear of a resurgence of the Taliban. Violence in Afghanistan is disparate. It's not cohesive. It comes from multiple groups. And I think we need to understand that as we proceed on into the future.
BLITZER: Let me read to you from a quote from October 7th, a U.S. defense official said this, "There are more than 40 nations supporting the effort in Afghanistan. Many of the nations have caveats on how their forces may be used. This makes it unnecessarily complicated for commanders." You're the overall commander. Is that a fair quote?
JONES: Well, it's fair to say that excessive numbers of national restrictions on forces that are provided to the alliance are to be avoided. We work very hard to make sure that on mission specifics that we have the capacity to do our job.
I believe that this problem is being addressed, and I think overtime, it will be less and less. So I think we have the capacity, I think we have the will, and we have the nations that are stepping up to the task, and that's very encouraging.
BLITZER: In Afghanistan, NATO forces are warriors, they're actually on the frontlines doing what military personnel do. In Iraq, on the other hand, they're trainers, they're training the Iraqi military. Listen to what Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice said yesterday before Congress.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONDOLEEZA RICE, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: You have a NATO training mission for leadership for the armed forces inside of Iraq. Time and time again, people are coming now to support for Iraq. We need more help from the international community, but we have made significant progress.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: You have to deal with the French, the Germans, the Belgians, all the Europeans on a day-to-day basis. Do you get a sense they're ready now to become more militarily involved in Iraq as they are in Afghanistan?
JONES: Wolf, the truth of the matter is all 26 nations of the alliance are involved in Iraq in some manner. The NATO mission has thee components to it: training inside Iraq, where roughly half the nations participate, training outside Iraq, where other nations who won't train in Iraq do participate, and also being a clearing house for the equipment that the Iraqi army needs.
For example, we have about 77 Hungarian T-72 tanks that will be donated from Hungary to the new Iraqi army that, as we speak, are on their way to Iraq. And so, NATO is involved in those three levels and all 26 nations are making a contribution. But NATO's level of ambition is what it is. That's the extent of it thus far.
BLITZER: Well, General, thanks for stopping by THE SITUATION ROOM on your visit to Washington. Good luck with NATO. Let's hope that NATO personnel and NATO equipment are not needed to help with Hurricane Wilma as they were used with Hurricane Katrina. Pretty remarkable that NATO was involved in the Katrina relief effort.
JONES: Just started another effort in Pakistan under the NATO response force, which is exciting as well.
BLITZER: Well, thanks very much, General.
JONES: Thank you, sir.
BLITZER: Still ahead, much more in our top story, and that's Hurricane Wilma. We expect an update form the National Hurricane Center this hour. We'll bring it to you live.
Plus, the battle for Congress. Are Americans ready for a change on Capitol Hill? We have brand new poll numbers that may surprise you. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back to THE SITUATION ROOM. Our top story this hour, Hurricane Wilma. Right now, it's closing in on Mexico's Yucatan peninsula. The category four storm's packing winds of 145 miles an hour. Wilma's forecast to steer toward a possible Florida landfall perhaps late Sunday, maybe moving into Monday. We're watching this very closely, we expect an update from the National Hurricane Center this hour. And, of course, CNN will provide live coverage.
Meanwhile, our Zain Verjee is joining us once again from the CNN center in Atlanta with a closer look at other stories making news.
Zain?
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR: Wolf, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's pressing for China to be more open about its nuclear capability. On the last day of his visit to China, Rumsfeld noted that China's expanding its missile arsenal, but says that the country's military spending lacks transparency.
Rumsfeld traveled from China to Seoul in South Korea and he will be attending a meeting tomorrow with defense officials there.
Thailand reports a 48-year-old man has died of bird flu. His death is the 13th from the disease since the outbreak began in 2003. It's Thailand's first bird flu death, though, this year.
The man entered the hospital 11 days after cooking and eating a chicken. His seven-year-old son is showing flu-like symptoms but has not tested positive for bird flu. The boy is hospitalized in Bangkok.
In the U.S., the House of Representatives voted today in favor of a measure protecting the firearms industry against massive crime victim lawsuits. The vote was 283-144 on the bill to dismiss half a dozen pending lawsuits by local governments against the industry.
The Senate passed the bill three months ago. President Bush has said he'll sign it. Wolf?
