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The Situation Room
Chinese President Hu Jintao Meeting With Congress This Afternoon; Countdown To Vote In New Orleans; Life Or Death Decision In Moussaoui Case; Pennsylvania Congressman's Reelection Battle; How Relations With China Shape The U.S.
Aired April 20, 2006 - 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: Thanks very much, Susan.
To our viewers, you're in THE SITUATION ROOM, where new pictures and information are arriving all the time. Standing by, CNN reporters across the United States and around the world to bring you today's top stories.
Happening now, talks and ongoing tensions between the United States and China. It's 4:00 p.m. here in Washington, where Presidents Bush and Hu met face to face, but they still don't see eye to eye on several important issues. We're examining the issues, the pomp and the protests.
Also this hour, is race a factor in the New Orleans mayoral race? It's 3:00 p.m. in Louisiana, where voters are counting down to election day. We're covering the vote after the storm.
And Iraq, and the battle for Congress. It's 4:00 p.m. in Pennsylvania, where a Republican candidate is under fire over the war. We'll watch him in action as he fights for his political life.
I'm Wolf Blitzer -- you're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
The Chinese president, Hu Jintao, is meeting with members of Congress this afternoon after going one-on-one with President Bush. The two leaders agreed to more cooperation while continuing to disagree on several thorny issues, including trade and human rights.
In a show of China's global importance, Mr. Bush welcomed the communist leader with a pomp-filled ceremony. But the event was marred by protests. A lone heckler even managed to get into the welcoming ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House. Our Bill Schneider is standing by with some political reaction.
Let's go to the White House first. Ed Henry has that -- Ed.
ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Wolf, we've just learned moments ago from senior administration officials that after that dramatic protest this morning on the South Lawn of the White House, the two leaders went to the Oval Office, and we're told that President Bush told President Hu that he regrets what happened with that protest. He called it "unfortunate," he was sorry that it had happened. We're told the Chinese president was gracious and then they moved on to other issues. They discussed a lot of issues in that Oval Office meeting; a lot of talk but no real breakthroughs.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY (voice-over): All smiles as President Bush welcomed President Hu Jintao to the White House with full military honors and a 21-gun salute. President Hu desperately wanted the pomp and circumstance to show his people back home the respect he's accorded by the United States.
But then, an unscripted moment the Chinese president certainly did not want the world to see, as a female protester started heckling him. Perched high above the two leaders on a camera stand, she waved a flag in the colors of Falun Gong, a banned religious movement in China.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PROTESTER: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: The protest came shortly after President Bush had pushed for the Chinese people to be allowed to speak freely.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: China has become successful because the Chinese people are experiencing the freedom to buy and sell and to produce. And China can grow even more successful by allowing the Chinese people the freedom to assemble, to speak freely and to worship.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: Hundreds more protested outside the White House gates, but human rights is far from the only tension.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: All we want to do is be treated fairly in the international market place.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: In an Oval Office meeting, President Bush pressed his counterpart on the U.S. trade deficit with China and the inflexibility of the Chinese currency, with no concrete breakthroughs. But the two sides did pledge to work together to defuse nuclear standoffs with Iran and North Korea.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HU JINTAO, PRESIDENT OF CHINA (through translator): A good China-U.S. relationship is of strategic significance to the maintenance and promotion of peace, stability and development in the Asia-Pacific region and the world at large.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY: Now we have late word from the U.S. Secret Service that the protester was 47-year-old Wang Wenyi. She has now been charged with disorderly conduct. She got into the event with a temporary press pass from the "Epoch Times," a newspaper affiliated with the Falun Gong movement.
A spokesman for that newspaper told me they had no idea that the protester would do this. They thought she was covering the event. They've called the State Department and the White House press office to apologize.
Meanwhile there is still a larger protest continuing across the White House gates. You can probably hear them behind me. It's been going on through the entire day, Wolf.
BLITZER: She is going to face some serious criminal charges, potentially, too, right, Ed?
HENRY: Right, The disorderly conduct charge is a Washington, D.C., statute that she allegedly violated. She could also face a federal charge as well, for trying to disrupt a federal official at this event. That is something the U.S. attorney's office is still looking at at this hour.
BLITZER: Ed Henry at the White House. Thanks very much for that.
In China, TV viewers did not get to see live coverage of her protest. Chinese state television didn't carry the ceremony. But CNN International did and it was airing the program live in China. The Beijing government, though, blacked out coverage of the protester once that happened and the discussion about it afterward -- they blacked out CNN's coverage after the protests started.
Now some political fall-out from today's meeting here in Washington. Fall-out that hits President Bush closer to home. Let's bring in our senior political analyst, Bill Schneider, who is watching all of this.
Bill, how is this visit, this summit by the presidents of the United States and China, likely to play politically in this country?
BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, you know, Wolf, China has critics in the United States politically on both the left and the right. Some of the criticisms are shared, but the left is primarily angry about what they see as the Chinese beating our brains out on international trade. The United States is bleeding manufacturing jobs.
Currency controls by China, in their view, constitute unfair subsidies of Chinese exports, and they feel that the United States is in a very unfair economic competition that's costing the American economy dearly. That criticism from the left is also shared by many on the right.
But another criticism, principally on the right, is anger over the lack of religious freedom in China, anger about human rights and the absence of human rights, and the record in China is not improving. We saw evidence of that at the White House welcoming ceremony today, and as you just reported, the fact that the Chinese censored that protest from being broadcast domestically in China.
BLITZER: What about the American public, the American people as a whole? You've looked at the poll numbers. How do they feel about China?
SCHNEIDER: Americans actually have a very mixed feeling about China. They don't know what to make of it. If you ask the question, Are the Chinese with us or against us -- Americans simply don't know. In a poll that was taken earlier this year, people were asked their opinion of 22 different countries.
As we see here, Americans were split on China -- 44 percent favorable, 49 unfavorable. China was the only country in which a majority of Americans did not feel either favorable or unfavorable, of all the 22 countries tested. That's unique. Americans can't make their minds up how they feel about China.
BLITZER: Pretty split decision. Thanks very much. Bill Schneider with that. We're going to have a lot more on the political sparks over China when Paul Begala and Terry Jeffrey -- they'll square off here in our "Strategy Session." That's coming up.
Also our Jeff Greenfield -- he's standing by to explain why today's meeting should matter to all of us. Lots more on U.S.-China relations coming up.
Let's move on to other news we're following, including the countdown to the vote in New Orleans. Mayoral candidates have just two days left before campaigning ends. The first election in the city since Hurricane Katrina takes place. CNN's Sean Callebs is joining us now live from New Orleans with more. Sean?
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Well, Wolf, we're standing in front of the University of New Orleans gymnasium, one of 28 so-called superprecincts that will be put to the test this Saturday when of course the voters come to the polls.
There are a great number of questions: How and where to rebuild; how to once again get a solid economic base in New Orleans, and how to get the tens of thousands of people who left this area back home. But one of the biggest concerns is an age-old problem.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CALLEBS (voice-over) What we as a nation saw in the aftermath of Katrina has forced leaders in New Orleans to take a hard look at relationships between African-Americans and whites in this city. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MAIL: Race is always a difficult issue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CALLEBS: A disproportionate number of mostly poor, mostly black, suffered the worst. More homes destroyed and more people forced to leave the city.
CLANCY DUBOS, "GAMBIT" WEEKLY EDITOR: Katrina ripped open a lot of old wounds. It tore off the patina of civility.
CALLEBS: Clancy Dubos is the editor of an alternative weekly newspaper, the "Gambit."
DUBOS: There is an extreme disparity of wealth. There is an extreme disparity of opportunity. There's an extreme disparity in feeling as though you have a seat at the table.
CALLEBS: Among the great challenges for the next New Orleans mayor: improve schools, expand job opportunities. Political consultants say find a place at the table for more African-Americans.
SILAS LEE, POLLSTER: New Orleans, historically, we've been like a volcano in terms of race relations -- always on the verge of erupting but never really erupting.
CALLEBS: Race also got more attention after the current mayor made this declaration back in January.
RAY NAGIN, MAYOR, NEW ORLEANS: This city will be chocolate at the end of the day.
CALLEBS: He later apologized for the comment.
Before the storm, New Orleans was nearly 70 percent African- American, but since so many blacks evacuated, the racial make-up now is roughly evenly split between white and non-white.
The three top candidates are Mayor Nagin, Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu, and businessman Ron Forman. Nagin won the last election, receiving roughly 85 percent of the white vote. This year is different.
DUBOS: Four years ago he ran as Clarence Thomas. Now he's running as Al Sharpton. That's quite a change, and it's not as if he's fooling anybody.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CALLEBS: And we called the mayor's office trying to get some comment to that but we did not hear back. Now, there are 22 or 23 candidates in this race, enough to fill two football teams. If someone doesn't get more than 15 percent of the vote, there will be a runoff on May 20. Now -- so there have been some early votes. Wolf, we want to get to this, more than 19,000. And look at the breakdown, the way they're coming out. Some 65 percent of those votes from African-Americans, some 32 percent from Caucasian, or white voters.
And the reason that is significant, Jesse Jackson and a number of others have filed legal challenges to this upcoming election, saying that so many of the people who left this area would be excluded from the Democratic process -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Sean Callebs on the scene in New Orleans for us. Thanks very much.
Hoping to distinguish themselves in the New Orleans mayoral race, many of the candidates have taken to the Web. Our Internet reporter Jacki Schechner standing by with a closer look -- Jacki.
