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The Situation Room
Dramatic Scene In Chicago Where Plane Skidded Off Runway; Republicans Make Aggressive Online Ad; Are Runways Too Short?; Many Republicans Still Back Bush; Torture Ban Agreement Still Not Reached; Menendez To Replace Corzine As New Jersey Senator; Democratic Primary Schedule May Change In 2008
Aired December 09, 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: And to our viewers, you're in THE SITUATION ROOM where new pictures and information from around the world are arriving all the time.
Happening now, new fears about flying. It's 3:00 p.m. in Chicago where a plane that skidded off a snowy runway still is on the street. And investigators on the scene are watching what happened in this deadly crash. We just got word of a briefing on the crash. We'll bring it to you live as soon as it starts in Chicago. That's coming up.
Also this hour, a powerful political attack over Iraq. It's 4:00 p.m. here in Washington, where Republicans have launched a new Web ad slamming statements by top Democrats.
And a tabloid is calling it tree-son. Is it Christmas or holiday greenery? Find out who's taking a stand now against a politically correct season.
I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
The flight data and cockpit recorders from the Southwest Airlines flight that crashed in Chicago are now on their way here to Washington. Investigators say it could take a year to determine why the jet slid off the runway while landing, crashed through a barrier and into two cars on nearby a street.
A 6-year-old boy inside one of the cars was killed. Thirteen other people were injured. It happened last night at Midway Airport during a heavy snowstorm. Federal investigators say weather obviously is being examined as a significant factor in the accident, but they say they're looking at all possible causes, as well.
Midway Airport has now reopened, but authorities say the wreckage of the plane won't be moved off the street until this weekend. The National Transportation Safety Board spokeswoman refused to speculate on whether the relatively short runway contributed to the crash. Southwest Airlines officials say they are grieving for the boy who died and his loved ones.
Our Brian Todd is on the scene. He's joining us now from Chicago with the latest. Brian? BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, it's a very dramatic scene here. I'm going to ask our cameraman, Bruce Fine (ph), to pan over to the shot of the plane. You see the nose cone buried in the street. There's snow still on the plane. It is an incredibly dramatic scene, and this is about as close to that plane as we're allowed to get at this point.
Wolf, as you mentioned, they are not going to jump to any conclusions about the cause of this crash. They do, as you mentioned, say that weather is a component. We know that there were about seven inches of snow on the ground around the airport runway last night, but officials tell us there was less than 1/16th of an inch of snow on the actual runway at the time that this occurred.
This runway is 6,500 feet long. It is considered one of the shorter runways in the country. Asked if that was a factor in the crash, an NTSB investigator would not speculate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELLEN ENGLEMAN CONNERS, NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD: I'm not going to offer any conjecture on that. This is all part of the investigation. And these are the facts and the signs and the data that we need to look at.
One thing we're not going to do is jump to a conclusion, and so it's a situation where you look at all factors and then rule those out, even ones that seem obvious. We're going to rule them in or rule them out, and then carry through with the investigation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TODD: We hope to learn a little bit more about the investigation in about an hour from now, when the NTSB will hold another briefing. The cockpit voice recorders and the flight data recorder have been sent to Washington for analysis. And, Wolf, we're just going to be piecing together information as investigators will. We'll give it to you as soon as we have it.
BLITZER: Have they explained, Brian, how that huge plane behind you is actually going to be removed from the street?
TODD: They have not explained that yet. We're going to be interested to see how that's going to happen. We're going to ask them about that at the briefing. They are going to -- there is apparently an engine that it was at least -- is on the ground now from that plane or it was on the ground at some point, that had either fallen off or something happened with it.
We're going to ask them about that. And about any mechanical questions, they say, again, no conclusions are being drawn at this time. They're going to look at everything, including toxicology tests of the pilots or the mechanical history of the plane, although the plane is very new. It was received by Southwest Airlines in July of last year.
BLITZER: We'll be watching. Brian, thank you very much. And remember there's a news conference that's going to be coming up -- the NTSB, the National Transportation Safety Board. We'll have it live right here in THE SITUATION ROOM as soon as it starts.
Even before this new plane crash, pilots have complained that Midway Airport in Chicago simply doesn't have a big enough buffer zone to protect planes if they overshoot the runway. CNN's Kathleen Koch reports that problem exists in many American airports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The FAA now requires runways have a 1,000-foot buffer zone to keep planes safe. But 38 percent of runways, all in older airports built before the rule, still don't meet the standard.
JOHN GOGLIA, FORMER NTSB MEMBER: I wouldn't say that it's safe at all. I mean, the risk is there and we need to do what we can to mitigate that risk.
KOCH: The Federal Aviation Administration says it's not easy to get those buffer zones built.
MARION BLAKEY, FAA ADMINISTRATOR: You know, we'd love to wave a wand and have overnight every airport have the safety buffer zone completely installed. Again, this is something that takes time. It obviously requires resources and money. Sometimes there's land acquisition involved.
