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The Situation Room
Iraq Main Focus of President Bush's Press Conference; Iraq May Play a Part in Upcoming Elections; Republicans Promoting Constitutional Ban on Flag Burning; Harrowing Flight Out of Baghdad; Virginia Senate Race; Nancy Pelosi Interview
Aired June 14, 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 Ali. And 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, President Bush back from Baghdad and showing new momentum. It's 4:00 p.m. here in Washington where Mr. Bush has been briefing reporters and lawmakers about his surprise trip to Iraq. We'll have a live report on his message and whether he's found his mojo.
Also this hour, a timetable for bringing the troops home. Congress is gearing up for a heated debate and Democrats are deeply divided. I'll ask the House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi about the split. Will it hinder her battle to be the next speaker of the House?
And Flag Day politics, Republicans seizing on a burning issue for their conservative base. Can they protect their control of Congress by voting to protect the stars and stripes? I'm Wolf Blitzer, you're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
On is this day, after his secret mission to Baghdad, President Bush isn't hiding his optimism about Iraq's future or about his own improving political fortunes. Iraq was the main topic of his news conference earlier today. Just a short while ago he briefed congressional leaders on the trip.
The House holds a political charged debate tomorrow over when to bring the U.S. troops home. Republicans are hoping it will showcase divisions among Democratic critics of the President's Iraq policy. Our Congressional correspondent Dana Bash is standing by live. Let's go to the White House first. Our White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux has all the latest, Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well Wolf, it certainly was a wide ranging press conference but President Bush really sticking to Iraq as the main focus, of course. He really is trying to pivot here to put the burden on the Iraqi people, the Iraqi government, saying that his first impression was one of confidence, that he felt that the Iraqi people would be able to step forward and this comes at a critical time for the president as he faces more pressure to pull out U.S. troops.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MALVEAUX (voice-over): More than three years since the Iraq war began, President Bush is still trying to convince the American people the U.S. invasion was worth it.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's the right thing to get rid of Saddam Hussein. Al Qaeda is real. Also understand the stakes of this war.
MALVEAUX: The mantra is the same, but the...
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: Sorry, Wolf. It seems as if we lost...
BLITZER: Suzanne, we had a little technical problem with your piece. Let me just get to the bottom line in all of this. This was a very confident President Bush who emerged today from this trip to Baghdad, making his case very directly and exuding a lot of optimism when it comes to the Republicans holding on to the House and the Senate.
MALVEAUX: Well, certainly. What the president said is that he looked at the Iraqi leader, the new prime minister face to face, eye to eye, if you will, and saw a man that he felt had the confidence and the capability to move forward when it comes to governing and defending and securing the Iraqi people and their future. That is really what the president is trying to say.
He's pivoting, if you will, putting the burden on the Iraqi people and the new leadership. And it comes at a critical time here. The president of course looks at these polls, the American people, the majority of them have lost their faith in this mission.
There are many members of Congress who have been increasingly putting pressure on the president to pull out troops right away. And Republicans also very much worried about midterm elections, whether or not they're the ones who are going to pay the price for all of this. So the president projecting a very confident image about the future.
Also part of the strategy of winning over American people is admitting to missteps and mistakes. He talked about Abu Ghraib, the need for Iraqi troops to be better equipped, for some of the reconstruction to be better organized. But, this is all part of a large strategy here to try to win back the support of the American people and reassure Republicans at the same time that they're not going to lose their seats in the House and the Senate, the majorities, Wolf.
BLITZER: And the thrust of his message to the American public today is that if the U.S. were to withdraw too quickly from Iraq, the American public, the American people would be endangered because he expressed the fear Iraq could become a base for terror.
MALVEAUX: Well, absolutely right. I mean, he talked about this power vacuum that you have, of course, with Zarqawi dead and others who are trying to fill in, move in. He talked about the importance of tackling the militia, and the insurgency as well and a new program, a joint effort with the Iraqis to bolster the security in Baghdad itself.
And he has made the case, time and time again, but very forcefully today, that it is the American people. He believes that the terrorists would attack Americans if they did not move toward in a very robust way to help the Iraqis build up their own security force. And part of that is allowing U.S. troops for however long it takes to complete the mission.
BLITZER: Suzanne Malveaux at the White House. Thanks very much. Let's go up to the hill. Dana Bash is standing by. What's the reaction up on the hill, Dana?
DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Wolf. Well, you know, it's a debatable point up here whether or not Iraq is going to make any difference in any specific congressional race this election year. But there's no question that certainly the issue hovers over Republicans when it comes to the issues in November.
So what we have seen is the Republicans really dust off a strategy they thought worked pretty well for them two years ago. That is to cast the war in Iraq as just part of the war on terrorism and cast Democrats as weak.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BASH (voice-over): Just hours after returning from Baghdad, President Bush jumped into the Iraq political battle at home.
BUSH: There's an interesting debate in the Democratic party about how quick to pull out of Iraq.
BASH: The president's rose garden rhetoric was straight from Karl Rove's election year playbook for Republicans worried about the war. Turn the tables on Democrats by highlighting their differences on Iraq, especially the dicey question, whether to set a timetable to bring troops home.
