CNN - Situation Room and Lou Dobbs Tonight - 2006-11-09

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Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] closed yesterday, NASDAQ down about a

[0:03] third of a percent. Now it's time for

[0:05] the situation room and book.

[0:08] >> Susan, thanks. And to our viewers,

[0:10] you're in the situation room where new

[0:11] pictures and information are arriving

[0:13] all the time. Standing by, CNN reporters

[0:16] across the United States and around the

[0:17] world to bring you today's top stories.

[0:20] Happening now, Virginia hands Democrats

[0:22] the keys to the United States Senate and

[0:25] turns Washington upside down. It's 400

[0:28] p.m. in Alexandria where Republican

[0:30] George Allen just threw in the towel.

[0:32] Now, Democrat Jim Webb is about to claim

[0:35] victory. We're going to carry his

[0:36] remarks live. It's hard to overstate the

[0:39] seismic shift underway on Capitol Hill.

[0:42] For the first time in a dozen years,

[0:44] Democrats will be in charge of both

[0:46] chambers of Congress. This hour, the

[0:48] critical questions. Are they ready? What

[0:51] will they do? And fence mending over at

[0:54] the White House. President Bush reaches

[0:56] out to the House Speaker in waiting. But

[0:58] is he welcoming Democrats with one hand

[1:01] and trying to lift slip some legislation

[1:03] past them with the other? I'm Wolf

[1:05] Blitzer. You're in the situation room.

[1:22] Right now, here in the nation's capital,

[1:24] of the structure of political power is

[1:26] cracking and shifting before our eyes.

[1:28] Less than an hour ago, Republican

[1:30] Senator George Allen set the

[1:32] transformation in motion. He conceded to

[1:34] his Democratic challenger, Jim Webb.

[1:37] Allen says he saw no good purpose in

[1:39] pursuing a rankerous recount. Webb is

[1:42] expected to go before the cameras in

[1:44] only a few minutes. He's already been

[1:46] calling himself senator elect. But

[1:48] Allen's announcement seals the deal and

[1:50] it gives the Democrats the sixth pickup

[1:52] they need to reclaim the control of the

[1:55] United States Senate. In the new Senate,

[1:58] Democrats will hold 51 seats, a razor

[2:00] thin majority. Republicans will hold 49

[2:04] seats. President Bush is showing he

[2:06] recognizes the new reality here in

[2:08] Washington where Democrats will be boss

[2:10] in both the Senate and the House. He

[2:12] invited House Speaker to be Nancy Pelosi

[2:15] to lunch today along with the number two

[2:17] House Democrat Stenny Hoyer. Their

[2:19] public message, at least for now, let's

[2:22] bury the hatchet. Our White House

[2:23] correspondent Suzanne Malvo and our

[2:25] congressional correspondent Dana Bash

[2:27] are standing by. But let's go to CNN's

[2:29] Gene Mazerve. She's joining us now live

[2:32] with what has just happened in the

[2:34] Commonwealth of Virginia. Jean

[2:37] >> Wolf, a few short months ago, it seemed

[2:39] inconceivable that the Democrats would

[2:41] take control of the Senate and that

[2:43] Republican Senator George Allen would

[2:45] lose his seat. But both those things

[2:47] have happened within the hour. George

[2:49] Allen conceding to his Democratic

[2:51] challenger James Webb.

[2:59] In this season, the people of Virginia,

[3:01] who I always call the owners of the

[3:03] government, they have spoken

[3:06] and I respect their decision. The Bible

[3:10] teaches us that there's a time and place

[3:13] for everything. And today I've called

[3:16] and congratulated Jim Webb and his team

[3:19] for their victory. They had the

[3:21] prevailing wins.

[3:24] >> The margin of victory for James Webb was

[3:26] exceedingly small, less than 10,000

[3:28] votes. Under Virginia law, George Allen

[3:31] could have asked for a recount. He

[3:33] decided not to do that. He said it would

[3:35] create too much ill will and it would

[3:37] cost too much money. But there also was

[3:39] this reality. A vote canvas was underway

[3:41] in the state of Virginia. It's not done

[3:43] yet. Uh but the shift in voting that it

[3:45] showed was very slight and what it

[3:47] showed was votes going into the web

[3:49] column uh not into the Allen column. Now

[3:52] George Allen in his press conference did

[3:54] say you can have a tree in a strong wind

[3:56] and it loses its leaves, it's losing it

[3:58] loses its limbs, but it can regrow in

[4:00] the next season. Perhaps a hint that the

[4:03] electorate in Virginia and the in the

[4:05] nation has not seen the last of him, but

[4:08] we don't know for sure. Now, we're

[4:10] waiting for the new senator elect from

[4:12] Virginia, James Webb, to make an

[4:14] appearance here. Back to you all.

[4:15] >> All right, George Ellen, graciously

[4:17] conceding, Jean. Thanks very much. And

[4:19] coming up in a few moments, we're going

[4:20] to be hearing from the senator elect Jim

[4:22] Webb. He'll be going before the cameras

[4:25] in Northern Virginia. We're going to

[4:26] bring you his remarks live right here in

[4:28] the situation room. It's also said and

[4:31] done in the Montana Senate race.

[4:32] Republican incumbent Conrad Burns

[4:35] conceded today to Democrat John Tester.

[4:37] The tester claimed victory with a lead

[4:39] of fewer than 3,000 of the more than

[4:41] 400,000 votes cast. That margin is below

[4:44] the threshold set by Montana law that

[4:47] would have allowed Burns to request a

[4:50] recount. Senator elect Tester, by the

[4:52] way, will be joining us right here in

[4:54] the situation room just in a little bit.

[4:56] We'll talk about his hard-fought victory

[4:58] and what comes next. Let's go to Capitol

[5:01] Hill where the Democrats have been

[5:02] waiting a dozen years for a moment like

[5:05] this, a victory like this. They're now

[5:08] positioning themselves to jump into the

[5:10] driver's seat in the Senate as well as

[5:13] the House. Let's bring in our

[5:14] congressional correspondent, Dana Bash.

[5:17] Well, they waited a dozen years to take

[5:19] control of Congress, but they waited

[5:21] like two two or three minutes perhaps uh

[5:24] to congratulate themselves and to have a

[5:26] rally after George Allen, Senator George

[5:28] Allen conceded and formally made the

[5:30] Democrats the majority party in the

[5:32] Senate. Uh the Democratic leader along

[5:34] with his two top lieutenants, came out

[5:37] to a crowd of of Senate staffers,

[5:39] Democrats of course waving flags. They

[5:41] came out to music. It was a rally for

[5:43] the Senate Minority Leader, now soon to

[5:46] be majority leader in January to declare

[5:48] victory.

[5:51] >> The election's over.

[5:54] It's time for a change.

[6:01] >> It's time for bipartisanship.

[6:05] It's time for open government,

[6:07] transparency, and is it time for

[6:09] results?

[6:11] We believe that this country

[6:15] has spoken loudly and clearly. There

[6:18] must be a change of direction in Iraq.

[6:22] Now, he went on to take off a few other

[6:24] issues like education, uh the deficits

[6:28] in Washington, and also talking about

[6:30] more broadly, as you just heard, uh

[6:32] working with Republicans. Harry Reid

[6:34] made a point of saying that Republicans

[6:36] set a bad example of the way they worked

[6:38] with Democrats. He pledged that

[6:40] Democrats will not act in his uh from

[6:43] his point of view in the same way. Uh

[6:45] but in in big in the big picture, what

[6:47] this all means, Wolfe, is that Democrats

[6:50] Yes. A few days ago, we we knew that

[6:53] they would be able to set the agenda in

[6:54] the House of Representatives. They were

[6:56] talking about pushing through

[6:57] immediately issues like raising the

[6:59] minimum wage, uh like trying to uh

[7:01] repeal a a tax break for uh for student

[7:04] loans, things like that. Now, what we

[7:06] see is that is not going to be stopped

[7:08] in the House of Representatives. The

[7:10] Democrats are going to control the

[7:11] agenda in the Senate. They're going to

[7:13] be able to put whatever they want uh

[7:15] through through on the Senate floor. So,

[7:17] what they have made clear is that they

[7:19] are probably going to start with things

[7:21] like the minimum wage, are probably

[7:22] going to try to address uh things like

[7:25] like Iraq, although it has been it is

[7:27] very clear in talking to Republicans

[7:29] that that is not going to be an easy

[7:31] thing for them to do. They can hold

[7:32] hearings. they can have greater

[7:34] oversight, but it's not going to be

[7:35] easy. But the Dick Durban put it this

[7:37] way. He said two years ago, uh the the

[7:39] Senate was 4555, a Democrat to

[7:42] Republican. Now it's 5149 in just a

[7:45] couple of years.

[7:46] >> And as we look at this balance of power

[7:48] here uh on our wall, Dana 51 Democrats,

[7:51] 49 Republicans, but let's be precise.

[7:54] There are 49 Republicans, but only 49

[7:57] Democrats. There are two independents

[7:59] who will caucus with the Democrats. In

[8:02] effect, they will be Democrats and

[8:04] that's why they will have the majority

[8:06] because of those two independents. I

[8:07] just want to be precise. Bernie Sanders

[8:09] of Vermont and Joe Lieberman of

[8:11] Connecticut. Dana, thank you very much

[8:13] for that. Over at the White House,

[8:15] President Bush is talking a lot about

[8:17] partnership and peacemaking with

[8:19] Democrats, but is he taking new action

[8:21] that potentially could undermine some of

[8:23] those words? Our White House

[8:24] correspondent, Suzanne Malvo, is

[8:26] standing by with more on that. Suzanne.

[8:28] >> Uh, well, Wolf, we're learning from a

[8:30] senior administration official that just

[8:31] moments ago, President Bush called

[8:33] Senator Harry Reid to congratulate him,

[8:36] to also say that he looks forward to

[8:37] tomorrow's breakfast. Harry Reid as well

[8:39] as Dick Durban have been invited to the

[8:41] White House to share breakfast with the

[8:42] president, of course, to talk about

[8:44] reconciliation, setting an agenda.

[8:46] Today, it was Nancy Pelosi as well as

[8:49] Denny Hoyer who were here for lunch with

[8:50] the president. Uh Pelosi saying uh she

[8:53] enjoyed uh pasta and chocolates. One of

[8:56] the president's counselors saying that

[8:58] uh today the president ate crow. Uh this

[9:01] is clearly a time a sign of the times

[9:03] that the president is trying to put the

[9:05] bitter partisanship behind.

[9:09] The elections are now behind us and uh

[9:13] the Congresswoman's party won,

[9:17] but the challenges still remain and

[9:19] therefore we're going to work together

[9:20] to address those challenges in a

[9:22] constructive way. We won't agree on

[9:24] every issue, but we do agree that we

[9:27] love America equally, that we're

[9:29] concerned about the future of this

[9:31] country, and that we will do our very

[9:33] best to address big problems. I

[9:36] understand my responsibility of Speaker

[9:39] of the House of all of the House, not

[9:41] just the Democrats, and the

[9:43] responsibility to work with the

[9:45] administration uh to make progress for

[9:47] the American people. We've made history.

[9:50] Now we have to make progress.

[9:52] >> And Wolf, of course, uh the big question

[9:54] is how long this honeymoon is really

[9:55] going to last. We saw the president with

[9:57] his cabinet, of course, talking about

[9:59] reconciliation, but also a very strong

[10:01] message to the Republicans still in

[10:03] charge that he wants to push forward his

[10:05] agenda, specifically controversial

[10:07] legislation like the terrorist

[10:09] surveillance act, uh saying that he

[10:10] wants that to move forward in the next

[10:12] couple of weeks in the lame duck session

[10:14] before Democrats get a hold of that

[10:16] because it is much less likely that it's

[10:18] going to pass uh with a dem

[10:20] democratically controlled Congress. So,

[10:22] the president sending a very clear

[10:23] message. Let's get some things done.

[10:24] Let's put it on the table. get it out of

[10:26] the way before the the Democrats take

[10:28] charge in January

[10:29] >> on that surveillance legislation. That's

[10:31] not the only legislation he'd like to

[10:33] see this lame duck Congress pass. Uh

[10:35] there's also a controversial nomination

[10:38] he'd like to see the Senate deal with

[10:40] once again right now.

[10:42] >> Well, John Bolton, of course, he is the

[10:44] the ambassador to the UN

[10:48] appointment uh in the Senate.

[10:50] Republicans and Democrats did not

[10:52] actually approve his nomination. So, he

[10:54] is in that position temporarily. The

[10:56] president again trying to push that

[10:58] through. You're going to see an

[10:59] aggressive push to the the uh Justice

[11:01] Department to make that happen under the

[11:04] Republicans because they believe it is

[11:06] not it's it's a nostarter, a non-starter

[11:08] under Democrat control. We even heard

[11:10] from Senator Joe Biden who would head up

[11:12] that committee in charge of that saying

[11:14] it's not going to go anywhere. So,

[11:15] you're hearing a president very

[11:17] aggressively saying, "Look, we're going

[11:18] to try to get this done in the next

[11:20] couple of weeks before the Democrats

[11:22] take control." And we just heard from

[11:23] outgoing Republican Senator Lincoln

[11:25] Chaffy, a member of the Foreign

[11:26] Relations Committee, that he is not

[11:28] going to support this confirmation of

[11:30] John Bolton either. A setback for the

[11:32] Bush White House. Thanks very much for

[11:34] that. He's not changing his position.

[11:36] Lincoln Chaffy, at least not now. Suzan

[11:38] Malvo, Dana Bash, Gene Mer, they are all

[11:41] part of the best political team on

[11:43] television. And remember, for the latest

[11:45] campaign news at any time, check out our

[11:47] political ticker, cnn.comticker.

[11:52] Let's go to Jack Caferty in New York.

[11:54] He's got the Caerty file. I think it's

[11:55] fair to say this is an earthquake, a

[11:57] political earthquake here in Washington

[12:00] with the Democrats taking over not only

[12:02] the House, but the US Senate as well.