KOCH: The newest solution relies less on land and more on a system of crushable concrete blocks .
KENT THOMPSON, ENGINEERED ARRESTING SYSTEMS CORP.: Perhaps 3,000 or 4,000 of these blocks are assembled like a jigsaw puzzle at the end of the runway. And if an aircraft should run off the runway, it crushes the material and brings the aircraft to a stop.
KOCH: But the Engineered Material Arresting System, EMAS for short, is in place at just 14 airports. New York's JFK had a buffer of only 550 feet before it put in the country's first EMAS system in 1996. Since then, EMAS has stopped three aircraft there, and local officials insist putting it in more airports is a no-brainer.
CHARLES GARGANO, PORT AUTHORITY OF NY AND NJ: Look, we've had incidents where passengers could have been badly injured or even lost their lives. And when you think about that, you don't think about the dollars involved. We all have to put our heads together and say we're going to do this.
KOCH: Kathleen Koch, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Much more on the aftermath of this plane crash in Chicago last night. Remember, we're standing by for a news conference from Chicago, the NTSB. We'll go there live once it starts.
In the meantime, we'll move on to -- there's some rather rough politics under way in Washington right now. Republicans simply not pulling any punches in a brand new Web ad accusing Democrats of waving the white flag in Iraq. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOWARD DEAN, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: The idea that we're going to win this war is an idea that unfortunately is just plain wrong.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So there's no specific timeframe, but I would say the withdrawal ought to start now, right after the elections, December 15.
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: There is no reason, Bob, that young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children, you know, women.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: It's a tough ad. Our senior political correspondent, Candy Crowley, is joining us now with more on this ad that's simply outraging a lot of Democrats and other folks, as well. Candy, what's the aim of this ad, based on what you've heard from the Republicans?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the aim of the ad, first of all, is the 15 million people they have on their list. So this has been emailed out to real Republican activists. What it aims to do is exploit pretty much what has happened this week and has been interpreted in the media and elsewhere as a split in the Democratic Party as to how they feel about the war in Iraq.
I can tell you when word of this ad first got out last night, Democrats were worried about how they were going to respond. Today, it was left to Senator Harry Reid, who leads the Democratic Party to follow up on this and to say how he feels about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MINORITY LEADER: This is not a political campaign. The president should be the commander in chief, not the campaigner in chief. This is not the time for Karl Rove. This is the time for leadership.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CROWLEY: Senator Reid went on to say that he felt that Howard Dean, among other people, had done a lot for the Democratic Party, that he wishes that what the president would do, would be to work with the Democrats on the Hill to come up with a plan for Iraq. Wolf.
BLITZER: I suppose, Candy, this started with Howard Dean's controversial comments earlier this week, comments that some Democrats weren't very happy with either.
CROWLEY: Well, it's true. I mean, here's Senator Reid -- he's pulled to the left by Howard Dean, he's pulled to the right by Senator Lieberman. And he's in the middle sort of trying to pull his caucus together. I can tell you that, first of all, when you ask him directly, is this war winnable? Senator Reid says absolutely. Most Democrats believe it is absolutely winnable militarily, economically and politically.
As for Howard Dean and his remarks, I think it's fairly safe to say there's been kind of a meeting of the minds.
BLITZER: Candy Crowley.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REID: And he understands that his job is to do what he can to energize Democrats at a grassroots level around the country, to raise money for the DNC and leave the policy-making to the Democrats in the House and the Senate. He understands that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CROWLEY: And of course, of the things that did upset the Democratic leadership this week was the fact that they felt that they did have a bit of a deal with Howard Dean when he became DNC chairman that he would go out and keep the party base happy and raise funds and not set policy. So they've just had that conversation again. Wolf.
BLITZER: I suppose the Democrats are going to respond in kind to this kind of tough ad. Thanks, Candy, very much. Candy Crowley, reporting for us.
President Bush promised yet again today to stay the course in Iraq during a fundraiser for a GOP Senate candidate in Minnesota. Despite talk that some Republicans are running away from Mr. Bush, many still are eager to stand with him on the campaign trail. Our White House correspondent Dana Bash is standing by live at the White House. We see Air Force One, Dana, even as we're about to speak -- Air Force One touching down at Andrew's Air Force Base outside Washington. The president coming back. I assume he's heading to Camp David for the weekend. Is that right?
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And I also just wanted to interject about what you were just talking about with Candy, Wolf. And that is the politics of the day is so much about Iraq. And this idea of Republican candidates during the midterms, their campaigns, what they are going to do, how they're going to deal with the fact that there are very much growing doubts about the war, is what many people are looking at.
And one thing Republican pollsters say though is that what they are seeing is despite the doubts, Americans don't necessarily want to pull back troops to make things actually worse in Iraq.