BUSH: I know it may sound good politically. It will endanger our country to pull out of Iraq before we accomplish the mission.
BASH: Democrats are divided. Senator Russ Feingold is among those who say pull troops out by year's end.
SEN. RUSS FEINGOLD (D), WISCONSIN: I ask, what is wrong with having a clear timetable to bring our troops out of Iraq by the end of this year?
BASH: A day earlier, Senator Hillary Clinton was booed by Democrats for disagreeing with that position.
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), NEW YORK: Nor do I think it is smart strategy to set a date certain. I do not agree that is in the best interest of our troops or our country. BASH: The heart of the GOP strategy is to force congressional Democrats to take tough votes on Iraq. On Thursday, the House will debate the war and vote on a GOP resolution that links Iraq to the War on Terror and says it is, quote, not in the national security interest of the United States to set an arbitrary date for withdrawal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our hands are tied literally.
BASH: Democrats called the GOP Iraq debate a sham. Their hope is to cast Republicans as turning a blind eye to Bush blunders in Iraq. But some Democrats are worried. Tim Bishop represents a New York district Bush won two years ago.
REP. TIMOTHY BISHOP (D), NEW YORK: If I vote no, an unscrupulous person could say I don't support the troops. If I vote yes, someone could say that I'm supporting the president, which, as I say, I don't support the way in which this administration has conducted this war.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BASH: And, Wolf, we have here a memo that the House majority leader, John Boehner, sent around to Republicans about how to best to talk about the Iraq debate this week. Looking at it, it's like back to the future. This could have been written two years ago by the Bush campaign talking about framing the war on terror, the war in Iraq.
It talks about it as a portrait of contrast between Republicans and Democrats who should be emphatically talked about as believing in victory in Iraq, and that is a blow to terrorism, versus Democrats, this memo says, who they call prone to waver endlessly about the use of force to protect American ideals, Wolf.
BLITZER: Dana Bash on the Hill, lots of action going on up there today.
It's surely a top spot in the al Qaeda terror network, but it's unclear who is taking the job. There are now some new developments though, concerning just who is taking over for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al Qaeda's leader in Iraq, who was killed in a U.S. air strike last week.
Monday Islamist Web sites said a man named Abu Hamza al-Muhajir is now in charge, but today U.S. officials say that person actually goes by a different name.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MAJ. GEN. WILLIAM CALDWELL, U.S. ARMY: We call him Ayub al- Masri. Ayub al-Masri is an Egyptian-born person, who we know at sometime in early 2000 was in Afghanistan. He met Zarqawi there. They trained together at the al Farouk training camp. Sometime in about 2002 we think is when he made his way here to Iraq and probably started one of the first al Qaeda cells around Baghdad in about early 2003.
BLITZER: Do we assume that he was hand picked by Abu Musab al- Zarqawi as his potential successor?
CALDWELL: Well, we know that before Zarqawi's death, he used Ayub al-Masri as his sort of second man, in terms of running operations here in Iraq.
BLITZER: So we assume that's probably why he's the new leader. The President, the other day, said justice will be brought to this new leader of al Qaeda in Iraq. What kind of life expectancy do you think he has?
CALDWELL: Well, if you talk to my boss, General Casey, he would tell you that he shouldn't expect to be around for a real long time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: And stay tuned for the complete interview with Major General William Caldwell, the spokesman for the Multinational Force in Iraq. That interview, the complete interview, coming up here in THE SITUATION ROOM in the next hour.
Let's check in with Zain Verjee. She's joining us from the CNN Global Headquarters with a closer look at some other important stories -- Zain.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR: Wolf, as Suzanne Malveaux just mentioned, right now thousands of troops are on the streets of Baghdad trying to restore the rule of law. It's called Operation Together Forward. The troops are searching cars at Baghdad checkpoints, enforcing a curfew, and checking for weapons. President Bush says some 7,200 coalition troops are joining nearly 50,000 Iraqi soldiers and police.
And it appears that those troops will need to match fire with force. Just today, a remote-controlled car bomb detonated in northern Baghdad. The bomb targeted an Iraqi army patrol. Two people are dead, and 10 are hurt. In another incident, police narrowly escaped injury after a roadside bomb also went off in Baghdad.
In southern Afghanistan, 10,000 U.S. and Afghan and coalition forces now focused on taking out the Taliban. It's called Operation Mountain Thrust. In the operation, forces will conduct sweeps against Taliban safe havens for the next few days, but officials say the operation also hopes to establish good governance and provide humanitarian help to the Afghan people.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is saying that there is no guarantee that U.S. presence in Afghanistan and Iraq will create successful democracies. But Rice says that the change -- rather, the chance of success is worth the price.
Rice made those comments today in North Carolina. She acknowledged how many people find it hard to just stay positive about progress in Iraq amid all the daily violence. We're going to bring you more on that story in the next hour -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Zain, thank you very much. Our Jack Cafferty is off this week. He returns to THE SITUATION ROOM on Monday. Coming up next, though, the president speaking out about his surprise visit to Baghdad. Is his visit undercutting Democrats as they try to hammer out an Iraq strategy? Coming up, my interview with the House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.
