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The Situation Room
White House Has Declared That Offer of More Negotiations With Iran Not Good Enough; Rockey Vaccarella Meets President Bush; Emphasis on Terrorism in Pennsylvania Congressional Race; Reverend Jesse Jackson Now Set to Return to Middle East; Lincoln Chafee in a Bind
Aired August 23, 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 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, a Katrina victim's anniversary gift to the president. He's singing Mr. Bush's praises nearly one year after the storm. It's 4:00 p.m. here in Washington where the White House is trying to cast an embarrassing milestone in a more positive light.
Also this hour will Osama bin Laden ever be caught dead or alive? We have brand new poll numbers on the al Qaeda leader's threat to America. And we have a new portrait of the terror tactics in the battle for congress.
And Jesse Jackson on a mission to the Middle East. He has a history there and a track record of getting captives free. I'll ask him what he's hoping to get out of this trip.
I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
But up first this hour, the Bush administration weighing in on Iran's nuclear response, saying Tehran's call for more negotiations fall short of the United Nations Security Council demands. That could lead to a push for U.N. sanctions against Iran unless it suspends its nuclear activities and does that very, very soon.
Our White House correspondent Ed Henry has more on this potentially extremely dangerous situation. Ed.
ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, dangerous indeed. President Bush huddling this morning with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to discuss Iran and some of the other global hot spots the Bush administration is wrestling with right now.
The State Department later put out a formal statement declaring Iran's response falls short of the conditions set by the Security Council at the United Nations. The U.N. of course has a carrot and stick approach. The carrot being those economic incentives if Iran, by August 31st, will agree to suspend its uranium enrichment program.
Now that the White House has declared that the offer of more negotiations is not good enough, the big question of course, where is the stick? Will the Bush administration now push strong sanctions against Iran, along with the permanent five members of the U.N. Security Council, plus Germany? I put that question today to White House spokeswoman Dana Perino, filling in for the vacationing Tony Snow. She was non-committal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANA PERINO, WHITE HOUSE SPOKESWOMAN: I do not have information for you as to specific next steps, but that's what they are talking about.
HENRY: Do you want tough sanctions though? I mean what can you do? There has been a carrot out there with incentives but where is the stick for the United States?
PERINO: We're going to allow all of our allies, the P-5 plus one, to talk about it and try to figure that out. When we have next steps to announce, we'll announce them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: Now a bit different from Monday when President Bush was firm in saying Iran cannot continue to thumb its nose at the United Nations. Part of the reticence, of course, may be the fact that it will be difficult to get Russia and China to sign off on tough sanctions against Iran. That's why Mr. Bush today also engaging in a little telephone diplomacy, talking to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan for 14 minutes.
Kofi Annan heading to the Middle East for a major trip, trying to give diplomacy a last chance here before the August 31st deadline. The clock is ticking. Obviously some international fear that what Iran is really doing here is stalling to buy more time to get closer to obtaining nuclear weapons, Wolf.
BLITZER: Ed Henry, thanks very much. Ed is at the White House. In the next hour we're going to go live to Tehran for much more on this story. Aneesh Raman, our reporter, is the only U.S. television reporter in Iran right now. That's coming up in the next hour.
In the meantime, let's check in with Zain Verjee for a closer look at some other important stories making news right now, Zain.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR: Wolf, Syria's president is now rejecting Israeli demands for international troops to be stationed along Lebanon's border with Syria. Israel says a U.N. force being assembled to monitor the truce in southern Lebanon should police border crossings with Syria to prevent weapons from being smuggled to Hezbollah.
But in an interview airing on Dubai Television, Bashar al-Assad says such a deployment would violate Lebanese sovereignty and be, quote, hostile action. We will need to bring you a full report on this story in the 5:00 Eastern hour of THE SITUATION ROOM.
A short time ago the State Department issued a statement saying that it would not negotiate with a group claiming responsibility for the kidnapping of two Fox News journalists in Gaza. Sixty-year-old American Steve Centanni and 36-year-old Olaf Wiig of New Zealand were both abducted at gun point in Gaza City on August the 14th.
Earlier today a group calling itself the Holy Jihad Brigade released a videotape of the two journalists and demanded the release of Muslim prisoners in America. We're going to bring you a live update on this story from Jerusalem in the next hour.
Iraqi authorities are now reporting that nine people, including a police officer, were killed in violence around the country today. Attacks in Baghdad, Baqubah and Mosul also wounded a dozen people. Meanwhile in a Baghdad courtroom more grisly accounts of alleged chemical attacks on Kurdish individuals ten years ago. A genocide trial of the former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was later adjourned until September 11th.
Twelve people are in custody right now in Amsterdam after a disturbance aboard a Northwest flight bound for Mumbai in India. Authorities say some passengers exhibited suspicious behavior shortly after takeoff, forcing U.S. air marshals aboard the flight to break their cover. The flight, which originated in Minneapolis and made a stopover in Amsterdam was escorted back to Amsterdam by two Dutch F-14 fighter jets, Wolf.
