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The Situation Room
U.S. Officials Set New Timeline For Iraqi Forces To Take Charge; Bob Corker Interview; Harold Ford, Jr., Interview; Mostly Conservative Talk Radio Hosts Invited To Get Up Close Time With Senior Administration Officials; Ohio's DeWine In Uphill Reelection Battle; Michael J. Fox At Center Of Campaign Controversy; Senator Hillary Clinton's Appearance Under Scrutiny
Aired October 24, 2006 - 19:00 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, Lou. 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 tonight's top stories.
Happening now, benchmarks and check marks, timelines and timetables, top U.S. officials changing the language about the war in Iraq, but as the death toll soars, is the reality changing for U.S. troops? Are Republicans playing the race card in a race that could determine control of the U.S. Senate?
A new attack ad targets Tennessee congressman turned Senate candidate Harold Ford. In THE SITUATION ROOM tonight, this hour, Harold Ford and his Republican rival, Bob Corker as the race gets nastier by the minute.
Also, the actor, Michael J. Fox struggling with Parkinson's disease makes a pitch for key Democrats and makes the hard sell for stem cell research.
I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
Will the war in Iraq now be waged according to the clock and the calendar? The Bush administration seems to altering its strategy and its language. There's now talk of a timetable and a timeline, but still no deadline for a U.S. troop pullout. As the violence rages on with four more American combat deaths announced today, has anything changed for U.S. troops on the ground?
Our senior national correspondent John Roberts was embedded with a U.S. Army unit in Baghdad -- John.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN SR. NAT'L CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, President Bush continues to insist that there will be no shift in direction on the ground in Iraq, but with casualties among both U.S. forces and Iraqi civilians reaching dramatic levels this year, it would appear that some change may be coming soon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go front. ROBERTS (voice-over): If things had been going according to plan, this American Stryker battalion would have been home long time ago instead of in its 15th month of deployment in Iraq, working the neighborhoods of Baghdad, trying to establish, let alone keep the peace.
LT. COL. AL KELLY, U.S. ARMY: We're doing search operations a couple of days ago, we found guys on top of rooftops, transferring weapons as we went into houses. They transferred one house to the other.
ROBERTS: The job is overwhelming and may, as General George Casey indicated today, require even more boots on the ground.
GEN. GEORGE CASEY, CMDR. MULTI-NATIONAL FORCE, IRAQ: Do we need more troops to do that? Maybe, and as I've said all along, if we do, I'll ask for the troops that I need both coalition and the Iraqis.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our route today ...
ROBERTS: At the same time, the United States is setting out a timetable of 12 to 18 months for Iraq's fledgling democracy to achieve benchmarks. It may help end the sectarian violence that's threatens to tear Iraq apart. With the American elections just two weeks away, President Bush is bending to massive pressure from his own party to fix Iraq.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham warned we're on the verge of chaos. The current plan is not working. Will a timetable help push the Iraqi government to make progress? The country's national security adviser thinks it will.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, what will the timetable do?
MOUWAFFEQ AL-RUBAIE, IRAQI NAT'L SECURITY ADVISER: Well to push people to work towards a deadline and these deadlines are good in work. I mean, even in a private company, you need to put that target and that line to reach.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Missing from today's announcement of a timetable was any mention of what will happen if the Iraqi government fails to meet the benchmarks it has agreed to. And while it would appear unlikely that there would be any significant in the number of U.S. troops in Baghdad prior to the November 7th election, don't forget that soon after that, attention will turn to the 2008 presidential contest. And the Republican frontrunner John McCain has recommended tens of thousands more boots on the ground here. Wolf?
BLITZER: John Roberts in Baghdad, thank you. As the Bush administration changes its language on Iraq, is it a case of staying the course or charting a new course? Reading between the lines for us CNN's Brian Todd. Brian? BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Language indicates we may be starting to see a major policy shift on Iraq. The science come from what members of the administration say and no longer say.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TODD (voice-over): What's the political dirty word on Iraq these days -- apparently not timetable.
ZALMAY KHALILZAD, U.S. AMB. TO IRAQ: Success in Iraq is possible and can be achieved on a realistic timetable.
TODD: The ambassador's boss hasn't been an admirer of the word, at least as it applied to U.S. troop withdrawals.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The debate in Washington is to whether or not we set an artificial timetable for withdrawal. That's what it's about in Washington D.C. and the answer is absolutely not.
TODD: That was three months ago. Since then, hundreds of Iraqi civilian deaths, the fifth highest monthly death toll among U.S. servicemen, and plummeting poll numbers on Iraq have moved the president more drastically away from another phrase. Over the summer it was...
BUSH: We will stay the course. We will win in Iraq so long as we stay the course.
TODD: But just two weeks ago it began to shift.
BUSH: The characterization of you know let's stay the course is about a quarter right.
TODD: This week the president's press secretary nudges it even further away.
TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: And what you have is not stay the course, but in fact, a study in constant motion by the administration and by the Iraqi government.
TODD: Analysts say this is classic political tactic when a leader is aiming for a dramatic shift in policy and needs to test it with the public.
JOHN SIDES, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: What would they like to avoid is the president making a direct statement that appears to be the exact opposite of something he said a month ago. And so one way to avoid that is to have the president say subtler things and then to let statements that are a little bit more direct come from people like Khalilzad and Tony Snow, who are surrogates of the president.
TODD: But even that's politically treacherous analysts say after calls from prominent Democrats for phased withdrawals from Iraq were consistently met with this. BUSH: They say date certain is when to get out before the job's done. That's cut and run. Their policy is pretty clear to me. It's cut and run.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TODD: Analyst say we could see this delicate balancing act all the way up to midterm election and beyond, but they say this shift in language may not be enough to shift large numbers of voters away from their positions on the biggest issue in this election by far. Wolf?
BLITZER: Brian Todd reporting. Thanks very much. So there may indeed be a strategy shift underway for the war in Iraq. The language certainly is evolving, but will any of this make a real difference.
And joining us now from Baghdad our correspondent Michael Ware. Michael, we heard the U.S. military commander, General Casey, suggest today it could take another 12 months to 18 months for Iraqi troops to be positioned to take charge of their own security. Is that based on what you have seen on the ground and you have been there on and off for more than three years. Is that realistic?
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, I think you put it best when you said that General Casey suggested that the Iraqi security forces might be capable of defending themselves in 12 to 18 months. The word he used in the press conference was I believe. There was no clear commitment on this.
On one hand, yes it does spell out some kind of timeframe, which may be a useful mechanism for measuring development or progress in a very loose way. On the other hand, Wolf, we have heard this so many times before. We've heard so many other deadlines with timeframes stated, slip and pass us by that honestly, the statement today is almost meaningless because there's always a heavy caveat.
Not only is it just a belief by the commander on the ground here, but it's also as always conditions-based. U.S. troops can't withdrawal on any given date unless the situation on the ground permits. And that's explicit I believe in General Casey's statements today -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Does these words, though, suggesting a timeline suggesting that the United States wants the Iraqi government to meet certain benchmarks along this timeline. Is it likely to have an impact on this Iraqi government, which seems so fragile to begin with and forcing them to deal with these death squads and these militias.
WARE: Well the U.S. is clearly ramping up the pressure, Wolf. I mean they want to see results. They bet their house on Prime Minister Maliki, whom one of his most senior security people today privately admitted to me or confirmed to me, has relative little power within the government and relies primarily on the American forces for any kind of muscle.
And if it's not the American forces he's looking to Muqtada al- Sadr and his Mahdi, whose political support helped land him as the compromised candidate for the prime minister. There's very little that Maliki can force through.
Now we heard Ambassador Khalilzad say that essentially the Iraqi government, Maliki has agreed to agree on a timeline by the end of the year. So we need to be very careful of the words here and as we saw the White House spokesman say just yesterday, even when it comes to end of the year, the U.S. is not making any ultimatums. Quite frankly, it's got very little to back up in the ultimatum -- Wolf.
BLITZER: One final question, we don't have a lot of time, Michael. This bulking option dividing up Iraq into three separate parts, Kurdish part of the north, a Shiite part in the south, and a Sunni part sort of in the central. The White House says that's a non- starter. What are they saying where you are?
WARE: Oh, absolutely it's a non-starter. I mean to fracture this state like this would have drastic domestic implications and regional implications. And this issue touches upon so many others that Ambassador Khalilzad and General Casey referred to today, from the equal distribution of oil revenues to the Sunni insurgency, to Iran, to the militias. I mean this very much is just a tip of a massive iceberg -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Michael, thanks very much. Michael Ware reporting for us from Baghdad.
Jack Cafferty is off today. He'll be back with "The Cafferty File" tomorrow.
Coming up tonight, one of the hottest races in the country. That would be the Senate race in Tennessee. That state could decide who will control the Senate. We'll hear from the two candidates, Harold Ford and Bob Corker. They have been locked in a very nasty campaign. Tonight they're both right here in THE SITUATION ROOM.
Plus, White House "Talking Points", radio talk show hosts are given the red carpet treatment. Will they faithfully take the president's message back to their listeners?
And ballot box meltdown, computer glitches, human error and the possibility that someone could rig an election. Find out if your vote will count.
Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back. It's one of the make or break races in the battle for control of the United States Senate -- the Tennessee showdown between Democratic Congressman Harold Ford Jr. and the former mayor of Chattanooga, Republican Bob Corker. Two weeks before Election Day, the contest is more bitter and bruising because of a new Republican Party ad against Ford. Critics suggest it smacks of racial politics. A brand-new Mason Dixon poll shows Corker and Ford running neck and neck with Corker holding a two-point advantage among likely voters.