Also, will fanning the flames over flag burning help energize conservatives to vote this November? Bill Schneider investigating in today's "Culture Wars."
And later, he's a former Republican who served under Ronald Reagan, but now James Webb is running for the Senate as a Democrat. His story as we look at the battle for Congress. Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: On this Flag Day, Republicans are bringing new heat to the "Culture Wars." They're promoting a constitutional ban on flag burning. The Senate committee votes tomorrow on this issue, which often gets waved around in election years. Our senior political analyst Bill Schneider is joining us with more on the politics of the stars and stripes -- Bill.
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Wolf, today is Flag Day, so what are politicians in Washington doing? They're fighting over the flag.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. BILL FRIST (R-TN), MAJORITY LEADER: We're really kicking it off today on Flag Day. We're stepping in to say no more.
SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has scheduled a vote on a constitutional amendment that would allow the government to ban flag desecration.
FRIST: We have a few unifying symbols, and chief among those are the flag.
SCHNEIDER: But the one thing this debate is not, is unifying.
FEINGOLD: This is a political effort, and we've had a number of these political efforts. The danger here, though, of course, is that this one is close.
SCHNEIDER: That's because a solid majority of Americans support a constitutional amendment to ban flag burning. There she is, Miss America, speaking in favor of it.
HEATHER FRENCH, FORMER MISS AMERICA: Did you know that it is illegal to burn a dollar bill?
SCHNEIDER: Critics argue it's a matter of protecting freedom of expression.
SEN. EDWARD KENNEDY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: The First Amendment protects not only speech we admire, but also speech we abhor.
SCHNEIDER: They see a constitutional amendment as a solution for which there is no real problem.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've said often that it's almost akin to dropping an atomic bomb on a sleeping city, because there may be a felon in the area.
SCHNEIDER: They smell politics behind the Republican leader's insistence on the vote.
SEN. PATRICK LEAHY (D), VERMONT: The motives of the scheduling are very, very clear.
SCHNEIDER: This is an issue that divides Democrats.
SEN. SAM BROWNBACK (R), KANSAS: I want to call today on the Democratic leader to push his members to support this constitutional amendment. With that, this amendment will pass. Without that, I doubt it will.
SCHNEIDER: But there's no doubt that it will be an issue in the upcoming campaign.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCHNEIDER: The hottest item in Washington this Flag Day, it's this ingenious self-waving flag, devised by inventor Richard Levy of Bethesda, Maryland. Now, the device is made in China, but the flag is made by Valley Forge Flag Company in good ol' Pennsylvania. Quote, "We would never put a foreign-made flag on the thing, for goodness sake," Mr. Levy told the "Washington Post" -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Bill Schneider, thank you for bringing us that.
And in other active Flag Day politics, House and Senate Republicans rallied behind a proposed amendment that lawmakers have tried and failed before to pass before. The Flag Protection Act would deprive federal courts of considering challenges to the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Up next, he went to Iraq and back and is putting in a full day of work today on not much sleep at all. I'm talking about -- not talking about President Bush, but our own John King, who was the network television pool reporter on the surprise visit. John, joining us here. That's coming up next in THE SITUATION ROOM.
Plus, Senator Joe Lieberman claims the Bush administration is trying to suppress evidence of global warming. We have that story as well. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back. President Bush landed in the United States in the wee hours of the morning, ending his whirlwind trip to Iraq. Our chief national correspondent John King went along for the ride as the network television pool reporter. He's back with us and here in THE SITUATION ROOM looking remarkably rested. I know you didn't get much sleep.
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Have to keep up with the iron man.
On this flight back from Baghdad to Washington to Andrews Air Force base, you spent some time with the other reporters with the president aboard Air Force One. What was he like during those moments?
BLITZER: It was a fascinating discussion. He called us up for about 36 minutes. Almost all of it about Iraq and the trip, a little about Karl Rove and the CIA grand leak jury at the very end.
The president was in a very good mood, he was very upbeat. Someone asked him at one point, you seem incredibly optimistic. He said don't call me incredibly optimistic call me optimistic. He believes this is a government that can work. He believes it is a legitimate in that it will not have the label of the previous temporary government, that it was somehow a puppet of the United States. It was somehow under undue influence from the United States.
He described the new prime minister Mr. Maliki as a quiet man, but a confident man. He thinks he has a pretty good plan. This is a goal oriented president. He likes to lay things out. He Says he's going to improve security, improve services like electricity and the president is hoping the Iraqi people buy into this government.
It is quite striking, this is the leader of the free world, the president of the United States whose political fate at home, his legacy is Iraq, is very much in the hand of this man he met yesterday.
BLITZER: Certainly at the news conference in the Rose Garden earlier today he was very confident. He was at ease. He seemed anxious to talk about all these Iraq-related pressures. You're saying on the flight back home he was the same upbeat self.