Zain thank you. Right now President Bush is facing two critical dates that drive home his political strengths and weaknesses in this congressional election year. He and the nation are just days away from marking one year since Hurricane Katrina. Today the White House is trying to preempt the inevitable reminders of the administration's failings after the storm struck.
Another grim milestone on the rise that may actually help the president rally the nation behind him and the war on terror, but just weeks before the fifth anniversary of 9/11, our new poll shows most Americans think Osama bin Laden will strike again. And they're less confident that he'll be caught. More on terror politics. That's coming up ahead.
First, though, the Katrina storm and our White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well Wolf, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of people who gather outside of the White House in Washington, outside these gates, to try to meet with President Bush to get a one-on-one. But today there was one young Katrina victim who actually did get that one-on-one meeting with the president and it really underscores the length to which this administration is going through to try to win back the confidence and support of the American people regarding Katrina recovery.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX (voice-over): Hollywood couldn't have scripted it any better. An underdog named Rockey fights to meet with the president and gets a one-on-one in the oval. ROCKEY VACCARELLA, KATRINA SURVIVOR: You know, I wish you had another four years, man. If we had this president for another four years, I think we would be great.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You're a good man, Rockey. Thank you all.
VACCARELLA: You are, too.
MALVEAUX: Rockey Vaccarella was a gift the White House couldn't refuse.
VACCARELLA: So, I'm going to be the ambassador for the Gulf Coast.
MALVEAUX: The New Orleans resident who lost everything in the storm and was traveling the country in a FEMA-like trailer was asking for Mr. Bush. Not to chastise him, but to give him a break.
VACCARELLA: I wanted to thank President Bush.
BUSH: I told him that I understand that there's people down there that still need help.
CROWD: We want help. We want help.
MALVEAUX: Devastated by images of a government slow to respond to the Katrina disaster, the White House has been trying to get ahead of the story marking the one-year anniversary.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It cost the people their homes and their lives. I hope the politicians, whoever they did this, the Corps of Engineers, whoever is responsible, I hope that they can sleep at night.
MALVEAUX: Documentaries that have recently rolled out, like this one from Spike Lee, continue to criticize the administration for its inadequate response. A CNN poll released today reveals 56 percent of Americans still don't believe the federal government is doing enough to rebuild the Gulf Coast.
VACCARELLA: Pull that eye off there, chairman. Now grab it by the tail, then grab it and go like that and pull it right out.
MALVEAUX: So when Rockey parked his trailer on the national mall, offering to cook for the president, the White House sent its Katrina point man to partake in the Creole cuisine and then offered up the president.
DAVID GERGEN, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER: There's no question that political calculations went in to bringing this fellow in today. But I think that they want to get the message out in the next few days we really care about New Orleans and about all the people who have suffered.
MALVEAUX: Rockey's visit was certainly not the treatment the so- called peace mom, Cindy Sheehan got, when she camped outside the president's ranch last Summer, demanding a face-to-face with Mr. Bush. She was a sharp critic of the war in Iraq.
CINDY SHEEHAN, MOTHER OF IRAQ WAR VICTIM: Here's my ID. I would like to go see the president, please.
MALVEAUX: While the president refused to meet with her, her profile and entourage grew. The White House's approach then, some aides believe, back fired. But Rockey's visit now offered the president a much-needed boost.
VACCARELLA: It goes to show you that the little guy can get to the big guy when we need to. And President Bush is a president that's a people's president.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: Well, Wolf, since his visit, we've learned more about Rockey. We've learned that he is a registered Republican, that he even ran for a local office in St. Bernard Parish, that he lost. But in speaking with White House officials today, they say that they were not aware of his party affiliation before the visit, but it was certainly no secret that he is a big Bush supporter, Wolf.
BLITZER: Suzanne, thanks very much -- Suzanne Malveaux at the White House.
The top Senate and House Democrats are painting a darker picture if the administration's response to Katrina. They released a report today charging among other things that thousands of families still are waiting for FEMA trailers and they're accusing Congressional Republicans of delaying approval of housing money to Louisiana, money they say still hasn't reached homeowners.
Now more on the John Mark Karr, the self-confessed killer of JonBenet Ramsey. At last word, Karr still remains in a jail in Los Angeles waiting to be extradited to Colorado to face charges in the 1996 death of JonBenet Ramsey.
A woman says Karr discussed the Ramsey case with her back in 2001, is speaking out today. And as we reported yesterday, Wendy Hutchens says she recorded phone calls, kept e-mail from Karr detailing his alleged connections to the Ramsey family. Wendy Hutchens is joining us on the phone right now. Wendy, thanks very much for doing this. Tell our viewers how you got involved with John Mark Karr.
WENDY HUTCHENS, FRIEND OF JOHN MARK KARR (on phone): Well he was a relative of mine's friend. And I saw him at a few functions, family functions. And we started speaking after that. And I won his confidence and we became good friends after that.