So it was noteworthy that the president's trip today, he was in Minnesota, as you mentioned, campaigning for a Republican Senate candidate. He not only took a swing once again at Democrats who wanted to withdraw troops, but he made it very clear that the candidate there in Minnesota agrees with him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There are some who are arguing for a fixed timetable of withdrawal. I think it's the wrong policy, and so does Mark Kennedy.
A fixed timetable of withdrawal would embolden the enemy, would confuse the Iraqis, and would send the wrong signal to our young men and women in uniform.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Now, Democrats in Minnesota delighted at the fact that the president came to their state because they are convinced that is actually going to hurt the Republican candidate.
But Wolf, the bottom line is still the bottom line. And the president raised a million dollars for Mark Kennedy. And he actually had done a few fundraisers at the end of November, and White House aides and others insist, although they can't say where or when, that the president is going to be very much out there in 2006 doing the same.
And I talked to several Republican strategists involved in campaigns going up to 2006, and they say look, yes, the president is polarizing. Yes, it is a tough time for the president and for candidates. But he is still the fundraiser in chief. He still gives them an advantage that the Democrats don't have -- that he can raise a lot of money for them that is critical, of course, for any campaign.
One interesting note, the president's next big Iraq speech will be in Pennsylvania. That senator, the Republican senator, Rick Santorum is perhaps the most endangered. And there has been talk he's been trying to distance himself from the president. He will be at that speech in Philadelphia on Monday.
BLITZER: Unlike that other speech the president gave a month or so ago on Veterans Day, Santorum will be there this time. Is that right?
BASH: That's correct. He will be there, and his office says he have a visible role there.
BLITZER: OK. Thanks very much Dana Bash at the White House.
Jack Cafferty is off today. He'll be back on Monday.
Coming up, a check of the wintry weather across the country. We're tracking where the snow has hit, where it's stuck, where it's still falling right now.
And also ahead, drama under the dome. The clock ticking and lawmakers scrambling. What can they accomplish before the holidays?
And later, he's already a rising star among Democrats. But has Democrat Barack Obama won over the music industry? We'll tell you what's going on. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Zain Verjee is off today.
Fredricka Whitfield is joining us from the CNN Center in Atlanta with a closer look at other stories making news. Hi, Fred.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, Wolf. A fast moving winter storm came and went in New York earlier today, dumping six inches of wet snow on the Big Apple. It made for a tense morning commute, though, with nine inches of snow or more falling on upstate New York. But by midday in Manhattan, the sun melted a good part of it. The winter storm system is now sweeping across New England where accumulations could top 12 inches.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said if New York's 38,000 transit workers strike, it will cost the city millions of dollars a day. Their contract expires in a matter of days. A walkout is against state law. But the Transit Workers Union plans to vote tomorrow on whether to call a strike anyway. The transit system shuttles more than 7 million riders throughout New York City each day.
A Kansas City teenager suspended from school for two days last month has received an apology from the school district. The principal at Zach Rubio's high school sent the 16-year-old home for speaking Spanish in the cafeteria and the hall. Zach is bilingual. The school superintendent heard about it and apologized. There is no rule in Kansas against speaking Spanish in school.
And NBA star Shaquille O'Neal has a second job. The Miami Heat center was quietly sworn in yesterday as a reserve police officer in Miami. O'Neal spent the past year training for the post. He is now authorized to wear a badge, carry a gun and make arrests. And Wolf, he's not doing it for the money. It pays only $1 a year to be a reserve officer. But he's going to be focusing on the special crimes unit, trying to fight crimes against children. So he's taking the word assist to a whole new level.
BLITZER: Good for him. I guess he can afford it since he makes $100 million over five years as a center for the Miami Heat.
WHITFIELD: And he's done it before, you know.
BLITZER: He's done it before.
WHITFIELD: He did it in L.A.
BLITZER: I've interviewed him. He's really a great guy when it comes to this kind of stuff. And I admire his commitment.
By the way, Fred, we're going to have a lot more on Shaquille O'Neal's new career in the 7:00 p.m. Eastern hour of THE SITUATION ROOM. That's coming up later tonight. It's that time of the year on Capitol Hill here in Washington -- lawmakers scrambling to try to get some things done before the holiday recess.
Our congressional correspondent Ed Henry is joining us now live with more on that. First of all, Ed, we've been waiting yesterday, today. Is there finally a deal between John McCain, on the one hand, the White House, Stephen Hadley, the national security adviser, on the other hand, on language, legislation that would ban torture?
ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Not yet. They're still this close. Basically several sources involved in the talks telling us that in fact, Senator McCain is on the verge of a victory here over Vice President Cheney, also House negotiators who had been standing with the White House against this ban on the use of torture of detainees.
We're hearing a deal could be signed off on as early as Monday. This could be a big boost for McCain. He has been fighting the House negotiators on this, as I said, for weeks. Vice President Cheney had been lobbying vigorously against it.
