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The Situation Room
Lebanon Mourns Assassinated Cabinet Minister; Rudy Giuliani's Presidential Chances; Political Turkeys of the Year
Aired November 22, 2006 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: 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: the toll of war on the Marine Corps. It's 4:00 p.m. here in Washington, where the top Marine says Iraq and Afghanistan are stretching the corps to its limits. And he's suggesting big changes to fix things.
Also: a match made in politics, African-American and the Republican Party. The GOP hoped some prominent African-American candidates this year would bring major gains among African-American voters. But it remains, at best, a rocky relationship.
And, just in time for Thanksgiving, a distinction no politician wants -- whose missteps and misdeeds earned them our "Political Turkeys of the Year" award?
I'm John King. Wolf Blitzer is off today. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
A sobering assessment today from the nation's top Marine -- General James Conway says what he calls the long war is putting a strain on the corps, and that he's studying how to allow Marines at war enough time here at home, while also ensuring they meet their requirements to the country.
General Conway, who became the Marine commandant just last week, says that, to strike that delicate balance, the Marine Corps either needs to grow in size or to have its role in the Iraq war reduced.
Meanwhile, the war has reportedly reached a new grim milestone, the highest number of civilians killed in Iraq since the war began. The United Nations Mission in Iraq says over 3,700 civilians were killed last month. That violence surely be among the topics when President Bush and the Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, meet next week. The White House says the two leaders will sit down in Jordan.
For more on the latest evidence of how the war is testing military readiness, let's turn now to CNN senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre -- Jamie.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, General James Conway, the Marine Corps commandant, only on the job for a week, says something has got to give. Either fewer Marines need to be sent to war, or the Marine Corps needs to recruit more Marines and increase the size of the force.
The problem is, there's only 180,000 Marines on active duty. It's the smallest U.S. military service. And they're supposed to be serving tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan of only seven months, then getting about 14 months off to recover. But, because of the pace of the war and the unrelenting violence, and the inability of the United States to cut troop levels in Iraq, those Marines are going back, sometimes after only seven or eight months, back into the war zone.
General Conway, in a breakfast meeting with reporters, this morning said, it's not just a strain on the individual Marines, but it's a strain on the Marine Corps as a whole, which has to forgo training for some of its other important missions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GENERAL JAMES CONWAY, U.S. MARINE CORPS COMMANDANT: We're not providing to the nation some of the other things that we should be able to do, in virtually any other nature of contingency.
We're not sending battalions like we used to for the mountain warfare training, the jungle training. And we're not doing combined arms exercises that we used to do for the fire and maneuver types of activities that we have to be prepared to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, with Marines, some Marine units heading back for their fourth tour of duty in Iraq, General Conway says he's worried that they are going to lose some of the good Marines they have, because they will just say, it's too much of a strain; they can't balance their family life.
But General Conway is not yet ready to an increase in the size of the Marine Corps, because he says he wants to wait and see what the new adjustment in Iraq strategy is going to be from those review panels that are looking at it. If it turns out they ask for fewer Marines, then, he thinks he can probably get along with the Marine Corps the size it is now -- John.
KING: Jamie, remarkably candid comments, though, in the middle of those reviews, and in the middle of the debate in Congress about whether to have more troops in the short term, whether to increase the size of the military in the long term. He's been on the job just a week or so. Is this an effort to influence those political debates, in your view?
MCINTYRE: Well, you know, it's basically -- it's a realization -- first of all, you got to remember, he was a Marine commander on the ground in Iraq.
His last job was on the joint staff planning for and dealing with the war, so, he has a pretty good idea of where things are going. And, as he says, there aren't many alternatives. You either have to have more Marines, or you got to send fewer of them.
And I -- the one thing I thought was kind of surprising, though, is that here's a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. And I really got the impression he has no idea whether this strategy is going to call for more troops or not, but he's got to plan for the worst.
KING: Jamie McIntyre for us at the Pentagon -- Jamie, thank you very much.
Elsewhere in the Middle East, today, in Lebanon, mournful crowds carried the coffin of the Lebanese industry minister who was gunned down, assassinated, yesterday.
CNN's Beirut bureau chief, Brent Sadler, has more on the mourning and the political fallout.
BRENT SADLER, CNN BEIRUT BUREAU CHIEF: John, days of mourning here in Lebanon, a heavy deployment of troops to secure the capital, and dramatic revelations here that Cabinet ministers supporting the U.S.-backed administration are lying low in so-called safe houses, fearing an assassin's bomb or bullet.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SADLER (voice-over): The somber aftermath of Lebanon's latest political assassination. The body of young cabinet minister Pierre Gemayel is carried through the streets of his Christian ancestral home outside Beirut -- a wave of sorrow for the bereaved family, amid volleys of gunfire to salute the fallen politician.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're like all Lebanese. We're very sad. We can do nothing. We just have to stay crying and looking for the truth.