JACKI SCHECHNER, CNN INTERNET REPORTER: Wolf, well you heard Sean mention the top three frontrunners -- Mayor Ray Nagin, Mitch Landrieu and Ron Forman -- but there's some 21 other candidates. Maybe you've never heard of James Arey. He's a former "Jeopardy" contestant, a radio host. His platform is support the arts. He wants to support arts in New Orleans.
There's also Nick Bacque who just dropped out and he's now supporting Ron Forman, but he's interesting because he's 24, he's a recent Tulane grad student, rather, and he's got a blog with plenty of pictures of him partying in New Orleans, hanging out with his friends.
There's also Tom Watson for mayor. He's focusing on race issues in the poor neighborhoods of New Orleans. He's a pastor.
And then there's the most colorful candidate of all. This is Manny Chevrolet Bruno, an out of work actor. Doesn't have a Web site but we found this interview with the League of Women Voters where he says his civic experience is using public transportation. And when they asked him how he would repopulate New Orleans, Wolf, he said, "let's take a look at polygamy."
Go to NOLA.com, the "Times-Picayune" Web site. They have full, comprehensive election coverage -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Thanks for that, Jacki Schechner.
Another question about the New Orleans vote -- is the city still recovering from Katrina up to the challenge of holding an election? It's an important question. And we'll have another live report from New Orleans coming up ahead. Susan Roesgen standing by with that.
Another note on New Orleans before we go. Howard Dean is there presiding over the Democratic National Committee spring meeting that begins today. In addition to party business, Dean and the Democrats plan to pick up some hammers and shovels and start cleaning up hurricane-ravaged homes. They hope to highlight their criticism of the Bush administration's Katrina response.
Let's go up to New York. Jack Cafferty is standing by with "The Cafferty File" -- Jack.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Senator John McCain is an early favorite for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008. However, his continuing support for the war in Iraq could cost him a lot. Bloomberg News reports McCain understands this could be a political liability. No kidding.
The Arizona senator also says he is, quote, "a bit resentful" of Secretary Rumsfeld for the way the war has been poorly handled, but he still thinks the U.S. has to win it whatever that means. McCain's advisers are trying to make a virtue of his position on the war, saying that it shows he's genuine, courageous and non-political. But it may also indicate he's tone deaf. A recent poll shows only 38 percent of Americans say the war in Iraq is worth fighting.
So here's the question: Will Senator McCain's support for the war in Iraq be a barrier for a potential White House run in 2008? E- mail your thoughts to caffertyfile@CNN.com or go to CNN.com/caffertyfile.
BLITZER: We're going to ask Donald Trump about McCain and Hillary Clinton in our interview that's coming up here in THE SITUATION ROOM as well. The Donald will be joining us in THE SITUATION ROOM.
Coming up next though, polls show the war in Iraq isn't helping Republicans in Congress as they run for reelection this year. But how much is it hurting them? We'll go to the front lines along the campaign trail to find out.
Plus, President Bush and his Chinese counterpart face to face at the White House. But what is really at stake for all of us? Our Jeff Greenfield weighs in.
Also there's some stunning developments today at the sentencing trial of confessed al Qaeda conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui. We're going to go live to the courthouse for more on a dramatic turnaround. We'll tell you what is going on. Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: A life or death decision could soon go to the jury in Zacarias Moussaoui's sentencing trial. The defense rested its case earlier today but first a concession by the government prosecutors that could make the difference on whether the confessed al Qaeda conspirator gets the death penalty. Let's get the latest.
Our CNN justice correspondent, Kelli Arena, is outside the courthouse in Alexandria Virginia -- Kelli.
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, there was a statement that the government agreed to have admitted into court which the defense then admitted which said that Richard Reid, the shoe bomber, had no prior knowledge of September 11th, that he was never tasked by al Qaeda leaders to conduct an operation with Moussaoui, that Richard Reid actually named Zacarias Moussaoui as a beneficiary in his will and that FBI agents have said if they were supposed to conduct a suicide operation together that he would not have done that, and that Richard Reid traveled extensively just before 9/11 when all the other hijackers were either in the United States or trying to get into the U.S.
This is important because it contradicts what Moussaoui claims on the stand which is that he and Richard Reid were supposed to be on a plane together on September 11th, that was supposed to target the White House.
The prosecution shot back after that with a rebuttal witness, which is a psychiatrist, Dr. Raymond Patterson, who is the only psychiatrist that Moussaoui has ever cooperated with. And he contends that Moussaoui is mentally competent, that he's not a paranoid schizophrenic as defense witnesses have said.
Lots of contradictory information, Wolf, throughout this whole trial. As you said, the jury may actually get to start deliberating on Monday. The rebuttal witnesses still testifying right now. He may go into Monday morning, as well. But by Monday this jury will get to decide.