BLITZER: All right, so then what happened after that? When did the e-mail, when did the talk of JonBenet Ramsey begin?
HUTCHENS: It started in around September of 2001 when he told me that he knew more about the JonBenet Ramsey case than what anybody else had known and that he was instructed to kill JonBenet by Howard Stern.
BLITZER: All right. Well, that sounds like we've just been Howard Sterned, as they say. So we'll have to leave that alone. Wendy -- not Wendy Hutchens, but clearly a crank phone call. Thanks very much, in any case.
Let's move on now to terror politics. Nearly five years after Osama bin Laden launched the attacks on America, our new CNN poll finds American still see Osama bin Laden as a threat, 74 percent of Americans believe bin Laden is planning a new attack on the United States and 30 percent of them think he will eventually succeed. More than half, 58 percent, say the U.S. is likely to capture or kill bin Laden. That's down from 76 percent in 2001, soon after the 9/11 attacks.
Americans are divided on a premise being touted by some Democrats that bin Laden would have been captured by now if there hadn't been a war in Iraq, 47 percent believe bin Laden would have been caught, 51 percent say they don't believe that.
Even more than ever, you need to know your enemy. Tonight, see stories only CNN can tell you about, the man who became the world's most wanted terrorist. Join us when "CNN PRESENTS: In the Footsteps of bin Laden." That airs tonight, 9:00 p.m. Eastern, 6:00 Pacific, only here on CNN.
After the airline bomb plot arrest in London, the war on terror is increasingly being felt in the battle for Congress. A new flood of 9/11 memories may make the politics of terror even more intense. Our national correspondent Bob Franken is in Pennsylvania. That's a key battleground state come November. Bob, what's the latest there?
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is an interesting district. It's outside Philadelphia. It is the congressional district of a longtime incumbent. It's on the Delaware River. You can see in back of me. It is the site of many oil refineries, so national security is a concern here and it's a perfect laboratory to see how that's going to play during the political campaign.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REP. CURT WELDON (R), PENNSYLVANIA: How you doing? How you been?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good.
FRANKEN: Curt Weldon has deep roots and intimate knowledge of the local issues. But the Republican congressman insists that terrorism is a local issue.
WELDON: We have to fight this battle. We either fight it over there or we're going to fight it in the supermarkets and the streets of America. FRANKEN: But for the first time in his 19 years in Congress, Weldon has his own tough fight on his hands. Weldon's democratic opponent Joe Sestak claims his own terrorism expertise. He's a retired Navy three star admiral who talks about what he learned while on the national security council in the Clinton White House.
JOE SESTAK (D), PENNSYLVANIA CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: We must secure a safer America by redeploying our forces.
FRANKEN: But Weldon charges the first fatal mistakes on U.S. national security were made when Sestak was at the NSC.
WELDON: The steps that we should have taken back in the '90s would have allowed us to minimize or perhaps even prevent 9/11 from happening. We're paying the price for that today.
SESTAK: It happened on President George Bush's watch. We all know the information was available in the government at various pieces. It just wasn't tied together.
FRANKEN: In fact, Weldon charges U.S. intelligence had identified some of the 9/11 conspirators before the attack, a claim administration officials vehemently deny.
AMY WALTER, COOK POLITICAL REPORT: I think that the issue of national security gets brought up here partly because of who the candidates are.
FRANKEN: And both candidates are hoping to turn the issue to their advantage.
SESTAK: Are we using the national treasure of our military as well as the other elements of our agencies best to address it? I don't believe we do. That's where I disagree with Curt Weldon.
WELDON: I don't think anybody has been as active on the issues involving terrorism and preparing the country to protect itself than I have.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FRANKEN: This is an issue that both parties are paying particular attention to. Joe Sestak was the featured performer on the radio address. He was the one who was answering President Bush last Saturday. That is a singular honor for politicians. The Republicans are responding by having Mayor Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York coming here today to campaign for a variety of Republicans, including Weldon. So this is a race that everybody, including the two parties, Wolf, are watching very closely.
BLITZER: All right, Bob. Thanks very much. Bob Franken and Suzanne Malveaux, Ed Henry, they're all part of the best political team on television, CNN, America's campaign headquarters.
Let's check in with Jack Cafferty. He's part of that excellent team as well. I just want to apologize, once again, Jack, to our viewers for that hoax phone call that we got. Things happen. What can I say?
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: That's the beauty of doing live television, Wolf. You handled it with grace and aplomb.
Joe Lieberman has now gotten enough signatures to run as an Independent in the Connecticut Senate race. But voters in Connecticut may have had enough of Lieberman. Last week polls showed him with a double digit lead over the Democrat Ned Lamont. But check this out. The latest polling shows that Lieberman is running neck and neck now with Lamont, his opponent -- 44 percent say they'd vote Lieberman, 42 percent say they would vote for Ned Lamont.