BLITZER: Zain, as far as the bird flu situation is concerned, I understand the European Union has taken some additional steps to deal with this potentially huge problem. What are you picking up?
VERJEE: Yes. Well, what they did today is they discussed a number of measures -- and they're immediately implementing these: no lives birds in any markets at all. They don't want anyone to have poultry exhibitions without permission.
They also want to keep wild flocks of birds away from poultry feeds in general. And they also said that, look, there's going to be no more importing of pet birds or feathers from a number of regions in Russia, at least for the next six months.
BLITZER: Zain, we'll get back to you soon. Thanks pretty much, Zain Verjee.
Up next, his name's been brought up in the CIA leak investigation. But is that hurting his standing with the American public? We have new poll numbers out on the vice president, Dick Cheney. We'll share those numbers with you.
Plus, President Bush is on his way to California, but he's not meeting with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Is there some bad blood between these two top Republicans? Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Our top story this hour: Hurricane Wilma. It's about 160 miles off Cozumel, Mexico right now.
It's a category four storm but still powerful and potentially deadly. It's expected to hit Florida sometime Sunday, a day later than previously thought because the storm has slowed down a little bit.
We're waiting for an update from the National Hurricane Center. We plan to bring it to you live. That's coming up very soon.
This week in the CIA leak investigation, the spotlight on the vice president, Dick Cheney, has intensified. We have new poll numbers on Americans' views of Cheney.
Let's bring back our senior political analyst, Bill Schneider. Bill?
BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Wolf, opinion of the vice president is actually mixed, tilting negative.
Forty-three percent have a favorable opinion of Dick Cheney; forty-seven percent, unfavorable. That is the lowest rating we've ever seen for the vice president.
BLITZER: Political opinions of Congress? SCHEINDER: Yes. Well, right now, it appears that all these troubles are hurting both Congress and opinion of the Republican party, the majority in Congress.
Right now, 40 percent of Americans expressed a favorable opinion of the Republican party -- and the Democrats, 52 percent favorable.
Historically, that's a big gap. The last time the Republican party had a rating that low was when Congress impeached president Clinton at the end of 1988.
We also asked, would the country be better off if Republicans or Democrats controlled Congress? Democrats have a 13-point edge.
When is the last time Republicans were at such a low point? When Congress impeached President Clinton. Wolf?
BLITZER: Interesting. All right, Bill. Thanks very much.
We're going to continue to check out the other numbers in our new CNN-USA Today poll, as well.
Meanwhile, a political dual and a new duo on OUR POLITICAL RADAR this Thursday.
When President Bush appears at a Republican fundraiser in California tonight, the governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, will be conspicuously absent. In a published interview today, Schwarzenegger suggests he's ticked off that the president is raising cash at the same time he's soliciting money to back his November ballot initiatives.
The New York mayoral candidate, Fernando Ferrer is rolling out a big gun today, fellow Democrat, Bill Clinton. The former president is campaigning for the Democratic candidate at a time when Republican incumbent Michael Bloomberg holds a huge lead in the polls, less than three weeks before the mayoral election.
Legislation is heading to the president's desk that ends Medicare and Medicaid subsidies for users of Viagra and other impotence drugs. The Senate gave final approval to the measure yesterday to help offset the cost of providing unemployment aid to states hit by Hurricane Katrina.
Coming up, much more on our top story -- at least one of our top stories: Tom DeLay and his legal troubles.
Should Republicans in Congress back the former House leader or should they cut him loose? We'll get some expert opinion: Paul Begala, Tori Clark, standing by.
Plus, the CIA leak and the White House: what's the potential fallout?
Today's STRATEGY SESSION. That's just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: President Bush may publicly shrug off criticism of his Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers, but could the administration be really worried behind closed doors? Let's talk about that and more, including the mug shot of representative Tom DeLay made during his arrest earlier today in Texas.
Joining us, our CNN political analyst, Paul Begala. He's a Democratic strategist. Victoria Clarke, former Pentagon spokeswoman during this Bush administration. Guys, thanks very much. Just want to alert viewers also, we're standing by for Max Mayfield, the Hurricane Center director with the latest information on Hurricane Wilma. We'll go there live as soon as he starts talking.