SADLER (on camera): Politicians from all sides scramble to contain the fallout from this assassination, urging calm, amid fears of an outbreak of brutal violence between Lebanon's sharply divided religious communities that sparked a civil war here during the 1970s and '80s.
(voice-over): In a sign of desperate times here, the Lebanese army sent armored vehicles along a main highway leading to the capital. Heavy security measures are meant to calm a nervous population.
But confidence has worn thin, especially among Cabinet ministers, who have now started to take refuge in the fortress-like home of assassinated former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
A small army of guards, checkpoints and explosives, sniffer dogs seal off the mansion, protecting the late Hariri's son and political heir, Saad Hariri, from possible attack, along with some of his closest political allies.
SAAD HARIRI, LEBANESE PARLIAMENT LEADER: I'm afraid that there is still big threat on other ministers. And we should take all the precautions to these ministers. And I believe that these assassins will not stop.
SADLER: They watch a bank of television screens to monitor local and international news.
Marwan Hamade survived an attempt on his life two years ago.
MARWAN HAMADE, LEBANESE TELECOMMUNICATIONS MINISTER: Part of the battle is to protect yourself, not individually, but to protect the government of Lebanon against this destabilization through elimination.
SADLER: The fear factor now reaches the very top of the Western- backed government, confronting a Syrian-backed, Hezbollah-led opposition. Prime Minister Fouad Siniora now living inside his heavily defended office complex, fearing a possible attack on his life, too.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SADLER: Political parties loyal to the anti-Syrian ruling coalition have called for a mass turnout Thursday for the burial of the murdered minister, a day on which the numbers who attend the funeral could have an important bearing on whether the beleaguered government can survive -- John.
KING: Brent Sadler for us in another moment of crisis in Beirut -- thank you, Brent.
And Carol Costello joins us now from New York with a closer look at other stories making news.
Hi, Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, John.
Hello to all of you.
O.J. Simpson speaking out about his book, which, as you know, was pulled from publication -- he tells a Miami radio station the book entitled "If I Did It" was not a confession to the murders of his ex- wife and her friend. Simpson says he did not commit those murders, and he notes that the book was ghostwritten.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
O.J. SIMPSON, FORMER NFL PLAYER: I understood that this lady, Judith Regan, obviously thought: Oh, he did it, so he knows how to confess. He will just confess.
The writer, when I first met him, she said, well, she said it was going to be a confession book.
I said, well, I have nothing to confess.
So, they all negotiated, negotiated, negotiated, and they came up with this hook, make it a hypothetical. (END AUDIO CLIP)
COSTELLO: The book and a planned interview on FOX TV were canceled after a huge public outcry.
Things are back to normal at Northwest Airlines' Minneapolis hub, after baggage handlers briefly stopped working today. The work stoppage began at noon, and ended about a half-hour later. Union officials tell CNN the workers were protesting Northwest's hiring of non-union vendors to clean aircraft. The demonstration involved about 250 workers. Northwest says its operations are now running smoothly and normally. So, go to the airport to get to grandma's house.
Big traffic problems on a freeway in Los Angeles -- yes, on the day before Thanksgiving. Route 405 has been shut down by a big-rig crash just north of the Los Angeles Airport. The truck was carrying barrels of corrosive and flammable liquids when it overturned after a collision. TV reports say no barrels appear to be leaking, but hazmat teams have been sent to the scene, so it is going to be a long time.
Preparation now underway here in New York City for Macy's annual Thanksgiving Day Parade. You're taking a look at live pictures.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: We have been studying this balloon, trying to figure out who it was. We think it's Big Bird. We hope so, anyway.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: But, as you can see, people are busy inflating those big balloons. They're finishing up the floats. This is the parade's 80th year. The parade begins at 9:00 tomorrow morning.
And, of course, the big star of the parade is not that yellow thing, John, but Snoopy -- the Snoopy balloon going to be the big star.
KING: Snoopy's -- that's definitely Big Bird. We have got Scooby-Doo behind him, and Snoopy off there somewhere.
COSTELLO: It couldn't be better.
(LAUGHTER)
KING: We will see more as the day goes on.
(LAUGHTER)
KING: Carol Costello, thank you very much.
Jack Cafferty is off today, but Jack and "The Cafferty File" return on Monday.
Next up here: The man known as America's mayor takes another step toward a possible run for the White House. But if Rudy Giuliani does jump in, does he have a shot at the Republican presidential nomination? We have got some brand-new poll numbers.
Plus: Republicans were hoping for gains among black Americans at the polls, but even some high-profile African-American candidates apparently didn't help much. We will explore why.
And they were among the hecklers on the receiving end of a racial outburst by comedian Michael Richards. What they said and what they heard when they join us live, right here in THE SITUATION ROOM, that's up next hour.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: Word just into CNN that President Bush isn't the only top administration official about to head off on some Mideast diplomacy.
Let's get the latest from our Carol Costello in New York -- Carol.
COSTELLO: No, he's not, John.