[12:05] >> Uh, no question about it. And, uh, they

[12:07] thought at best it was a very long shot

[12:09] that the Democrats could capture the

[12:11] Senate. Uh it's interesting to me, Wolf,

[12:13] that if you look at the margin of

[12:14] victory in Montana, uh which was what,

[12:17] 2500 votes, and in Virginia, which was

[12:20] about 7,000 votes, that less than 10,000

[12:23] people in the United States by going to

[12:25] the polls tipped the entire balance of

[12:27] power, the most powerful nation on

[12:30] earth, uh from one side of the room to

[12:31] the other. So, who says your vote

[12:33] doesn't matter? You bet it does. No

[12:35] secret that the US image abroad has been

[12:37] in sharp decline over the last few

[12:39] years. Last week in the Cafferty File,

[12:41] you may recall, we talked about polls

[12:43] that show some of America's closest

[12:45] allies, including Britain, think

[12:47] President Bush is a greater threat to

[12:49] world peace than the leaders of either

[12:50] Iran or North Korea. So perhaps it's no

[12:53] surprise the Democratic victory in the

[12:55] midterms is being welcomed by a lot of

[12:57] people around the world. The British

[12:59] newspaper, The Independent, had this to

[13:01] say. We quote here, "Tuesday night's

[13:03] results mark the eclipse for the time

[13:06] being, perhaps forever, of that

[13:08] particular brand of messianic back

[13:10] tobasics Republicanism. And while

[13:13] individual Republicans can be called to

[13:14] account for scandals that cost them

[13:16] their seats and bismerchs their party,

[13:19] overall blame for this defeat lies

[13:21] squarely with George Bush." The French

[13:24] newspaper Lamont wrote this, "It's an

[13:26] end of the unified government in the

[13:28] United States. The president will now

[13:29] have to negotiate with Congress and pass

[13:32] compromises. The system of checks and

[13:34] balances, which is the base of the

[13:35] constitutional functions of the United

[13:37] States, will be reimposed now after four

[13:40] years of absence. Also, all across the

[13:42] Middle East, people said the president

[13:44] paid the price for what a lot of people

[13:46] see as his failed policy in Iraq. So,

[13:49] here's the question this hour. How will

[13:51] the midterm election results impact

[13:52] America's image abroad? Send your

[13:54] thoughts on that to caertile at CNN.com

[13:57] or go to CNN.com/cafertyfile.

[13:59] Wolf.

[14:00] >> All right, Jack. Thank you. Jack Caerty

[14:02] reporting for us. And coming up very

[14:04] soon, John Tester, the incoming senator

[14:06] from Montana. We're going to be speaking

[14:08] with him live right here in the

[14:10] situation room. You're going to want to

[14:12] see this. Also, George Allen concedes.

[14:14] Now, we're only moments away from his

[14:16] challenger celebration of victory.

[14:18] Senator elect Jim Webb is about to go in

[14:21] front of the cameras. We'll have live

[14:23] coverage of that. Plus, election

[14:25] fallout. Will there be a change at the

[14:27] top of the Republican party? Our own

[14:29] John King is standing by with some new

[14:31] information that he is gathering. Also,

[14:34] new leaders under the dome. Which

[14:36] Democrats are taking over in the Senate

[14:38] and what will they do? Stick around. All

[14:41] the news coming up. You're in the

[14:42] situation room.

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[17:37] He's been described as a new breed of

[17:39] Democrat, uh, a real tough guy out there

[17:42] in Montana. John Tester joining us live

[17:45] here in the situation room. Senator

[17:47] elect, first of all, congratulations.

[17:50] >> Thank you, Wolf. I appreciate that.

[17:52] >> This this notion of being a new breed of

[17:54] Democrat, you got yourself elected

[17:56] beating an incumbent like Conrad Burns.

[17:58] What was the secret to your success?

[18:01] Oh, I think it was it was a grassroots

[18:04] grassroots effort was really the success

[18:06] of mine both in the primary and the

[18:08] general. Uh, and it's a lot of hard work

[18:10] and we we worked hard. We got great

[18:12] energy from uh from our supporters and

[18:14] and really in the last two weeks had

[18:16] thousands of Ontans on the ground out

[18:18] talking about who I was and and what I

[18:20] stood for. And I think that made the

[18:22] difference in the end.

[18:23] >> Not only did you get yourself elected,

[18:24] Senator Elect, but you're going to be in

[18:26] the majority when you come to the United

[18:28] States Senate. How does First of all,

[18:31] you're a straight shooter. Are you

[18:32] surprised that the Democrats are now

[18:34] able to reclaim the majority in the

[18:36] Senate?

[18:37] >> Well, I mean, everybody predicted the

[18:39] House and I'll be honest with you, I I

[18:41] wasn't sure. I actually anticipated the

[18:43] tie in in the Senate. Uh but, uh we were

[18:46] fortunate enough to uh get that uh the

[18:49] majority seat just today. And so, uh

[18:52] that's that's good news.

[18:53] >> So, you got a lot of responsibility

[18:55] ahead of you as a member of the majority

[18:57] party in the Senate. Let me read to you

[18:58] what the Democratic leader in the Senate

[19:00] said this week, yesterday, Harry Reid.

[19:02] The days of the do nothing Congress are

[19:04] over. From changing course in Iraq to

[19:06] raising the minimum wage to fixing the

[19:08] health care crisis to making this

[19:10] country energy independent, we're ready

[19:12] to get to work. Are you on board with

[19:15] those priorities that he just uh

[19:17] outlined?

[19:19] >> Well, I think yeah, I think they're

[19:21] right on. I think that uh quite frankly

[19:23] as I went around the state of Montana

[19:24] and visited with folks over the last 18

[19:26] months uh healthc care arguably the

[19:28] number one issue, energy is is a huge

[19:31] issue. Uh and so we need to be

[19:33] addressing those. And of course the war

[19:34] in Iraq is is a big issue along with

[19:37] national security and uh and and

[19:39] fighting the war on terror. So, I mean,

[19:41] I think that there's a lot of stuff out

[19:43] there we need to do to really help uh

[19:45] help regular folks uh make ends meet and

[19:47] uh you know, that along with uh you

[19:49] know, fiscal responsibility, those

[19:52] issues were right on top.

[19:53] >> Senator Elect, how big of an issue was

[19:55] the war in Iraq in Montana?

[19:58] >> Well, I mean, I think that combined with

[20:00] all the other ones I just mentioned, uh

[20:01] people are concerned out here about the

[20:03] war in Iraq. Make no mistake about it.

[20:05] And, uh and and they see what's going on

[20:07] and with there being no plan and no end

[20:09] in sight. I think they were uh uh

[20:12] they're ready for a change so we can get

[20:13] a plan to, you know, to bring our troops

[20:15] home and and and really not leave that

[20:17] Middle East upside down in the process.

[20:19] So, it's it's a big it's a big challenge

[20:22] for us. It's a big challenge for

[20:23] everybody in in government, the in the

[20:25] House and the Senate and the executive

[20:27] branch. So, I look forward to the

[20:29] challenge and I hope we can all work

[20:30] together to come up with a a solution

[20:32] because I think that's what's really

[20:34] important if we're going to if if we're

[20:35] going to move this country forward. the

[20:37] president uh was out in Montana

[20:39] campaigning for your opponent uh Conrad

[20:41] Burns, the senator. Any bad blood when

[20:44] you come to Washington and you have that

[20:46] first direct encounter over at the White

[20:48] House?

[20:50] >> None whatsoever. I look forward to

[20:51] meeting the president. Uh the fact is is

[20:54] uh everybody's trying to get their

[20:56] person elected. Uh I don't I don't have

[20:58] a problem with that at all. And uh I

[21:01] look forward to working with the

[21:02] president and everybody in the Senate

[21:03] and the House too as far as that goes to

[21:06] uh you know get some get some policies

[21:08] passed that make sense for for average

[21:10] folks for the middle class.

[21:12] >> He still has two years left in the White

[21:13] House. Uh but do you some Democrats are

[21:15] already calling him a lame duck? Do you

[21:17] think he's a lame duck already?

[21:20] >> Well, I mean uh you know I I don't I

[21:22] don't like labeling folks. I think that

[21:24] uh the proof is going to be uh how we

[21:27] perform over the next two years and how

[21:29] he performs over the next two years and

[21:32] and I think that uh I think we all want

[21:34] to move this country forward and we all

[21:36] want to have things like healthcare

[21:37] that's affordable and accessible and

[21:39] make this country energy independent. I

[21:41] think we all know that we need a change

[21:43] of direction in Iraq and and I think

[21:45] that uh uh you know the proof will be in

[21:47] in in in what we get accomplished over

[21:50] the next couple years and if if it ends

[21:51] up in a situation of gridlock I don't

[21:53] think anybody wins especially not the

[21:55] American people.

[21:56] >> We'll look forward to seeing you here in

[21:57] Washington Senator. Thanks very much for

[21:59] coming into the situation room. The

[22:01] first of hopefully many appearances

[22:02] here.

[22:04] >> Outstanding. Thank you Wolf. Appreciate

[22:06] the opportunity.

[22:07] >> Thank you. John Tester is the newly

[22:08] elected United States Senator from the

[22:11] state of Montana. It's a beautiful state

[22:13] indeed. We're standing by to hear from

[22:15] another newly elected senator, Jim Webb.

[22:17] He's about to make a major speech uh

[22:19] declaring victory now that his opponent

[22:22] George Allen has graciously conceded

[22:24] defeat. We'll bring you those remarks

[22:26] live. That's coming up. Plus, the race

[22:28] for the White House is on as a

[22:29] presidential wannabe drops his hat into

[22:32] the ring. We'll have details in today's

[22:34] political radar. Stay with us. You're in

[22:36] the situation room.

[22:43] >> Oh, Sharon. This stuff won't get rid of

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[24:57] >> Tonight on 360, the Democrats are in

[24:59] control. Their messages change, but what

[25:01] can they really do about Iraq? We'll

[25:03] look at the facts on the ground and the

[25:05] options. Could it take more troops, not

[25:07] less, to get a solution? 360 tonight,

[25:09] 800 p p.m. Eastern.

[25:13] >> Welcome back to the situation room. I'm

[25:15] Wolf Blitzer in Washington. Zayn is on

[25:18] assignment. Carol Costello is joining us

[25:20] now with a closer look at some other

[25:22] stories making news. Hi, Carol.

[25:24] >> Hi, Wolf and good afternoon everyone.

[25:25] You know him well. He had an

[25:27] unmistakable voice and a legendary

[25:29] presence. Longtime CBS Newsman and 60

[25:31] Minutes correspondent Ed Bradley has

[25:33] died. He died today of leukemia at a New

[25:35] York hospital. During his 40 years in

[25:38] the news business, Bradley covered

[25:39] things including the Vietnam War, the

[25:41] Coline High School massacre, and patient

[25:44] struggles with brain cancer. He won so

[25:46] many awards, including 19 Emmys. Bradley

[25:49] credited his parents for telling him he

[25:51] could do anything. Ed Bradley was just

[25:53] 65 years old. If you've got a bottle of

[25:57] generic acetamin in your medicine

[25:58] cabinet, you better check it out

[26:00] carefully. The Paraggo companies

[26:01] recalling 11 million bottles of the

[26:03] popular painkiller. It says it's found

[26:06] tiny amounts of metal and some 500 mgram

[26:09] caplets. Paragos supplies the generic

[26:11] drug to stores including Walmart, CVS,

[26:13] and Safeway. No injuries are reported.

[26:15] The recalled batches are posted on the

[26:17] FDA website, FDA.gov.

[26:20] You will hear merry Christmas when you

[26:22] walk through the doors of Walmart to do

[26:24] your holiday shopping this year. The

[26:25] retail giant telling its employees it's

[26:27] a-okay to use that uh phrase this year

[26:30] instead of that politically correct

[26:32] thing people say, happy holidays. Last

[26:34] year, religious groups, including the

[26:36] American Family Association and the

[26:37] Catholic League, boycotted Walmart and

[26:39] other retailers for excluding the word

[26:41] Christmas from their products. In Gaza,

[26:44] thousands of Palestinians attended

[26:46] funerals today for 18 people killed by

[26:48] what Israel calls a missile attack that

[26:50] went wrong. Most of the victims were

[26:52] women and children. Israel's military

[26:54] blames a technical failure for

[26:56] yesterday's misfire. It stopped shelling

[26:58] in the area until investigations are

[27:00] over. And there is a startling new

[27:03] estimate about the number of lives lost

[27:04] in the Iraq war. Iraq's health minister

[27:07] today put that number of Iraqi civilians

[27:09] killed at 150,000. Previous separate

[27:14] estimates have ranged from 45,000 to as

[27:16] high as 600,000. And Iraqi officials

[27:18] says the new figure includes civilians,

[27:20] police, and slain kidnapping victims.

[27:23] That's a look at the headlines right

[27:25] now. Wolf

[27:26] >> Carol, what a sad story that is. In the

[27:27] next hour, we're going to be speaking

[27:28] with Michael Wear about that new

[27:30] estimate from the Iraqi Health Minister.

[27:32] Carol, thanks very much. On our

[27:34] political radar this Thursday, outgoing

[27:36] Iowa Governor Tom Vilsac is getting a

[27:39] jump start on the 2008 presidential

[27:41] race. He's now the first Democrat to

[27:43] throw his hat into the ring. The

[27:44] outgoing Vilsac announced today he's

[27:46] filing the necessary paperwork to run

[27:48] for president. He may have an edge in

[27:51] the leadoff presidential caucuses. that

[27:53] was uh that would be in his home state

[27:55] of Iowa. But polls show him way behind

[27:58] other better known Democrats weighing

[28:00] presidential bids. Look at the recent

[28:02] survey. Uh he gets only 1% 1% but that

[28:07] doesn't necessarily mean much. It's

[28:08] still very very early. Obviously,

[28:11] American voters can pat themselves on

[28:13] the backs. A new study estimates more

[28:15] than 40% of eligible voters showed up at

[28:18] the polls on Tuesday. The Center for the

[28:20] Study of the American Electorate says

[28:21] that's higher than the turnout back in

[28:23] 2002 in midterm elections. And when all

[28:26] the ballots are counted, the group says

[28:28] turnout may have been the highest since

[28:30] 1982 when more than 42% of eligible

[28:33] voters turned out. The star of one of

[28:36] the most controversial ads of the 2006

[28:39] campaign is speaking out.

[28:42] >> Harold, call me.

[28:45] The bare-shouldered blonde in that

[28:46] Republican attack ad on Tennessee Senate

[28:49] candidate Harold Ford says she isn't

[28:51] very political. The actress tells the

[28:53] Tennessee newspaper her appearance in

[28:55] the ad was just another job and that she

[28:57] didn't know who Harold Ford was. Ford

[28:59] lost to Republican Bob Quirker in

[29:02] Tennessee. And remember for the latest

[29:04] campaign news at any time, check out the

[29:06] political ticker cnn.com/ticker.