TORIE CLARKE, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: We're going to get bumped again because of storms.
BLITZER: You're not going to get bumped yet.
PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Max Mayfield is great though. I love him.
BLITZER: I love Max Mayfield, as well. Let's talk a little bit about the CIA leak. We heard the president today describe this as background chatter. He's focused. He's doing his job. But you've been in a White House where there has been so-called background chatter, and you know what it's like.
BEGALA: Sure. When I worked for President Clinton, he was ensnared in the Monica Lewinsky scandal and you were covering us. He would walk out to that Rose Garden and say to you, well, Mr. Blitzer, I'm just focused on my job. Then he'd go back there in the Oval Office and rip my head off being so upset and distracted by the Lewinsky scandal.
I suspect that's what's happening. It is good for the president to say that he's focused, but if you look at the stumbles -- the Miers thing not being handled very well, other problems the president's got -- he's clearly distracted by this, and it's understandable. This is a major problem for him.
BLITZER: And Torie, President Clinton had this problem, because I was a White House correspondent then. President Bush has it. Here he's meeting with the president of the Palestinian authority in the Rose Garden talking about Israeli/Palestinian peace and prospects, and American reporters are asking about the CIA leak or the Harriet Miers nomination, it can be pretty embarrassing.
CLARKE: No, I think it's extraordinarily frustrating. Things like meeting with the Palestinian leader are extraordinarily important, and your colleagues should be focused on them to the greatest extent possible, so I think it's enormously frustrating.
I do think this administration is pretty good at compartmentalizing. Terrible word, but it's true. OK, we've got to do what we can to deal with the Rove affair, the CIA leak affair. We're going to do our best on Harriet Miers. I still that's going to turn out OK. And then, we've just got to have a certain level of frustration here.
BEGALA: Here's, I think, the problem.
BLITZER: You used to compartmentalize all the time in the Clinton White House.
BEGALA: We did, and we got very good at it.
CLARKE: Lots of practice.
BEGALA: But part of what President Clinton -- he called me back for his second term. I was home in Texas, having a good time. He called me back to work. And when he asked me to work in the White House, he said I need some people around here who I know.
Look at the president in his second term. Karen Hughes, his very close aide, is at the State Department. Condoleezza Rice is at the State Department. Al Gonzalez is at the Justice Department. Margaret Spellings is at the Education Department. Mary Matalin is home with their two girls.
All of his closest advisers are gone and he's home alone except for Karl Rove who's in front of the grand jury. And it kind of leaves him alone. His best and brightest are now dispersed across the government, and I think that's part ...
BLITZER: We'll get to you, Torie. But listen -- I'll let you respond to that.
CLARKE: It says something about -- no wait, no I want to respond to this because it says something about the president and what he's trying to get done. He wants the best people in the most important places across the government. He doesn't want to be piggish about it, quite honestly, and keep them close to home. That's an important factor.
BEGALA: And he needs help at home. I'm not volunteering, Mr. President, I have a job. But you need some help.
BLITZER: Vin Weber, is a former U.S. Congressman. He's a Republican, a good Republican. He's quoted in "The Financial Times" as saying, Rove, Karl Rove, "is working the agenda hard right now, reaching out to a lot of people and asking what the president's agenda should be next year. Rove looms large in the minds of most Republicans. It would be a psychologically demoralizing and substantive loss if he were to go.
CLARKE: I disagree. I don't think any presidency, I don't think any administration has its complete ups and downs based on one person. Would it be a loss? I don't think it will get there. It'd be somewhat of a loss but there are lots of other strong players.
BEGALA: He's the architect. He's the architect. CLARKE: It's not about -- no, it's not about one person. If it is about one person, it's about the president of the United States, not the people who work for him.
BEGALA: Torie is right. Charles de Gaulle said the graveyards are filled with indispensable men. The problem the president has, is this thing, this Plame CIA leak scandal could touch the vice president. It could touch the president. We now know that President Bush for two years has known that Rove had some sort of a role -- maybe not criminal -- but some sort of a role in this. The president never told us.
Democrats are going to say cover up. Why didn't the president come forward and say hey, one of my aides was involved in this. He may not have broken the law, but he didn't tell us that for two years. So, the problem is not Rove. It's not Scooter Libby, or the other staff members that Washington is talking about. The problem is what this does to the president and the vice president.