KING: Very much so. In the back of his mind, every now and then you would see him almost catching himself because he's been disappointed before. They have thought they were at the turning point in Iraq on several previous incarnations, only to be disappointed.
The president talked about the psychology of Iraq has to change and the president knows the psychology of the United States, the American people, has to change if his political fortunes are to change. Long term for him, two and a half years to the end of his term, short term for the Republican Party, in terms of the November election.
He needs to convince American people, and you heard him trying to do it today, we will win, we have a plan, we're on top of it, we have a partner. If you look at the polling data, the American people doubt those things. The president is hopeful after this dramatic trip -- you can sense it in him, that he thinks finally there's a government he can work with. BLITZER: I want to talk briefly, because you've been a White House reporter for many years, not right now. You've been on Air Force One many times. The departure from Baghdad International Airport you, that based on everything I hear was unlike any other takeoff you have ever had or any of us have ever had.
KING: It is interesting when they try to turn the 747 into a fighter jet, but that's essentially what they did in terms of the speed of the takeoff. But also they were concerned about security because the word had been out that the president was on the ground in Baghdad for about three hours by the time we left.
So any insurgent, any terrorist who wanted to take a pot shot at the president of the United States had a pretty good idea where his plane was, in Baghdad. We were told lights out.
We showed up, the helicopters had those glow stick that they crack to light it up. They used those to light our path onto the helicopters when we flew out, quickly over to Air Force One and on the plane. All the shades were down. No lights, no outside lights, no inside lights on the airplane. Just a few emergency lights you could make your way through the hall.
I bumped into the president in the hall. I almost didn't see him until he was right up upon me. He reached out to shake my hand. No computers. They didn't want anything that put light or anything that put a signal out, no cell phones or BlackBerries because they could track the signal.
They gunned the engines. They had minimum fuel on the plane to get us out of there. Gunned the engines and a 747 going almost straight up. Interesting experience. We had to refuel on the way back because of that. They wanted the plane as light as possible so they could get it out of there.
BLITZER: Sort of the opposite of the corkscrew going down, the straight up getting out of there. Excellent job as usual. Thanks very much. Go rest a little bit now. Enjoy yourself. John King as you just saw and as you know by now, as well as Bill Schneider, Dana Bash, Suzanne Malveaux, all part of the best political team on television. CNN, America's campaign headquarters.
Coming up, in the battle for congress, can a Reagan Republican help the Democrats take back the Senate? Jeff Greenfield standing by with that story.
Also, she's the top Democrat in the House. And from Iraq to midterm elections, she's got a lot on her plate right now. But Nancy Pelosi is taking a little time to come join us right here in THE SITUATION ROOM. She's standing by live.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back to THE SITUATION ROOM. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. In Virginia, the Democrat's new senate nominee James Webb says the Democrats need leadership that won't blindly follow the Bush administration.
That's a slap at the Republican he'll face this fall, the incumbent senator and possible presidential hopeful George Allen. Webb himself is a former Republican and Ronald Reagan's former Navy secretary. He defeated Democratic activist Harris Miller, who spent nearly twice as much money as Webb on the campaign. Miller now is backing Webb. And Webb's efforts to use the Iraq war as a weapon against Senator Allen.
Take a closer look at the Virginia race and the political climate in this election year for that. We're joined by our senior analyst Jeff Greenfield -- Jeff.
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SENIOR ANALYST: The president's press conference is only the latest evidence that the Republicans mean to take the political offensive on Iraq and on the broader questions of national security. And it was tough enough to protect America.
Judging by the lineup of the Democratic senate challengers, that party seems to know it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GREENFIELD (voice-over): Case in point, Virginia's James Webb, who won the Democratic senate nomination Tuesday, pitting him against incumbent George Allen.
What's striking is that Webb is not only a decorated Marine combat veteran, it's that his last public service was as a subcabinet member in the administration of Ronald Reagan. And while he opposed the Iraq war from the beginning, his defense credentials are essentially hawkish.
Or look at the rhetoric of Jim Pederson, Arizona State Democratic chair, who will be running against Senator Jon Kyl. His Web site says that Pederson wants to "help our troops finish the job and come home. They're not being given the support they need to get the job done." He stresses "hunting down Osama bin Laden, destroying al Qaeda, and winning the war on terror once and for all," hardly the rhetoric of a peace candidate.
But Iraq and national security are not the only areas where Democrats are running with some red-state views. Look at Missouri's Claire McCaskill, an ex-county prosecutor who is pro-death penalty, or Tennessee Representative Harold Ford Jr., running for an open Senate seat. He voted for the constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages and has also supported some restrictions on abortion.
And Pennsylvania Treasurer Bob Casey Jr., running against Senator Rick Santorum, is strongly against abortion and opposes most gun control measures.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania.
GREENFIELD: National Democrats helped clear the field for Casey's Senate nomination. (END VIDEOTAPE)
GREENFIELD: Now, there are two quick matters of note here. First, all of these more so-called centrist candidates are running in states that George W. Bush carried twice. Second, James Webb has one other distinction. He is a novelist, not of political potboilers, but of critically acclaimed, real novels, mostly about Vietnam.