Some people want Lieberman removed from the Democratic Party. They say he can't be a Democrat and run as a member of another party at the same time. Other people want his name taken off the ballot all together. A lot of top Democrats are not pleased with Lieberman's decision to run as an Independent. They worry it could push the election toward the Republican candidate.
So here's the question. Is Joe Lieberman making a mistake by staying in the Connecticut Senate race? E-mail your thoughts to CaffertyFile@CNN.com or go to CNN.com/CaffertyFile. Amazing how quickly those polls tightened up, isn't it, Wolf?
BLITZER: Yes, very interesting race. We'll be following it closely. Thanks Jack, very much.
Coming up, much more on the battle for Congress. Why are the Democrats losing their lead in the polls? I'll ask Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean. He'll join us in the next hour right here in THE SITUATION ROOM.
Plus, another longtime politician goes down in the primaries. Are incumbents becoming an endangered species?
And, oops, they did it again. We'll tell you which politician stuck his foot in his mouth this time. Does he think the immigration debate is something to joke about?
And CNN is counting down to the debut of "In the Footsteps of bin laden," "CNN PRESENTS" special two-hour investigation that airs tonight, 9 p.m. Eastern. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CONRAD BURNS (D), MONTANA: Hugo is a nice, little Guatemalan man who is doing some painting for me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ABBI TATTON, CNN INTERNET REPORTER: That Was Senator burns calling his house painter a "nice, little Guatemalan man." Earlier comments also in this same series of comments that have been posted online by the Tester campaign, Burns also recounts asking for the green card of this house painter and being told, no, seemingly suggesting that he might be an illegal alien. Multiple calls from CNN today to the Senator Burns campaign were not returned.
Now, the campaign of Jon Tester has been following Senator Burns around with a video camera all summer. And this is not the only thing that they've caught on tape and posted online.
This has been very popular in liberal blogs over the last week. This seems to show Senator Conrad Burns napping during a hearing, a farm bill hearing, in Montana last week. As we say, multiple calls have not been returned to CNN from Senator Burns' campaign.
Now, this does seem to be a theme of the summer. Republican George Allen at a campaign event earlier this month called a volunteer for his opponent's campaign macaca. As we all know, that was all posted online. Senator Allen's campaign tells us today that the senator today called that volunteer, S.R. Sidarth, to apologize personally -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Abbi, thank you very much.
On our "Political Radar" this Wednesday, another incumbent ousted. Alaska Governor Frank Murkowski placed a distant third in the three-way GOP primary, but he's vowing to continue his push for a controversial and costly natural gas pipeline that helped bring him down.
Several political missteps over the last four years turned Murkowski into one of the most unpopular governors in Alaskan history. Murkowski lost GOP nomination to Sarah Palin who faces Democrat Tony Knowles in November.
Up next, Jesse Jackson. He's heading back to the Middle East on another mission. What's on his agenda this time? We'll find out. He'll join us live. That's coming up here in THE SITUATION ROOM.
Plus, the political fight over illegal immigration. Which party profits come November? Paul Begala and Bay Buchanan standing by for today's "Strategy Session." Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back to THE SITUATION ROOM. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.
The Reverend Jesse Jackson now is set to return to the Middle East on the heels of the month-long war between Israel and Hezbollah. The former Democratic presidential candidate is no stranger to the region at all, or to the conflicts involving captives.
In the past, the Reverend Jackson has successfully negotiated the release of Americans and others held hostage or prisoner in Iraq and Syria, as well as in Cuba and the former Yugoslavia.
Jesse Jackson is joining us now from Chicago. Reverend Jackson, thanks very much for coming in. Why are you going to the Middle East this time?
REV. JESSE JACKSON, PRES., RAINBOW PUSH COALITION: We've been invited by religious leaders there to bring a delegation to meet with them really for three things: one, to expand the cease-fire and assure its continuation; secondly, humanitarian relief for those in Lebanon and Haifa who have been hit by bombs; and, thirdly, to make moral appeal and inquiry to those who are held captive.
We feel that if those who are held captive -- we're able to know what their status -- are they dead or alive, whether they are the Israeli soldiers or whether they are the Fox News reporters, or whether they are Lebanese. We want to make inquiry about them. And we would think that in this mission, if we are successful in raising these issues, that we will have some positive impact upon an outcome.
BLITZER: You've been successful in the past. Do you have a green light to do this from the U.S. government, from the Bush administration?
JACKSON: We certainly have called the State Department, not yet talked with them today. But, you know, in this instance, we all agree, whether it's the U.S. government that, A, that the cease-fire should be continued and expanded. We all agree that there should be humanitarian relief. We all agree there should be inquiry about whether there are captives and ought to be, if possible, set free.
So I would think that there's no contentiousness in our position. We have talked with the governments of Syria and Lebanon and Israel. And while we are not representing a government, there's a kind of shared concern that we, in fact, do the best that we can do for the humanitarian mission that we're embarking upon and to make inquiry about those who are held captive.