We just got word from the office of the vice president that Vice President Dick Cheney will celebrate Thanksgiving with his family, presumably, and then he will head on Friday to Saudi Arabia to meet with King Abdullah. We don't know specifically what they will be talking about, but we do know that, of course, they will probably be talking about issues surrounding problems in the Middle East -- again, Dick Cheney off to Saudi Arabia on Friday.
When we know more, we will pass it along -- back to you, John.
KING: Carol Costello for us on Mr Cheney's diplomatic trip -- thank you, Carol, very much.
Now, Rudy Giuliani takes another step toward running for president. The former New York City mayor filed papers this week to form a federal exploratory committee. These types of committees allow presidential hopefuls to test the waters, to begin raising money, building a staff for a White House run, without having to officially declare they're running.
Giuliani filed similar papers with New York state earlier this month.
Giuliani is the number-one choice of registered Republicans in our new poll out just today of GOP presidential hopefuls. The New York Republican narrowly topped Senator John McCain of Arizona. Both are far ahead of the rest of the potential field. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and outgoing Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney round out our top four.
When asked specifically about Giuliani, one third questioned support him. Forty-three percent would consider supporting the former mayor. And 21 percent of registered Republicans say they don't want Giuliani as their nominee. Pretty positive numbers, but, remember, it's two years out before the 2008 presidential election. So, take these early polls with at least a grain or two of salt.
Giuliani could face some tough obstacles, if he decides to throw his hat into the ring.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KING (voice-over): A Rudy Giuliani White House bid would challenge the gold standard of Republican presidential politics of the past quarter-century.
TERRY JEFFREY, EDITOR, "HUMAN EVENTS": Since Ronald Reagan's election in 1980, and since the Republicans wrote the pro-life plank into their platform then, the pro-life position has really been essential for a Republican presidential candidate.
KING: The former New York City mayor is anything but a social or cultural conservative.
RUDOLPH GIULIANI (R), FORMER MAYOR OF NEW YORK: I'm pro-choice. I'm pro-gay rights.
KING: Giuliani supports a woman's right to an abortion, and, back in 1999, he opposed a federal ban on late-term abortions.
GIULIANI: No, I have not supported that, and I don't see my position on that changing.
KING: Immigration could be another presidential land mine. Back in 1996, Mayor Giuliani went to federal court to challenge new federal laws requiring the city to inform the federal government about illegal immigrants.
JEFFREY: He took the side of illegal immigrants in New York City, against the Republican Congress.
KING: Giuliani opposes same-sex marriage, but, as mayor, he supported civil unions and extending health and other benefits to gay couples. He also supported the assault-weapons ban and other gun- control measures opposed by the National Rifle Association.
GIULIANI: I'm in favor of gun control. I'm pro-choice.
KING: Back in 1998, Giuliani told an Iowa public television interviewer the Republican Party needed to be more open to views like his.
GIULIANI: The Republicans have to appeal to moderates. When Republicans do not appeal to moderates, including moderate Republicans, we lose.
KING: But then California Governor Pete Wilson and Pennsylvania's Senator Arlen Specter are among the social moderates who found the Republican nominating process less than welcoming. It begins in Iowa, where Christian conservatives have disproportionate power in the state's caucus format. Libertarian New Hampshire is more welcome territory, but then comes conservative South Carolina.
Giuliani calls himself a commonsense conservative who believes in low taxes and balanced budgets. And he had a strong law-and-order image both as mayor and as a federal prosecutor.
GIULIANI: I don't agree with the litmus test for any party, Republican, Democratic, liberal, conservative.
KING: The most recent CNN poll by Opinion Research Corporation ranks Giuliani at the top of the Republican field.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Giuliani for president!
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
KING: But surveys this far out are based largely on name recognition.
And conservatives like Terry Jeffrey scoff when asked about Giuliani's chances.
JEFFREY: Rudy Giuliani has absolutely no chance of winning the Republican presidential nomination. He's just way too far left on cultural issues for Republican voters.
KING: Giuliani advisers, however, say Republicans unhappy with the party's direction and its 2006 midterm losses might be more open to a moderate and a Washington outsider in 2008 -- one reason he moved so quickly to form a presidential exploratory committee.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: And, so, where does Giuliani stand on some other key issues? The former New York mayor was a supporter of the Iraq war. And, on Social Security reform, he says he supports individual savings accounts, but not at the expense of guaranteed benefits.
Coming up: more on Rudy Giuliani. If he makes a run for the White House, does he have a chance? I will ask Donna Brazile and Terry Jeffrey, who you just saw in that piece. That's ahead in today's "Strategy Session."
Plus: Republicans were hoping some high-profile candidates would help them make major gains with African-Americans. But, come Election Day, that didn't happen. We will find out why next.
Stay right here. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: Welcome back to THE SITUATION ROOM. I'm John King in Washington. Carol Costello joins us now from New York with a closer look at other stories making news.
Hi, Carol.
COSTELLO: Hi, John. Hello to all of you.