BLITZER: Thanks very much for that. Kelli, we'll be watching together with you every step of the way.
Let's go to the CNN Global Headquarters in Atlanta now. Zain Verjee is following two developing stories. What's going on, Zain?
ZAIN VERJEE: Wolf, five teenage students are under arrest in southeastern Kansas. They're accused of plotting a possible attack at a rural high school in Riverton, Kansas. Police say they found guns, ammunition, knives and coded messages in the bedroom of one of the suspects.
They also say the alleged shooting plot was uncovered after details appeared on the Web site MySpace.com. The Web site message reportedly mentioned today's the anniversary of the April 20th, 1999, Columbine high school attack in Colorado. Two students there killed 13 people before killing themselves.
We have developing news out of Iraq as well to tell you about. Transitional prime minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari has just announced that he will support whatever fellow Shia legislators decide about possibly replacing him. He stopped short of saying outright that he would resign.
This comes after today's scheduled session of Iraq's parliament was postponed until Saturday. That's to give lawmakers more time to form a national unity government. Shia, Sunni and Kurdish politicians are putting together a list of candidates for president, prime minister and speaker. Wolf?
BLITZER: Zain, we'll be watching that story. Thanks very much. New election year skirmishes today over Iraq in this country. A leading Democratic critic of the war is trying to keep the calls for Donald Rumsfeld's resignation alive. Pennsylvania Congressman John Murtha says Rumsfeld should take the blame for mistakes in Iraq. Rumsfeld says he's not stepping down. But if he did would it affect congressional elections?
In a new "National Journal" poll, Republican political insiders are divided over whether a Rumsfeld resignation would help Republicans or Democrats on Election Day? Most, 40 percent, say would it have no impact. Democratic insiders have a similar view.
But somewhat more Democrats think a Rumsfeld resignation would help Republicans. Most, 37 percent, don't think would it change the midterm election outcome. Pennsylvania is a key battlefield in this midterm election year and in the political war over Iraq specifically.
Our congressional correspondent Dana Bash went to the Philadelphia area in the last few days to see what is going on literally on this political battlefield. What is the latest, Dana?
DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well Wolf, you would think that a Republican congressman who's in one of the toughest reelection battles this year would go to a Rotary Club breakfast and talk about the fact that he's helped cut their taxes, that the economy is booming, right?
BLITZER: Right.
BASH: Well, not this year.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BASH (voice-over): A campaign breakfast at the local Rotary Club, but Jim Gerlach's slideshow was about a trip to a far away place, causing him trouble at home.
REP. JIM GERLACH (R), PENNSYLVANIA: We then flew to Baghdad. And as you can see, it's a very sprawling city.
BASH: The congressman is high on the list of endangered Republicans in the battle over control of the House. In part, because even his party's loyal supporters have questions like this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do you feel about the general's criticisms, the former retired general's criticisms of Rumsfeld?
BASH: He doesn't agree, not based on his military briefing.
GERLACH: Thus far what they've said hasn't caused me to question the leadership of Secretary Rumsfeld.
BASH: Still he is challenging the White House. Gerlach tells us when he goes back to Washington, he'll call for Iraq's governments to meet certain goals in six months. If it doesn't, he says, Congress should step in and consider withdrawing troops.
GERLACH: I think that would bring about a very healthy and productive debate in this country to then finally resolve that issue of how long we should be there.
BASH: The district just outside Philadelphia is a mix of rolling farmland and suburbia. At Ruby's Diner, you can hear why Republicans are worried and taking a more active stand on Iraq. The war has made Lori Lewis an extremely disappointed GOP voter.
LORI LEWIS, VOTER: I don't see that there's an end because I don't know how they're going to stop the war.
BASH: Her mother Audry didn't anticipate the high price.
AUDRY WASSERMAN, MOTHER OF LORI: Too many people are losing their lives and limbs and things like that. Yes, that's what I expected, but I don't think they expected it would be this bad, either.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have you guys taken any phone calls today or anything I should know about?
BASH: Likely Democratic challenger Lois Murphy lost to Gerlach by just 6,000 votes two years ago. This time, she ties anxiety about Iraq into a broader critique of the president and the Republican Congress.
LOIS MURPHY (D), PENNSYLVANIA CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: It's made people frustrated and it's made people alarmed and it's made people concerned that there's a failure of leadership.
BASH: As for Gerlach, he acknowledges it's hard to get attention on issues like a growing economy because voters are so worried about the war.
GERLACH: That is an overreaching, overshadowing issue that really affects all the other issues that are out there in this political spectrum.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BASH: Now people in Pennsylvania sixth district are dissatisfied about the war, but it was increasingly clear that they are becoming downright mad about something much closer to home and that is the high price of gas.