Both candidates tonight here in THE SITUATION ROOM. We'll hear from Congressman Ford in just a few moments.
And joining us now from Knoxville, Tennessee Bob Corker -- he's the Republican candidate. This is shaping up, Mr. Corker, as a very, very nasty race two weeks left to go. There was this ad the Republicans put out in your state and some are suggesting that it's playing the race card in Tennessee. Listen to this little clip.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I met Harold at the Playboy party.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Republican Party National Committee is responsible for the content of this advertising.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Harold, call me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: All right. I know this is not your ad, but if you really, really wanted to get it lifted you probably could.
BOB CORKER (R), TENNESSEE SENATE CANDIDATE: No that's not true. We actually have been on national TV ads as we are now. We've asked senators to call. These are independent expenditure groups. We want it down. We do not believe that it -- certainly does not represent our campaign. We have nothing to do with it. We believe that it's tacky and has no place in this race.
BLITZER: Is it -- you say it's tacky, but is it racist?
CORKER: I, you know, it's tacky and certainly has no place in this race.
BLITZER: But do you see why some are suggesting, including former Republican senator, former Defense Secretary William Cohen here in THE SITUATION ROOM yesterday that it's certainly almost like playing the race card?
CORKER: Well, again, I have seen the ad one time on a computer. I've never even seen it on television. I don't like it. I have asked for it to come down. I don't know what else we can do. I know many people are calling the RNC on our behalf to see what can be done to get it down, but we have nothing to do with it.
I'm out campaigning all across the state of Tennessee, giving my message of making sure that we're safe and secure, making sure that we leave within our means, making sure we pursue economic growth and preserve those great traditions that have made our state and country great. And I feel nothing but positive energy. Really I don't hear anything about this except from the media. Obviously we've demanded that it come down, but we're out campaigning...
(CROSSTALK)
CORKER: ... positive energy. BLITZER: Mr. Corker, excuse me for interrupting. Have you called Ken Mehlman, the chairman of the Republican Party, and asked him to pull it?
CORKER: Our campaign officials have talked to people at very high levels there and asked that this come down. I don't know who specifically has talked to who, but I know it began...
BLITZER: What about you...
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: Have you made a call to the RNC; have you made a call to the White House...
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: ... and told Republicans you know what, I think this is hurting the state of Tennessee, hurting this debate, and I would like to see it go away.
CORKER: Everybody at the RNC from the top down knows that I want this down. There are senators who are my friends, some of which are inside that are making calls that do the same. Everyone knows that we want it down. And look, I'm out here campaigning. We have nothing whatsoever to do with the ad.
As a matter of fact, I wish that my opponent would join me in asking that the ads that are being run by the DNC would come down. Both of them have no place in this race. And we are very proud of the things that we ourselves are doing. The momentum shift in this race has been substantial over the last two or three weeks. We've built a lead and we're going to win this race if we just keep doing what we're doing on the ground. We do not need that type of activity in our race.
BLITZER: He's complaining bitterly, Harold Ford Jr., that instead of going after him directly, you're going after his family. You're making his family an issue. And he says that a real man wouldn't do that.
CORKER: Well I think we saw a real man on Friday in Memphis. And I think what we saw was someone who does not have the comportment nor the temperament nor the ability to be a statesman and really deal with the issues that we have to deal with in the United States Senate that are so complex and need...
BLITZER: Why bring you up the issue of his father or other family members when you...
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: ... by your own account you have plenty to go with, going after him?
CORKER: The only thing that has been brought up by me in this race was questioning his father lobbying him. He was on the Financial Services Committee and within 60 days after joining that committee, Fannie Mae hired his dad to lobby that committee. I questioned that. I think it's a reasonable thing.
As a matter of fact, last week, "USA Today" said that 80 percent of Americans are concerned about family members lobbying members of Congress. I don't think -- that's certainly not a personal attack of any kind...
BLITZER: Let me ask...
CORKER: ... and actually...
BLITZER: Let me ask you if this quote from the Nashville "Tennessean" is accurate on October 19. "I'm making an observation that it's pretty much a family business. And I think it's something we all see and know that there's a type of machine-type politics."
It sounds like you're going after his family, at least in that quote if it's accurate.
CORKER: These are public officials. There is a Ford family ballot. I have never said a disparaging word about my opponent's character or any of his family members, never. I think it's really interesting that there's actually a Ford family ballot. That's unusual.
I don't know how many places in the country have family ballots. It's an observation that actually I only knew about because the media in our state has paid such attention to that over the last decade. Again, to me that is not a personal attack.
These are all elected officials. All we're out doing is making an observation. Not a negative word has been said. We have been focused. It's my opponent that continues to bring up the family issue in every talk that he gives. We have been focused on the issues. Every single day we have a new issue statement. We are out campaigning. And I believe for that reason, we're going to win the race.