Now, given the hundreds of political journalists with unfinished novels in their desks, it's very hard to know whether this will win him admiration or intense, feverish envy -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Jeff Greenfield, himself a novelist, appreciate it very much.
There are all sorts of new twists in the politics of Iraq, from the president's surprise trip to Baghdad to tomorrow's House debate on redeploying the troops. As we reported, Mr. Bush briefed congressional leaders just a short while ago, including the House minority leader, Nancy Pelosi. Nancy Pelosi and the Senate minority leader, Harry Reid, had scheduled an event today to discuss their legislative agenda this year, dubbed their New Direction for America, but the event was postponed.
The Democrats are hoping to grab voters' attention and win control of Congress, much as Republicans did in 1994, when they unveiled their Contract With America.
And joining us here in THE SITUATION ROOM right now is Nancy Pelosi, the House Democratic leader.
Thanks for coming in.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), MINORITY LEADER: My pleasure.
BLITZER: You just came from the White House.
PELOSI: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: You were with the president.
PELOSI: Yes.
BLITZER: Were you impressed? Were you encouraged? What's your reaction?
PELOSI: The war of Iraq, of course, is a matter of debate in our country. It's being debated all over the country, in fact, except in the Congress of the United States.
Finally, tomorrow, we will have a chance to have a small amount of time to debate it. I had hoped, when we went to the White House, that the president would have brought us some good news from Iraq, that there was reason to think that it's time for responsible redeployment of our troops.
He's upbeat about the people he met there. He said he went to take a measure of them, and he was impressed by them. But I haven't seen anything in what the president has to say that's anything less than, stay the course. And...
BLITZER: So, nothing he said in private to you was different than what he said at his news conference earlier in the day?
PELOSI: Well, we were -- I didn't see his news conference.
But, again, he was just talking about taking the measure of the leaders in Iraq. Democrats are calling for a new direction in Iraq. We have said over and over again, 2006 must be a year of significant transition in Iraq, where the Iraqi people take responsibility for their government and for their security.
BLITZER: But that's what the president is saying. He managed -- he won that commitment from this new Iraqi leadership.
PELOSI: But here's where I'm concerned.
After forming a government, the next step was supposed to be to deal with the constitution, in order to allay some of the fears of various sectarian groups in Iraq, that they would deal with this in the constitution. That would help stop the violence. That would help bring reconciliation.
What the president said to us was, when I asked them, are they going to move on the constitution now?, he said, oh, they don't seem to be in a hurry to do that. I don't think we should insist that they do that. So, it's going to be a longer, longer period of time.
And I think the American people have serious concerns about how the war is conducted, how long we're going to stay there. And I think the American people, as do the Democrats, 100 percent support the troops.
BLITZER: Here's what the president said at the news conference earlier today, referring to the Democratic Party. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: There's an interesting debate in the Democrat Party about how quick to pull out of Iraq. Pulling out of Iraq before we accomplish the mission will make the world a more dangerous place. It's bad policy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: All right. You're -- and there is a debate within the Democratic Party, because Democrats are -- there are moderate Democrats, more liberal Democrats. They seem to be all over the place as well.
PELOSI: But Democrats agree that 2006 must be a year of serious, significant transition. And the president...
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: Well, let me interrupt you on that point, because Steny Hoyer, who is the number-two Democrat in the House, he says this.
Let me read it to you. He says: "A precipitous withdrawal of American forces from that country could lead to a disaster, spawning a civil war, fostering a haven for terrorists, and damaging our nation's security and credibility."
PELOSI: Now, when did he say that?
BLITZER: Steny Hoyer said that in recent weeks.
PELOSI: No, no. He said that last fall. He said that last fall.
BLITZER: Well, we will double-check the exact time he said that.
PELOSI: He said that last fall.
BLITZER: Go ahead.
PELOSI: Since then, Democrats have come together on a real security agenda for a new address -- direction in our securing America, and, again, significant...
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: So, you're saying Steny Hoyer has changed his stance since then?
PELOSI: I'm saying that Steny Hoyer, along with everyone else, stood with us when we went forward with our real security agenda.
But that's not the point. The point is, is, the president is -- I think what he said was really beneath the dignity of this debate. Our men and women in harm -- are in harm's way. When I talk to my caucus about this, I say, we have to think about one thing, our troops and their safety. We have to think about -- also about the security of America. I contend that the war in Iraq is not making the American people safer.
BLITZER: Well...
(CROSSTALK)
PELOSI: It is not making our military stronger. And it is harming our reputation in the world to do those things.
BLITZER: So, sort of pinpoint any of this. Do you think the Democratic Party -- and you're the leader in the House of Representatives -- is aligned with Congressman John Murtha or with Senator Hillary Clinton?
PELOSI: Well, I think they're much closer to Senator -- to Congressman Murtha.
But here's the point. Our Democratic Party has never said to members, on a war vote, there's a party position. We are representatives. We're independent reflection of our districts. And, so, members, at different times, have come to the place where we're saying serious transition in Iraq, and, with that, responsible redeployment, responsible...