And Wolf, you could just feel it in talking to the voters there, that they're really getting mad and it could make what is already a pretty bad year for incumbent Republicans even worse.
BLITZER: But who are they blaming?
BASH: Well that's the thing. You know, it's unclear who they're going to blame. Right now the anger seems to be really focused on the CEOs, the executives of the energy companies. But you started to hear people saying, "But what are my representatives, what is my president, what are the people in Washington going to do about it to try to control it?" BLITZER: And that could translate into anger towards the Republicans whose run the Congress and the White House. Dana, thank you very much for that, good reporting.
Another note on the politics of Iraq in this election year. Senate Democrat Ted Kennedy tells our own Larry King that he has no regrets about voting against the U.S.-led invasion. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TED KENNEDY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: The best vote I cast in the United States Senate was...
LARRY KING, CNN ANCHOR: The best.
KENNEDY: ... the best vote in the United States Senate...
KING: In your life.
KENNEDY: ... absolutely, was not to go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: You can see all of Senator Kennedy's interview with Larry King, that airs tonight 9:00 p.m. Eastern. "LARRY KING LIVE" only here on CNN.
And remember, you're in THE SITUATION ROOM, where political news is arriving all the time. CNN, America's campaign headquarters.
Coming up next, we'll have much more on Donald Rumsfeld. If he were in charge, what would the other Donald do about the defense secretary? We'll find out in the next hour when I speak with Donald Trump. Would he fire them?
Plus, in public, it was all smiles. But behind closed doors, was there tougher talk? We'll take a closer look at what is at stake between Washington and Beijing. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: The Bush administration went to some length today to show China's president that he and his country are very important to the United States. Now, if the pomp and ceremony didn't convince you of that, maybe our political analyst Jeff Greenfield can. Jeff, what do you think?
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SENIOR ANALYST: Wolf, it sounds like a story only a hopeless policy wonk could love. Chinese leader visits U.S. But before you turn to the next Hollywood celebrity birth, consider how we deal with China may well shape everything from how well we will live, to the prospect of war and peace.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GREENFIELD (voice-over): The specter of China as a world power, military and economic, has haunted American leaders going all the way back to Theodore Roosevelt a century ago. It was a key concern of Richard Nixon's even before he was elected president and it is why this prominent anti-Communist decided to deal with and to visit China in 1972.
Now that potential power is real power. China's gross domestic product has doubled in a decade. A wealthier China means more cars, homes, office buildings, consumer goods for its 1.3 billion people. And that means China is going to consume more and more raw materials, like rubber, copper, cotton, and oil.
That, in turn, means that, over the long term, prices in the U.S., especially at the gas pump, are likely headed in one direction: up, up, and away. China's goods flow into the United States in a torrent. If you shop at a store like Wal-Mart, you're really shopping in China. And its trade surplus with the U.S. now runs $200 billion a year.
Moreover, as the U.S. budget sinks further into the red, China has become one of the U.S.' biggest bankers. It holds more than $800 billion in government and corporate securities. Should China decide to move away from the dollar, the impact on the U.S. could be severe.
Then there's the small matter of military tensions. China has made no secret of its claims on Taiwan. The U.S., in turn, is committed by treaty to Taiwan's defense, but not to any claims of formal independence. Washington also needs China's supposed influence over North Korea to keep that issue from exploding into direct military confrontation.
And if the international community eventually decides to confront Iran directly on its nuclear ambitions, will China, with its growing need for oil, aid or hinder that effort?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GREENFIELD: So, what is at stake long term? Not much, only, perhaps, our economic future and the balance between war and peace. Hardly worth thinking about -- Wolf.
BLITZER: If you take a look at the meeting today, how it unfolded, especially, Jeff, the rather warm welcome, and the embarrassment of that one heckler who interrupted it, it's going to -- it's going to certainly put the U.S. on the defensive, in trying to explain to the Chinese leader how that woman got into the South Lawn of the White House.
GREENFIELD: Well, that's true in the short run.
But, on the other side, you have a really interesting mix -- you mentioned this earlier -- of left and right who feel that the economic engagement with China might be coming at the expense of a concern about human rights, of their actual frequent habit of rounding up dissidents and a -- basically, an authoritarian government that is economically freeing things up, but, in political terms, remains pretty iron-fisted. And I think you're going to see this accelerate as we get into the 2008 Beijing Olympics. It's just one of the constant tensions that I think is just another example of the very difficult efforts to try to have a Western, open country like the United States explain itself and challenge a country like Beijing, which is a First World economic power -- or soon will be -- and, in political terms, is very, very different from us.
BLITZER: Very briefly, you say China takes a long -- it is well known China takes a long-term...
GREENFIELD: Yes.
BLITZER: ... view of what is going on. What do you mean by that?