Israel stepping up its offensive against Palestinian rocket squads -- today, Israeli troops and tanks advanced on two northern Gaza towns. Two Palestinian civilians and two Hamas militants were killed. The Israeli operation failed to stop rockets from slamming into southern Lebanon -- or southern Israel, rather, however. One hit a school bus just before students arrived. No one there was hurt.
Iran won't be getting any help in building a plutonium-producing reactor, at least not now. Today, the 35-nation board of the U.N. Nuclear Agency effectively agreed to deny Iran technical help. It was concerned that the project could yield bomb-grade plutonium. Iran says its nuclear energy agenda is limited to making electricity. Diplomats say, Iran can renew its request at a later date.
India is worried that a civilian nuclear cooperation agreement with the United States could lead to attacks on its nuclear plants. India's home minister says terrorist threats to India's nuclear plants have increased since the tentative agreement was reached with the U.S. That nuclear pact is in the final stages of approval by the U.S. Congress.
Big protest today in Turkey, in advance of next week's visit by Pope Benedict. This will be his first trip to a Muslim nation. Police detained 40 members of a far-right-wing group. They're upset that the pope plans to visit a former church that was later converted to a mosque. The building is now a museum. And public religious ceremonies inside are forbidden.
That's a look at national headlines -- international headlines -- back to you, John.
KING: Carol Costello -- Carol, thank you very much.
And, back here in the United States, the political calculus for winning more votes -- the Republican Party hoped, in this past campaign, that one way to do that would be by courting a court that has long been disenchanted with them.
But did that strategy work?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KING (voice-over): NFL Hall of Famer Lynn Swann closed his campaign for Pennsylvania governor with an optimistic prediction.
LYNN SWANN (R), PENNSYLVANIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: The African-American community is a very diverse community. They have different opinions, in terms of the direction they want to go. And I think that will be reflective in the polls. KING: But Election Day was a disappointment for Swann and a Republican Party that hoped three African-American nominees for statewide would help it make inroads among African-American voters.
Swann lost by 20 points. In Ohio, gubernatorial nominee Kenneth Blackwell lost by more than 20 points.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you so much.
KING: In Maryland, lieutenant Michael Steele lost his bid for Senate by nearly 10 points.
DAVID BOSITIS, SENIOR RESEARCH ASSOCIATE, JOINT CENTER FOR POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC STUDIES: It's not the case that you can just nominate an African-American, and then African-Americans are going to vote for a Republican. They're looking at issues. And the issues that they see from the Republican Party are not issues they support.
KING: In this month's House races, exit polls show Republicans won 10 percent of the African-American vote. Swann received 13 percent of the African-American vote, Blackwell 20 percent, and Steele 25 percent.
LT. GOV. MICHAEL STEELE (R), MARYLAND: The door is wide open. I think this campaign represents a maturation politically within the African-American community and for our country, quite frankly.
KING: Steele was the exception, winning accolades for his campaign, even in defeat.
But the overall results were disappointing to a Republican Party that hoped the midterms would be a major building block. Instead, the national percentage of African-Americans who voted Republican was little changed from years past. And black turnout was viewed as critical in races that gave Democrats control of the Senate.
BOSITIS: In Virginia, in Missouri especially, in Pennsylvania, and in Ohio, the black vote increased in all those places, and went strongly Democratic.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And I understand that many African-Americans distrust my political party.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
KING: The results were a disappointment for a White House-led effort that included the president's decision to end a five-year boycott and speak to the NAACP this year.
BUSH: I consider it a tragedy that the party of Abraham Lincoln let go of its historic ties with the African-American community.
KING: But Mr. Bush is identified with two of the biggest reasons African-Americans remain disenchanted with the Republican Party, the Iraq war and the administration's response to Hurricane Katrina. And if there are to be Republican inroads in the future on a national scale, most believe they will only be possible once this president passes from the national stage.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: The relationship between African-Americans and the Republican Party is among our topics in today's "Strategy Session."
Joining me here at the table, CNN political analyst and Democratic strategist Donna Brazile, and Terry Jeffrey, a prominent conservative who is editor "Human Events Online."
Terry, let's start with you.
And I want to put the numbers up on the screen for our viewers as we do it, reminding them, the African-American vote in House races in the election just passed, 10 percent for Republicans, 89 percent for Democrats, obviously, a big part of the Democratic victory.
Where have the Republicans gone wrong on a strategy effort that clearly Ken Mehlman has said is a priority, the president has said is a priority?
JEFFREY: Well, obviously, the big breaking point with the African-American community and the Republican Party was the civil rights movement in the early 1960s, the 1964 Civil Rights Acts. The Republicans have never got back on board with blacks since then.
But I would point out, John, that Ken Blackwell in Ohio, Lynn Swann in Pennsylvania, and Michael Steele in Maryland, although clearly they were part of an effort by the Republicans to reach out to African-Americans, first and foremost, they were Republican candidates because of their conservative values, their Republican outlook.