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: Because that's what Murtha -- that's -- Murtha wants a redeployment over the next several months. John Kerry does.
Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, doesn't. But you're saying that Democrats and you are more in line with Murtha than with Senator Clinton.
PELOSI: Well, exactly. Yes, no, I don't think they're -- in the House, there isn't very much support. I don't exactly know what Senator Clinton's position is. So, don't let me speak to that.
BLITZER: Well, she says it would be a mistake to have a timetable.
PELOSI: Yes.
Well, it -- the -- but there are milestones that, if they are achieved, then we should be able to move on, because we have just passed the mile -- the sad milestone of 2,500 American troops died, 20,000 injured, 10,000 of those permanently, an enormous cost in reputation to us in the world, enormous impact on our readiness to protect America's interests and our security at home or wherever our interests are threatened, enormous cost in dollars, hundreds of billions of dollars, a trillion-dollar war before it's over.
(CROSSTALK)
PELOSI: So, the American people, rightfully, have questions about it. And we all support the troops.
BLITZER: Did you ask Congressman Murtha to withdraw his name as a potential majority leader if the Democrats become the majority in the House? Because he had issued a statement earlier, saying he would challenge Steny Hoyer, who is the new -- who is the minority whip right now...
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: ... if the Democrats became the majority. Since then, Murtha has withdrawn.
PELOSI: Mr. -- in the interest of winning the election, and in the party unity that we have, Mr. Murtha said to me that: I will suspend my campaign.
But the reason is, also, we are about to have our new -- our Democratic New Direction for America. You mentioned it, said it was postponed. Out of respect for the president and our troops, when he called the meeting at the White House, we said, we will put that off.
But we haven't postponed putting out our message, a New Direction for America, where we will make America safer by the first day, enacting the 9/11 Commission recommendations, a fairer economy. The first day, we will vote for an increase in the minimum wage.
(CROSSTALK)
PELOSI: The first day, we will talk about making health care more affordable by giving the secretary the ability to negotiate for lower prices.
The first day...
BLITZER: All right. I will...
(CROSSTALK)
PELOSI: ... we will move toward energy independence by rolling back the tax subsidies that they have given the oil companies.
BLITZER: I'm going to...
PELOSI: And, so, you know, we -- in the interest of promoting our new -- a new direction, I want all of our members to curb their enthusiasm, in terms of their ambitions, until after the election, and support our New Direction for America.
BLITZER: There's no sense in running for majority leaders if you're still in the minority. I suspect that that's what you're saying.
I'm told, by the way, that you're right. Steny Hoyer did make that comment on November 30 of last year.
PELOSI: Right.
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: But, if you go to his Web site today, as we have, it's still right there, right in the middle, smack dab, of his Web site. You can see it right behind you. So, he hasn't withdrawn that comment from his Web site.
PELOSI: Well, let me say that that would not be the majority position in our caucus, but not to get into a debate on that.
I'm talking about what we agree on. And I think that you're seeing a big change now, where the American people are weighing in on this. They want answers. They want answers about the re -- the cost. Look at the reconstruction. Their own inspector general's report said that billions of dollars are mission -- missing in Iraq on reconstruction. The reconstruction hasn't taken place. The president talks about electricity. Three years after he said mission accomplished, they don't have electricity in Baghdad...
BLITZER: All right.
PELOSI: ... to match what they had before the war.
So, it isn't -- it -- this isn't about, the president's in a good mood and he's bouncing around, because he went to Iraq, and he came back, and he likes the people he met there. This is about the fact that we are losing lives. We are losing limbs. We are losing reputation. We are losing readiness. And we're losing dollars in a war that sees no end.
BLITZER: All right.
PELOSI: You talk about the mission. What is the mission?
BLITZER: Let me move on, because we don't have a lot of time, and talk about Congressman William Jefferson.
He's being investigated right now. He's not been charged with anything, has not been indicted. You want him to step down as a member...
PELOSI: Yes.
BLITZER: ... of the House Ways and Means Committee.
Representative Mel Watt, the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, says, this is the totally unfair to -- for you to be making this demand of Congressman Jefferson. He says that, "If the only person you have applied it to is a black member of Congress, then our community will legitimately ask, what in the world are you all doing?" -- strong words, suggesting there's a double standard for a black member, a black Democrat, in the House of Representatives, as opposed to white members.
PELOSI: Well, I will tell you this.
I have been critical of Republicans that I have talked about their culture of corruption, incompetence, and cronyism. And if they're -- and if I have criticized the Republicans, I certainly am not going to tolerate corruption in our own caucus.
Whether Mr. Jefferson were black or if he's white, the facts are that I believe he has brought dishonor to the House, and he should step aside from his position on the Ways and Means Committee.
BLITZER: Isn't he innocent until he's proven guilty?
PELOSI: That's ...
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: He hasn't even been charged with anything yet.
PELOSI: No, no, no, no. You're talking about a -- the court of law. I'm talking about a higher ethical standard.
And that's -- there are two different things. We -- I believe that members of Congress should be held to a higher standard and a higher ethical standard. And I apply that to all members of our caucus, respecting the magnificent diversity of our caucus.