BLITZER: You got two weeks to go. Bob Corker, thanks very much for coming into THE SITUATION ROOM. I'll let you go back and campaign.
CORKER: Thank you, sir. Thank you.
BLITZER: Congressman Harold Ford is next here in THE SITUATION ROOM. I'll ask him about that ad that so many say has very nasty racial overtures. Plus, what as critics charge is his Memphis meltdown.
Also, "Hack the Vote" -- find out how it's possible to rig an election. We'll take a close, hard look at electronic voting machines.
Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back. Tonight we're bringing you a rare one- two punch interview in one of the most closest and most contiguous Senate races in the nation. We just heard moments ago from Tennessee Republican candidate Bob Corker. Joining us now his Democrat opponent, Congressman Harold Ford, Jr. Congressman, thanks very much for coming in.
REP. HAROLD FORD, JR. (D), TENNESSEE SENATE CANDIDATE: Mr. Blitzer, thanks for having me on.
BLITZER: Do you believe this ad that the Republican Party is running against you, showing this seemingly naked blond woman enticing you that this is a racist ad. Are they playing the race card?
FORD: I don't know what they're playing if it's race or not, but I do know it's sleazy and it's promoting smut and it's coming on during family programming time in my state. The question I have is if my opponent wants it down, he should be able to get it down. If he doesn't have the influence to convince Republicans in Washington to take a sleazy, awful, smut-pushing ad down in our state, how on earth can voters trust him to stand up for them in Tennessee to the Republicans?
BLITZER: He says he's tried and he says that the top leadership of the Republican Party, Ken Mehlman among others, know he would like to see it go down, but there are independent expenditures as they call it.
FORD: Right. If Democrats were running an ad like this, it wouldn't be running. I can assure you. But this campaign is about something bigger. And one of the reasons that I think the National Republican Party is engaged in this kind of campaigning is they have come up short on ideas and answers. My opponent has too. When it comes to Iraq, North Korea, middle-class values, health care, education, all of the issues that are important to people, he's not been able to articulate a clear message. And I think the national party has demonstrated a great frustration...
BLITZER: Charlie Cook -- I want to just point out to you that that Charlie Cook, who's one of the best observers when it comes to Congress out there, he looks at these most recent polls including this Mason Dixon poll, which shows Corker slightly ahead of you. He says that what Corker says your Memphis meltdown when you went out and interrupted his news conference there, seems to have shifted the momentum and that you're in trouble now because of what you tried to do to him in Memphis.
FORD: No, sir. We have a little different take and I think voters here are demonstrating over and over again that they're ready for change. I think this -- these ads and the efforts in Washington over the last six years with the debt being where it is, the Iraq war being...
BLITZER: Was it the mistake though, Congressman, for you to... FORD: No.
BLITZER: ... interrupt his news conference and challenge him there on the scene, to show up unexpected and just go after him?
FORD: No, sir. We didn't interrupt anything. We showed off before his press conference started. And as you probably know, Mr. Blitzer, Iraq is a large issue and an important issue to a lot of families here in my state, a lot of military families. So I showed up and asked my opponent, who has not agreed to any debates in East Tennessee.
I shared with him that I thought it was important that voters have some sense of our views and our positions in light of so many Republican senators and even the White House now changing its opinion with regard to stay the course. It was before his press conference started. And I stand by it because Iraq is the most important issue on voters' minds...
BLITZER: He says it did not show much statesmanship. And that this is what the voters are looking for and that you don't have it when it comes to becoming a United States senator.
FORD: Well I think voters all across our state are making their opinions know and views known on issue as we speak. We have early voting here in our state, Mr. Blitzer, and between now and November 7, voters will cast their votes. I'm in Knoxville tonight and the enthusiasm and energy here for our campaign is absolutely unbelievable...
BLITZER: He charges -- he also charges that your dad became a lobbyist for Fannie Mae while you were a member of the Key House Committee (ph) that deals with banking and other financial institutions and that he started lobbying you and you should have recused yourself as a member of that committee.
FORD: My father -- Mr. Blitzer, my father has never -- my father raised me right and is too good of a man to ever break the law and lobby me. He has never lobbied me on any issue. I talk to him regularly because he's my daddy and I love him. I've shared that with Mr. Corker and he continues to talk about it.
One of the reasons that he does this so much, Mr. Blitzer, is that he's trying -- my opponent is trying so hard to deflect attention away from front-page newspaper accounts all across our state of his mayoral time when he was mayor of Chattanooga and directed funds towards projects at his own real estate company and had great, great interest in. He's trying to deflect attention...
BLITZER: All right.
FORD: ... away from the fact that he has not released any of his tax returns. I think he's the only Senate candidate in the country and finally when he was in the private sector, Mr. Blitzer, he's only the Senate candidate in the country who has ever hired an illegal alien. He hired four of them and had his property raided by the federal government. So he in turn has tried to make this about something other than what's important to voters.