In the case of two of those gentlemen, Ken Blackwell and with Michael Steele, these are longtime Republican and conservative activists, who worked their way up through the party, and won their nominations, in some cases, against the opposition of the Republican establishment.
KING: So, a building block?
(CROSSTALK)
JEFFREY: Yes, and I think you are going to see Michael Steele and Ken Blackwell come back. These guys have dedicated their life to public service. They're not going to get out of public service. I think they have a future in the Republican Party and hopefully in elective office.
KING: I guess one of your jobs, in helping the Democrats, is to keep the African-American community as part of the base.
We noted the Senate races, where they did make a difference. In terms -- let's assess these Republican candidates. You saw Michael Steele won some traditional Democratic support in the state of Maryland, because of the some disagreements within the party. A positive thing in the long run for the Republicans to compete more?
DONNA BRAZILE, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, there's no question that Michael Steele ran as a different kind of Republican.
He ran against the Republican Party, distanced himself, wouldn't even put Republican on his literature. He picked up two percentage points over the 2002 totals, when African-Americans felt somewhat abandoned by Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, the former lieutenant governor.
Look, it's not the quality of the candidates that the Republicans run. It's the substance of their message. If they are unable to talk about jobs, economic development, housing, health care, those are the issues that interest African-Americans. So, it's about the substance, not just the candidates themselves.
JEFFREY: John, I would like to point out, when Ken Blackwell ran for secretary of state and won, he got 40 percent of the black vote. This time, he got 20 percent.
This was an extremely bad year to be a Republican in Ohio, for reasons other than Ken Blackwell's positions on the issues. This is a man who started in politics, by the way, as mayor of Cincinnati. He's had a long career. People in that state know what he -- know what he believes in. I suspect you are going to see him come back.
KING: Let's move on to another different kind of Republican, to use your term...
(LAUGHTER)
KING: ... the former Mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani.
And, again, I want to show a poll as we have this discussion. This is our latest poll. With -- these are registered Republicans. Thirty-three percent say they currently support Mayor Giuliani for the Republican Party nomination for president. Forty-three percent say they're open to supporting him. Twenty-one percent, they don't want him as their nominee.
Terry, I featured you prominently in the piece we just did. You think he doesn't have a prayer.
JEFFREY: Right.
KING: Why?
JEFFREY: I don't think Rudy Giuliani has a prayer of winning the Republican nomination.
KING: What would he -- well, how could he change your mind?
JEFFREY: Well, I don't think he can, quite frankly. I think he's so dug into positions that are so far left, particularly on the culture, that he cannot win the support of core Republican voters. I think people know Rudy Giuliani basically as a guy who cleaned up New York City, who performed tremendously on September 11, 2001.
I don't think most Republican voters, John, in places like Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, know that he's pro-partial-birth abortion, know that he's so radical on the issue of marriage, that, in New York City, he pushed a city ordinance that virtually wiped out all distinction in New York City law between married and unmarried couples, regardless of their gender.
He's also pro-gun control. When people find out where he stands in the Republican Party, he's not going to have the support.
KING: I want to explore this in more detail with you, but, first a, yes-or-no question. Do you think Rudy Giuliani can win the Republican nomination?
BRAZILE: No. They're looking for a conservative. And he's not a conservative.
KING: And you don't want him to win it, do you? As a Democrat, he's the last kind of Republican you want as their nominee, isn't he?
BRAZILE: Well, he's hot. He's a rock star. But I don't know if he can translate that into Republican votes.
KING: Now, as a strategist, if you were having a meeting with Rudy Giuliani, and he says, I understand. I have this problem on abortion, problem on gay rights, problem on gun control.
BRAZILE: And immigration.
KING: And immigration.
BRAZILE: That's a subject that Terry failed to mention.
(CROSSTALK)
KING: Well, he did mention it in the piece we talking about there.
(CROSSTALK)
KING: What do you tell him to do? Can he change? Should he change on some of those positions? That's not unheard of in American politics. Or is his appeal that he's a straight shooter?
BRAZILE: Look, I think it's important that the Republican Party, like the Democratic Party, finds its -- its moral center, its center.
And, so, perhaps he can run as a moderate and attract some independents and others to support his candidacy. That -- I know Terry is alarmed about the prospect of Rudy running as a moderate. But he should run as he is. I mean, no one is going to change him. He won't change his position.
And I think, if he runs as a moderate, perhaps he can force the Republican Party to now find their center.
KING: There are -- I want to move on to another subject, but, quickly, there are those who think this is a tease, that he's going to explore and explore and explore...
(LAUGHTER)
KING: ... but, because of the all the issues you just noted, that, if he doesn't see a sea change in the Republican base, that, in the end, he won't run.
JEFFREY: Yes.
KING: Do you think he will?
JEFFREY: It might be a reconnaissance in force.
(LAUGHTER)
JEFFREY: I could see him going out there and really running, until, like, they have straw poll the next summer in Iowa, and he finds out he really doesn't have the support, and then he gets out.