But, yes, we are high -- having a higher standard now. And any member of Congress who has $90,000 in his freezer can be sure that he's going to hear from me that he or she should step aside.
BLITZER: Nancy Pelosi is the Democratic leader in the House of Representatives.
You would like to become the speaker of the House, I assume.
PELOSI: I would like the Democrats to be in the majority, so we can take the country in a new direction, away from the wrong direction.
The American people, Democrats, Republicans and independents, say the country is going in the wrong direction. We have a new direction. And, if we are elected, we have an agenda to take it there.
BLITZER: We are grateful to you for coming into THE SITUATION ROOM.
PELOSI: My pleasure.
BLITZER: We will do this again. Thank you very much.
PELOSI: I look forward to it. Thank you.
BLITZER: And, coming up: much more on the political debate over the war in Iraq. Will the president and his party profit from the recent good news coming out of Baghdad? We will find out in today's "Strategy Session."
Paul Begala, J.C. Watts, they're standing by.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Just hours after a secret mission to Baghdad, President Bush shows his optimism about Iraq's future. Will the recent turn of events help the president and his party?
Joining us here to answer that question in today's "Strategy Session" are Democratic strategist and CNN political analyst Paul Begala and former Republican congressman and CNN political analyst J.C. Watts.
Let's listen to what the president said today as far as the trip to Baghdad, Iraq, and the elections.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: Listen, the elections are a long way off. What's going to matter is who's got the plan that will enable us to succeed in Iraq and keep the economy growing.
And I look forward to the campaign. And I believe we're going to hold the House and the Senate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: He hasn't exuded that kind of optimism in a while. Did you notice it at the news conference today?
PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I did. I watched it. And good for him.
But I thought the most interesting moment, not to brag on our network, but when Elaine Quijano asked him about the really remarkable secrecy and security that was required. And what that says to the world -- I mean, Harry Truman didn't have to sneak into Paris in 1948 three years after we liberated Paris.
But three years after we have liberated Baghdad, the president of the liberating country still has to sneak around like that. And the president said an interesting thing back to Elaine. He said, Iraq is still a dangerous place.
And that it is. Nancy Pelosi made a good point, that we are still -- we have still lost 2,500 brave young people, 20,000 wounded. And, by the way, why didn't he come home with the $9 billion of our money that they can't account for over there in Iraq?
BLITZER: Yes.
BEGALA: So, there's still troubles aplenty in Iraq for the president.
BLITZER: Our White House correspondent Elaine Quijano had specifically asked, why was it necessary to only tell the new prime minister of Iraq five minutes before you arrive that you're coming? The ambassador told him. What does that say about the current state of security in Iraq, that, in effect, you can't even trust the Iraqi government to know that you're coming?
J.C. WATTS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I don't think it's a matter of not being able to trust the Iraqi government.
It's still a dangerous place. Within a 50-mile radius of Baghdad, it's extremely sensitive. And I think the president, wanting to go and meet the new prime minister, wanting to go to spend some time with the troops, I think he did the right thing.
You don't announce it. It would be all over the TV stations, all over the radio stations. You know, that's like just, you know, telling the terrorists: Hey, here I come. Get ready for me.
I think he handled it the right way. I don't think it was any statement about good or bad, in terms of the Iraqi government.
BLITZER: All right.
WATTS: I think it was just smart to do it the way he did.
BLITZER: There's a lot of security, as we all understand.
Listen to -- you heard Nancy Pelosi just now make her case that she says the Democrats are much closer to John Murtha, the congressman from Pennsylvania, than to Senator Hillary Clinton, when it comes to Iraq. I want you to listen to what Senator Kerry says on Iraq right now and what Senator Clinton says. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: I am convinced that the only way the Iraqis have moved at any time thus far is with a deadline. And I believe we need a hard and fast deadline, not an open-ended commitment of U.S. forces.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
CLINTON: I do not think it is a smart strategy, either for the president to continue with his open-ended commitment, which I think does not put enough pressure on the new Iraqi government, nor do I think it is smart strategy to set a date certain.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: All right. Now, what about the division within the Democratic Party, something that's not unusual, clearly?
BEGALA: It's not.
I think -- I suspect -- I don't suspect. I know Nancy Pelosi is right. She's the leader of the Democrats. Most Democrats are closer to where John Kerry was on those two sound bites than Hillary Clinton.
But I suspect most Americans are closer to Hillary Clinton. The party is divided on this. I wish that the Republican Party had had a debate like this when they were voting 98 percent -- 100 percent for President Bush, marching us into this god-awful war.
If a few Republicans had had the courage to disagree with their party the way that Hillary Clinton is doing right now, we probably wouldn't be in this war right now, and America would be a much safer place.
BLITZER: There were some Republicans who were raising questions, like Senator Hagel, for example...
BEGALA: But the...
BLITZER: ... as you well remember.
BEGALA: Senator Chafee from Rhode Island is a Republican who voted against it, and I think just one other Republican in the Senate.
BLITZER: Actually voted. But Senator Hagel was raising serious questions.