For example, the three Israeli soldiers. It's not known whether they are dead or alive, for example. Their status is important. Their release would be the ultimate deal but, Wolf, we do not know what their status is. The Fox News reporters who are someplace, perhaps, in Gaza.
And while going to Syria first, we intend to reach out through President Assad. I think he may be the strongest force in the region in so many ways because Syria is communicating with Hamas and Hezbollah and Iran and Lebanon, and so that's why we need to figure out some way to begin to talk to Syria more direct and not -- the no- talk policy is not in our interest.
BLITZER: Will you be meeting with Bashar al-Assad, the leader of Syria?
JACKSON: I don't know who we'll meet with at this point. And I wouldn't want to preempt who we might meet with by saying it today. Suffice it to say we're meeting with religious leaders in Syria and Lebanon and Israel. We're meeting with the political leadership, meeting with Assad, with Mr. Assad, on Monday. We're going to meet with political leadership in the three countries as well.
BLITZER: What about Hezbollah?
JACKSON: And we hope that our...
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: Presumably, Hezbollah is holding those two Israeli soldiers that were kidnapped back on July 12. Presumably, some group in Gaza is holding that Israeli corporal who has been held even longer. Will you meet with Hezbollah and Hamas leaders?
JACKSON: We will meet with whoever we have to meet with to seek to ease the tensions. If we can meet with those forces to get the captives set free, then we would do just that.
But, as for now, we're making an inquiry as to their status. And we hope that our moral appeal will not fall on deaf ears.
BLITZER: Will you make a moral appeal to the Israelis to release Lebanese or Palestinian prisoners, in exchange for the release of the Israeli soldiers?
JACKSON: You know, I do not want to get into the politics of negotiating exchanges, because that's a very intricate situation.
And that's why ours is a humanitarian mission. That's why ours is extend the -- expand the cease-fire, or relief for those who are victims of the war, and to make the moral appeal.
If our appeal is successful, then, those who do negotiate can then negotiate. But, as for right now, those who do negotiate do not know the status of those who are held captive. And, so, I don't want to go -- take it to that level yet, Wolf.
BLITZER: What about Iran? Iran, by all accounts, seems to have a lot of influence right now with Hezbollah, with Hamas. Any plans to visit Tehran, to meet with the leadership there?
JACKSON: I do not now, but I will meet with them. We should talk with Iran or -- and Syria.
All relevant forces, it is in our interest -- we should talk even to our adversaries, unconditionally, and agree conditionally. So, whether it is Iran or Syria, or Hamas, or Hezbollah, better we talk, talk, talk, than fight, fight, fight.
And, if we can talk, we can leverage influence. Right now, we cannot talk. We cannot neutralize. We cannot leverage influence. We must have a different view of how we relate to people in the world.
And I think we have that power, but we're not using it. Right now, we're playing cards with too many cards out of -- out of the deck. We have more power than we're using, effectively.
BLITZER: Reverend Jackson, good luck to you on your mission. Come home safe and sound. Be careful out there.
JACKSON: Thank you.
BLITZER: Reverend Jesse Jackson joining us from our Chicago bureau.
Up next: Did a hurricane survivor named Rockey help the president weather the Katrina storm one year later? Paul Begala and Bay Buchanan, they're standing by live for our "Strategy Session." And they will also go head to head on another issue. That would be immigration. Will Senator Conrad Burns -- his loose lips, will those hurt his reelection bid in Montana? It's a key race. Democrat vs. Republican.
Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Less than four-and-a-half-hours from now, the new CNN documentary on Osama bin Laden airs, 9:00 p.m. Eastern tonight, only here on CNN. You're going to want to see this documentary, two-hour special, with our Christiane Amanpour.
Let's get back to politics, though, in the meantime.
Open mouth, insert foot. Controversial statements push immigration back up the issue ladder, at least for today. Will there be a political price to pay, though? Hurricane Katrina, also, back in the news, as the storm's anniversary approaches -- President Bush meets with one of its victims.
Joining us now in today's "Strategy Session," CNN contributors Paul Begala and Bay Buchanan.
Let's talk about immigration. We haven't been talking, at least on this program, a lot about it lately. There was a war in the Middle East, obviously, a critical issue.
There's a new report coming out from the Congressional Budget Office. This week, it came out. Immigration reform could cost, over the next decade, $126 billion, including 31,000 new federal workers, 870 miles of fence and vehicle barriers. New immigrants would claim almost $50 billion in federal benefits.
This issue goes up and goes down. How big of an issue is it going to be in November?
PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I think it will be a pretty big issue.
And I think this Congressional Budget Office report sinks the president's immigration bill, even though he has been able to get it through the Senate, and he's got it in the House. It's going to go to a conference committee.
And here's why. The president has alienated his economic conservatives by, in their eyes, being a big spender. He hasn't vetoed a single congressional spending bill. And he has alienated his social conservative supporters, like Bay Buchanan, by being for what they view as amnesty.