GREENFIELD: Well, the most famous example is Chou En-lai, who was Mao's number-two guy, was asked many decades ago what he thought of the French Revolution of 1789. And he said, it is too soon to tell.
They tend to look at things in a -- in a much longer time frame than the West.
BLITZER: They have a good historic perspective.
Thanks for that, Jeff Greenfield.
And hoping to bridge the gap, President Bush today told the Chinese president China should allow its people to speak freely. China's censorship efforts continue to be a problem for the United States as well, especially over the content that it can -- of what it allows to go online.
Our Internet reporter, Abbi Tatton, is standing by with more on that -- Abbi.
ABBI TATTON, CNN INTERNET REPORTER: Wolf, over 100 million Internet users in China, in a country where Internet use is heavily policed -- and it's U.S. companies doing business there that have recently faced criticism for the way they operate in that country, like Google, for example, who recently launched a new version, a Chinese version of their search engine, that filters out certain content, according to local laws, like pages related to Tiananmen Square, for example.
Google was one of four big Internet companies that recently appeared before a House committee to talk about this, when lawmakers blasted them for their operations in China. A Yahoo! spokesman who was at that hearing said that they essentially have a choice there either to comply with local laws or to leave the country.
Yahoo! has come under recent criticism, just this week, accused of turning over information on a -- a Yahoo! e-mail user to local authorities.
And we will have more on that in the next hour -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Thanks very much, Abbi, for that.
Up next, much more on today's face-to-face meeting over at the White House. Will there be any political fallout here at home for President Bush, pro or con? I will ask Paul Begala and Terry Jeffrey. They are standing by for today's "Strategy Session."
Plus, she is best known for her role in the 2000 Florida recount. But how much is that hurting Katherine Harris as she makes a bid for the U.S. Senate?
Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back.
Today, in our "Strategy Session," President Bush welcomes the Chinese president, Hu Jintao, to the White House. Can the two countries work together? Why are some so upset the Chinese president was given such a warm reception over on the South Lawn of the White House?
Joining us now, our political analyst and Democratic strategist Paul Begala, and Terry Jeffrey. He's the editor of "Human Events."
Listen to how the president, I would say, discussed this issue in his opening statement with the -- with the Chinese leader. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: As stakeholders in the international system, our two nations share many strategic interests. President Hu and I will discuss how to advance those interests and how China and the United States can cooperate responsibly with other nations to address common challenges.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Terry, you're a good Republican, a good conservative. Are you happy watching the president of the United States so warmly receive the Chinese leader, with all the pomp and circumstance on the South Lawn?
TERRY JEFFREY, EDITOR, "HUMAN EVENTS": Absolutely not, Wolf.
I think one of the disappointments conservatives have had with President Bush is that he did not change U.S. policy toward China at all from that that was followed under the Clinton administration. And it's completely inconsistent with his own declaration in his second inaugural address last year that we want to end tyranny in the world.
Just before I came over here, I took a look at the State Department's human rights report on China. This is a country, Wolf, that is still detaining Catholic priests, that still has a coercive birth-control policy that forces women into abortions and into sterilizations.
When we talk about free trade and growing their economy and shared interests, this is a country where the principal industries are controlled by the government. And the government is controlled by the Communist Party.
That man, Mr. Hu, is not the president, of China first. He's the general-secretary of the Communist Party. Our relationship with China is a one-way street. It's all going in their direction. We are not getting a benefit back out of it.
BLITZER: What do you think?
PAUL BEGALA, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, Jeff Greenfield, in the previous piece, talked about there's a lot of left-right agreement on China's human rights record.
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: Do you agree...
(CROSSTALK)
BEGALA: And I think Terry makes a very good point.
Now, I -- the president has to welcome the head of state of the largest nation on Earth. And, in our president's defense, not a position I'm often in, in his prepared remarks he spoke out quite forcefully about human rights. He said, China has done well by having a more liberal economic policy, more freedom in the economy. You should have more freedom in people's personal lives in the government as well.
Where he missed a chance, though, was when that woman started to protest and heckle. And I -- I watched it live. And I thought, what would Ronald Reagan do? What would Bill Clinton do? There's a classic example right there to teach President Hu, because you could see -- now, I'm imagining this, but you could see in President Hu's -- sort of, in his head, he's thinking, isn't this the time when the tanks roll in and crush them? That's what we do in my country with protesters.
JEFFREY: Actually, what President Clinton would have said is, do you want to buy some supercomputers? No, which is what, in fact, he did, right?
BEGALA: No. President Clinton would have...
(CROSSTALK)
BEGALA: And Ronald Reagan dealt with the Chinese as well.
JEFFREY: President Clinton sold supercomputers to the Chinese that could be used to design nuclear warheads, Wolf. (CROSSTALK)
BEGALA: And Reagan -- and Reagan had commercial...