(CROSSTALK)
FORD: From immigration to Iraq to the economy...
(CROSSTALK)
FORD: I'm sorry, but...
BLITZER: Congressman...
FORD: Yes, sir.
BLITZER: ... we're almost out of time. But...
FORD: Yes, sir.
BLITZER: ... I want to pass on -- I spoke -- I've spoken to several key Democratic strategists in recent days. And while they would certainly like you to win, because they think it's important that the Democrats be the majority in the U.S. Senate, they're deeply disappointed that you've, in their words, flip-flopped on some of the key social issues out there, including your calling for a constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage and other issues like abortion rights for women. What do you say to those Democrats who are expressing their deep concern that you're flip- flopping in order to try to get elected senator in Tennessee.
FORD: Well I've never flip-flopped on gay marriage, Mr. Blitzer. I've always been opposed to it since I arrived in the Congress. When I ran for Congress it was an issue in my campaign and I made it clear then. On issue of abortion, about three years in I had a different opinion on partial birth abortion after witnessing something from a physician in my district.
With regard to flag desecration, I've always been in support of an amendment to the constitution to protect the flags.
I'm a Christian and I love Jesus, Mr. Blitzer, and I can't help it. I co-founded the faith-based caucus in the Congress. I'm the co- chairman of that caucus, and if I'm elected to the Senate, we'll try to open and start the same caucus there. Not because I want to impose my religious views on anybody, but because I believe that faith is an important part of everyone's life.
And it's an important part of mine, it's hard to divorce it from who I am. And I take issue with anyone that says I flip flopped on any of those issues. The only issue that I had a changed heart on was the issue of partial birth abortion after being there for a few years and witnessing something that changed my heart.
My relationship with my good lord, Mr. Blitzer is very simple. He knows far more than I will ever know, and as long as I'm continuing to learn and continuing to be open-minded, I think I can continue to be not only a good public servant, but a good Christian. I make no apology for that to any Democrat, Republican or anyone for that matter.
BLITZER: Congressman Harold Ford Jr., the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate from Tennessee. Thanks for taking a few moments out and joining us here in THE SITUATION ROOM.
FORD: Thanks for having me.
BLITZER: And to our viewers, you're in THE SITUATION ROOM, where new pictures and information are arriving all the time. Happening now, it's what many are call a dirty word. That would be timetable. The top U.S. military commander in Iraq, General George Casey says it will take another 12-to-18 months until Iraqi security forces are completely able to take over security.
It's not exactly an endorsement, but it is an earful. In a cable TV news interview, the Vice President Dick Cheney says Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton could win the White House, should she run in 2008.
And Republican Speaker Dennis Hastert testifies about the Mark Foley scandal. He answered questions from ethics panel members. They're trying to determine when Hastert and his staff learned about Foley's sexually charged electronic messages to former pages. I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
In just 14 days, two weeks from now, American voters will make a powerful decision about which party controls the Congress. The White House took an unusual step today to try to help the Republicans energize their base of support. Mostly conservative talk radio hosts were invited to get up close time with senior administration officials.
Our White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux has more on the Republicans radio day -- Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well Wolf, it really is an aggressive campaign by the White House. Clearly they're trying to win over these radio hosts. They are overwhelmingly conservative, they are considered friends of the president. But having talked to them, you realize as well, they're having a tough time swallowing his agenda.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX (voice-over): It's a transparent attempt by the White House to rally its Republican base, two weeks before the midterm elections.
MARTHA ZOLLER, WOUN GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA: You know somebody important is coming in when the Secret Service is at the doorway and the media is running through.
MALVEAUX: A tent was pitched for more than three dozen radio hosts, overwhelmingly conservative, invited to gab with the administration's top guns.
NEAL BOORTZ, WSB ATLANTA: Republicans in the Senate were perfectly willing to institute an amnesty program.
MALVEAUX: For Neal Boortz of WSB out of Atlanta, it was a chance to mouth off about a flight to the homeland security secretary.
BOORTZ: Wow! What a deal, just yesterday at Hartsfield, Mr. Secretary, they swiped my deodorant because it was a three-and-a-half ounce stick.
MALVEAUX: There's a whiff of desperation. Several talk show hosts described, of a White House eager to sell its agenda.
TOM KEENE, BLOOMBERG RADIO: There's an urgency here. There is an urgency in this city. And you can just feel it in that tent over by the north portico. They're focused.
MARK DAVIS, "THE MARK DAVIS SHOW", DALLAS: These are guys who know that the political waters are tough. They know the war is not particularly popular and they know the president is not particularly popular. But they are on a mission. They have to stay on message. They know what they've got to do.
MALVEAUX: What they're doing is driving home one message. White House counselor Dan Bartlett with Boortz.