Now, here we have both in one bill. We have a big price tag, which economic conservatives don't like. And we have what social conservatives believe is amnesty for illegal aliens. I think the bill is through. And it's a loss for George W. Bush and John McCain, who are the two Republicans who have pushed this idea the farthest.
BLITZER: And they have worked closely with Senator Kennedy and a lot of Democrats on this...
BAY BUCHANAN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Good point.
BLITZER: ... legislation.
BUCHANAN: Good point that Paul fails to make.
It's a Democratic bill. It was written by Ted Kennedy himself. His staff, they put it together. It's a terrible bill.
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: The president has been way out in front...
BUCHANAN: No question.
BLITZER: ... and supporting this.
BUCHANAN: No question, the president moved out front. But the bill was put together by Democrats, passed by Democrats in the Senate. The majority of Republicans voted it down.
The House Republicans refused to even consider it. The bill is dead. No question it hurts the president. But, at the same time, the president has hurt his party, because of his position on immigration. And the House Republicans are desperately out there, trying to say they're the ones that are stopping amnesty: Vote for us. We -- if you vote Democrats, it's going to push through amnesty.
It's our only -- basically, Wolf -- I will be honest -- it's our only hope to hold the House, if there is any hope left to hold the House, is the issue of immigration.
BLITZER: So, you -- that's big.
Conrad Burns is the incumbent, the Republican incumbent, in Montana. He's got a tough Democratic challenger, Jon Tester. The Democrats would love to take Montana, which, by all accounts, supposedly, a very red state. But this is a competitive contest. Conrad Burns now causing a little bit of a stir, as we saw earlier, with this video, talking about a guy fixing his house, "a nice little Guatemalan man. Could I see your green card? Hugo says no. And I said, oh, gosh."
Is this a big issue in Montana, a little issue? What's going to be the fallout? BEGALA: I think it's a big issue, because I think Montanans are increasingly viewing Senator Burns, rather than looking at him as a senior senator, delivering for their state, they see him as an embarrassment.
You saw our report earlier. He fell asleep during a hearing. He insulted firefighters, said they were doing an awfully poor job. That's not the phrase he used. He preferred alliteration, but I don't want to use that on an afternoon cable broadcast.
And now he's making jokes about hiring illegal immigrants. That cannot be very good for him. Meanwhile, Jon Tester, the Democratic candidate, very talented, very strong. I think he is going to knock off, in a state that probably voted stronger for Bush than Texas did, I think a Democrat is going to win the Senate race.
BLITZER: It's one of those states that the Democrats would love to win.
BUCHANAN: Sure.
But, you know, in fairness, Conrad Burns, six years ago, won this race, won his race, with 3 percent, in a state that the president, Bush, took by 20 percent. This is not somebody that has a real firm base up there. He has made mistakes in the past.
I -- you know, Wolf, there's no question this is a troubled campaign, was before this remark. This remark is not going to help. You never like to be making gaffes when you're already in trouble.
And, so, I think there's no question this is probably the number- one target for Democrats. But with -- but Conrad Burns is not known for any kind of champion on the immigration issue.
I think this basically just says to his base, you know, one more reason why not to vote.
BLITZER: Let's talk about the upcoming first anniversary of Katrina next week -- the president today receiving Rockey Vaccarella, showing up in a FEMA-like trailer at the White House, gets a meeting with the president in the Oval Office.
Listen to what he said coming out of that meeting.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROCKEY VACCARELLA, HURRICANE KATRINA SURVIVOR: I just don't want the government and President Bush to forget about us. And I just wish the president could have another term in -- in Washington.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Yes, wait a minute.
(LAUGHTER)
VACCARELLA: You know, I wish you had another four years, man. (END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: All right. So, the president got kudos from at least one survivor of Katrina.
(LAUGHTER)
BEGALA: I speak with unclean hands here, OK? I have staged more phony photo-ops in politics than any...
BLITZER: When you worked at the White House for Bill Clinton.
(CROSSTALK)
BEGALA: Clinton -- when I worked at the White House.
But, back in the campaign, we had a six-foot polyester chicken chasing President Bush Sr. around. OK? So, I have done a lot.
But this is embarrassing, even by my standards. I mean, to have this guy, this Republican hack, pretending that anybody with a brain believes that President Bush did a good job in Katrina -- and for the White House to approve this is nuts.
I mean, Tony Snow is on vacation. That's the only reason that this could have happened, because Tony is a smart guy, the press secretary. It is an embarrassment. What the president should be doing is what our Anderson Cooper did -- to brag on one of our anchors -- going down there and talking to the real people who lost loved ones, and lost their homes and their jobs, in that flood.
This is a serious business, instead of having this clown standing up on the White House lawn.
BUCHANAN: You know, to call this fellow names is ridiculous. He is a victim of Katrina. He has been traveling around the country, trying to raise attention.
He's a plain-talking fellow. He's a good-hearted Americans. And, you know, when Americans see him speak, and the president have a repartee with him, I don't think it's -- I think it's good. It's positive. Today is Katrina's anniversary -- Democrats making a lot of it. This is at least a positive statement about Katrina and the president.