BLITZER: All right. Let's talk about Tom DeLay. He's got his own legal problems right now. He got a mug shot today. He's been fingerprinted. Listen to what Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic -- the minority leader in the House of Representatives, said earlier.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D), CALIFORNIA: I think that the fact that Tom DeLay is still involved in leadership decisions on the Republican side, if that is so, is a reflection of the tolerance that the Republican conference has for the culture of corruption and cronyism.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: You're laughing. Why?
CLARKE: Well, she's got the Democratic talking points down cold.
BLITZER: Anyone should, the Democratic leader of the house should have the talking points down.
CLARKE: Exactly. Exactly. Look, is this Tom DeLay's best day? Absolutely not. I can't imagine what is going through his head right now. But there is a little bit of innocent until proven guilty. Let's let the process unfold, see what happens. He has stepped down from his official leadership position.
BLITZER: All right, stand by.
CLARKE: There are plenty of people who could step up to that role.
BLITZER: I told you Max Mayfield was going to be speaking ...
CLARKE: Here we go.
BLITZER: ... with the latest information. Here he is. Let's listen.
MAX MAYFIELD, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: Eyewall is now starting to contract. So we really that think there's a good chance it will go through another strengthening phase and before it gets close to the Yucatan Peninsula and it could become a Category 5 hurricane again sometime on Friday.
We also want to make note that this is a relatively large hurricane. The hurricane force winds extend out about 85 miles from the eye. The tropical storm force winds extend out about 200 miles away from the eye.
It's currently moving toward the northwest at six miles per hour. And that means it's going to continue moving toward the Yucatan Peninsula at least for the next day or two.
Now, if you looked at our forecast track, we have it moving slowly toward the northwest and even by Saturday afternoon, it's still near the northeast coast of the Yucatan Peninsula. After that, it should take off to the northeast and we're going to talk about some of the different scenarios that could play out here.
One thing that I do want to mention, we've been really focusing on the United States. I know there are other people taking this feed here. As a Category 4 or 5 hurricane, as it hits the Yucatan Peninsula, this has the potential to do catastrophic damage in that area. And we still have the hurricane warnings out for much of the Yucatan Peninsula, hurricane watches and tropical storm warnings out for the western portions of Cuba.
Now, if I could, I promise to do this very quickly here. I'm just going to show you some of the different computer guidance models that we're looking at here at the National Hurricane Center. This is one of the Navy models. It's a five-day forecast. And if you note here, in five days, this particular model has Wilma southeast of Cape Cod.
If you look at another model here -- this is the National Weather Service Global Forecast Model, and this particular model has Wilma forecast southeast of the Outer Banks of North Carolina in five days.
And yet another one -- this is our actual hurricane model within NOAA. It has it much, much slower still near the lower Florida Keys in five days' time. So we really have options, you know, from here all the way up to there, and that's more than the usual guidance that -- more than the usual spread we like to look at it.
How do we deal with that? Well, the forecasters have done a good job by looking at different combinations of these models. The most likely scenario right now is to have this going very slowly over the Yucatan Peninsula. And, again, by Saturday afternoon, likely being located about right in here and then by Sunday afternoon, likely off the northwest coast of Cuba and then starting to accelerate out over the Florida Peninsula.
No one can tell you with any certainty right now whether this hurricane will make landfall in the southwest Florida coast, near Marco Island or over the Florida Keys, or up closer to Sarasota. We're still, you know, four days or so away from that happening.
So the good news here -- a couple of pieces of good news. One, we have some additional time to make preparations; and two, the fact that it will likely linger on the Yucatan here and be involved with that land mass here for the next couple of days means that it should start to weaken by the time it gets into the Gulf of Mexico.
It may well still be a Category 3 hurricane or a major hurricane near that northeastern coach of the Yucatan. But by then the upper level environment should become much less favorable for any intensification, in fact, become unfavorable and we'll likely see it continue to weaken some.
But I don't want to overemphasize that because even a Category 2 or a Category 1 hurricane hitting the Florida Keys or the southwest coast of Florida can have big consequences there. And with that, I'll pass this to Billy Wagner, the emergency management director of the Florida Keys to let Billy tell you what's going on down there.