DAN BARTLETT, COUNSELOR TO THE PRESIDENT: If Democrats take control of this Congress it's not going to be in the best interest of the American people.
MALVEAUX: The toughest questions from the hosts and listeners alike were on Iraq. The president's national security adviser tussled with NPR.
STEPHEN HADLEY, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: There has been enormous progress. There's real progress, there's real politics, there are leaders who actually have a call on various groups in Iraq. But it's taken a long time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But in addition to the real politics, there's also real violence taking place, real sectarian violence.
HADLEY: And those are related.
MALVEAUX: Millions of Republicans tune in to talk radio. Their hosts playing a critical role in selling the White House's agenda. But some have been frustrated with the Bush administration over issues like Iraq, immigration and big spending. The White House is desperately trying to woo them, too.
BOORTZ: As soon as they tasted the nectar of power in Washington, DC, all that went out the window. And quite frankly as dangerous as it may be, I'm just kind of fed up with it at this point.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: And, Wolf, there are some Democrats who are crying foul, saying that the White House has used really the grounds here for what they consider a campaign event. But officials fire back saying that look, President Clinton used to use his radio day to promote his health care agenda -- Wolf?
BLITZER: Suzanne, thank you. And while Republicans are scrambling to rally the base, Democrats are trying to avoid the mistakes of the past, mistakes that have cost them control of the U.S. Congress.
Our senior political correspondent Candy Crowley is reporting on that as part of our CNN's unprecedented series on "Broken Government."
Candy?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, what we took a look at is what's wrong with Democrats, why have they been unable to win some very important elections really over the past 40 years. One of the problems we found was an identity crisis. Just what exactly is a Republican?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CROWLEY (voice-over): Free association, I say Democrat, you say.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know if it stands for anything now.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Losers. No, I don't mean that like they are losers. I mean it in a form of they're not standing up.
CROWLEY: One may have something to do with the other. Democrats have been the minority in Congress for 12 years. When George Bush leaves the White House, Democrats will have occupied the Oval Office for 12 of the last 40 years. Which brings us to the next question. What is wrong with these people? Number one, no backbone.
DAVID "MUDCAT" SAUNDERS, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: We do not fight back. This wuss factor in the Democratic Party is real.
CROWLEY: Two, all policy, no pulse.
GOV. BRIAN SCHWEITZER (D), MONTANA: They keep talking about these issues in a very complicated way, where all the money is coming from and where it's going to go and how long this program is going to last and people are looking at their watch wondering, how do I get out of here?
DOUG HATTAWAY, FORMER GORE ADVISER: Democrats need to stop trying to sell people policy papers and start talking to people's heart as well as their head.
CROWLEY: Ever since the tumultuous early '70s when Democrats got tagged as the party of acid, amnesty and abortion, they have been on the losing side of the values debate, the defense debate and, oh yes, the guns debate. Al Gore and John Kerry lost every southern state and most of the mid and interior West.
BRUCE REED, DLC: Our biggest problem is that of late, we've been losing elections.
CROWLEY: Maybe this is the year that proves the exception and Democrats will sweep into power. So when I say 2008 Democrats running for president you say?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right now they seem to stand for opposing George Bush so I think they need to figure something else out.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CROWLEY: Democrats believe they're in for a pretty good year, Wolf here, but they admit it's probably mostly because Republicans are falling apart. We had a new poll out today that when we asked, do you think that Democrats have solutions for the nation's problems and very close to 60 percent said no.
BLITZER: Candy, thank you very much.
BLITZER: And this important programming note to our viewers. Please join Candy for her special report tonight in CNN special series "Broken Government." Her report entitled "Two Left Feet" airs right at the top of the hour, 8:00 p.m. Eastern.
Just ahead, the Iraq factor. Find out how it will play in Ohio. It could decide who controls the Congress.
And ballot box meltdown. We'll find out if your vote will actually count. Stay with us, you're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: In Ohio tonight, a combustible mix of two of the trends of this 2006 election: an incumbent senator, a Republican very much on the ropes right now; and the Iraq War, very much a part of the political equation.
CNN's Joe Johns is in Cleveland. He's joining us now live -- Joe.
JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Joe, a blustery night in Cleveland. This state went for President Bush in the last election and the question is whether the voters may be turning away from the GOP.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(voice-over): In any other year, a senator like Mike DeWine, respected, thoughtful, experienced, would have little trouble getting reelected. But this is not any other year. DeWine is in an uphill reelection battle because of what he and other Republican candidates have taken to calling the environment.
SEN. MIKE DEWINE (R), OHIO: That the patience of the American people is running thin.
JOHNS: By that, he means patience with the war in Iraq, and he's talking about the mood of the voters. It's an environment where an incumbent Republican senator in a tight reelection race freely disses the president's top man at the Pentagon.
DEWINE: He would not be my secretary of defense, if -- if I was the president of the United States.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why not?