BLITZER: He may be a Republican, and he is a Republican. But he did lose a lot in Katrina. He lost his home.
BUCHANAN: Exactly.
BLITZER: And his family lost a lot of their possessions. So, he suffered.
BEGALA: Well, he lost his marbles, then, if he's coming and asking President Bush, thanking President Bush, saying he deserves another term. Real people died in this. And a lot of people believe it was because of the indifference and incompetence of our federal government.
BLITZER: We will leave it there.
Guys, thanks very much.
BUCHANAN: Sure.
BLITZER: Paul Begala and Bay Buchanan are part of the best political team on television -- CNN, America's campaign headquarters.
Coming up: Move over, Joe Lieberman. There's a Republican Senate moderate who is also in primary peril. We will take a closer look at Lincoln Chafee's troubles, and whether President Bush is helping him or hurting him.
And, in our next hour, live, right here in THE SITUATION ROOM, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean on the politics of terror and the battle for Congress -- are Democrats losing the advantage they have been banking on?
Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: We're counting down to "CNN PRESENTS: In the Footsteps of bin Laden: Know Your Enemy." That comes up a little bit more than four hours from now, 9:00 p.m. Eastern, two-hour special with Christiane Amanpour. You're going to want to see it tonight.
Senator Joe Lieberman's recent defeat in the Democratic primary has been a cautionary tale for political moderates. Lieberman could still win his independent bid for reelection in Connecticut. But now a Republican in the state next door is feeling Lieberman's pain.
Our senior political analyst, Bill Schneider, is on the scene in Rhode Island -- Bill.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Wolf, what happens if you're a moderate these days? You get it from both sides.
(voice-over): Rhode Island Senator Lincoln Chafee is in a bind.
DARRELL WEST, TAUBMAN CENTER FOR PUBLIC POLICY DIRECTOR, BROWN UNIVERSITY: He faces a very contentious Republican primary. And, if he happens to win that, he faces a very strong Democratic opponent in November.
SCHNEIDER: Chafee is one of the most anti-Bush Republicans in the Senate.
WEST: He voted against Iraq. He voted against Bush's tax cuts. Even, in the 2004 election, he voted against Bush.
SCHNEIDER: Chafee is facing a tough challenge in next month's Republican primary.
STEPHEN LAFFEY (R), RHODE ISLAND SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I describe myself as Steve Laffey, who is a populist.
SCHNEIDER: Chafee's argument to his fellow Republicans?
SEN. LINCOLN CHAFEE (R), RHODE ISLAND: Mayor Laffey cannot win.
SCHNEIDER: Laffey doesn't talk much about Bush or Iraq or social issues. He's running as an anti-Washington crusader for fiscal responsibility.
LAFFEY: The last thing the Washington insiders want down in Washington is a reformer like me coming down that way to really bring in some true reform.
SCHNEIDER: Chafee is relying on independents to save him.
CHAFEE: In Rhode Island, the unaffiliated voters are allowed to come into the Republican primary, if they choose. They can make their choice. And, so, that's an important factor in -- in the whole dynamic.
SCHNEIDER: It may work. Nearly 15,000 Rhode Island Democrats have switched their party registration to independent in the past six months. They could have decisive influence in a Republican primary with fewer than 50,000 voters.
Then Chafee would face Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse in one of the most Democratic states in the country. Whitehouse is running against the Republican Party.
SHELDON WHITEHOUSE (D), RHODE ISLAND SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: Here in Rhode Island, it's less about Lincoln Chafee than it is about the direction of our country and the contribution he makes to that Republican monopoly on power.
SCHNEIDER: Once again, Chafee has to rely on independents.
CHAFEE: What Rhode Islanders want is someone that is independent and can vote their conscience.
SCHNEIDER: And if he loses?
WEST: The irony is, Chafee has been the Republican most likely to vote against Bush on a wide range of issues. But George Bush may actually be the reason Lincoln Chafee loses this year.
SCHNEIDER (on camera): In 1772, King George sent the HMS Gaspee to Rhode Island to harass shipping. Angry Rhode Island colonists lured the Gaspee to a sandbar, right over here, and burnt it to the ground.
The lesson: When Rhode Islanders get angry with rulers named George, watch out -- Wolf.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Bill Schneider, thanks very much.
There's going to be a big debate tonight, a Republican primary debate. The incumbent, Lincoln Chafee, will be debating his Republican challenger, Steve Laffey. That's coming up tonight in Rhode Island. We will watch that race closely.
Up next: Is there something in the water? We told you about Senator Conrad Burns' latest verbal faux pas. That has our Jeff Greenfield wondering, what are politicians thinking?
And later: Know your enemy. By all accounts, he could be the shy boy next door -- a preview of tonight's powerful two-hour special, "In the Footsteps of bin Laden." That's coming up in our next hour.
Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Republican Senator Conrad Burns of Montana may be feeling heat today for referring to his house painter as -- quote -- "a nice little Guatemalan man." But he can take some comfort in at least this much. He's not alone.
Let's bring in our senior analyst, Jeff Greenfield -- Jeff.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SENIOR ANALYST: Wolf, you remember that classic piece of maternal advice: You never get in trouble for something you didn't say? There are a couple of politicians who probably wish they had listened to mom. And they're just the latest in a long line of folks who have thrown their hat into the ring, and then inserted their foot in their mouth.
SEN. GEORGE ALLEN (R), VIRGINIA: This fellow here, over here, with the yellow shirt, macaca, or whatever his name is...
GREENFIELD: Virginia Senator George Allen says he had no idea that the term macaca, that he aimed at a volunteer working for his rival, is a common racial slur in parts of North Africa, homeland of the senator's mother.
Allen's comments are now all over the Internet. But the senator is not alone this year. Montana Senator Conrad Burns, in a tough reelection fight, was telling a story about his roofer, "a nice little Guatemalan man," he called him, and seemed to be suggesting that the roofer might be an illegal alien.
Last month, Burns apologized, after confronting a group of firefighters who had been battling a dangerous blaze, and told them they had done a poor job. He said he had meant the criticism for higher-up officials. And, just last week, former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young, a prominent national political figure, resigned his job as a Wal-Mart spokesman, after talking about how shopkeepers, Jews, then Arabs, then Koreans, had ripped off African-American neighborhoods.
ANDREW YOUNG, FORMER ATLANTA MAYOR: And I goofed.
(LAUGHTER)
GREENFIELD: He apologized before he quit.
American political history is littered with costly, even fatal remarks. In 1884, remarks by a supporter of James G. Blaine, calling Democrats the party of rum, Romanism, and rebellion, tilted just enough Catholic votes to Grover Cleveland in New York to give him the state and the White House.
In the 1950s, famed author Clare Booth Luce had to abandon an attempt at an ambassadorship after she said of a Senate opponent that he had been kicked in the head by a horse.
And neither Earl Butz in 1976 or James Watt in 1983 could keep their Cabinet posts, after making dismissive or, in Butz's case, overly racist remarks.
Are such remarks always fatal? No. In 1976, Jimmy Carter survived a "Playboy" interview where he talked about adultery in his heart and other comments about preserving a neighborhood's ethnic purity.
And, four years later, Ronald Reagan told an ethnic joke that could have hurt him among Poles and Italians, but didn't.
On the other hand, you don't have to be offensive to shoot yourself in a foot. During a key 1976 debate, President Ford tried to praise the Poles for their courage...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, 1976)
GERALD FORD, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't believe that the Poles consider themselves dominated by the Soviet Union.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GREENFIELD: ... and came off ill-informed.
And, in the last presidential campaign, this attempt by John Kerry to explain his Iraq war votes...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, AD)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I actually did vote for the $87 billion, before I voted against it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GREENFIELD: ... wound up in a Bush campaign ad.
(on camera): These days, it's even more dangerous for a politician to commit a verbal slip. With video cameras everywhere, with YouTube and other Web sites providing instant access, it is all but impossible to contain the fallout.
Thank God we journalists never make those kind of mistakes -- Wolf.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Jeff, thank you. We do make plenty of mistakes.
Still to come: Senator Lieberman lost his primary, but remains on the general election ballot in Connecticut. Jack Cafferty wants to know: Is Lieberman making a mistake by staying in the race? He will be reading your e-mail. That's coming up next.
Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Check back with Jack in New York with "The Cafferty File" -- Jack.
CAFFERTY: Joe Lieberman, Wolf, now has enough signatures to run as an independent in the Connecticut Senate race. He lost the Democratic primary to Ned Lamont, but he -- he refuses to go away.
The question is: Is Lieberman making a mistake by staying in the race?
Bernie writes from Pennsylvania: "Lieberman, like many others, does not want to give up power and money. His stance is one of arrogance and complacency. It is time to go, Joe."
Brian in Illinois: "Yes, Joe Lieberman is not putting the interests of the people of Connecticut first, but the interests of Joe Lieberman first. He was defeated because he lost touch the people of his state. And his decision shows that, much like his Republican buddies, he has lost touch with reality."
Lovetta in High Point, North Carolina: "I am so proud of the senator. He is fighting for what he believes to be right for the country, his state, and not his political party. Maybe if the rest of the Senate did the same, something would get done in Washington."
Karen in Idaho writes: "Joe lost the election. What makes him think he owns that Senate seat? If he is a real Democrat, he will drop out of the race. By staying, he splits the Democratic vote."
Tom in Richland, Washington: "I don't know if Lieberman is making a mistake or not, but, as a person that has voted Democratic for 40 years, he sure looks like a sore loser."
And J.K. writes from California: "Joe is a sore loser who refuses to honor the majority will of the Connecticut Democrats. He might as well run as a Republican. He is the decider-in-chief's favorite kissing post" -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Jack, thank you.
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