JEFFREY: And that's the real problem with our relationship strategically with China.
China, I believe, has a long-term goal of being the hegemonic power in Asia. We're an obstacle to that. We are in Japan. We're in South Korea. We have a long-term relationship with Taiwan, which they still claim sovereignty, long-term friends with the Philippines.
They need to push us out, ultimately, of Asia to get where they want to be. And, to do that, they need the money they are getting from the $200-billion-a-year trade surplus they have with us. They need the technology they are getting from, among other places, U.S. military contractors, like Boeing, which has built facilities in China to build some of their airplanes.
BLITZER: Here is what Harry Reid said, the Democratic leader, the minority leader, in the Senate: "More than five years into your presidency, your administration, regrettably, still has no coherent strategy for managing this nation's relationship with China."
That's a letter from Harry Reid to the president of the United States.
BEGALA: Well, the president proved it today, speaking out in prepared remarks, saying China should respect human rights. Then, when human rights, when free speech is demonstrated right in front of him, the president expresses our regret.
You know, it was, in a sense, rude. And, if it had been the leader of, say, Canada or Britain, a free country, I'm sure the president would have apologized as well.
But there is something that rankles when you're -- when you -- have a communist dictator exposed to freedom, and the leader of the free world is apologizing? That's not right.
JEFFREY: You know what the problem here, Wolf, is? When Bill Clinton was in power and he was appeasing the Chinese and trading our tech...
BEGALA: It's all Clinton's fault.
(LAUGHTER)
JEFFREY: No, wait a minute -- and trading our technology over there, he had leading Republicans calling him on it, saying: This is wrong. This is not in our strategic interests. We shouldn't be kowtowing to this regime, which is so abusive of the human rights of its own people.
Now that we have a Republican president, you have Harry Reid calling him to task on it. I think the real force behind this is, big business in the United States has made a partnership with big government in Beijing. It happens to be a communist government. They have too much influence in this town.
We need political leaders of both parties that will look after the interests...
BLITZER: Here's...
JEFFREY: ... of the United States of America.
BLITZER: Here is what Republican Congressman Chris Smith, a strong critic of China, from New Jersey, said "China's so-called economic reform has utterly failed to result in the protection of freedom of speech, expression, or assembly," echoing what Terry just said.
But what do you do? This is a country that has a $200 billion trade surplus with the United States, which has a lot of U.S. T-bills, has a lot of corporate bonds. What do you do with a situation like that...
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: ... when you have so much economic interest at stake?
BEGALA: It -- that's the problem. Under Reagan or Clinton, we had a lot of trade with China, as we do now. The difference is, under President Clinton, we were paying that debt down to zero. Zero.
President Bush should have been standing there today not owing a penny to the Chinese communists. Instead, he -- we owe $800 billion. Mr. Bush's tax cuts for the rich have been financed by borrowing from the Chinese. Well, he was not just entertaining the top communist in the world. He was entertaining America's banker.
America, meet your banker.
BLITZER: All right, very quickly, Terry.
(CROSSTALK)
BEGALA: ... your economic future.
JEFFREY: Wolf, we need calibrated linkage to real acts by China to help us strategically in the world to their continued expanded access to our market.
They must help us in North Korea. They must help us in Iran. They must liberalize their human rights practices at home. If they don't do it, we should start slowly squeezing on them, pressuring them...
BLITZER: Well, I'm going to...
(CROSSTALK)
JEFFREY: ... economic leverage.
BLITZER: Hold on.
(CROSSTALK)
BEGALA: They have got a trillion dollars of our debt. We owe them.
JEFFREY: We need to squeeze them. They get -- they...
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: We got to go.
BEGALA: Sorry.
(LAUGHTER)
BLITZER: I'm going to be speaking with the president's national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, live. That's coming up in the next hour, right at the top of the next hour.
And you gave me some good questions to ask him. Thanks to both of you for joining us, Paul and Terry.
Coming up, also, the 2006 money race -- who has the advantage, Democrats or Republicans? The answer, not so clear-cut as you might think.
And, later, what would Donald Trump do if he were running the shop down here in Washington? The Donald in THE SITUATION ROOM. That's coming up in the next hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Time now for our "Political Radar."
New financial reports in this midterm election year show that Senate Democrats still hold a 2-1 advantage over their Republican counterparts. The Democrats have about $32 million in the bank. The Republicans have about $16 million.
But the Republican Party still holds a huge fund-raising edge over the Democratic Party. The RNC has about $43 million in the bank. The DNC has about $10 million on hand.
In Florida, GOP Congresswoman Katherine Harris is using some of her own money to try to jump-start her Senate bid. So, far, though, it doesn't seem to be helping much. A new Quinnipiac poll shows Harris trailing Democratic incumbent Senator Bill Nelson by a whopping 29 percentage points. Harris is best known for serving as Florida's secretary of state during the 2000 presidential election recount.