[29:11] Coming up, we're standing by for a news

[29:13] conference by the Democratic

[29:14] Senator-elect in Virginia, Jim Webb,

[29:17] after Republican Senator George Allen

[29:20] conceds. We'll carry Web's remarks live.

[29:23] That's coming up. And do President Bush

[29:25] and Democrats have a mandate from the

[29:27] voters to work together? Our Bill

[29:29] Schneider looks at whether fences can

[29:31] really be mended. Stay with us. You're

[29:34] in the situation.

[29:35] Party one

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[32:37] >> George Allen, the United States Senator

[32:39] elect from Virginia, about to speak to a

[32:42] very enthusiastic crowd. You can see the

[32:44] crowd gathering in Arlington, Virginia.

[32:47] Jim Webb, excuse me, Jim Webb right

[32:50] there uh in the midst of that crowd.

[32:52] Momentarily, he's going to be speaking

[32:54] uh declaring victory. Sort of declared

[32:56] victory already. But now that George

[32:58] Allen, the incumbent Republican, has

[33:01] conceded, Jim Webb, a former Navy

[33:03] secretary during the Reagan

[33:05] administration, a Republican turned

[33:07] Democrat, will emerge as the next United

[33:09] States senator from Virginia. and he is

[33:13] there. He's shaking hands with his

[33:15] supporters. You could probably make him

[33:17] out right in the sort of left part of

[33:18] your screen at the bottom part of your

[33:20] screen. He's there. His family will be

[33:22] there as well. This is an exciting

[33:25] moment not only for Web, but it's a very

[33:27] exciting moment for Democrats right now

[33:29] because not only has Webb been elected

[33:32] the United States Senator in Virginia,

[33:34] but by doing so, the Democrats emerge as

[33:38] the majority party in the United States

[33:40] Senate. The Democrats together with

[33:42] those two independents will have 51

[33:45] seats in the Senate compared to the

[33:47] Republicans 49 seats. As a result, the

[33:50] Democrats when the new Senate is sworn

[33:53] in in January will be in the majority.

[33:55] They will control the chairmanships of

[33:57] all of those committees. They will have

[34:00] a lot of power, especially when uh when

[34:02] aligned with the Democratic majority and

[34:05] the House of Representatives as well.

[34:07] We're standing by to hear from Jim Webb,

[34:09] the next United States senator from

[34:10] Virginia. We'll go there live when we

[34:13] return. Stay with us. You're in the

[34:14] situation.

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[36:51] We're standing by to hear from Jim Webb,

[36:53] the newly elected United States Senator

[36:55] from Virginia. There's an enthusiastic

[36:58] crowd that has already gathered to hear

[37:00] him declare victory formally now that

[37:03] George Allen, the incumbent Republican,

[37:06] has conceded defeat. There he is, Jim

[37:08] Webb, the former Navy secretary. He's

[37:10] going to be speaking shortly. We'll go

[37:12] there live as soon as he as he starts

[37:15] speaking. Web uh being the newly elected

[37:18] senator elect will succeed Republican

[37:21] incumbent George Allen. That concession

[37:24] speech, as I said, coming just over an

[37:26] hour ago. And significantly, it pushes

[37:29] the Democratic party over the top,

[37:31] giving them enough seats to control the

[37:33] Senate as well as the House of

[37:35] Representatives. Democrats will have the

[37:37] barest of majorities in the next Senate,

[37:39] 51 seats. Republicans will hold 49

[37:42] seats. In the House, Democrats will run

[37:44] the show with a majority of at least 229

[37:47] seats. Republicans will have at least

[37:50] 196 seats. There are 10 House races that

[37:53] right now that are still undecided could

[37:55] go either way. So, how will the new

[37:57] equation work? And can Democrats work

[38:00] with President Bush? Let's bring in our

[38:02] senior political analyst, Bill

[38:04] Schneider. Bill

[38:05] >> Wolf, there are two ways of looking at

[38:07] what the voters have created. You could

[38:09] say they voted for divided government or

[38:12] government of national unity.

[38:15] >> President Bush seems to want a

[38:17] government of national unity to succeed.

[38:19] >> It's in the national interest of the

[38:20] United States that a unity government

[38:24] based upon a constitution

[38:27] that is uh advanced and modern succeed.

[38:32] >> Except that he was not talking about the

[38:34] United States. He was talking about Iraq

[38:37] where waring sects have to figure out

[38:39] how to work together. Same as here.

[38:41] >> Democrats are ready to lead, prepared to

[38:44] govern, and absolutely willing to work

[38:47] in a bipartisan way.

[38:48] >> Can it happen? There's reason for hope.

[38:51] The Democratic majorities in the House

[38:53] and Senate include a lot of newly

[38:55] elected moderates like Heath Scheler of

[38:58] North Carolina, a former Washington

[39:00] Redskins quarterback who was courted by

[39:02] the Republicans, and Brad Ellsworth, an

[39:04] Indiana County Sheriff who signed a

[39:06] pledge not to raise taxes. In the

[39:09] Senate, there's Bob Casey of

[39:10] Pennsylvania, John Tester of Montana,

[39:13] and Jim Webb of Virginia, who used to be

[39:16] a Republican and was President Reagan's

[39:18] Navy Secretary, and Joe Lieberman will

[39:21] still be around. How accommodating will

[39:24] Republicans be? Moderate Republicans

[39:27] have diminished in number.

[39:28] Representatives Jim Leech of Iowa and

[39:31] Nancy Johnson of Connecticut were

[39:32] defeated. So were two moderate

[39:35] Republican senators, Lincoln Chaffy of

[39:37] Rhode Island and Mike Dwine of Ohio.

[39:40] Will Republicans move further to the

[39:42] right? Not if they got the message of

[39:44] the election. Republicans lost because

[39:47] they abandoned the center. Independents

[39:50] voted Democratic by the biggest margin

[39:52] ever recorded. The election also

[39:55] provides an alternative model of a

[39:58] Republican who moved to the center and

[40:00] thrived. We fight over our causes, but

[40:03] in the end, we find common ground. This

[40:06] is the California way. The voters have

[40:09] endorsed it. I embrace it. If unity

[40:13] government is going to work in Iraq, the

[40:15] various parties will have to disarm

[40:17] their militias. Some steps toward ending

[40:20] the political arms race might be a good

[40:22] idea in this country, too. Wolf,

[40:24] >> give us a little sense, Bill, because

[40:26] you've been covering this kind of

[40:27] political story here in Washington for a

[40:30] long time. and the seismic nature of

[40:32] this power shift that we're seeing uh

[40:35] happen right now between the executive

[40:36] and the legislative branches of

[40:37] government.

[40:38] >> This is a very big shift, Wolf. We

[40:40] haven't seen it since 1994. And and

[40:43] there was very dramatic then and it

[40:44] hadn't happened then for 40 years. Now

[40:47] it's 12 years later. So you can say that

[40:50] it isn't even once a decade we get big

[40:52] shifts like this.

[40:54] >> Bill Schneider, thank you very much. And

[40:56] we're standing by. will be hearing

[40:58] directly for Jim Webb, uh the newly

[41:00] elected senator from the state of

[41:02] Virginia. He's at that rally right now.

[41:04] We'll go there live as soon as he starts

[41:06] speaking. Also, the new leaders under

[41:09] the dome. We're going to take a closer

[41:10] look at which Democrats will run the

[41:12] Senate and what's on their agenda.

[41:15] Actually, let's go to Virginia right

[41:17] now. Jim Webb has just started speaking.

[41:19] >> Happy birthday to all our Marines. There

[41:22] are a lot of lot of them in harm's way

[41:24] today. We're going to remember them

[41:25] tomorrow.

[41:31] And the day after that is Veterans Day.

[41:34] And we remember all of those who have

[41:36] served our country and who are serving

[41:38] it wherever they are. We all have them

[41:41] in our hearts and in our prayers.

[41:53] I did receive a telephone call from

[41:56] George Allen a few hours ago. We had a

[41:59] good discussion. I want to report to you

[42:00] that he was very gracious and that uh he

[42:04] offered to help assist us in this

[42:06] transition period. I thanked him for his

[42:09] many years of service to the people of

[42:11] Virginia. and we actually uh have agreed

[42:15] that we're going to sit down and have

[42:16] lunch next week. Um

[42:27] and I also asked him to help me with

[42:28] something I think is very important,

[42:30] ladies and gentlemen. uh and that is

[42:32] that uh as we move forward with all of

[42:37] these issues that concern us as

[42:39] Americans, I think it's really vital

[42:42] that we all do our best to stop the

[42:46] politics of divisiveness,

[42:49] uh character assassination,

[42:53] um distraction.

[42:59] In fact, uh we know that

[43:03] Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld has

[43:04] decided to move on.

[43:13] >> But I would like to also today

[43:15] call on uh our president to publicly

[43:19] denounce the campaign tactics that have

[43:23] divided us rather than brought us

[43:25] together.

[43:27] This was a brutal campaign

[43:32] and in in many ways an unnecessarily uh

[43:35] brutal campaign and I think it's hurting

[43:37] the country and as you know I made two

[43:41] promises to myself when I started this

[43:43] campaign. The first was that I was not

[43:46] going to trade anything I believed in

[43:47] order to get a vote or a dollar and we

[43:49] did that.

[43:51] I am walking into the United States

[43:53] Senate

[43:54] uh with the independence

[43:57] to represent the people who have no

[43:59] voice in the quarters of p of power and

[44:01] I intend to do that.

[44:07] >> The second promise that I made was that

[44:10] as much as humanly possible, we were not

[44:13] going to run a negative campaign. And I

[44:14] thank all of you for helping me to make

[44:17] sure that we did that.

[44:27] There were a lot of misperceptions u

[44:30] about why I got into this race. Uh I was

[44:34] watching on election night some of the

[44:35] analysts and and one of the frequent

[44:37] things that was being said about this

[44:39] campaign was that I came to the

[44:42] Democratic party purely on issues uh

[44:45] regarding the Iraq war. Uh, nothing

[44:48] could be further from the truth. I think

[44:50] I and a lot of people like me had

[44:53] aligned themselves with the Republican

[44:54] party on national security issues, but

[44:56] we're always concerned about issues of

[44:58] economic fairness and social justice. So

[45:01] it was a natural

[45:10] this was a very natural fit for not only

[45:13] myself but for a lot of people who came

[45:15] forward and supported this campaign who

[45:18] in the past may not have been inclined

[45:20] to. We have a much much stronger

[45:24] Democratic party as a result of this. We

[45:27] have a situation in Virginia where Mark

[45:29] Warner began a journey. Tim Kaine has

[45:32] added on to it. We are going to add on

[45:34] to it even more.

[45:44] We're going to work hard to bring a

[45:47] sense of responsibility in our foreign

[45:49] policy that will, in my view, result

[45:52] soon in a diplomatic solution in Iraq.

[46:03] We're going to work very hard on issues

[46:06] of economic fairness in a in a country

[46:08] that has become divided too much by

[46:12] class in the age of the

[46:14] internationalization of corporate

[46:16] America where we have a situation where

[46:20] corporate profits in this country are at

[46:22] an all-time high while wages and

[46:24] salaries are at an all-time low and I

[46:28] for one look forward to joining Senator

[46:30] Schumer in voting very soon to increase

[46:33] the minimum wage.

[46:35] >> On that note, we'll continue to monitor

[46:38] Jim Webb's celebration, his victory

[46:41] speech. Jim Webb elected United States

[46:44] Senator from the state of Virginia after

[46:45] George Allen conceded just a little

[46:47] while ago. Not only is he the new

[46:49] senator from Virginia, but by being

[46:52] elected that senator, the Democrats

[46:54] emerge as the majority party in the next

[46:57] United States Senate. That means they're

[46:59] going to have a lot of power. They'll be

[47:00] the chairman of the various committees.

[47:03] Biden presumably chairman of the Foreign

[47:05] Relations Committee. Carl 11, the Armed

[47:07] Services Committee. It's going to be a

[47:08] whole new Capitol Hill on the Senate and

[47:11] the House. When we come back, we'll take

[47:13] a look at what is likely to emerge in a

[47:16] Democratic controlled Senate. Much more

[47:19] of our coverage. You're here at the

[47:20] situation.

[47:22] People in the White House are going to

[47:23] wake up and never go look.

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[50:07] >> From war Anderson Cooper 360, CNN Monday

[50:10] night.

[50:13] >> There's a whole lot of shaking going on

[50:14] under the Capitol dome. And now that

[50:16] Democrats are set to take control of the

[50:18] Senate as well as the House, and that

[50:20] means musical chairs in the allimportant

[50:23] committee rooms. Let's go to Capitol

[50:25] Hill, our congressional correspondent

[50:26] Andrea Cppel with more on this very

[50:28] important part of the story. Deandrea

[50:31] >> Wolf, there are about 20 Senate

[50:33] committees and for the last four years

[50:35] they've been in Republican hands.

[50:40] Democrats in the White House have been

[50:41] at odds for years.

[50:43] >> I don't think the president has come to

[50:44] grips with reality.

[50:46] >> I believe that that record is dismal.

[50:49] Sir, the president has acted as a

[50:51] divider, not a uniter.

[50:52] >> But come January, Democrats will be able

[50:54] to do more than just criticize. With the

[50:57] majority in the Senate, they'll chair

[50:59] all committees and control the agenda.

[51:03] That puts the gavl back into the hands

[51:06] of senior Democrats like Joe Biden, who

[51:08] will be at the helm of Senate Foreign

[51:10] Relations. That doesn't bode well for

[51:13] John Bolton, the US ambassador to the

[51:15] United Nations, whose nomination was

[51:17] opposed by Biden and Senate Democrats

[51:20] last year. your boss, the president and

[51:22] the uh and the vice president. Uh I

[51:25] don't think they in this quote year of

[51:27] diplomacy uh really think diplomacy is

[51:29] all that consequential.

[51:31] >> Today the White House resubmitted

[51:33] Bolton's nomination to the Senate.

[51:35] Biden's response, John Bolton's going

[51:38] nowhere. Iraq will top the agenda of

[51:41] Senator Carl Lean, poised to lead the

[51:43] Senate Armed Services Committee. We've

[51:46] got to begin a phased reduction in

[51:48] American forces by the end of this year.

[51:51] >> While Vermont's Patrick Ley, who's

[51:53] accused the president of trying to pack

[51:55] the courts with conservative judges,

[51:57] will chair the judiciary committee.

[52:00] >> The Sen debates him and withholds

[52:01] consent. He stubbornly renominates them

[52:03] over and over again.