This could also be seen as a sign that maybe the vice president's influence on the Hill is waning a little bit, but also could be a sign that Republicans up there like McCain, like John Warner, the chairman of the Armed Service Committee, they're standing up to this White House on issues like Iraq, the war on terror in ways that they didn't quite do in the first Bush term. Wolf.
BLITZER: What about the issue of the patriot law? We had heard yesterday it looked like it was a done deal, the extension for a few more years, but maybe not.
HENRY: That's right. The bottom line is they did seal the deal sort of yesterday, but they still have to get past a filibuster fight next week. Basically, Democratic Senator Russ Feingold saying he's going to make sure that there will likely be a filibuster, try to demand that there be at least 60 votes for this instead of the usual 51.
What we're hearing is that Republicans are already making noise that if Democrats join Feingold in a filibuster and try to block the reauthorization of the Patriot Act, Republicans are going to make them pay a political price in 2006, in the midterm elections by saying Democrats are making the country less safe. The problem with that argument is that Republicans like Senator John Sununu are talking about joining the filibuster, defying the White House, defying their Republican leaders.
It's going to be a very interesting showdown. The votes are going to be close. But Republican leaders still feel like they're going to get the Patriot Act deal done next week. Wolf.
BLITZER: Finally, there's an issue that's very important, especially to a lot of House Republicans, some of whom are feeling sort of vulnerable right now, involving spending cuts. What's happening?
HENRY: This could be the biggest fight of all. Basically, we're going to get a window on how the House Republican leadership is doing without Tom DeLay. Conservatives demanding that they stick to $50 billion in spending cuts. There's pressure to bring it down to about $35 billion.
If House Republican leaders do not stick to their guns, you're going to see a revolt from conservatives. They may even demand some new leadership elections in January, a shakeup in the House Republican leadership. People like Roy Blunt who's filling in -- he's filling in right now for Tom DeLay -- a lot of conservatives watching him closely to see if he can get this deal done. Wolf.
BLITZER: All right. We'll be watching as well, Ed.Thanks very much. Ed Henry doing an excellent job for us on Capitol Hill.
Congress is close to a compromise on the reauthorization of the Patriot Act, as we've just been reporting. But one of the remaining controversial sections deals with information that the FBI can collect on your online activities.
Let's get some insight now from our Internet reporter Jacki Schechner. Jacki?
JACKI SCHECHNER, CNN INTERNET CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, here's what it comes down to. If you want to read the reauthorization online, you can do that at the House Judiciary Committee Web site. And if you take a look, this is what that document will look like to you online.
Now, the ACLU is concerned about some of the provisions that are in question and they have started this Web site called Reform the Patriot Act to tell you what you can do and what you should know about it. One of the things that they're very concerned about is the FBI's ability to go to an Internet service provider and collect information about the Web sites that you've visited and the emails that you've sent out.
For example -- now this is just an example, this hasn't actually happened. But they could go to a Web site like Bank of America or State Farm and get information on your activity there. Again, pointing out that has not actually happened yet. But this is of concern.
And we spoke to the House Judiciary Committee -- we left a message actually. But in a statement, Wolf, they said to us that the provisions that they are proposing are actually more protective of people than the ones that are currently in place.
BLITZER: All right. Jacki, thank you very much. Useful information from Jacki, as always.
On our "Political Radar" this Friday, the former president of the United States -- that would be Bill Clinton -- declaring the Bush administration is flat wrong in its stand on global warming. He specifically targeted today his successor's claim that reducing greenhouse gases to fight global warming would damage the economy. Clinton spoke in Canada at an international conference on climate change.
Senator Barack Obama is adding to his star power, this time in the recording industry. The Illinois Democrat has been nominated for a Grammy award. Like other politicians before him, Obama got the nod for Best Spoken Word on an Album for his reading of his autobiography.
Imagine if TV's "Friends" moved to Washington? A writer/producer of the sitcom reportedly has sold a politically-themed pilot to CBS. According to the "Hollywood Reporter," the show revolves around Capitol Hill staffers in their mid-30s and is tentatively entitled "Sex, Power, Love and Politics." OK.
Still ahead, he's getting ready to join what's called the world's most exclusive club. I'll speak with Robert Menendez, who's about to jump from the U.S. House of Representatives to the U.S. Senate.
Plus, it's been quite a week for John McCain. The senior senator from Arizona gets his way in Washington -- not bad considering he's not even in town. I'll explain when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: It's now official. New Jersey's next United States senator will be Democratic Congressman Robert Menendez. Governor- elect Jon Corzine today tapped Menendez to serve the remaining year of the Senate term and become New Jersey's first minority senator.
Robert Menendez joining us now from Secaucus, New Jersey. Do I call you Senator or Congressman? Are you officially sworn in yet?
SENATOR-DESIGNATE ROBERT MENENDEZ (D), NEW JERSEY: Not yet, Wolf. We have to wait for the governor to actually take office first, and then we'll have that opportunity.