KING: I want to quickly move on to the other issue, which -- you have the president going to Jordan to meet with the prime minister of Iraq -- this trip announced after we learned the president of Iraq would go to Tehran to meet with the leader of Iran.
The president has already said he's not ready to make any policy changes until he hears from the Jim Baker commission, until he hears from the internal Pentagon review. What is the point, Terry Jeffrey? What should the president be doing?
JEFFREY: Well, I think what the president is doing is, he's continuing up on the trip that Condoleezza Rice made a month ago over there to Cairo, where she met with the foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the Gulf Cooperation Council.
We're trying to get those Sunni countries, particularly King Abdullah of Jordan, to get the Sunni insurgency to work towards some sort of accommodation with Maliki's government. And I think the idea of having Maliki in Amman, Jordan, especially is a good thing, because, hopefully, we can make some progress on that diplomatic front.
(CROSSTALK)
BRAZILE: Look, October was the deadliest month. We just learned today from the U.N. 3,700 civilians died. Of course, a million -- I mean, thousands of Americans have died as well.
But, look, the truth is, is the president needs to go over there. He needs to look him in the eye and tell him that you have got to stabilize your country. You got to disband the militia.
And I think the president wants to deliver that message in person.
KING: Donna Brazile, Terry Jeffrey, thank you both for joining us...
JEFFREY: Thank you, John.
KING: ... in today's "Strategy Session."
And still ahead: He's a former federal judge who was impeached and kicked off the bench. Now he's a congressman who may soon chair the top House committee on intelligence -- the Alcee Hastings controversy up next.
Plus: He's the last New England Republican in the House left standing, after a brutal election for his party. How did Congressman Chris Shays do it? I will ask him in THE SITUATION ROOM -- coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: There are some new developments regarding a Democratic congressman who some accuse of being ethically challenged, but who's in line to get a major post in the Democratically controlled Congress.
CNN congressional correspondent Andrea Koppel is on Capitol Hill with more -- Andrea.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John, and Hastings' critics say they are strongly objecting to his becoming the next chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, not because of his actions as a congressman, but, rather, dating back a quarter-century ago, to when he was a judge.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KOPPEL (voice-over): In early 1983, Alcee Hastings, then a federal judge, walks out of a Miami courtroom a free man, acquitted of trying to extort a $150,000 bribe in a case before him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALCEE HASTINGS, JUDGE: I feel fine. I feel vindicated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOPPEL: But, five years later, the House of Representatives still votes 413-3 to impeach Hastings of his federal judgeship. The Senate would soon vote to convict, over the objections of heavyweight Republicans, like Pennsylvania's Arlen Specter, a former federal prosecutor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HASTINGS: You prepare for the best, and you prepare for the worst, and you accept what comes in between. Listen, succeeding is the best revenge.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOPPEL: Now, 23 years later, Florida Congressman Alcee Hastings is on the cusp of getting his revenge, on the short list of possible chairmen to head the House Intelligence Committee.
But critics are urging speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi not to do it -- one editorial writer calling him ethically challenged, another highlighting Hastings' friendship with Washington lawyer William Borders, who, unlike Hastings, was convicted in the bribery scheme.
"The evidence against Hastings is circumstantial, but it's too much to explain away, a suspicious pattern of telephone calls between Hastings and Borders at key moments in the case, and Hastings' appearance at a Miami hotel, as promised by Borders, as a signal that the judge had agreed to a payoff."
Some of the phone calls between Hastings and Borders were wiretapped by the FBI.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you hear with -- hear from him after we talked?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Uh-huh.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, then.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: See, I had -- I talked to him, and he wrote some things down for me.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
KOPPEL: In an effort to set the record straight, Hastings sent House colleagues a five-page letter this week obtained by CNN, calling his critics' sometimes venomous attacks misleading and poorly informed.
"I was impeached and removed, after I was acquitted by a jury in a nearly one-month federal trial. It is amazing how little importance is given to this fact. It is also baffling. In a jury trial, the evidence is the only consideration. In an impeachment, politics is central."
Members of the Congressional Black Caucus have also come to Hastings' defense, highlighting his seven years' experience on the Intelligence Committee, as well as questioning the motives of his critics.
REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D), SOUTH CAROLINA: We are a political body. So, the question is whether or not there are facts, or whether or not there are politics involved in all of this.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOPPEL: Now, speaker-elect Pelosi, who actually voted to impeach Hastings back in 1988, is keeping her cards close to her vest, and won't indicate which way she's leaning.
But, John, when I ran into the congressman a couple of weeks ago, Congressman Hastings, he indicated that he is preparing himself for the very real possibility that he won't get the job -- John.
KING: A fascinating drama, as we watch the Democrats prepare to take power.
Andrea Koppel on Capitol Hill -- Andrea, thank you very much.
Up next: It's New York vs. Denver. Which city is the best choice for the Democrats to hold their 2008 convention? Find out in today's "Political Radar."