[52:04] >> Meanwhile, the Democrat with the most

[52:06] seniority, West Virginia's Robert Bird,

[52:08] will head the powerful appropriations

[52:10] committee, which controls congressional

[52:13] pur strings. He's railed against the

[52:15] Bush White House for misplaced spending

[52:17] priorities.

[52:18] >> This administration has ignored urgent

[52:21] matters such as the crisis in health

[52:23] care for our elderly.

[52:26] This administration has been slow to

[52:30] provide adequate funding for homeland

[52:32] security. And speaking of Homeland

[52:35] Security, a senior Democratic leadership

[52:37] aid tells CNN that despite some

[52:40] grumbling among Democrats, the newly

[52:42] reelected senator from Connecticut, Joe

[52:45] Lieberman, an independent, will chair

[52:48] the committee of homeland security and

[52:50] government reform. Wolf

[52:52] >> Andrea, thank you very much. Andrea

[52:54] Cppel on Capitol Hill. Let's go to Jack

[52:56] Caerty. He's got the cafferty file. Just

[52:58] think about that for a second though,

[53:00] Jack. If Joe Lieberman wanted to play

[53:01] with his former friends in the

[53:03] Democratic party and have a little fun

[53:05] at least for a day day or two, he could

[53:07] pretend that maybe he would caucus with

[53:10] the Republicans. And you know what? The

[53:12] balance of power in the Senate would go

[53:13] to the Republicans as opposed to the

[53:16] Democrats. He's not going to do that.

[53:17] But if he wanted to have a little fun,

[53:19] he probably could.

[53:21] >> Depends, I suppose, on your definition

[53:23] of what fun is.

[53:25] Did the Democrats really seize the

[53:27] Senate or were they elected in the

[53:29] Senate? I'm curious. The uh question is,

[53:33] how will the midterm election results

[53:35] impact America's image abroad? Kathleen

[53:38] of Glendora, California, the image of

[53:40] the US will improve abroad now that

[53:42] democracy's on the march in our country.

[53:44] Our image has to improve. There's

[53:45] nowhere to go but up. Shirley in Hayden,

[53:48] Idaho, writes the results, "The midterm

[53:49] elections might be the next best thing

[53:50] to impeachment in terms of showing the

[53:53] world the majority of Americans do not

[53:54] support a one- party dictatorship. The

[53:57] elections are a reinforcement that

[53:59] democracy works." Dwayne in Hawaii, as a

[54:02] Brit now living in the US, I can tell

[54:04] you the Europeans will continue to see

[54:07] massive US social inequality as the

[54:09] barometer of US politics. As the rich

[54:12] get richer and the poor get poorer, the

[54:14] US image abroad will remain negative.

[54:16] Has anything really changed in Congress

[54:19] this week? Kyle, in Powder Springs,

[54:21] Georgia, the election results have

[54:23] already helped to repair the US's

[54:24] international reputation a little bit.

[54:26] However, most of the world is waiting to

[54:28] see Bush himself replaced. John in

[54:30] Akran, Ohio. One of the worst aspects of

[54:32] the current administration is what it's

[54:33] done to our reputation abroad. The

[54:35] elections will help, but how scary that

[54:37] some of these margins were so razor

[54:39] thin. How long before the country really

[54:41] wakes up? And Linda in Sacramento, I

[54:44] like President Bush better now. All he

[54:46] needed was a good thumping. He just

[54:48] forgot who he was working for. Wolf,

[54:50] >> Jack, see you in a few minutes. Thank

[54:52] you. And up next, the people have

[54:53] spoken. How much sway did grassroots

[54:56] internet groups actually have in shaping

[54:58] the voters's verdicts? We're going to

[55:00] find out. That's coming up next. Stay

[55:01] with us. You're in the situation room.

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[55:57] >> Hey, isn't Jacobson choking?

[56:00] >> I definitely say Jacobson's choking.

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[57:52] >> Every week on Court TV, America's top

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[58:09] >> Much has been made this year about the

[58:11] internet's role in fundraising for

[58:12] political campaigns with midterm

[58:15] elections largely wrapped up. Just how

[58:17] influential were the so-called net roots

[58:19] in helping Democrats gain control of

[58:21] Capitol Hill? Let's bring in our

[58:23] internet reporter Jackie Shner. Jackie.

[58:25] Well, if actblue.com, the portal for

[58:28] liberal fundraising online, boasts it's

[58:30] raised more than $17 million for

[58:33] Democratic candidates since 2004. In

[58:35] this election cycle, three of the four

[58:37] top political action committees on

[58:39] actblue.com were blogs for bloggers. The

[58:42] only one that wasn't was Senator Barbara

[58:44] Boxer's political action committee. Now,

[58:47] top blogs like Daily Co, My DD, and

[58:49] Swing State Project band together to

[58:51] create a pack called Netroots

[58:53] Candidates. And together, they raised

[58:55] more than $1.5 million for dozens of

[58:57] candidates. Of the top 10 that they

[58:59] supported in the House and the Senate,

[59:01] so far, their record is five wins, two

[59:04] losses, and three races still yet

[59:06] undecided. One of their most notable

[59:08] losses, the largest one would be Ned

[59:10] Lamont. He lost out to Senator Joe

[59:12] Lieberman for the seat in Connecticut.

[59:14] Some of their top wins would be Jim Webb

[59:16] for the Senate seat in Virginia and John

[59:18] Tester for the Senate seat in Montana.

[59:20] Both had big netroot support. Now this

[59:23] morning, uh, liberals are celebrating

[59:24] online, saying that the net root support

[59:26] and fundraising is only going to grow

[59:28] more stronger and more important down

[59:30] the line. And the right had even started

[59:32] to take notice trying to fund raise in

[59:34] the last three months before the

[59:35] election. They raised about $300,000,

[59:38] but really only went two for 21 in the

[59:40] candidates they chose to support. Wolf.

[59:42] >> All right. Good work. Uh uh Jackie,

[59:44] thank you. And to our viewers, you're in

[59:46] the situation room where new pictures

[59:48] and information are arriving all the

[59:49] time. Standing by, CNN reporters across

[59:52] the United States and around the world

[59:54] to bring you today's top stories.

[59:56] Happening now, the stunning

[59:58] post-election power shift is now

[60:00] complete. Democrats capture the last

[60:02] Senate battleground, setting the stage

[60:04] for total control of Capitol Hill.

[60:07] There's a call for common ground as

[60:09] President Bush invites Speaker to be

[60:11] Nancy Pelosi to lunch. But there's also

[60:13] a lame duck call for lastditch

[60:15] legislative action by Republicans. Can

[60:18] they really work together? And as Iraqi

[60:21] insurgents claim they played a part in

[60:23] the Republican election defeat, the

[60:25] outgoing defense secretary Donald

[60:26] Rumsfeld concedes the war has not been

[60:29] going well. But does he have any advice

[60:32] for his successor?

[60:34] >> I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in the

[60:35] situation room.

[60:51] The earth has moved. The stars have

[60:53] shifted. The balance of power has now

[60:55] changed on Capitol Hill. In just the

[60:58] past hour or so, Republican Senator

[60:59] George Allen conceded defeat and

[61:02] Democrat Jim Webb claimed victory in

[61:04] Virginia. That final narrow Senate win

[61:07] by some 7,000 votes puts Democrats in

[61:10] control of both houses of Congress.

[61:13] Standing by our White House

[61:14] correspondent Suzan Malvo, our

[61:15] congressional correspondent Andrea

[61:17] Cppel. But let's go to Gan Missouri.

[61:19] She's in Arlington, Virginia, where

[61:22] history has just been made. Jean.

[61:26] >> Wolf. Just a few minutes ago, James Webb

[61:28] hoisted over his head his son's combat

[61:30] boots, the symbol of his campaign, and

[61:33] declared victory in this Senate race.

[61:35] His remarks coming only an hour and a

[61:37] half after Republican George Allen

[61:39] conceded he had lost this race.

[61:44] >> In this season, the people of Virginia,

[61:46] who I always call the owners of the

[61:48] government, they have spoken

[61:51] and I respect their decision. The Bible

[61:54] teaches us that there's a time and place

[61:58] for everything. And today, I've called

[62:01] and congratulated Jim Webb and his team

[62:04] for their victory. They had the

[62:06] prevailing wins.

[62:08] A few nights ago,

[62:10] Tim Kaine, Senator Schumer, and others

[62:13] were standing on the stage with me, and

[62:15] I said, you know, I have a feeling I

[62:17] have a feeling that on Wednesday

[62:20] morning, the people in the White House

[62:22] are going to wake up and they're going

[62:23] to look at a uh democratically

[62:26] controlled House of Representatives and

[62:28] with your help, a democratically

[62:30] controlled Senate.

[62:41] and we will begin the process of putting

[62:44] this country back on the track where it

[62:46] needs to be.

[62:48] >> Now, Senator Allen could have asked for

[62:50] a recount. The margin of victory for Web

[62:52] is just that small. But Allen said today

[62:55] he had decided not to do that. It would

[62:56] create too much ill will and would

[62:58] simply cause expense to the taxpayers of

[63:00] Virginia. Uh but there's also this

[63:02] reality that the canvas of the votes

[63:04] that is going on right now has shown

[63:05] only minor shifts in the votes and the

[63:08] shifting has been towards James Webb.

[63:11] What does it all mean? Obviously, it's

[63:12] profound. Senator Chuck Schumer was here

[63:14] and he probably summed it up. He asked

[63:16] the crowd, "What color is my tie?" They

[63:18] said, "Blue." He said, "What color is my

[63:19] suit?" They said, "Blue." He said, "What

[63:21] color is my Senate?" And they yelled,

[63:23] "Blue." A lot of cheering here in

[63:25] Arlington tonight. Wolf, back to you.

[63:27] >> Thank you very much, Gene Merve

[63:28] reporting for us. Another key concession

[63:30] today in the state of Montana where

[63:32] Republican Senator Conrad Burns has now

[63:35] acknowledged defeat. Democrat John

[63:37] Tester had claimed victory a day earlier

[63:39] with a lead of less than 3,000 of the

[63:42] 400,000 votes cast. CNN had projected

[63:45] that as a that as a win and the Burns

[63:48] camp now says the numbers are stable

[63:50] enough to make the results abundantly

[63:52] clear. that new balance of power in the

[63:55] United States Senate. Democrats 51

[63:57] seats, 49 Democrats, actually two

[64:00] independents. They'll caucus with the

[64:01] Democrats though, Republicans with 49

[64:04] seats. Let's learn a little bit more

[64:06] about this new balance of power on

[64:08] Capitol Hill. And for that, we'll turn

[64:10] to our congressional correspondent,

[64:12] Andrea Cppel. Andrea

[64:13] >> Wolf, if you thought House Democrats

[64:15] looked happy the other night, you should

[64:17] have seen Senate Democrats today. They

[64:20] didn't see this coming. No one did. And

[64:23] today, the man who is poised to become

[64:25] the next majority leader in the Senate,

[64:27] Harry Reid, struck a consiliatory tone.

[64:34] >> This time for New Direction has given us

[64:36] an opportunity, a chance to prove to the

[64:38] American people that we can work with

[64:41] the Republicans. They've set a very bad

[64:44] example and not working with us. We're

[64:46] not following that example. We're

[64:48] reaching out to them as we have from the

[64:50] time the election

[64:54] Now, this reaching across the aisles is

[64:57] more than just rhetoric, Wolf, because

[64:59] practically speaking, there is the

[65:01] slimmest of majorities, as you said, 49

[65:04] to 51. And if Democrats are going to get

[65:06] anything accomplished, they are going to

[65:08] need the support of Republicans. Wolf

[65:10] >> Andrea Cppel, thank you for that.

[65:12] Andrea, reporting from Capitol Hill.

[65:14] President Bush today played host to the

[65:16] presumed future speaker of the house,

[65:18] Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi. There was

[65:20] talk of finding common ground, but the

[65:22] president also wants Republicans to push

[65:24] his legislative agenda while they still

[65:26] have a chance. Will that start things

[65:28] off on the wrong foot, though? Let's

[65:30] turn to our White House correspondent,

[65:32] Suzan Malvo. Suzan,

[65:34] >> well, Wolf, that really is the question,

[65:35] just how long this honeymoon is going to

[65:37] last. It was just an hour ago President

[65:39] Bush picked up the phone, called Senator

[65:40] Harry Reid, congratulating him, saying

[65:43] that he's looking forward to having

[65:44] breakfast with him here tomorrow at the

[65:46] White House, as well as Dick Durban. But

[65:48] today, as you know, was Nancy Pelosy's

[65:50] day here uh having lunch. She said it

[65:52] was uh pasta and chocolates, but the

[65:54] White House counselor Dan Bartlett said

[65:56] President Bush today was eating crow.

[65:58] They talked about reconciliation and the

[66:01] possibility of course of putting their

[66:02] bitter partisanship behind.

[66:07] The elections are now behind us and uh

[66:11] the Congresswoman's party won,

[66:14] but the challenges still remain and

[66:17] therefore we're going to work together

[66:18] to address those challenges in a

[66:20] constructive way. We won't agree on

[66:22] every issue, but we do agree that we

[66:25] love America equally, that we're

[66:27] concerned about the future of this

[66:28] country, and that we will do our very

[66:31] best to address big problems.

[66:34] So Wolf, while you saw the president and

[66:35] his cabinet today talking about

[66:37] reconciliation, he also made a very

[66:39] important point signaling to the

[66:41] Republican leadership, let's get some

[66:42] things done quickly in the next couple

[66:44] of weeks before the Democrats take

[66:46] control. One of them being a very

[66:47] controversial initiative that the

[66:49] terrorist surveillance act

[66:51] >> Suzan Balvo at the White House. Suzanne,

[66:53] thanks very much.

[67:00] I want to bring in our uh chief national

[67:02] correspondent John King. One of the best

[67:04] reporters, arguably the best political

[67:06] reporter here in Washington. You've got

[67:08] some uh some news that you've been

[67:09] working on.

[67:10] >> There might have been a day. There might

[67:11] have been a day.

[67:12] >> You are an excellent reporter.

[67:13] >> I just want to say one thing and you're

[67:15] talking a lot about the fallout of the

[67:16] election. And one of the things we have

[67:17] learned today is that is almost certain

[67:19] now all but certain we are told by a

[67:20] number of Republican sources that Ken

[67:22] Mullman who's the current chairman of

[67:24] the Republican National Committee will

[67:25] step down and leave that post by the end

[67:27] of the year. Want to make clear none of

[67:29] these sources are saying that there is

[67:30] any blame being assigned to Ken Melman.