BLITZER: All right. So I'll still call you Congressman, but congratulations.
MENENDEZ: Thank you.
BLITZER: And thanks very much for joining us.
Let's get to a couple specific issues that are in the news right now.
How do you feel about the comments that Howard Dean made, the chairman of your party, earlier in the week that the war in Iraq is not winnable? Although yesterday here on CNN, he seemed to suggest that under Bush it's not winnable, but it could be winnable under Democrats.
MENENDEZ: Well, I think that what the chairman was trying to get at is this -- is that the president's stay the course message is not a plan for success. It is not a plan for victory. The president can use the word victory as many times as he wants in his speech, but that doesn't create victory.
Victory is created ultimately by changing the course. And that means getting Iraqi troops to be at a level and a preparedness that they ultimately take care of their own security, getting that oil production -- which is lower than when we went into Iraq -- back up so that they can self-sustain in both their security and in their economy, and then withdrawing American troops so that we can get them home safely.
And I say this as someone who voted against the war.
BLITZER: Are you among those Democrats, like your Democratic colleague Gary Ackerman of New York, who believes that the president lied to the American people in getting into this war?
MENENDEZ: Well, Wolf, I did my due diligence on this vote. I voted for our efforts in Iraq -- I mean, excuse me -- in Afghanistan. That's where the perpetrators of 9/11 was. That's where al Qaeda, bin Laden, the Taliban were.
And I have a standard. If I'm willing to send my son and daughter into war, I'll send anyone else's, and in Afghanistan I was.
But when I looked at the intelligence on Iraq, when I did my due diligence, I felt that there were no clear evidence of weapons of mass destruction, no clear and present danger to the United States. This was a war of choice, not a war of necessity, which is why I voted no.
And when I saw the president stand, you know, before the Congress and from my seat as the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus looking straight at that rostrum and having him say that Saddam was seeking uranium from Niger, an African country, when he knew that our own CIA said, don't put that in your speech, well, I think that and many other issues raises serious questions about the president manipulating the American people into a justification for war.
BLITZER: The "New York Times" took a swipe at you today. You probably saw that, Congressman. "Since entering politics as a corruption-fighting mayor of Union City, New Jersey, Mr. Menendez has become a proponent of business as usual. The public has a right to yearn for a break from the past and Mr. Menendez does not represent a clean slate."
Tough words from arguably what could be a hometown newspaper in New Jersey.
MENENDEZ: Well, we respect the "New York Times." They're not our hometown newspaper, the "Star Ledger" is.
BLITZER: But a lot of people in New Jersey read the "New York Times".
MENENDEZ: Yes, well absolutely. Well look, I don't know what they're talking about because the fact is, not only did I start my life at the age of 19 reforming my school board, putting on a bulletproof vest to testify against a corrupt administration when my life was threatened, leading a reform movement then, and in Congress, having been one of the strongest advocates for campaign finance reform, having passed on the House floor an amendment to end New Jersey's pay-to-play system. And then ultimately, even sponsoring legislation that says a public official who is convicted of a crime within the context of their official duties should have minimum mandatory sentencing. So I think the "New York Times" has it wrong.
BLITZER: You will be the third Hispanic in the United States Senate. Is that right?
MENENDEZ: Yes, I will be.
BLITZER: You're the son of Cuban immigrants to the United States?
MENENDEZ: Yes. It's a great country. As I said today, I greatly appreciate Governor-elect Corzine's nomination. And the fact of the matter is, it sends a message that a child born of immigrants, poor and in a tenement in New Jersey can rise to serve in the United States Senate. That's a powerful message for children across our state and across the country.
BLITZER: Well, Congressman, soon to be Senator, Bob Menendez, Robert Menendez, congratulations. Thank you very much for joining us. Good luck in the United States Senate where you'll go from being one of 435 to being one of 100. Thank you very much, Robert Menendez -- named today by the new governor of New Jersey, Jon Corzine, to be the next United States senator from New Jersey.
We're standing by. We're awaiting a news conference from Chicago. The NTSB, the National Transportation Safety Board is about to update all of us on this plane crash that occurred at Midway airport last night. We'll get the latest from there. We'll go there live as soon as it starts.
In the mean time, it's been a very, very busy week here in Washington, especially in the United States Senate. But one member's actions stand out. Let's bring in our senior political analyst Bill Schneider. Bill?
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Wolf, it's been 20 months since the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison came to light. This week, the logjam was finally broken for Congress to outlaw such abuses, all due to the efforts of one senator and the "Political Play of the Week".
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SCHNEIDER: John McCain, who was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam, knows about torture. This year, McCain proposed an amendment to ban cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment of detainees. SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: You should do it, Mr. President, because we are Americans and because we hold ourselves to humane standards of treatment of people no matter how evil or terrible they may be.