BEGALA: He did. That's a very good point. I need to give my proper respect to Senator Hagel for raising some questions. But very few others did.
BLITZER: Let's let J.C. weigh in.
WATTS: Well, Paul said, if -- you know, if most Democrats are where Senator Kerry was.
If we would have taken the position of most Democrats, Saddam Hussein would still be in power. Al-Zarqawi would still be running around terrorizing Iraq. You know, we -- we still would not have accomplished anything, in terms of fighting global terrorism.
You know, this is the very reason that Republicans remain so optimistic, because they -- you know, the Democrats don't know where they are: Are we for the war or against the war? Do we want tax relief or do we want to raise taxes?
I mean, this is a real issue. And you consider the week that the president has had, the last eight to 10 days he has had, had a good eight to 10 days with the Democrat Party being in disarray, I think that makes it very difficult, Wolf.
And I think, Paul, you would admit, been -- having the -- being the political operative that you are, that that makes it very difficult for the Democrats...
BLITZER: All right.
WATTS: ... to regain -- gain control.
BLITZER: I'm not going to let Paul respond, because we're totally out of time.
(LAUGHTER)
WATTS: That's right. I wanted to talk long enough that he couldn't respond.
(LAUGHTER)
BLITZER: Next time, he will respond.
J.C. Watts and Paul Begala, thanks very much.
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: And, as you saw, not only them, but Jeff Greenfield, all of them are part of the best political team on television -- CNN, America's campaign headquarters. Up next: For most of his life, Bill Clinton didn't make a lot of money. Now he's making up for lost time and making a ton of cash. We will give you a peek into the former president's account, bank account, that is. And I will ask the national security adviser to the president, Stephen Hadley, about the state of insurgency in Iraq, after the death of the terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi -- Stephen Hadley coming up live, right at the top of the next hour.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Today, we're learning some new details over the magnitude of the fraud and the waste in FEMA's distribution of disaster assistance following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
A new government audit -- get this -- estimates, 16 percent of the payments -- 16 percent -- were fraudulent.
Let's bring in our Internet reporter, Jacki Schechner -- Jacki.
JACKI SCHECHNER, CNN INTERNET REPORTER: Wolf, that 16 percent adds up to about $1 billion, this according to the Government Accountability Office, that has been auditing FEMA.
They took a look at the stuff like those debit cards we heard a lot about. They say hundreds of them are unaccounted for, that about $760,000. As for the ones they were able to track, they didn't all go to disaster-related need. They found they were being spent on things like Caribbean vacations, football tickets for the New Orleans Saints, or even "Girls Gone Wild" videos, other adult videos and objects.
They also set up a faulty address and collected some $6,000. Here, you can see one of those checks for $2,300. GAO says it's giving all the money back after this audit is complete. They also took a look at people who claimed UPS stores, cemeteries as their addresses, P.O. boxes, even prisoners, Wolf, who were claiming that they had relief and needed aid.
BLITZER: All right, Jacki, thanks very much.
Jeanne Meserve is going to have much more on this story -- coming up in the next hour.
On our "Political Radar" this Wednesday, President Bush says he shares the relief being felt by his political adviser, Karl Rove. Mr. Bush was asked today about the big news that Rove got this week that he won't be charged in the CIA leak investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: I appreciate the job that the prosecutor did. I thought he conducted himself well in this investigation. He took a very thorough, long look at allegations and rumors.
And I, obviously, along with others in the White House, took a sigh of relief when he made the decision he made. And now we're going to move forward. And I trust Karl Rove. And he's an integral part of my team.
There's an ongoing trial here. And I know the temptation is -- not the temptation. You keep asking questions during the course of the trial. I'm not going to comment beyond that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: We found some new information about Bill Clinton's finances in his wife's latest Senate financial disclosure report. The former president earned nearly $7.5 million in speaking appearances last year. It's a big boost from the previous year, when bypass surgery and a book deadline kept him off the speaking circuit.
Coming up in the next hour of THE SITUATION ROOM: an interview you won't want to miss. The former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he's standing by to talk to us about the growing crisis with the Hamas-led Palestinian government, among other subjects.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Were scientists at four federal agencies asked to suppress findings that support global warming? Today, Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut is asking the White House to investigate if such a cover-up exists.
Standing by with the latest, once again, our Internet reporter, Jacki Schechner -- Jacki.
SCHECHNER: Wolf, Senator Lieberman sent a couple of letters, one of them to John Marburger at the Office of Science and Technology Policy, wanting to know if scientists at four agencies -- the EPA, NASA, NOAA, and the U.S. Forest Service were being asked not to publicly report findings regarding climate change. Now, he cites some news articles for this evidence, one of them dating as far back as 2003 from the "New York Times." The most recent one he sites is from last week on the "Rocky Mountain News."
Now, according to John Marburger, the director of the Office of Science and Technology, he says he takes these sorts of allegations very seriously, and whenever these issues are brought to his attention, he looks into them. He says he finds no evidence to support what Senator Lieberman is alleging -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Jacki, thank you very much.
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