DEWINE: He has, you know, made huge mistakes. And I think history will judge him very harshly.
JOHNS: A sign of the times that a Republican is on defense about the war he voted for, while his Democratic opponent is riding his no- vote to a solid lead in the polls.
REP. SHERROD BROWN (D-OH), OHIO SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: He voted for the Iraq war. I voted against the Iraq war.
(APPLAUSE)
JOHNS: Sherrod Brown, Democratic congressman from the liberal wing of the party, is enjoying a lead of about eight points, according to the polls, which is substantial in this closely divided state. And he's trying to lump the war in with a laundry list of domestic national issues that divide Democrats from Republicans.
BROWN: I think that Republicans in Washington have taken the country in the wrong direction: the Iraq war, a drug bill written for the drug companies, an oil energy bill written by the oil companies. They're responsible for this. And that's why people want a different direction in our country, want a different direction in our state. They want to see change.
JOHNS: DeWine's problem is that the winds appear to be running against him.
DEWINE: People are, in Ohio, very concerned about Iraq, as they should be. And, you know, it -- it certainly impacts -- impacts the election. They're also concerned about terrorism. And, you know, in this race, a big difference -- Congressman Brown, 10 times in the 1990s, voted to cut intelligence, then voted several different times against the Patriot Act.
JOHNS: DeWine is pushing what he's doing for the local folks, emphasizing his experience, trying to make the point that he's in a better position to help Ohio.
One influential conservative in the state says DeWine is also fighting off ethics issues that he had nothing to do with, including one scandal involving the state's Republican Governor, Bob Taft.
DAVE ZANOTTI, AMERICAN POLICY ROUNDTABLE: And it's unfortunate for Mike DeWine, because he got caught in a twofold storm. Had he been able just to endure the national questions about Iraq and the administration in the off-election year, he would have weathered that storm very, very well. It's the Taft drain, on top of the other, that he has got to break out from.
END VIDEOTAPE)
JOHNS: This state has been a really good indicator of national trends. So what happens here could have significance for other parts of the country -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Joe, thanks very much.
Both of those candidates will be joining us tomorrow, right here in the SITUATION ROOM.
Still ahead tonight, stem-cell politics. Michael J. Fox and an emotional appeal to voters.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: This face and name are certainly well-known. So is his disease. The actor Michael J. Fox, who's long publicly talked about having Parkinson's, is now at the center of a campaign controversy.
Let's go to CNN's Mary Snow. She's watching this story -- Mary.
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, that controversy was sparked after a radio show talk host claimed that Michael J. Fox is exaggerating the effects of his disease in order to help Democrats.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SNOW (voice-over): We've seen him before, campaigning on behalf of stem cell research. But this year, television viewers could clearly see the toll Parkinson's Disease has taken on Michael J. Fox.
MICHAEL J. FOX, ACTOR: They say all politics is local, but it's not always the case. What you do in Missouri matters to millions of Americans. Americans like me.
SNOW: Fox is campaigning for Missouri U.S. Senate candidate and Democrat Claire McCaskill. In the ad, Fox urges voters not to support Republican Senator Jim Talent.
FOX: Unfortunately, Senator Jim Talent opposes expanding stem cell research.
SNOW: Fox did similar ads for Democrats in Wisconsin and Maryland. It drew a strongly delivered response from conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh, who, on his nationally syndicated show, called into question why Fox was shaking so much.
RUSH LIMBAUGH, HOST, "THE RUSH LIMBAUGH SHOW": This is really shameless, folks. This is really shameless of Michael J. Fox. Either he didn't take his medication or he's acting, one of the two.
SNOW: Today in Illinois, Fox made a reference to Limbaugh's comments during a campaign stop for Democrat Tammy Duckworth, who's running for Congress.
FOX: I'm kind of lucky right now. It's ironic, given some things that have been said in the last couple of days, that my pills are working really well right now.
SNOW: Some conservatives who oppose embryonic stem cell research don't agree with the way Limbaugh handled it.
RAMESH PONNURU, "NATIONAL REVIEW" SENIOR EDITOR: I don't think Republicans are going to be hurt because on talk show host, however influential, said something foolish, although it wasn't helpful. I think the key thing that Republicans are going to have to do is to explain that these ads oversimplify the issues.
SNOW: Embryonic stem cell research has gained much attention in Missouri because there's state ballot initiative that basically supports stem cell research and any therapies that come of it. Proponents of the initiative have spent nearly $3 million in advertising, compared to $111,000 from the opposition.
Still, there's competition on the airwaves from groups who have their message.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Embryonic stem cell research will require millions of eggs and women will pay a terrible price.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SNOW: That price, say some critics of embryonic stem cell research will include cloning and egg-farming. That is something Michael J. Fox says he opposes that and does not want to see happen -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Mary, thanks very much.
Mary Snow reporting for us from New York.