[67:32] In fact, most Republican strategists at

[67:34] the White House and in the party across

[67:35] the country think that he did more than

[67:37] the best he could and that the damage

[67:39] would have even been worse in the

[67:40] midterm elections if not for the RNC

[67:42] operation. He had told some close

[67:44] associates he planned to leave after the

[67:46] election. Anyway, I'm told by one source

[67:48] close to him, this is not a done deal.

[67:49] Still a little bit more work to do on

[67:50] this, but the White House already is

[67:52] looking at potential replacements. And

[67:54] one thought under consideration, Wolf,

[67:55] you've seen this happen in the past, is

[67:57] to have a split leadership, a general

[67:59] chairman, a well-known politician who

[68:00] raises the money, who is the face of the

[68:02] party, and then a strategist who's the

[68:04] day-to-day operative, the number two at

[68:05] the Department of Transportation, Maria

[68:07] Cino. She's a veteran political

[68:09] strategist, worked at the Congressional

[68:10] Campaign Committee, worked worked in the

[68:12] Bush election campaigns. She is under

[68:14] consideration if Ken Melman steps down,

[68:16] which we are told is all but certain at

[68:17] the end.

[68:18] >> Is she Hispanic?

[68:19] >> You know, I don't know, Maria. I think

[68:20] she's Italian. I think she's an Italian

[68:22] American. I'm pretty sure

[68:23] >> because they I think they were

[68:24] disappointed. They lost a lot of Latino

[68:26] votes this time. The Republicans had

[68:28] been very aggressively going after

[68:30] Hispanics and Latinos and and I think

[68:32] they were pretty disappointed in in in

[68:34] this election. Uh look, in fairness to

[68:37] Ken Melman, he had a mission impossible

[68:39] right now given the unpopularity of the

[68:41] war, what happened after Katrino. So it

[68:43] certainly would be unfair to blame him

[68:45] for Republicans.

[68:46] >> He's been he's been working in remember

[68:48] he worked in the president's campaigns

[68:49] all along. He was the political director

[68:51] at the White House for some time. He's

[68:52] been on the durable wheel as one of his

[68:53] close friends put it for well in excess

[68:55] of six years now. And he's tired. No one

[68:57] blames him at all. But I'm told it's all

[68:59] but certain he will leave that post at

[69:00] the end of the year.

[69:01] >> Now one of the stars of the Republican

[69:02] party who emerged from this election

[69:04] actually lost. That would be Michael

[69:06] Steele. the lieutenant governor of

[69:08] Maryland who wanted to be the United

[69:09] States senator, lost to Ben Carden in a

[69:12] fiercely fought battle, but he's

[69:14] emerging as a still as a major star in

[69:16] the Republican party.

[69:17] >> He certainly is. And even though he at

[69:19] times took issue with President Bush in

[69:21] his campaign because he's running in

[69:22] such a blue state, Maryland, such a

[69:24] Democratic state, took issue with the

[69:26] White House, saw distance from the White

[69:27] House. I'm told that top officials in

[69:29] the White House are actively looking for

[69:30] a place to put Michael Steele in the

[69:32] final two years of the Bush

[69:33] administration. His name has come up,

[69:34] for example, for the RNC job, although

[69:37] most think that's not where he will end

[69:38] up. Several members of the Bush cabinet

[69:40] and top subc cabinet officials are

[69:42] expected to leave between now and the

[69:43] end of the year or very early next year.

[69:45] That is traditional when you get into

[69:47] the seventh and the eighth years of a

[69:48] presidential administration. You've seen

[69:49] this happen before. And when there are

[69:51] those cabinet shifts, many say look for

[69:53] Michael Steele to come in quickly. One

[69:55] person already telling me today he would

[69:56] be a candidate for the Department of

[69:57] Housing and Urban Development if that

[69:59] comes open. A close friend of the

[70:00] president's from Texas has that job

[70:02] right now. But a number of cabinet

[70:03] officials are expected or their top

[70:05] deputies expected to leave soon and I'm

[70:07] told to watch for Michael Steele to

[70:08] perhaps join the Bush administration in

[70:09] the new year.

[70:10] >> I think he does have a huge future ahead

[70:12] of him in American politics. Thanks very

[70:13] much. As I said, one of the best b

[70:16] arguably the best political reporter in

[70:18] town.

[70:18] >> Dial that back a bit.

[70:20] >> Uh John, thanks very much. Jack Ka is

[70:23] part of the best political team on

[70:24] television as well. Don't you think John

[70:26] King is a terrific reporter?

[70:28] >> You know, you're not going to get me to

[70:30] start sucking up to John King. I mean, I

[70:32] like John King a lot, but you know, it's

[70:34] you should be in PR, Wolf. You know

[70:36] that. I mean, if you would like not ever

[70:38] do this, you could do public relations

[70:39] because you like everybody. You get

[70:41] along with everybody. I should take

[70:42] lessons from you.

[70:43] >> Okay,

[70:45] >> that ain't going to happen. The Senate

[70:46] Armed Services Committee is poised to

[70:48] move swiftly on the nomination of Robert

[70:50] Gates to replace Donald Rumsfeld, the

[70:52] Secretary of Defense. Gates brings a

[70:54] lengthy resume to the new job. He's a

[70:56] former CIA chief. He also served as

[70:58] deputy national security adviser to the

[71:00] first president Bush. He's a member of

[71:02] the Iraq study group. That's that

[71:04] bipartisan panel headed by former

[71:06] Secretary of State James Baker. Baker is

[71:09] widely suspected of being behind the

[71:11] decision to replace Rumsfeld. And his

[71:14] group is set to reveal its

[71:15] recommendations for a change of course

[71:16] in Iraq very soon. Tuesday's election

[71:19] sent a clear message to President Bush

[71:21] that the country wants change. They want

[71:23] a change of direction and they're not

[71:25] happy with the way he, President Bush,

[71:27] is handling the war in Iraq. So, here's

[71:29] the question. How might US policy in

[71:31] Iraq change with a new Secretary of

[71:34] Defense? Email your thoughts to

[71:35] Caertifile at CNN.com or go to

[71:38] CNN.com/cafertyfile.

[71:41] Wolf.

[71:41] >> All right, Jack. Thanks very much. Up

[71:43] ahead, we'll have more on the man Jack

[71:45] just mentioned, the outgoing Defense

[71:47] Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Today, he

[71:48] talks about uh any regrets he might have

[71:51] had. We'll tell you what he uh says in

[71:54] his own words. Also, death of a

[71:56] journalism giant, the veteran and

[71:58] respected CBS News journalist Ed Bradley

[72:01] has died. We're going to tell you how

[72:03] his peers and his fans alike are

[72:05] remembering this really, really solid

[72:07] journalist. And Representative John

[72:09] Murtha is standing by live, but uh we're

[72:12] going to be talking with him and ask him

[72:13] what the Democrats are planning to do

[72:15] now that they've seized control of the

[72:17] House and the Senate. Stay with us.

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[74:57] Welcome back. Now that Congresswoman

[74:59] Nancy Pelosi appears likely to be

[75:00] promoted to become the speaker of the

[75:02] House of Representatives, who will take

[75:04] over the job she now has the leader of

[75:06] the Democrats in the House. My next

[75:08] guest says he'll try that. Try out to

[75:10] see if he can do it. That would be

[75:12] Congressman John Murth of Pennsylvania.

[75:14] He's joining us from beautiful Johntown,

[75:16] Pennsylvania, a lovely, lovely town.

[75:18] Congressman, first of all,

[75:20] congratulations to you.

[75:22] >> Thank you very much, Wolf.

[75:24] >> Let's talk a little bit about uh what's

[75:25] on your agenda. I want to do some

[75:27] housekeeping first, then we'll get to

[75:28] some of the substantive issues. You want

[75:30] to be the majority leader in the House.

[75:32] Is that right?

[75:34] >> Yeah. And at this point, I think I have

[75:35] the votes. We've been going over it

[75:37] today and we're pleased at the outcome.

[75:39] We're pleased the response we're getting

[75:41] and and we've been working hard. We put

[75:44] off our campaign as telling people wait

[75:47] till the election's over. Let's win this

[75:48] election first for the American people.

[75:50] And I think we did that. Now we want to

[75:52] move forward.

[75:52] >> So it'll probably be a contest between

[75:54] you and uh Stenny Hoyer, the minority

[75:57] whip right now. Is that right?

[75:59] >> Yeah, exactly. That that's that's what

[76:01] the competition looks like. and and uh

[76:03] we're we're going full steam ahead.

[76:06] >> Tell us why members of the House, the

[76:08] new House should pick you as the

[76:10] majority leader as opposed to Steny

[76:11] Hoyer.

[76:13] >> Well, I I think there's a number of

[76:14] reasons. I've been involved in in these

[76:16] jobs and involved in foreign policy,

[76:18] involved in defense, involved in

[76:20] synthetic fuels and alternative energy.

[76:22] I've been involved in healthc care for

[76:24] years and years. And I think those are

[76:25] the issues I've heard about the most.

[76:27] And I think I can bring that kind of

[76:28] expertise to the leadership and I can

[76:31] mold some of the more conservative

[76:33] members with the leadership. So working

[76:35] with Nancy Pelosi, I think we make a

[76:37] good team

[76:38] >> because she's very close to Steny Hoyer.

[76:40] If you're going to be the majority

[76:41] leader, she's going to be the speaker.

[76:42] You have to really work as a team with

[76:45] her. Do you have a good relationship

[76:46] with Nancy Pelosi?

[76:49] >> Well, it's an interesting thing. I was

[76:50] her campaign chairman when Stanny Hoyer

[76:53] ran against her as as minority whip. I

[76:55] was her campaign manager when she ran

[76:57] against Steny Hoyer when Steny Hoyer ran

[76:59] against her for minority leader. So I do

[77:03] have a fairly good relationship. I've

[77:05] worked with her for years when she was

[77:07] on the intelligence committee. So we we

[77:09] are we are very close uh friends and and

[77:12] uh I've been her campaign manager now

[77:14] for two two separate events.

[77:17] >> Let's talk about Iraq because over the

[77:19] past year you've been outspoken. You've

[77:21] taken the lead in the House of

[77:22] Representatives in speaking out against

[77:24] the Bush administration's policies. What

[77:26] practically can the Democrats do as the

[77:29] majority party in the House and the

[77:31] Senate to try to change the

[77:33] administration's policy toward Iraq,

[77:36] which you're so concerned about?

[77:38] >> Yeah. One of the things I'll say right

[77:40] off the bat, Wolf, I was on 143 shows in

[77:43] the last uh in last year talking about

[77:46] Iraq, trying to straighten out what the

[77:48] administration said. But that doesn't

[77:50] mean anything compared to what happened

[77:52] on election day. I think the American

[77:54] public who were way ahead of me when I

[77:55] first spoke out. President kept talking

[77:57] about the last election being or mandate

[78:00] for him to go forward in Iraq. Well,

[78:01] this election was the opposite. This

[78:03] election was for to redeploy the troops

[78:06] in my plan which is the opposite of his

[78:08] plan as soon as practicable out out of

[78:10] Iraq. Now, what can we do? One of the

[78:13] things we can do is is say to him,

[78:14] "Look, Mr. President, there has to be a

[78:16] change. We have to work out something."

[78:18] And I and I think the the first step is

[78:20] all right, you you hold somebody

[78:22] accountable. All right, you fired the

[78:23] Secretary of Defense, but that's not a

[78:25] change in policy. I was disappointed in

[78:27] what the new secretary designate said. I

[78:29] was disappointed in what the president

[78:31] said. It's the same old policy. So

[78:33] firing the secretary,

[78:34] >> what specific what was what was the

[78:35] specific point they said? Uh Robert

[78:38] Gates, the uh the the nominee to become

[78:41] the Secretary of Defense, what did you

[78:42] not like?

[78:44] >> Well, it looked like the speech was

[78:46] written by the White House. that said

[78:47] this is still a fight. The center fight

[78:49] on terrorism is is is in Iraq. That's

[78:52] not the centerpiece of of terrorism. We

[78:54] we are in a we're in mixed in a civil

[78:57] war in Iraq. And and the problem we have

[78:59] is our our troops are targets because we

[79:02] become the occupier. They keep saying

[79:04] the same thing over and over again and

[79:06] and they keep talking about how it's an

[79:08] open-ended policy even though they say

[79:10] it's not. But we have what we have to do

[79:12] is give a deadline to the Iraqis. We

[79:14] have to work this out so that the

[79:15] president accepts this deadline so the

[79:17] Iraqis accept responsibility. We have to

[79:20] hold them accountable. We have to have

[79:21] hearings. We have to decide, okay,

[79:23] folks, sit down here and tell us what

[79:25] went wrong. Make tell us all the

[79:26] mistakes that you made. And there's no

[79:28] question about the reason the military

[79:30] lost lost confidence in this secretary

[79:32] is because he didn't listen to him. One

[79:34] thing about Gates, and I've known him

[79:36] for years when he was CIA director, I

[79:37] was a chairman of the committee. He will

[79:39] listen to people. He will listen to the

[79:41] military. And then the other thing that

[79:42] the secretary didn't do is go to the

[79:44] White House and fight for the

[79:45] appropriation that that the military

[79:48] needs in order to get themselves back in

[79:49] good shape. So we got a new secretary.

[79:52] That's a little bit of a start. But we

[79:54] need a change in the policy and we need

[79:55] to force the president, work with the

[79:57] president, but force him to see that

[79:59] that's what the people said. with with

[80:01] your expanded oversight opportunities

[80:03] right now, will you a use your subpoena

[80:06] power to bring in administration

[80:08] witnesses to get to the bottom of some

[80:10] of the issues that you're concerned

[80:11] about, specifically the vice president,

[80:13] Dick Cheney, and and secondly, the power

[80:16] of the purse. Will you cut back on

[80:18] funding for the war in Iraq?

[80:21] >> First thing we'll do and absolutely is

[80:23] is subpoena power if we need to. Now,

[80:25] most of the time administrations are

[80:27] cooperative, so we don't need to

[80:28] subpoena, but we'll put them under oath

[80:30] and we'll ask them what happened. Why

[80:31] did we go into Iraq with insufficient

[80:34] forces? Why do we go into Iraq with with

[80:36] inadequate body armor and with

[80:38] inadequate Humvees? We we want to make

[80:40] find out who's responsible for the

[80:42] mistakes that were made. Why don't we

[80:44] have an exit strategy? Then then the

[80:46] next thing we'll do is make sure the

[80:47] troops get funded. There's no question

[80:48] about that. We're going to we're going

[80:50] to fund the troops. Now, most of the

[80:52] Democrats, Wolf, voted against this war

[80:53] because they didn't trust this

[80:54] president. I voted for it because I felt

[80:57] like we give the president the club. I

[80:59] made a mistake. Now, most of the

[81:01] Democrats though are voting for the the

[81:04] appropriations for for the war because

[81:06] they believe very strongly that we have

[81:08] to support the troops out in the field.