BILLY WAGNER, MONROE CO., FLA. EMERG. MGMT.: Thank you, Max, and good afternoon.
The Keys responding to a major hurricane. A major hurricane response requires a phased evacuation of the entire Keys. We have the general population on hold right now as far as the evacuation process. So far, we have a mandatory evacuation of all the nonresidents, all the RV population in the Keys, the camp grounds have been closed.
And one thing that we want to emphasize that everybody in the Keys pay very close attention to the timing of our evacuation orders in the future. It's critical that we coordinate this with adjacent counties, Dade, Broward and Palm Beach so we don't complicate any regional evacuation.
We also are very concerned about the storm surge in the Keys. And that's life-threatening to our population. And the inundation of our highway system in the upper Keys area during our evacuation process is critical. And we want to complete that evacuation in a timely manner.
MAYFIELD: OK. We'll be glad to take a few questions if you have some.
QUESTION: Do you have any feeling on which of the models might be more correct, or is that still too early?
MAYFIELD: The question is, which model do we have the most confidence in? And I always like to say that's a little bit like the stock market. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. We really don't know until after the fact that which model will be the best. We have one model that, quite frankly, has been jumping back and forth from up in Maine back down to Cuba, back to Maine and back down over the Florida Keys. So there are some real some inconsistencies there that are troubling. But all the data suggests that eventually it's going to turn up towards the northeast and come over south Florida Keys.
I will say we're doing everything we possibly can to make a good forecast, including flying the NOAA jet, not through the hurricane but in and around the hurricane to sample the stirring currents. We did that starting very early this morning about 2:00 this morning. And all that did, it got into the model during the day. We'll continue to fly those back-to-back missions here as well as we can.
QUESTION: Max, why is it good news (INAUDIBLE) at one point going toward Florida?
MAYFIELD: Well, the faster it moves -- the question was, what's the good news if it is accelerating as it moves across the state. If indeed, it moves quickly across the state, the good news there is that we're not going to have as much time for it to dump all the rainfall. So, the rainfall threat will be diminished.
But having seen this last model run of that GFDL model, that one doesn't move it as fast. So, we're not out of the woods on that yet. We're just going to have to wait and see how the steering currents set up.
And we've got plenty of time to watch this now. There are no watches and warnings up yet. And the thing to do now is just really closely monitor the progress of Hurricane Wilma.
QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) residents who live in Broward and Miami- Dade county who (INAUDIBLE) who are saying, well, we'd like to (INAUDIBLE). Could you please touch on that? And then talk about where people should be going?
MAYFIELD: OK. That's a specific question on I believe Miami- Dade, Broward County and the actions to take.
The important thing there is to listen to the advice of your local officials. And we right after we send the advisory out, usually 15 minutes after the advisory goes out, we're talking to the county emergency managers and the state emergency operation center.
So it's a very coordinated effort. And I can assure you that the officials and all the counties in the state know exactly what the forecast is and the uncertainties we're dealing with.
So it's going to take a little patience, kind of like Frances last year. We didn't think it would ever get here. But people just need to keep their eye on this and be ready to take that action when told to do so by those local officials. OK.
QUESTION: (OFF MIKE)
MAYFIELD: The question was, any chance this could fall apart. There's nothing more I'd like to see than that. And, you know, if it were to, you know, actually stall over the Yucatan for an extended period, yes, it could weaken much more than we're even forecasting. But I've shown you three of our better models here. And none of them really show that. They have it grazing the Yucatan. Hurricane is a heat engine. It gets it's source from the warm ocean. So you remove that source of energy and it will start to weaken.
And as long as much of that circulation is over the Yucatan, we should start to see it weaken here in the next day or two.
OK. Thank you very much.
BLITZER: All right. Max Mayfield, the National Hurricane Center director, updating us with the latest information, the latest projections of where Hurricane Wilma is going. Let's digest what we've just heard.
Chad Myers is joining us from the CNN Hurricane Center in Atlanta. Chad, what did you pick up? Give our viewers a sense of the enormity of this problem.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Four things I picked up, Wolf: eye wall contracting. That means that the storm is bringing its arms in, so to speak. An ice skater with one foot on the ground, arms out going slowly, arms in going quickly. And if you bring the arms in, if your eye wall gets smaller and smaller, then your wind speeds go up. And so we think the wind speeds are up now to 150.