SCHNEIDER: Vice President Cheney lobbied against the measure, arguing that CIA agents should be exempt from such a ban. The Senate passed McCain's amendment 90-9. The House resisted. Republican leaders claimed the amendment was legally unnecessary. Stalemate -- until Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice went to Europe this week and found herself forced to defend allegations that the U.S. sends or renders detainees to secret prisons in other countries that practice torture.
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Inquiries where appropriate, the United States seeks assurances that transferred persons will not be tortured.
SCHNEIDER: Where appropriate? Seeks assurances? Not very definitive. Secretary Rice faced a firestorm of international criticism.
RICE: I'm not going to talk about whether such activities take place.
SCHNEIDER: President Bush was forced to weigh in.
BUSH: We do not render to countries that torture.
SCHNEIDER: Finally, the wall of resistance in the House crumbled. Duncan Hunter, chairman of the Armed Services Committee told CNN that the McCain amendment would be -- quote -- "strongly manifested in the final defense bill." The breakthrough is a tribute to McCain's persistence. Yes, he argued, terrorists are evil people.
MCCAIN: But this isn't about who they are, it's about who we are.
SCHNEIDER: And who he is. The winner of the "Political Play of the Week".
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCHNEIDER: As for the debate over whether torture produces good intelligence, consider this revelation today. According to the "New York Times", the Bush administration based its assertions of ties between Iraq and al Qaeda on an al Qaeda detainee who says he lied to avoid torture while he was being held in a foreign country. The CIA had already discredited his testimony last year. Wolf.
BLITZER: Bill Schneider, thank you very much. Bill Schneider is our senior political analyst.
Coming up here in THE SITUATION ROOM, the war of words over the war in Iraq. We've had blasts from both parties this week. Our Jeff Greenfield's standing by to join us next to put this political fight into some sort of context.
And later, will a fight over the primary calendar turn ugly for Democrats? We'll tell you what it's all about when we focus in on the next race for the White House. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Remember, we're standing by for a news conference in Chicago. The NTSB, the National Transportation Safety Board, already starting its investigation into that plane crash of a Southwestern flight last night at Midway Airport. Once that news conference starts, we'll go there live. We're standing by for that.
The war of words, meanwhile, over Iraq, now playing out in a new Republican Web ad. We showed it to you earlier. It's raising lots of eyebrows.
Let's bring our senior analyst Jeff Greenfield from New York. This Web image of the Democrats raising a white flag, surrender, defeat. What do you make of this?
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SENIOR ANALYST: Well, it's about as subtle as dropping an anvil, I think. The way to put it in context, I think, is to see it as the latest chapter a bipartisan effort to change the subject. For the administration and Republicans, the most uncomfortable subject is how did we get here and what is it costing us in lives, in money, and our image abroad.
For Democrats, the most uncomfortable question is OK, now what? And that works in two ways. One, it doesn't admit of any easy answer, and it does highlight very deep divisions among Democrats. They range from strong support for the current policy -- Senator Lieberman most prominently -- to calls for withdrawal, Congressman Murtha, and for much of the liberal base. So it's a problem for them, Wolf.
BLITZER: It seems, though, that -- correct me if I'm wrong -- that Democrats seem to be increasingly critical of each other.
GREENFIELD: Oh, yes. I mean, Democratic House Leader Nancy Pelosi endorsed John Murtha's call for a phased withdrawal. One of her whips, Maryland's Steny Hoyer says bad idea. Howard Dean, the chairman, as you've been reporting, says the war in Iraq is essentially un-winnable -- compares the administration's honesty to Watergate. A fellow Democrat, Congressman Marshall, says that makes less sense than his Iowa scream. And North Dakota Democrat Earl Pomeroy said to Dean -- quote -- "Shut up."
Now it ought to be noted, in fairness, that during the last presidential campaign, Howard Dean voiced a lot of skepticism about the administration's case for war. He was sharply rebuked by John Kerry, among others. And a lot of his skepticism was borne out. But as a political matter, Wolf, a lot of Democrats see calling a war un- winnable as politically very dicey.
BLITZER: As much as the Democrats have problems, Republicans have problems of their own as well.
GREENFIELD: Yes, and I think the problem gets back to how this began. Bill Schneider noted just a moment ago the press reports that now suggest that a key piece of evidence linking al Qaeda to Iraq came in the prewar days from a prisoner who may have said it to avoid torture while he was in the hands of foreign captors.
And this reminds me that one of the lessons Democrats might need to remember is a lesson they normally aren't disposed to turn to, and that's Richard Nixon who, back in 1968, he didn't say he had a secret plan. That's mythological. But he never said what he'd do precisely if he were president. He simply said that the quagmire proved we need new leadership. And if the polls are right, Wolf, that still seems to be the strongest case the Democrats have against this president, that he got us into it in a misleading way and it's not working out.
BLITZER: Jeff Greenfield in New York, thanks very much.
GREENFIELD: OK.