[81:09] So, it's not a matter of cutting off

[81:10] money. It's a matter of reassessing,

[81:12] reassigning money. The other thing we

[81:14] have to do, we have to get this this war

[81:16] money in the base budget. We can't keep

[81:19] putting out supplementals. We got to say

[81:21] to them, be realistic when you propose a

[81:23] budget for us. We want a base budget

[81:25] which takes care of short-term and

[81:27] long-term. We need to rehabilitate

[81:29] equipment. We need to take care of the

[81:31] the army was in desperate shape, almost

[81:33] running out of money, not paying her

[81:35] utility bills. We don't have an active

[81:36] reserve that that could be deployed if

[81:39] they needed to in an area to prevent

[81:40] war.

[81:40] >> I I was just about to say you got a full

[81:42] agenda ahead of you. Unfortunately,

[81:44] Congressman, we're out of time. Uh but

[81:46] good luck with your new

[81:47] responsibilities. It's going to be an

[81:48] enormous change here in Washington, I

[81:51] suspect. Thanks very much for coming in.

[81:54] >> Nice talking to you, Wolf.

[81:55] >> Appreciate it. And coming up, today's

[81:57] strategy session takes a hard look at

[81:59] what the new Democratic control congress

[82:01] could face. And is the Democrats victory

[82:04] an unprecedented stumble for Carl Ro?

[82:07] He's guided the Republicans to triumph

[82:09] so often in the past. So, what went

[82:11] wrong this time? Stay with us. You're in

[82:13] the situation room.

[82:17] Blue Dobs pays tribute to our men and

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[85:06] There you see it right there. Democrats

[85:07] win control of the Senate. They've won

[85:09] control of the House of Representatives.

[85:12] There's a new political structure

[85:13] underway here in Washington right now.

[85:16] We're watching it every step of the way.

[85:18] In the meantime, let's check in with

[85:19] Carol Costello for a closer look at some

[85:21] other stories making news. Hi, Carol.

[85:24] >> Hi, Wolf. Good afternoon to you all.

[85:25] Check your medicine cabinet. There is a

[85:27] problem with a popular painkiller. It is

[85:29] being recalled. The Paraggo company is

[85:31] recalling 11 million bottles of

[85:33] acetaminophen. Paraggo says it found

[85:35] tiny bits of metal in some of the

[85:37] tablets. No injuries are reported. And

[85:38] by the way, that's a generic version of

[85:40] Tylenol. The brand Tylenol is not

[85:42] affected. You can check out the FDA's

[85:44] website at www.fda.gov

[85:47] for a list of the recalled batches.

[85:50] Figure skating champion Michelle Quan is

[85:52] taking off her skates and dancing to a

[85:54] brand new beat. Secretary of State

[85:55] Condisa Rice says the 26-year-old will

[85:58] become a public diplomacy ambassador for

[86:00] the United States. What the heck is

[86:02] that, you ask? Well, in hip terms, the

[86:04] DA US means Quan will travel around the

[86:07] world and talk about American values to

[86:09] young people and to sports fans. The

[86:11] space shuttle Discovery is on the launch

[86:13] pad, ready for its last mission of the

[86:15] year. If all goes well, it will blast

[86:16] off on December 7th. NASA's trying to

[86:19] get Discovery off the ground sooner

[86:20] rather than later. How come? Well, to

[86:23] avoid possible computer glitches that

[86:25] might happen if the shuttle is still in

[86:27] orbit on New Year's Eve. You know, the

[86:29] computer on board would have to roll

[86:30] over to 2007. And NASA is taking no

[86:33] chances. As for what the mission is,

[86:35] Wolf, well, they're going to make

[86:36] repairs to the International Space

[86:37] Station and provide the most expensive

[86:40] cab fair in the whole world for one of

[86:42] the astronauts on board to come back

[86:43] down to Earth.

[86:44] >> We wish him only the best.

[86:46] >> Absolutely.

[86:46] >> Thanks very much, Carol, for that.

[86:48] Coming up, a party 12 years in the

[86:50] making. It's been that long since

[86:52] Democrats have been the boss in both

[86:54] houses of Congress. We're going to talk

[86:56] about the privilege and the pitfalls of

[86:58] their new found power. That's coming up

[87:00] in our strategy session. And his actual

[87:03] reporting was as famous as his reporting

[87:05] style. The veteran journalist Ed Bradley

[87:08] dead at 65. What a sad story. We're

[87:11] going to tell you how people are

[87:12] remembering.

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[89:48] >> Tonight on 360, the Democrats are in

[89:50] control. Their messages change, but what

[89:52] can they really do about Iraq? We'll

[89:54] look at the facts on the ground and the

[89:56] options. Could it take more troops, not

[89:58] less, to get a solution? 360 tonight, 10

[90:00] p.m. Eastern.

[90:05] You're in the situation room where new

[90:07] pictures and information are arising all

[90:09] the time, happening now. For one party,

[90:11] it's over. For another, it's just

[90:13] beginning. Democrats have officially

[90:15] rested control of the Senate from

[90:17] Republicans. This after Republican

[90:20] Senator George Allen concedes defeat in

[90:22] Virginia. Democrat Jim Webb is now

[90:24] Virginia's senator elect. Both men

[90:27] pledged to work together to try to ease

[90:29] Web's transition. And to the vote

[90:31] victors go the spoils. With Democrats in

[90:34] charge, they could decide against

[90:36] keeping John Bolton as the United States

[90:39] ambassador to the UN. Today, the White

[90:41] House resubmitted his nomination. Bolton

[90:43] needs confirmation by the US Senate.

[90:46] Last year, Democrats blocked his

[90:48] nomination, prompting President Bush to

[90:50] appoint him in a recess appointment

[90:52] that's set to expire in January. I'm

[90:55] Wolf Blitzer. You're in the situation

[90:56] room.

[91:12] So, what happened? Democrats have

[91:14] officially rested control of both the

[91:16] House and the Senate from Republicans.

[91:18] Now, some are wondering how a key

[91:20] Republican whose prior predictions were

[91:23] often so right, this time those

[91:25] predictions were so wrong. Let's go to

[91:28] CNN's Brian Todd. He's joining us with

[91:30] more on this part of the story. Brian

[91:32] >> Wolf, those predictions came from Carl

[91:34] Rove, the president's chief political

[91:36] strategist. And despite pre-election

[91:38] polls indicating heavy GOP losses, many

[91:40] Republicans pinned their hopes on Rove

[91:43] because of his track record.

[91:45] Two weeks before midterms, Carl Rove

[91:48] exudes the confidence of a man who's won

[91:50] three national elections for his party.

[91:53] When an NPR reporter presses him on

[91:55] polls showing Republican fortunes

[91:57] slipping,

[91:58] >> I add up to a Republican Senate and

[92:00] Republican House. You may end up with a

[92:02] different math, but you're entitled to

[92:03] your math. I'm entitled to the map.

[92:05] >> Now, in the wreckage of a Democratic

[92:07] route, Deputy White House press

[92:09] secretary Dana Parino tells CNN there's

[92:12] no tension between Rove and President

[92:14] Bush. She says this comment the day

[92:16] after was a full-hearted joke.

[92:18] >> I obviously was working harder in the

[92:20] campaign than he was. Parino says Ro,

[92:22] who declined our request for an

[92:24] interview, doesn't spend a lot of time,

[92:26] quote, on the couch thinking about his

[92:28] personal role in these situations. But

[92:30] others, even on the conservative side,

[92:32] have had it with the image of Carl Rove

[92:35] as political genius. He didn't get a

[92:37] majority of the popular vote in 2000. He

[92:39] squeezed a 51% victory in 2004. He's

[92:42] been teetering on the brink ever since,

[92:44] and the base strategy now shows him not

[92:46] to be a genius, but to be a real

[92:47] failure. One GOP strategist says Rove's

[92:50] political team could have done more to

[92:52] warn voters about a Nancy Pelosi House.

[92:55] But some analysts believe Rove played

[92:57] too much to the base. The problem was it

[92:59] became such sort of a hard edge. Let's

[93:01] help conservatives. Let's fire up

[93:03] conservatives that they almost they

[93:05] almost tied their hands. It made it very

[93:06] difficult to get out of that strategy

[93:08] and then to try to reach to the center.

[93:09] >> But a GOP activist who knows Rove says

[93:12] there were forces at work here that even

[93:14] the so-called architect couldn't

[93:16] control. Carl Ro is in charge of the get

[93:18] out the vote effort in charge of the

[93:20] political campaign. Um the decision to

[93:23] occupy Iraq was not Carl Roves and it's

[93:26] not exactly fair to blame him. Another

[93:28] longtime Republican strategist told me

[93:31] quote no one's going to tell you with a

[93:32] straight face that Carl could have saved

[93:34] this election. End quote. The next

[93:36] election he says will also depend on

[93:38] Iraq. and he says Rove and the

[93:40] Republicans cannot get themselves into a

[93:42] situation where they're all defending

[93:44] the war and the Democrats are all

[93:46] opposing it. Wol Brian, thank you. Brian

[93:48] Todd reporting. In the wake of the

[93:49] Democrats election victory, the talk

[93:51] here in Washington is change and

[93:53] bipartisanship, but can that really

[93:56] happen? Today uh in our strategy

[93:58] session, CNN political analyst,

[94:00] Democratic strategist Donna Brazil,

[94:02] Terry Jeffrey, the editor of human

[94:04] events. Uh Terry, pick up on this Carl

[94:06] Rove story that Brian Todd was just

[94:09] reporting on. Given the situation out

[94:11] there, the the war in Iraq being as

[94:13] unpopular as it is, the Katrina

[94:16] disaster, was there anything Carl Rove

[94:18] could have done to uh alter this

[94:20] Democratic victory?

[94:21] >> No, there isn't. Wolf, I think Carl Ro

[94:23] and I think more importantly, President

[94:25] Bush made some mistakes on policy issues

[94:27] where they positioned the Republican

[94:28] party in the wrong way. But the war was

[94:30] a big issue. If it weren't for the fact

[94:32] that we're still taking casualties in

[94:34] Iraq, we don't have a stable government

[94:35] there. Democrats wouldn't have run

[94:37] Congress. And if you look at a lot of

[94:38] the races that Democrats won, especially

[94:40] in red states, in Indiana, for example,

[94:42] Brad Ellsworth who beat John Hostler, uh

[94:45] Joe Donnelly who beat Chris Chakola,

[94:47] these are extremely conservative

[94:49] Democrats. They even talk like hawks on

[94:51] national security. So, it isn't as if

[94:53] >> on the other on the other hand, Donna,

[94:54] when the Republicans won, Carl Ro was a

[94:57] genius. So, uh they lost this time. So

[95:00] maybe not necessarily such a genius.

[95:02] >> Well, Carl Ro is a lot of things, but

[95:03] he's not a miracle worker, and it would

[95:04] have taken a miracle for the Republicans

[95:06] to be able to capture the House and the

[95:08] Senate. Look, I want to put this notion

[95:10] uh to rest about the political

[95:13] affiliation of these Democrats. They are

[95:15] Democrats. They're reformminded

[95:16] Democrats. Yes, they are halt, but so

[95:19] are a lot of liberals. They're halts.

[95:21] They're halts on on deficits. They're

[95:23] halt on the way things are being run.

[95:25] What the Democrats are saying, if the

[95:27] Republicans can be a big tent party with

[95:29] moderates and liberals and the rep the

[95:31] Democrats can as well, they don't all

[95:32] have to.

[95:33] >> But they ran on they ran on bread and

[95:35] and body issues and it wasn't about

[95:36] liberals or conservatives. It was about

[95:38] right and wrong and they understood how

[95:40] to talk to the American people.

[95:41] >> In the last two presidential elections,

[95:43] we saw this electoral college map where

[95:44] there were almost equal blocks of red

[95:46] and blue states. I think those blocks

[95:48] represented a deep cultural divide in

[95:51] this country. I think that divide is

[95:52] still there and I think one of the the

[95:54] things the Democrats did that was

[95:55] intelligent politically was go out and

[95:57] recruit candidates who reflected the red

[95:59] side of the divide. The question is when

[96:01] those red state conservative Democrats

[96:03] come to Washington, are they going to

[96:04] vote with Nancy Pelosi, the San

[96:06] Francisco Democrat, are they going to

[96:08] vote with the Republicans? That's going

[96:09] to be

[96:10] >> perhaps you should worry about the

[96:11] divisions in the Republican party

[96:12] because they're still deep on

[96:13] immigration and budget and a lot of

[96:14] other issues. they will support Nancy

[96:16] Pelosi because Nancy Pelosi has led a

[96:18] unified Democratic party and a unified

[96:20] approach to how we deal with Iraq, how

[96:22] we deal with the economy, and how we

[96:24] deal with other issues.

[96:24] >> Will those uh red states that went

[96:27] Democratic certainly some of those

[96:28] congressional districts, will they

[96:30] support a Hillary Clinton for president

[96:32] in 2008?

[96:33] >> That that remains to be seen. Look, uh

[96:35] Clare McCascal, we have a lot of great

[96:38] women and men who are coming to

[96:39] Washington DC from red states. I don't

[96:41] know. I mean, tomorrow begins a new day

[96:43] in the 2008 floodgates, and we'll see

[96:45] what happens at that time.

[96:46] >> You know, if if we still have a problem

[96:48] in Iraq in 2008, it's going to be very

[96:51] easy for a Democrat to take the White

[96:52] House on an anti-war plank. But if Iraq

[96:55] is settled or largely out of the way,

[96:56] will Hillary's going to have the same

[96:58] problem the Democrats had in 2020. She's

[97:02] going to need to win more conservative

[97:03] voters in places like Indiana and

[97:05] southern states like North Carolina. I

[97:07] don't think she can do it because of the

[97:09] record she's developed in cultural and

[97:10] social issues of the United States.

[97:12] >> You know, in the closing days of the

[97:13] campaign, Rick Santorin was out there

[97:14] campaigning on on Democrat

[97:18] campaigning on issues that he agreed

[97:19] with Hillary Clinton. He went mentioning

[97:21] her name.