The hurricane hunter plane is in the storm right now. It left Tampa. It's in the storm now. It found a wind gust at flight level, where it's flying, to 167 miles per hour.
The models are far part. One of the models that he was talking about, in fact, 126 hours from now, five-and-a-quarter days still right here in the Florida Straits. That would be excruciating for the people in South Florida to have to sit there and wait for that storm for almost a week.
I don't think that's going to happen. It has some forward speed. Doesn't sound like Max thinks that's going to happen either. It looks like landfall somewhere probably Sunday, maybe even into the early day on Monday.
And one thing I really got a chuckle out of models are like a stock market, past performance is no indication of the future.
BLITZER: I got a chuckle out of that as well. They have a great records in the past, it doesn't necessarily mean they're great down the road.
Chad, stand by. We're going to get right back to you.
Jacki Schechner is checking the situation online. What are you finding out, Jackie?
JACKIE SCHECHNER, CNN INTERNET CORRESPONDENT: Well, we've been following those Web cams. We took a look at Cancun yesterday. Just wanted to show you how some of those resorts were faring today. How the weather is getting progressively worse.
This is the Club International in Cancun. The Royal Mayan in Cancun. Take a look, Royal Caribbean. It's just getting darker. You can see, they've got everything battened down. Ready to go.
Some photos we also found online through Flicker.com, the group photo blog we often check out. These are from the Caymans. So, this is basically what Cancun can look forward to. Here's another one.
I'm just going to flip through this quickly so you can take a look at the waves and how high they are and how they're crashing on shore. You can see, it gets kind of ominous and windy. These are all from the Caymans right now.
And then these are from Belize. This is the other set. They got some water and some wind in Belize. You can see the waves crashing from this shot. I thought it was interesting. I don't know if you can see the orange there. But that's actually an old gas station at the Yacht Club Pier. So can see how high those waves have come.
So, basically some photos just starting to show up online through group photo blogs. But we're going to keep an eye on those web cams. Because those are really a good gauge of how the weather is progressing, Wolf.
BLITZER: Thanks very much Jacki.
From Jacki to Jack. Jack, it's amazing this new technology on these blogs, and these Internet -- the pictures that we're seeing, live pictures from Cayman Islands on these waves coming in. It is pretty amazing, isn't it?
CAFFERTY: You know what we need for people like me, though, during those segments? It is amazing. We need somebody in the corner of the screen doing the stuff they do for the hearing impaired that would translate what they're talking about with the blogs, with the Web cams, with the -- what did she call the picture collection there?
BLITZER: Something.
CAFFERTY: Yeah. But it is amazing. I'm just not very technologically well versed.
Senators on the Judiciary Committee are asking Harriet Miers to resubmit parts of the judicial questionnaire they asked her to fill out because they're not satisfied with the detail that she gave the first time around. So, the question is this, "How big a problem is it that Harriet Miers has to redo the questionnaire?"
John in Rohnert Park, California, "will she get a redo? Critical Supreme Court decisions, if she gets those wrong too. We've already seen the result of Bush's placement at a pal at FEMA. Now he wants his personal attorney as a Supreme Court judge."
Danny in Naples writes, "you have to wonder about a Supreme Court nominee who has to redo the questionnaire. How will she cope when she's called upon to write a majority opinion on serious and controversial issue that can effect American's for years to come. It's certainly not very comforting"
Sue in West Hartford, Connecticut, "good grief, those hearings are going to be a nightmare for Harriet, the poor thing. Those Senators will make her wish she had never agreed to accept the nomination. She's a fine church lady, but not Supreme Court material. And if Bush was really her friend, he would not have put her in this embarrassing position."
Charles in Illinois, "Harriet redoing her questionnaire is just a preview of what she'll do to Rowe V. Wade."
And Nanni in Sunrise, Florida, "no need for Harriet to fill out the questionnaire again, just tell her to write across the page in big letters, you're the best Senate ever."
BLITZER: Our viewers, they have a great sense of humor.
Jack, thanks very much.
CAFFERTY: It's a good group. We got the bright ones out of reform school for today's program.
BLITZER: We certainly did. Jack, we'll get back to you soon.
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