BLITZER: Coming up, here in THE SITUATION ROOM, politics often called a rough sport. Perhaps this is why. A heated exchange of words leads to a heated physical exchange. It happened in South Korea. Check this out -- this is real -- politics under way in the parliament there. Whoa. Tell you what happened.
And how do you celebrate Christmas without actually saying Christmas? That issue being debated in several halls of power, including those in the state of Georgia. We'll tell you how the governor, Sonny Perdue, is weighing in. Stay with us.
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BLITZER: A Democratic National Committee panel meets here in Washington tomorrow to consider changing the primary season's schedule in 2008. That may sound pretty straightforward, but actually, it's a lot more complicated than just re-jiggering dates on a calendar.
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BUSH: Particularly on behalf of the vice president, I want to congratulate Bob Dole and Pat Robertson for a race well run here in Iowa.
WILLIAM J. CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: New Hampshire tonight has made Bill Clinton the comeback kid.
BLITZER: Two states stand out above all others in recent presidential campaign history. Iowa and New Hampshire have held the kickoff primary season contests for decades. But now, the Democratic Party is circulating a proposal to let one or two other states squeeze in between them. Some Democrats argue that Iowa and New Hampshire have been too influential for too long.
AL GORE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm running, after all, for president of the United States, and not president of Iowa.
BLITZER: And that other states with more diverse populations should get in on the early campaign action.
But that's blasphemy in New Hampshire, where the primary's first- in-the-nation status isn't just a tradition or an economic windfall. It's the law. New Hampshire Democrats are promising a fight if the party goes ahead with the change. They're trying to rally big-name Democrats behind them. New Hampshire's governor says the party's possible 2008 front-runner, Senator Hillary Clinton, supports the Granite State's current primary position.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: There are other aspects to the primary calendar proposal, but the possible upstaging of New Hampshire is the most contentious issue, and it could complicate party leaders' efforts to put past discord behind them as they try to retake the White House, especially since the Republican Party isn't messing around with its calendar at all. We'll have more on this coming up in today's "Strategy Session". That's coming up shortly.
In the meantime, let's check in with Fredricka Whitfield, once again, in Atlanta for a closer look at some other stories making news. Fred?
WHITFIELD: Hi, Wolf. Well, the human toll from avian flu now stands at 70, with the death of a 5-year-old boy in Thailand. The boy lived in a province 70 miles from Bangkok. He died in a hospital Wednesday. It's not clear how he caught the virus, though. Health officials say he did not have direct contact with chickens, even though chickens are raised in his neighborhood.
Iran's president continues to draw criticism over his comments calling the Holocaust into doubt and suggesting that Israel be moved to Europe. Even Russia, a long-standing ally of Iran, joined in the condemnation of the hard-line leader's remarks. All 15 members of the U.N. Security Council joined in a statement denouncing the comments.
It happens from time to time. You'll recall, this scene happening over and over again. It happened again today. Korean lawmakers coming to blows on the parliament floor over an education reform bill. After the fisticuffs, the bill was passed, 140 legislators voted in favor of it, 10 abstained. One party refused to vote and called the voting invalid. That's one political fight. Wolf.
BLITZER: Whoa, that is quite rough and tough politics. Makes politics in Washington look really rather tame.
WHITFIELD: Very docile.
BLITZER: Yes. Thanks very much, Fred, for that.
Up next, the war of words getting hotter over the war in Iraq. The GOP turns the Democrats' own words against them. We'll take a closer look at that new GOP web ad.
And too much plane and not enough runway. Was the tragic airliner mishap in Chicago an accident simply waiting to happen? That's coming up in our 7:00 p.m. Eastern hour of THE SITUATION ROOM.
Stay with us.
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BLITZER: Remember, moments from now, we're standing by for a news conference in Chicago on that plane crash last night. We'll get the latest on what happened. Stay with CNN for that. We'll bring it to you live right here in THE SITUATION ROOM.
In our "Strategy Session" today, the Republican National Committee is out with a new web ad accusing the Democrats of being a party of retreat and defeat in Iraq. Will this only inflame the political war of words?
Plus, the Democrats, as we just reported, considering changes in their primary calendar schedule. Could New Hampshire be left out in the cold?
Joining us here, the former Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe, and Republican strategist Ed Rogers.
Guys, thanks very much for joining us. It's raising a white flag. You saw that RNC ad. It makes you guys look like a bunch of cowards.
TERRY MCAULIFFE, FORMER DNC CHAIRMAN: Well, first of all, this is a little Web video by the RNC. The question I have is that Republican Senator Chuck Hagel, Republican Senator John McCain, have said it's not working in Iraq. So is the next video going to be John McCain with a white flag? Is it going to be Chuck Hagel with a white flag?
I mean, there's no place for this. We ought to have an honest debate about Iraq. That's the question. We wish George Bush would have a debate about Iraq, but he doesn't. He keeps saying things are fine. They're not fine in Iraq today. The American public and our troops want to debate about what's going on Iraq today.