Checking some hot election-year issues -- a new Gallup poll shows 25 percent of Americans believe Iraq is the most important issue facing the country today. That's up five points from last month. And look at this: Immigration has jumped to the number-two issue on the list, after weeks of protests and news reports about the problem. Nineteen percent of those surveyed now say immigration is the most important issue facing the country. That's up from 13 points in March.
In the immigration wars, a new threat today from a leader of a civilian border patrol group. The head of the Minutemen says he and his supporters will build a security fence along the U.S.-Mexico border, if the federal government doesn't. A House bill approved last year calls for a border fence, but the Senate remains stalemated on the overall immigration reform bill.
The storm over ports is coming back to haunt on the airwaves. The group Americans United is spending about a half-a-million dollars to air some -- to air this spot on some cable TV networks. It highlights gaps in security at U.S. ports and the searches of cargo. That's the ad.
Up next, do you drive with one hand on the wheel, the other hand on a cell phone? If so, you will want to hang up right now and focus in on the road, as you should.
And I'm also going to be speaking live with the national security adviser to President Bush, Stephen Hadley. What does he have to say about the implications of today's White House visit by China's president?
And the unrest in Iraq -- is a breakthrough in forming an Iraqi government on the eve? Is it about to happen?.
Coming up next, right here in THE SITUATION ROOM, we will speak at the top of the hour with Stephen Hadley.
Stay with us.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHEN L. HADLEY, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: And I appreciate this opportunity to visit with...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: There she is, Zain. We are going to check in again with the latest headlines -- Zain.
VERJEE: Wolf, a curfew remains in effect in Nepal's capital of Kathmandu. Security forces stopped thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators from marching into the city center today. Witnesses say, police opened fire, killing three protesters. About 100 others were injured. The demonstrators are demanding Nepal's king step down. Neighboring India and the United States are urging the king to restore democratic power to Nepal's government. Now, a lot of people are guilty of doing this, driving with one hand on the wheel and the other dialing your cell phone. Well, a new government study is showing just how dangerous that can be. Researchers videotaped several hundred drivers. They say, eight out of 10 crashes involved drivers who were distracted or drowsy. Drivers who dialed their cell phones, read, or put on makeup while at the wheel -- we have all seen that -- were three times more likely to crash.
A computer glitch apparently caused yesterday's security scare at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport. Checkpoints were closed for several hours yesterday, after a screener spotted a suspicious object in luggage going through her X-ray machine. It turns out that it was just a routine security test, but the computer screen failed to alert her that it was just a test. The delay resulted in at least 120 flights not making it on time -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Zain, thanks very much.
We watched that, 24 hours ago, unfold.
Still to come here in THE SITUATION ROOM, will Senator John McCain's support for the Iraq war hurt him if he runs for president? Jack Cafferty standing by with your e-mail.
And Donald Trump for president? Is there any chance the mogul and TV star would want the job? My interview with Donald Trump coming up -- here in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Let's check in with Jack Cafferty. He's standing by with "The Cafferty File" -- Jack.
CAFFERTY: Wolf, Bloomberg News reporting that Arizona Senator John McCain admits his support for the war in Iraq could be a political liability. That's the question: Will his support for the war in Iraq be a possible barrier to a potential run for the White House in 2008?
Joseph in Miami: "His support for the war in Iraq shows that he is part of the problem, not the solution. I think the Republicans are going to be in for a big surprise come November."
Allan writes: "McCain's great 'run to the right' can only lead to a 'crawl to the center' after the primaries. I'm buying stock in flip-flops."
John: "Senator McCain is caught between that old political dilemma of supporting what is morally right and what is politically expedient. Sometimes, the difference is a fine line. Sometimes, as in the case of the war, it's as vast as the Arizona desert. As of now, he has to grit his teeth and tote water for George Bush. Meanwhile, the old fox Giuliani staying moderate, sneaking in to the hen house. Should be a fun summer." Gregory in Knoxville, Tennessee: "This conservative Democrat might not vote for McCain, but he is dead-center correct. We better fight and win this war, because these folks would slit your grandmother's throat in a New York minute. This war against Islamic militants is about the kind of world our children and grandchildren will grow up in."
Conrad (ph) in Tucson: "I don't think Senator McCain's support for the war will hurt his chances, as long as his message includes a reasonable and secure exit strategy. I believe the tide is changing from why we went to war to how to bring the troops home. However, here in Arizona, immigration is the number-one issue."
And Stan writes: "McCain's sellout to the whacked-out right-wing fringe is now complete. He has about as much chance of becoming president as Scott McClellan has of becoming editor in chief of 'The New York Times'" -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Jack, thanks very much.
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