Up ahead, the politics of ugly? Hillary Clinton's challenger, did he go after the looks of the former First Lady? Jeanne Moos is on the story.
Stay with us. You're in the SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back. Tonight, Senator Hillary Clinton's appearance is under scrutiny and questions about whether her Republican opponent is getting ugly.
Here's CNN's Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There they were, friendly opponents.
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), NEW YORK: Hi, John. How are you?
MOOS: Note the warm, two-handed shake. But since then, things have gotten ugly.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's the stupidest thing I have ever heard.
MOOS (on camera): "Hillary needs millions in surgery to make her pretty."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's out of his head.
JOHN SPENCER (R), NEW YORK SEN. CANDIDATE: What's ugly is the cover of that paper.
MOOS (voice-over): That newspaper printed this story by political reporter Ben Smith, who happened to be seated next to Hillary's Senate opponent, John Spencer, on a plane when he allegedly said this about Hillary's looks when she was younger: "You ever see a picture of her back then? Whew, I don't know why Bill married her."
(on camera): Why did he say all that stuff if he knew who he was talking to?
BEN SMITH, "NEW YORK DAILY NEWS": Well he's famous for and kind of prides himself on being very loose and just kind of speaking his mind.
SPENCER: I'm saying he fabricated this, that I never used the word ugly. I never talked about Senator Clinton having a million dollars' worth of work.
MOOS: He says he didn't say the word ugly.
SMITH: Yes, he didn't use the word ugly.
MOOS: He implied it.
SMITH: Exactly.
MOOS (voice-over): And what did Hillary jokingly say about her younger self?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, "I was a cutie." She was.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, she was not a cutie.
MOOS: Though Spencer denied saying she had millions of dollars of plastic surgery, Hillary was already responding.
CLINTON: Well, you know, I have never seen a campaign where we're now down to false accusations about appearance. I mean, this is really beyond my experience.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It doesn't matter how ugly she is or how pretty she is. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, that's none of his business.
MOOS: Forgot the new show "Ugly Betty."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.
MOOS: The not ugly Hillary story was the hot topic.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was gorgeous.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's probably true.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think she had facial surgery.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What? What are you talking about? Where? Show me evidence?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just saw her the other night and she ...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She has got the same nose, the same smile.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She looks better than she had, like, five years ago.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Physically, do you find her to be an attractive woman?
SPENCER: I think -- well, you know, she's good-looking woman. She's not ugly, that's for sure.
MOOS: On the street, they said the laugh's on him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's nobody to talk.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, on a looks campaign, she's much more attractive.
SPENCER: She looks better than me, I'll tell you that.
MOOS: The Spencer campaign complained to the "Daily News" that the paper's coverage was "despicable." But another little brushfire cropped up when a writer from Westchester's "Journal News" asked Spencer if he would paint Hillary with the L-word, liberal, during their debate. Spencer reportedly replied, "As long as I don't call her a lesbian, I'm OK."
There are so many wrinkles to this story. It requires Botox.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Botox is fine.
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: And still ahead, the speaker of the House testifies before the House Ethics Committee on the Mark Foley scandal.
And at the top of the hour, "BROKEN GOVERNMENT." Have Democrats learned the lessons of the past? Candy Crowley brings you a CNN investigation. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Coming up in a couple of minutes at the top of the hour, "BROKEN GOVERNMENT." Candy Crowley looks at whether Democrats have learned how to win again.
First though, let's check in with Zain Verjee for a closer look at some other important stories making news -- Zain.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR: Wolf, House Speaker Dennis Hastert today testified before the House Ethics Committee behind closed doors. The panel is trying to determine when he and his staff first learned about former Congressman Mark Foley's contact with teenage pages, and what they did about it.
Hastert's testimony followed Congressman Tom Reynolds. The House GOP campaign chairman says he warned Hastert about Foley this past spring. Hastert has said that he doesn't remember that.
China's giving its first public account of its recent mission to North Korea over Pyongyang's nuclear program. China's Foreign Ministry spokesman says North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il did not apologize for conducting a nuclear weapons test, but he adds North Korea did say it had no plan to carry out a second test, and expressed a willingness to return to six-party nuclear talks if financial sanctions are resolved.
An Associated Press photographer who was abducted in Gaza today has now been freed. Emilio Morenatti was kidnapped by Palestinian gunmen as he left his apartment in Gaza City this morning. He says he's tired, but very happy to be back home. He says his kidnappers kept him in a room for about four hours before releasing him. No one has claimed responsibility for his abduction. The Hamas-led government had demanding his swift release -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Zain, thanks very much.
I'll see you back here tomorrow. Thanks very much for joining us. I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM, and with just two weeks left until Election Day, CNN presents an America Votes 2006 special, "BROKEN GOVERNMENT." Candy Crowley investigates Democrats' "TWO LEFT FEET."
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