BLITZER: You were just in Iraq.
ED ROGERS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I was.
BLITZER: And you got some clients over there. Tell us what you saw.
ROGERS: Well, I was in the northern part of Iraq. I was there visiting the Kurds. The greatest danger in the Kurdish region is getting run over by a Turkish cement truck. There's a high possibility of that at any given time because the economy up there is booming. It is beautiful. BLITZER: But Kurdistan in the north was quiet and peaceful before the U.S.-led invasion. It's a whole different area. They're doing well up in the north.
ROGERS: It is. It is. They call it the other Iraq, but it is part of Iraq. And it's quite remarkable what's happening there.
BLITZER: Are the Republicans, though, going too far in this war of words, making the Democrats look like retreat and defeat?
ROGERS: Absolutely not. They need to be held accountable. This is serious business. They need to be held accountable for what they have to say. And particularly, from a political standpoint, in Howard Dean's case, we can't do any better than let him talk. And so just running an ad that does nothing but quoting Howard Dean is about as good as we can do politically. It's very effective. I hope you're going to run the ad.
BLITZER: We did before. We don't have to run it again.
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: ... can go to the RNC Web site and look at it all day. Let's talk a little bit about your successor, Howard Dean. You had a different style when you were the party chairman.
ROGERS: And effective style.
MCAULIFFE: Thank you, Ed.
BLITZER: You know, I'm not going to praise him. It was a different style. Is he causing too many problems for the Democrats? Because a lot of moderate and conservative Democrats are really speaking out and saying, you know, he's going too far.
MCAULIFFE: They tried to cherry pick what he said on this radio show the other day. His point was a permanent commitment to this failed strategy just isn't going to work. He is out there. He's energizing the grassroots. As you know, when I turned over the party, we had millions of dollars in the party. No debt. We're in great financial shape.
I said, the party is now fixed financially for the first time ever. You need to spend your time working on the state parties. And he is. He's traveling those state parties, giving them money, giving them staff. And that's what he ought to be doing. He's doing a great job.
ROGERS: I'll say what Terry can't. He's a marginalized figure, he's not raising the money. At the end of the day, that's a big part of how you keep score for being a party chairman. No matter what you say about Terry McAuliffe, at the end of the day, he brought in the money. Dean's not doing that. Plus, he's saying all this crazy stuff. He's not going to be there in '08. He's not going to make it.
BLITZER: Let's talk a little bit about the Democrats and the primaries, the Iowa caucus, New Hampshire. A lot of people in New Hampshire are nervous right now. You're so well plugged into the Democratic Party. What are they going to do?
MCAULIFFE: Well, this is actually a commission that I appointed before I left. I can tell you right now unequivocally that Iowa will be the first caucus in the nation and New Hampshire will be our first primary.
BLITZER: Will there be other caucuses in between that will select delegates?
MCAULIFFE: It looks like where they're going is maybe putting one or two caucuses in between Iowa and New Hampshire, bringing a primary in after New Hampshire but before the window. The key for us...
BLITZER: But the caucus -- what New Hampshire is upset about, these two caucuses, let's say, from big states with more minority voters, labor union voters. That's what the Democrats are trying to do. Is that right?
MCAULIFFE: Yes. And that's the goal -- to re-jigger the calendar for the first time in 24 years. I brought South Carolina in, Arizona in, New Mexico. We want to represent the true diversity of our party. Today, George Bush has a 3 percent approval rating with the African American community. We need to make sure that the African American community, the Hispanic community -- you saw Bob Menendez -- we need to make sure communities of color are represented early.
BLITZER: Republicans will have their own caucuses and primaries coming up. They're not touching this at all. Is what the Democrats are thinking of doing smart strategy?
ROGERS: John Kerry didn't lose because of the primary calendar. He didn't lose because of the sequencing of the states. He lost because he was a lousy candidate with a dud message, and he got outclassed by Bush. Reshuffling the deck isn't the answer to their problems. They're so arrogant, the Democrats, whenever they lose, they want to change the process. They never respect the legitimacy of their defeat. Their problem isn't the calendar, the problem is their message.
MCAULIFFE: They have not reaffirmed Iowa, New Hampshire. I want to be very clear. The Republican have not done it. The Democrats, I believe, will take the recommendation tomorrow to do it. It still has to go to Rules and Bylaws in the full DNC, so there's a long way to go.
BLITZER: All right. We'll watch it together both of you. Terry McAuliffe, thanks very much. Ed Rogers, thanks to you, as well. No fighting here in THE SITUATION ROOM.
Still to come, seems everyone is weighing in on whether it will be a merry Christmas or happy holiday. Now the governor of Georgia is sounding off. We'll tell you what's going on. Plus, it's a heavy burden to bear. The California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger pondering the fate of Stanley Tookie Williams. We'll tell you what he's saying on whether to spare Williams' life. Stay with us.
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