[97:21] >> He kept mentioning her name. So, don't

[97:23] be surprised. Hillary Clinton, who had a

[97:25] fabulous night in New York, upstate New

[97:27] York, down in Long Island, she was able

[97:29] to capture a lot of red state

[97:30] Republicans in New York. She may be

[97:32] attracted to them.

[97:33] >> Both of you have been around Washington

[97:34] for all today. We saw Nancy Pelosi in

[97:36] the Oval Office with Stenny Hoyer uh

[97:38] meeting with the president. Both sides

[97:41] promising this is a new day. There's

[97:43] going to be cooperation. Two years left

[97:45] in the Bush administration. Can they

[97:48] work together right now to pass

[97:50] legislation that the country wants that

[97:52] the American people made clear in this

[97:54] election they want?

[97:55] >> I think it's very important that they

[97:56] get together and have a bipartisan uh

[97:59] policy on Iraq. I think conservatives

[98:01] right now are a little alarmed at some

[98:02] of the things that President Bush said

[98:04] yesterday, which where he seemed to be

[98:05] moving left to meet with Nancy Pelosi on

[98:07] raising the minimum wage, on renewing

[98:10] the No Child Left Behind Act, which was

[98:12] co-sponsored by Teddy Kennedy in in

[98:13] Bush's first term. Uh, you know, so

[98:16] there's a little worry, I think, in in

[98:18] Bush's base that the president is going

[98:20] to reach out too far to the left to

[98:21] appease the Democrats in Congress.

[98:23] >> Look, there's no question that Miss

[98:24] Pelosi said today that this is the era

[98:26] of partnership, not partisanship. And if

[98:28] we can find some things that we can work

[98:30] together, that's what the American

[98:31] people is now saying. Let's work

[98:33] together.

[98:33] >> All right, we'll see what happens. That

[98:35] good era of good feeling could last

[98:36] what, a minute or two?

[98:38] >> Moon is always short.

[98:39] >> We'll see how long it lasts. Thanks very

[98:41] much, Donna and Terry. And after losing

[98:43] both the House and the Senate, many

[98:45] Republicans are calling for a major

[98:47] party shakeup. While leadership

[98:49] elections will take place behind closed

[98:50] doors on Capitol Hill, this time around,

[98:53] some conservatives online want their

[98:55] voices to be heard. Let's bring in our

[98:57] Abby Tatton. She has details. Abby.

[98:59] >> Well, these are some conservative blogs

[99:01] that were urging wholesale change in

[99:03] House Republican leadership even before

[99:05] the results came in on Tuesday. And now

[99:08] as the race for minority leadership

[99:10] positions is on right-leaning blogs,

[99:12] including Hugh Hwitt, calling on the GOP

[99:15] to let the Republican rank and file have

[99:17] a voice in this process. right-leaning

[99:20] truth laid bear has got together a lot

[99:22] of conservative blogs to organize an

[99:25] effort to interview the candidates for

[99:27] the minority leadership post. They want

[99:29] the candidates to ask answer questions

[99:32] of the people that they're going to be

[99:33] representing. Now, this has been done

[99:35] before in January of this year. All

[99:38] three candidates for House Majority

[99:40] Leader agreed to give interviews to

[99:42] bloggers. And we should point out that

[99:43] some of these conservative bloggers seem

[99:44] to have their pick already for minority

[99:47] leader. getting some early support from

[99:49] conservatives online. Mike Pence of

[99:51] Indiana. We'll watch this and see how it

[99:53] progresses. Wolf

[99:54] >> Abby, thank you. Still to come, America

[99:56] votes, the world reacts. Our Zane Vie

[99:59] standing by to tell us what the world is

[100:01] saying about this major power shift

[100:03] right here in Washington. And there was

[100:05] no other no one else exactly like him.

[100:08] That's what a lot of people are saying

[100:10] about Ed Bradley, the veteran CBS News

[100:12] journalist. He died today. Hey, we're

[100:14] going to tell you what else so many

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[103:09] >> A day after the president announced he's

[103:11] replacing his defense secretary, Donald

[103:13] Rumsfeld is still on the job, but he was

[103:15] on the move today in Kansas, suggesting

[103:18] he has no regrets about his stewardship

[103:20] of the Pentagon.

[103:23] >> I uh

[103:26] would start on a personal note. um my

[103:28] time as Secretary of Defense, I've come

[103:30] away truly inspired by the

[103:32] professionalism, the dedication, the

[103:34] dignity of the men and women in uniform

[103:38] and the folks at the Department of

[103:39] Defense who work every day to help keep

[103:42] the American people safe.

[103:45] When I was in Afghanistan not long ago,

[103:47] a young soldier told me, he said, "I I

[103:49] really can't believe we're allowed to do

[103:52] something this important."

[103:55] You know, I feel the same way. I'm so

[103:57] honored to have had the opportunity to

[103:59] be part of something so important, so

[104:02] vital to the future of our country and

[104:05] to the cause of human freedom.

[104:07] >> The nomination of Robert Gates as

[104:08] defense secretary is certain to bring

[104:10] with it some strategy changes. Let's get

[104:13] some details from our senior Pentagon

[104:15] correspondent, Jamie McIntyre. Jamie.

[104:17] >> Well, Wolf, it's looking increasingly

[104:18] like that Iraq study group, of which

[104:20] Gates is a member, will provide a road

[104:23] map to get US troops out of Iraq.

[104:27] Now that he's a short-timer, even

[104:29] outgoing Secretary of Defense Donald

[104:31] Rumsfeld admits the current strategy in

[104:33] Iraq is not working.

[104:35] >> It has not been going well enough or

[104:37] fast enough. In an exchange with

[104:40] students at Kansas State University,

[104:42] Rumsfeld urged perseverance and resolve

[104:45] as adjustments to the strategy are made

[104:47] by the man nominated to replace him,

[104:49] former CIA director Robert Gates, who is

[104:52] one of 10 members of the bipartisan Iraq

[104:55] study group charged with finding a way

[104:57] out of Iraq. The options include stay

[105:00] the course, which is already seen as

[105:02] failing. Strategic redeployment, pulling

[105:04] the troops back, perhaps as far as

[105:06] Kuwait, as advocated by Representative

[105:08] John Murtha and other Democrats. More US

[105:11] troops, which US commanders say won't

[105:13] help in the long term, and partition

[105:16] along sectarian lines, something the

[105:18] White House has labeled a non-starter.

[105:21] So, the most likely options appear to be

[105:23] a phased withdrawal under a carefully

[105:25] planned timeline to force the Iraqis to

[105:28] step up.

[105:28] >> I think basically unless we start a

[105:31] phase withdrawal, the Iraqis will never

[105:33] make the political compromises necessary

[105:36] to create an Iraq that's worth uh

[105:39] fighting and dying for and engaging

[105:41] Iraq's neighbors, Iran and Syria.

[105:44] something commission group co-chairman

[105:45] James Baker says he's open to but is

[105:48] vigorously opposed by hardliners.

[105:50] >> Will we be negotiating with enemies like

[105:54] uh the regime in Iran uh in the hopes

[105:56] that they'll somehow help us uh solve

[105:58] the problem they're creating in no small

[106:00] measure in Iraq. And I think that's

[106:02] going to be a mistake of potentially

[106:04] very strategic and long-standing uh

[106:06] dimensions.

[106:07] >> Senate confirmation hearings for Robert

[106:09] Gates are now set for the beginning of

[106:10] December. And it's expected that the

[106:12] Iraq study group will provide its

[106:14] recommendations by early in January. Wol

[106:17] >> Jamie, thank you for that. Jaime's at

[106:19] the Pentagon watching this important

[106:21] part of the story, a defense department

[106:23] without Donald Rumsfeld. We'll continue

[106:26] to stay on top of this story every step

[106:28] of the way. So, how is the world

[106:30] reacting to Donald Rumsfeld's

[106:32] resignation and to the major power shift

[106:34] unfolding right now here in Washington?

[106:36] Let's bring in Zayn Vie. She's watching

[106:38] this part of the story.

[106:40] Wolf, the political earthquakes in the

[106:42] US have triggered seismic celebrations

[106:44] around the world in Asia, the Middle

[106:46] East, and Europe. Their message, the

[106:48] election has taught the president a

[106:50] harsh lesson. The main reason, they say,

[106:52] for his defeat, Iraq. Many are hoping

[106:54] that democratic control of Congress will

[106:56] force the president to be less

[106:58] confrontational and much more

[107:00] consiliatory in dealing with global

[107:01] crisis. A joint statement from more than

[107:04] 200 socialist members of the Europe

[107:06] European Parliament says the election

[107:08] outcome is the beginning of the end of a

[107:11] six-year nightmare for the world.

[107:13] Venezuela's Ugo Chavez couldn't resist a

[107:15] dig either, saying the election was a

[107:17] reprisal vote. Now in Syria, the

[107:19] information minister called the results

[107:20] a real slap in the face for the Bush

[107:22] administration. Syria says it hopes for

[107:25] some shift in foreign policy.

[107:29] I expect if the Democrats reversed the

[107:32] strategy and started to think in a wise

[107:35] and just way and in respect of human

[107:38] lives away from the examples of Abu Grae

[107:41] and the Guantanamo and the Patriot Act,

[107:43] I expect that all part all parties would

[107:47] be the beneficiaries and perhaps they

[107:49] would be able to reach a very good

[107:51] solution in Iraq. Good for the United

[107:53] States, good for Iraq and good for the

[107:56] region as well. One group of Iraqi

[107:58] insurgents gloated over the result of

[108:00] the election, calling the democratic

[108:01] victory a victory for the Iraqi

[108:03] resistance. Now look at some British

[108:05] newspaper headlines as well. From the

[108:07] Daily Telegraph, Rumsfeld is casualty of

[108:10] war. From the Guardian, Rumsfeld pays

[108:12] price as US sends message to Bush. And

[108:15] from the Evening Standard in London,

[108:16] Bush's bitter winter. The possibility of

[108:20] any change though in Iraq. policy by the

[108:22] US may be troubling, analysts are saying

[108:24] to allies like Britain, Japan, and

[108:26] Australia who have backed the US-led war

[108:28] in Iraq. But Wolf, even with the

[108:30] Democratic victory and the replacement

[108:32] of Rumsfeld, it's really unclear though

[108:33] if there'll be a major shift in Iraq

[108:35] policy. Wolf,

[108:37] >> Zayn, good piece. Thanks very much, Zayn

[108:39] Burgie reporting for us. Up ahead, Jack

[108:41] Ka's question of the hour is on US

[108:43] policy in Iraq. Will a new defense

[108:45] secretary make a difference? Jack, we'll

[108:47] be back with your email. and remembering

[108:50] Ed Bradley. We're going to go uh to New

[108:52] York for that. Stay with us. You're in

[108:55] the situation someone else did.

[108:58] >> For those with a passion to break

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[111:39] >> from war Anderson Cooper 360 CNN Monday

[111:42] night.

[111:44] >> Lud Dob's getting ready for his program

[111:46] that begins right at the top of the hour

[111:48] and he's going to tell us what he's

[111:49] working on. Hi Luke.

[111:50] >> Hi Will. Thank you. Coming up at 6 p.m.

[111:52] right here on CNN, Mexico's

[111:54] president-elect Philippe Calderon tells

[111:57] President Bush not to build a fence

[111:59] along our border with Mexico. We'll be

[112:02] discussing Calderon's outright amnesty

[112:04] agenda for illegal aliens in this

[112:06] country and open borders with someone

[112:08] who has just met with Mexico's

[112:10] presidentele. Also, a tight

[112:13] congressional race in Florida hanging in

[112:15] the balance. The Democrats have taken

[112:17] the House and the Senate, but now

[112:19] charges that e voting machines wiped out

[112:21] as many as 18,000 votes in one district

[112:24] in Florida. Even worse, no paper trail,

[112:27] no possibility of an accurate recount.

[112:30] That special report coming up tonight.

[112:32] And will the Democrats do anything more

[112:33] than Republicans to help our nation's

[112:35] belleaguered middle class? Two of the

[112:37] country's leading authorities on

[112:39] Congress and its failures, Thomas Man

[112:41] and Norman Ornstein, will be among our

[112:43] guests. All of that and a great deal

[112:45] more at the top of the hour here on CNN.

[112:47] Please join us. Wolf, back to you.

[112:49] >> We'll see you in a few minutes. Lou,

[112:51] thank you very much. And right now, many

[112:53] are mourning the veteran CBS News

[112:55] journalist Ed Bradley who died today.

[112:57] Let's go to CNN's Mary Snow. She's in

[112:59] New York with this very sad story. Mary.

[113:04] >> Wolf. Many here at CBS News so saddened

[113:07] and also stunned by the news that Ed

[113:09] Bradley died this morning of leukemia.

[113:11] He was 65 years old. He was so private

[113:14] that many said that they did not even

[113:16] know that he had been suffering from

[113:18] leukemia. He is being remembered here as

[113:21] a legend for his reporting from Vietnam

[113:24] in which he was wounded in 1973 to his

[113:26] investigative pieces, the last of which

[113:28] aired on October 29th when he did an

[113:31] investigative report on a Texas oil

[113:34] company in a lawsuit there. 60 Minutes

[113:36] executive producer Don Eu said simply

[113:39] that Ed Bradley is one of a kind.

[113:43] I never had never worked with anyone I

[113:46] admired more, loved more.

[113:50] His dignity, his he was a man among men

[113:53] and uh never went to his head.

[113:58] He he he became famous overnight and you

[114:00] never would have known it. His colleague

[114:04] Mike Wallace said that he was, his

[114:06] words, simply superb, remembering

[114:08] profiles that range from the only

[114:10] interview with Oklahoma City bomber

[114:12] Timothy McVey to a profile of Lena Horn.

[114:16] And obviously it was one of Ed Bradley's

[114:17] favorites.

[114:20] >> If I arrived at the pearly gates and St.

[114:22] Peter said, "What have you done to

[114:23] deserve entry?" I'd just say, "Did you

[114:25] see my Lena Horn story?"

[114:27] >> Commented on many times. Very sad day

[114:29] here at CBS. Ed Bradley had worked at

[114:31] CBS for more than 40 years. Wolf,

[114:34] >> a great journalist uh and terrific

[114:37] terrific guy. 65 years old. How sad this

[114:40] is. Our deepest condolences to his

[114:42] family. Mary, thank you very much for

[114:44] that. Up next, will a new defense

[114:46] secretary really end up changing US

[114:48] policy in Iraq? Jack Afa with your

[114:51] email. Stay with us.