And they were among the hecklers on the receiving end of a racial outburst by comedian Michael Richards -- what they said and what they heard when they join us live here in THE SITUATION ROOM next hour.
Stick around. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: A new quest tops today's "Political Radar."
Ed Gillespie may not be a household name across the country, but, among political elites here in Washington, he's very well-known. Now the former Republican National Committee chairman is on the hunt for a new job.
Gillespie today declared his bid to head Virginia's state Republican Party. Virginia used to be a solidly red state, but is now, you might say, turning purple, thanks to victories by Democrats in this year's Senate election and the last two governor's races. Virginia Republicans make a decision on a new chairman early next month.
Senator Hillary Clinton is weighing in on the battle between the two cities vying to host the Democrats' 2008 controversy.
Our Jeff Greenfield takes the story from there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SENIOR ANALYST: John, for the Democrats, it's come down to two candidates -- no, not for the presidential nomination, but for which city gets to host the 2008 convention. Republicans have already chosen Minneapolis-Saint Paul.
But, apart from the self-interest of hotels and restaurants and limo drivers, does it really matter? Well, it has, and it might. (voice-over): One candidate is New York City. It's a choice actively backed by Senator Hillary Clinton, which makes sense for a New York politician, and maybe for other, more expansive reasons.
New York has hosted the Democrats three times in the last 30 years. In fact, the only two Democrats to win the White House in the last 40 years, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, were both nominated in New York.
The other finalist is Denver, Colorado, a choice that is backed by Democrats looking to stake out new electoral territory. Denver's first and last convention was in 1908, when Democrats chose William Jennings Bryan for the third time. He lost in a landslide to William Howard Taft.
More relevant is that Democrats have picked up House, Senate and governor's seats in the Mountain West in recent years, making the region's 40-plus electoral votes, almost always reliably Republican, a tempting target for Democrats.
But, come on. How much does this matter? Well, in 1860, the still new Republican Party met at the Wigwam in Chicago. And the packed galleries helped cheer on the come-from-behind victory of their favorite son, Abe Lincoln.
In 1968, when Democrats gathered in Chicago, the class between anti-war demonstrators and Chicago Mayor Richard Daley's police produced images that deeply scarred the party. They didn't meet again in that once most popular convention city for 28 years.
In 1984, Democrats gathered in San Francisco to nominate Walter Mondale.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEANE KIRKPATRICK, UNITED STATES AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: The San Francisco Democrats...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GREENFIELD: And that gave Republican Convention keynoter Jeane Kirkpatrick a chance to slap a label, the San Francisco Democrats, on the party that seemed to mean all things out of the mainstream.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIRKPATRICK: When the Soviet Union walked out of arms-control negotiations and refused even to discuss the issues, the San Francisco Democrats didn't blame Soviet intransigence. They blamed the United States.
(APPLAUSE)
KIRKPATRICK: But, then, they always blame America first.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) (END VIDEO CLIP)
GREENFIELD: But, sometimes, the choice of a convention city can help.
When New York was on the brink of bankruptcy in 1975, President's Ford's refusal to bail the city out brought this overwrought tabloid headline, and it gave Jimmy Carter a chance to the tell the New York convention a year later that he would never tell the greatest city in the world to drop dead.
(on camera): That fall, Jimmy Carter carried New York state by just 4 percentage points. And, without those 41 electoral votes, Gerald Ford would have kept the White House -- John.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: Jeff Greenfield -- thank you very much, Jeff.
And coming up: President Bush pardons two turkeys. It's an annual tradition.
Another holiday tradition is our "Political Turkeys of the Year." Bill Schneider serves them up, with all the fixings, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: Here's a look at some of the "Hot Shots" coming in from the Associated Press, pictures likely to be in your newspaper tomorrow.
In London, British Prime Minister Tony Blair shows off his cricket skills for some young athletes.
At the White House, President Bush pardons a turkey in the Rose Garden, an annual Thanksgiving tradition.
In Iowa, some traumatized turkeys weren't so lucky. A tractor trailer carrying hundreds of birds overturned yesterday on a highway. Many of those turkeys were killed or injured.
And, in Chicago, Senator Barack Obama helps out at the Saint James Food Pantry.
And that's today's "Hot Shots," pictures often worth 1,000 words.
Next: more turkeys, "Political Turkeys," that is.
Plus: Scholarships, they are supposed to help the disadvantaged, so why a scholarship that's for whites only? Mary Snow is next with the "Culture Wars."
And, then, the so-called hecklers who touched off the actor known as Kramer's racial outburst, we will hear their side of the story, right here in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: It's being called insensitive and offensive. But the president of the College Republicans at Boston University is standing by his decision to sponsor a $250 scholarship for white students.
Our Mary Snow is in New York with today's "Culture Wars" -- Mary.
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, it is billed as a way to debate race issues when it comes to college financial aid, but College Republicans at Boston University are drawing criticism for the way they're gaining attention.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SNOW (voice-over): The idea was to provoke controversy at Boston University. And that goal has been met.
B.U.'s College Republicans are sponsoring a scholarship for white students only. The aid is $250, a sum the college GOP will pay out themselves to make a point.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But we're really just trying to point out the absurdity of the whole notion of race-based scholarships. And we hope people will consider that, and not write us off as racists or white supremacists, or anything of that sort.
SNOW: But the way the group brought attention to the issue is under fire.
RONALD RICHARDSON, DIRECTOR, BOSTON UNIVERSITY AFRICAN-AMERICAN STUDIES: It is silly. And it has created divisiveness among some of the students who were annoyed at this -- all the more reason for us to sit down and talk.
SNOW: The dean criticized the student group, saying their scholarship goes against the goal of increasing diversity at the school, where over 50 percent of the students are white.
The Massachusetts GOP criticized its charter college group, calling their move offensive.
But the head of the College Republicans says he had to use what he calls guerrilla tactics.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The best way to get College Republicans out there and -- and start the discussion is to do something controversial, to use satire. And College Republicans use this across the country to break through the liberalism that's on campus, especially at Boston University.
SNOW: But others say, scholarships are not a political issue, and there is a reason for affirmative action.
RICHARDSON: I think that I can understand their feelings. But I -- I see no other way in order to redress problems that were caused by racial discrimination, decades and decades of racial discrimination, that followed upon centuries of slavery.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SNOW: Now, the whites-only scholarship at Boston University isn't a first. It was also done at Roger Williams University in 2004 to protest affirmative action. The scholarship eventually went away -- John.
KING: And, Mary, has the university itself said whether it will step in here and do anything about this?
SNOW: Well, you know, what it's saying is that it's not condoning this, but it's also saying it can't do anything about it, because they say it's perfectly legal.
KING: Mary Snow, for us in New York -- Mary, thank you very much -- a fascinating debate.
And more now on turkeys, "Political Turkeys," that is.
For that, let's turn to our own senior political analyst -- and he's not turkey -- Bill Schneider -- Bill.
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: John, let's talk turkeys, foolish creatures, overstuff, noisy, self-important, a lot like politicians.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SCHNEIDER (voice-over): How do you become one of our "Political Turkeys of the Year"? By doing something pretty foolish. Let's see who makes the, um, cut.
Turkey number five is an entire flock. Four House members resigned in disgrace in four separate scandals: Tom DeLay, indicted for campaign violations; Bob Ney, guilty of corruption in connection with the Jack Abramoff investigation; Mark Foley, under investigation for sending inappropriate messages to teenage former congressional pages; and Duke Cunningham, sentenced, after pleading guilty of accepting more than $2 million in bribes from defense contractors, including antique French furniture, a yacht, and a Rolls-Royce.
RANDY CUNNINGHAM, FORMER U.S. CONGRESSMAN: I broke the law, concealed my conduct, and disgraced my office.
SCHNEIDER: Who paid for this flock of turkeys? The Republican Party, which lost its majority in Congress.
Not all the top five are Republicans. Turkey number four, Democratic Representative William Jefferson, caught with $90,000 in the freezer, cold cash. What was it doing there?
REP. WILLIAM JEFFERSON (D), LOUISIANA: My lawyer has advised me not to talk about those things, so I will not.
SCHNEIDER: He's under investigation by the FBI for fraud, bribery, and conspiracy, and fighting to retain his seat in a runoff next month.
Turkey number three: When you go hunting, the idea is to shoot the bird, right? Maybe not if you're the vice president, and end up shooting a fellow hunter.
RICHARD B. CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Actually, I'm feeling pretty comfortable up here. The lighting could be better.
(LAUGHTER)
CHENEY: I can still see the whites of your eyes.
(LAUGHTER)
SCHNEIDER: Thank goodness Cheney's friend is OK. This time, the turkey was on the other end of the gun.
Turkey number two: John Kerry makes a joke, sort of, a very bad joke.
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: You know, education, if you make the most of it, and you study hard, and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, you -- you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq.
SCHNEIDER: Only, the troops in Iraq didn't find it so funny. And it certainly won't help if Kerry decides to run in '08.
Turkey number: the macaca moment.
SEN. GEORGE ALLEN (R), VIRGINIA: So, welcome. Let's give a welcome to macaca here.
Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia.
(APPLAUSE)
SCHNEIDER: George Allen's remark to a staffer of his opponent helped cost him his Senate seat and his party's Senate majority.
As it happens, a macaca is a monkey, a monkey who turned a senator into a turkey.
ALLEN: This is my casual outfit. I have been working all day.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCHNEIDER: Now it's time to answer my annual Thanksgiving question: What three national disasters would happen if you dropped the Thanksgiving platter? Answer: the downfall of turkey, the breakup of china, and the overthrow of grease.
So, be careful.
John, was that a funnier joke than John Kerry's? KING: I'm glad you're not running for president, Bill.
(LAUGHTER)
KING: But nice hat.
SCHNEIDER: Thank you, Pilgrim.
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