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[117:40] >> Let's check back with Jack Caerty. back.

[117:42] >> Wolf, if the question this hour is, how

[117:44] might US policy in Iraq change now that

[117:46] there's going to be a new Secretary of

[117:48] Defense? We got this from Donna in

[117:50] Tampa, Florida. I don't know how much

[117:52] the Iraq war situation will change with

[117:54] a new Secretary of Defense, but I think

[117:55] a new Democratic Senate and Congress

[117:57] will make a huge difference. The people

[118:00] spoke. They're against the war and it's

[118:02] time for those elected to do the

[118:04] people's will. Em and Columbus. Jack,

[118:06] I'm not sure how much things can change

[118:09] as long as Dick Cheney is still around

[118:10] to give direction to George Bush. I

[118:12] think much of what has been going on in

[118:14] Iraq has been directly tied to Dick

[118:16] Cheney. His statement earlier this week

[118:18] that things are not going to change,

[118:19] that it's full steam ahead, speaks

[118:21] loudly of his power behind the throne.

[118:24] Too bad President Bush can't think for

[118:26] himself. Julian, in Orlando, Florida, I

[118:28] think the difference Gates makes will

[118:30] all depend on Bush. Gates has the

[118:33] reputation of being a pragmatic thinker.

[118:35] And if Bush gives him free reign to do

[118:36] his job, then he might make a

[118:38] difference. But if Bush's stubborn

[118:39] streak keeps him from changing policy,

[118:42] then the difference Gates will make will

[118:43] be minimal. Bob, in Maple Grove,

[118:46] Minnesota, the man has changed, but the

[118:48] situation is not. The options remain the

[118:51] same. If we leave now, we leave the

[118:52] Iraqis hanging out to dry. We're in a

[118:55] no-win situation, but total withdrawal

[118:58] will cause others countries views of us

[118:59] to sink even lower. Gradual withdrawal

[119:02] creates a chance to train Iraqi troops

[119:04] who will be vital in the long run. John

[119:07] writes, "Daddy's pal, Jim Baker, didn't

[119:09] go to Iraq because it's warm there. He

[119:11] went there to report back with the bad

[119:13] news Cheney didn't want the president to

[119:15] hear. Now, Mr. ex CIA man Gates is there

[119:19] to help cover up the nasty stuff while

[119:21] the White House finds a way out of Iraq

[119:23] without having to call it a loss. If you

[119:26] didn't see your email here, you can go

[119:28] to cnn.com/cafdityfile

[119:30] where we post some more of these online.

[119:33] Wolf, I covered Robert Gates when he was

[119:35] the CIA director during the first Bush

[119:38] presidency, the first President Bush.

[119:39] He's a very, very smart guy. Worked his

[119:42] way up as an analyst at the CIA. He's a

[119:44] soviologist. He is the only CIA

[119:47] employee, to my knowledge, and I think

[119:49] this is accurate, to work his way up

[119:51] from an entry-level position to run the

[119:53] whole place. Pretty impressive stuff.

[119:55] >> I think you're right on that last point,

[119:57] Jack. Thanks very much. See you back

[119:58] here in an hour. We're in the situation

[120:00] room 700 p.m. Eastern, 1 hour from now.

[120:03] In the meantime, let's go to Lou Dos.

[120:04] He's standing by in New York. Hi, Lou.

[120:07] >> Hi, Wolf. And thank you. Tonight, the

[120:09] uncertainty is over. Democrats have won

[120:12] control of the US Senate. Senator George

[120:15] Allen admitting defeat and conceding,

[120:17] giving Democrats their razor thin

[120:19] majority in the Senate. We'll have

[120:21] complete coverage tonight. And Mexico's

[120:23] president-elect Philippe Calderon meets

[120:25] with President Bush at the White House.

[120:28] The government of Mexico determined to

[120:30] push its amnesty agenda in this country

[120:33] and to stop construction of any fence

[120:35] along our southern border. That special

[120:38] report and a great deal more straight

[120:40] ahead here tonight.

[120:46] This is Lou Dos Tonight. News, debate,

[120:49] and opinion for Thursday, November 9th.

[120:52] Live in New York. Lou Dobs.

[120:55] >> Good evening everybody. Democrats

[120:57] tonight control both houses of Congress

[120:59] for the first time in more than a

[121:01] decade. The Democratic leader in the

[121:03] Senate, Senator Harry Reid, said it's

[121:06] time for a change. Senator Reid declared

[121:08] that Democrats can work with the

[121:10] Republicans. Earlier in the day,

[121:12] President Bush called for a new

[121:13] bipartisan tone in Washington. The

[121:16] president met with the two top House

[121:18] Democrats at the White House, or at

[121:20] least those who will be. The president

[121:22] said the American people have made their

[121:24] decision and he respects the election

[121:26] results. Dana Bash reports from Capitol

[121:29] Hill on the momentous shift in power in

[121:31] the nation's capital. Suzan Malvo

[121:34] reports from the White House on the

[121:35] president's early efforts to reach out

[121:37] to the Democratic Party. and Jamie

[121:39] McIntyre reports on from the Pentagon on

[121:42] the increasing likelihood of a major

[121:44] change in US strategy in Iraq. We turn

[121:47] first to Suzan Malvo at the White House.

[121:49] Suzan,

[121:50] >> well Lou, of course, the question is is

[121:52] just how long this honeymoon is going to

[121:54] last. Uh earlier today, we uh saw

[121:56] President Bush. She put in a call to

[121:58] Senator Harry Reid to congratulate him,

[122:00] also to tell him he's looking forward to

[122:02] having breakfast with him tomorrow here

[122:04] at the White House along with Dick

[122:05] Durban to discuss compromise on issues

[122:08] to try to get something done in the next

[122:09] couple of years.

[122:12] Out with the old and in with the new.

[122:15] Over breakfast, President Bush consoled

[122:17] the Republican losers. Over lunch, he

[122:19] congratulated the Democratic winners. On

[122:22] the menu, pasta and chocolate. But the

[122:24] president's counselor joked, "Today, Mr.

[122:26] Bush would be eating crow. The president

[122:29] and incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

[122:31] promised to put their bitter

[122:32] partisanship behind.

[122:34] >> We won't agree on every issue, but we do

[122:36] agree that we love America equally, that

[122:40] we're concerned about the future of this

[122:41] country, and that we will do our very

[122:44] best to address big problems.

[122:46] >> We've made history. Now we have to make

[122:48] progress.

[122:49] >> But the atmosphere of bipartisanship was

[122:51] pierced by two political lightning rods.

[122:54] Before lunch, Mr. Bush came to the Rose

[122:55] Garden with his cabinet to challenge the

[122:57] current Republican lame duck Congress to

[123:00] complete unfinished business, including

[123:02] one controversial measure.

[123:04] >> Another important priority in the war on

[123:06] terror is for the Congress to pass the

[123:08] terrorist surveillance act

[123:09] >> that would authorize the administration

[123:11] to wiretap phone calls between people in

[123:13] the US and suspected terrorists overseas

[123:16] without a warrant. Justice Department

[123:18] officials say Attorney General Alberto

[123:20] Gonzalez will make a series of

[123:22] appearances in the coming days to urge

[123:24] the Republican Congress to push it

[123:26] through. Then later, Mr. Bush

[123:28] renominated John Bolton to be UN

[123:30] Ambassador. The president has been

[123:32] unable to get Bolton's nomination

[123:33] through the current Republican le

[123:35] Senate.

[123:36] >> His chances are considered even slimmer

[123:38] when Democrats take control.

[123:39] >> Ambiguous message. And today, Lou, we

[123:42] also heard from the Democratic Senator

[123:44] Joe Biden, who is poised to actually be

[123:45] in charge of that committee of the

[123:47] nomination of Bolton, and he essentially

[123:49] saying that that nomination was going

[123:51] nowhere. There are also some Republican

[123:53] senators who spoke out today saying it

[123:55] is not likely they're going to take up

[123:56] that controversial issue in the lame

[123:57] duck session. Lou,

[123:59] >> and when does the honeymoon end?

[124:02] >> It's anyone's guess, Lou. It it it could

[124:04] be as early as tomorrow. We'll see how

[124:06] the week ends out.

[124:07] >> Suzanne, thank you very much. Suzan

[124:09] Malvo from the White House. As Suzanne

[124:11] just reported, President Bush today

[124:13] asked Congress to complete work on

[124:14] several bills that are important to this

[124:16] administration before the end of the

[124:18] year. But the president's list of

[124:20] priorities has some notable omissions.

[124:23] President Bush made no mention of any

[124:25] new measure to tackle illegal

[124:26] immigration and border security.

[124:29] President Bush had nothing to say

[124:30] whatsoever about closing the gaping

[124:32] holes in our border and port security.

[124:34] Neither did he promise any legislative

[124:36] effort to stop the escalating war on our

[124:39] middle class. And President Bush failed

[124:41] to address the failure of our public

[124:43] school system, a school system that has

[124:46] failed to educate an entire generation

[124:48] of Americans. Another major omission,

[124:50] our soaring international trade deficit,

[124:52] and this country's addiction to foreign

[124:54] producers. These are all critically

[124:57] important issues that face the nation.

[124:59] They all require urgent action from both

[125:01] the White House and the Congress either

[125:03] this year or next. The Democrats tonight

[125:06] are promising quick action when they

[125:08] take control to address those issues.

[125:10] They now control the Senate as well as

[125:12] the House after winning a tight Senate

[125:14] race in Virginia. Senator George Allen

[125:17] today conceded defeat after a bitter

[125:19] struggle with his Democratic challenger

[125:21] James Webb. Webb won the election by

[125:24] fewer than 10,000 votes, giving the

[125:26] Democrats 51 seats in the Senate. Dana

[125:29] Bash now reports from Capitol Hill on

[125:31] the implications of the Democratic

[125:33] victory. Dana Well, the seismic shift in

[125:36] power does mean that Democrats control

[125:38] both houses of Congress for the first

[125:40] time uh in 12 years. And that means uh

[125:44] that after it became official, Democrats

[125:46] wanted to celebrate. In fact, minutes

[125:47] after it became official, they walked

[125:50] out to a park just across the street

[125:51] from the capital and addressed a rowdy

[125:54] crowd claimed victory.

[125:57] >> It's time for bipartisanship.

[126:00] It's time for a change.

[126:07] >> It's time for bipartisanship.

[126:11] It's time for open government

[126:13] transparency. And is it time for

[126:15] results?

[126:17] Now, the shift in power means that

[126:19] Democrats, not Republicans, control the

[126:22] agenda up here. And Democrats

[126:23] immediately pledged to make good on some

[126:26] of their campaign promises. Senator

[126:28] Harry Reid, the soon-to-be Senate

[126:29] majority leader, said that Democrats

[126:31] promised to do something about

[126:33] healthcare, make it more affordable, do

[126:35] something to create energy independence,

[126:36] in his words, uh, education, deal with

[126:38] that, and the staggering deficits here

[126:40] in Washington. Now, those are all the

[126:42] things Democrats say they want to do,

[126:44] but the reality is that Democrats are

[126:46] taking control of the Senate by a razor

[126:49] thin margin, by just one vote, and of

[126:52] course, 60 votes is generally what is

[126:54] needed to get anything past this the

[126:56] Senate. So, Republicans really do still

[126:58] have the ability to block uh pretty much

[127:01] anything that they want to. And of

[127:02] course, President Bush, the Republican

[127:04] president, still wields a veto pen. So,

[127:06] uh, this this new era of Democratic

[127:08] control, despite the fact that Democrats

[127:10] and Republicans are talking about

[127:12] bipartisanship, it does not necessarily

[127:14] mean the end of gridlock. Lou,

[127:17] >> uh, well, we shouldn't declare the end

[127:18] of gridlock or it's a installation until

[127:21] at least we see what happens with a uh,

[127:24] the system of checks and balances being

[127:26] uh, in place uh, with the new year.

[127:29] Dana, thank you very much. Dana Bash

[127:30] from Capitol Hill. The Democrats are

[127:32] demanding an urgent change of direction

[127:35] in Iraq. Defense Secretary Donald

[127:37] Rumsfeld today acknowledged that he is

[127:39] disappointed at the progress of the war

[127:41] in Iraq this one day after he resigned.

[127:44] Rumsfeld acknowledgment heightened some

[127:47] expectations that the Bush

[127:48] administration is considering a major

[127:50] shift in US strategy in Iraq. Jamie

[127:52] McIntyre reports from the Pentagon.

[127:56] Now that he's a short- timerr, even

[127:58] outgoing Secretary of Defense Donald

[128:00] Rumsfeld admits the current strategy in

[128:02] Iraq is not working.

[128:04] >> It has not been going well enough or

[128:06] fast enough. In an exchange with

[128:08] students at Kansas State University,

[128:10] Rumsfeld urged perseverance and resolve

[128:13] as adjustments to the strategy are made

[128:16] by the man nominated to replace him,

[128:18] former CIA director Robert Gates, who is

[128:21] one of 10 members of the bipartisan Iraq

[128:23] study group charged with finding a way

[128:25] out of Iraq. The options include stay

[128:28] the course, which is already seen as

[128:30] failing. Strategic redeployment, pulling

[128:33] the troops back, perhaps as far as

[128:35] Kuwait, as advocated by Representative

[128:37] John Murtha and other Democrats. More US

[128:40] troops, which US commanders say won't

[128:42] help in the long term, and partition

[128:44] along sectarian lines, something the

[128:47] White House has labeled a non-starter.

[128:49] So, the most likely options appear to be

[128:52] a phased withdrawal under a carefully

[128:54] planned timeline to force the Iraqis to

[128:56] step up. I think basically unless we

[128:59] start a phase withdrawal, the Iraqis

[129:01] will never make the political

[129:03] compromises necessary to create an Iraq

[129:06] that's worth uh fighting and dying for

[129:09] and engaging Iraq's neighbors, Iran and

[129:12] Syria. something commission group

[129:14] co-chairman James Baker says he's open

[129:16] to but is vigorously opposed by

[129:18] hardliners.

[129:19] >> Will we be negotiating with enemies like

[129:22] uh the regime in Iran uh in the hopes

[129:25] that they'll somehow help us uh solve

[129:27] the problem they're creating in no small

[129:29] measure in Iraq. And I think that's

[129:31] going to be a mistake of potentially

[129:32] very strategic and long-standing uh

[129:35] dimensions. Also taking the long view is

[129:37] lame duck Pentagon chief Donald Rumfeld

[129:39] who insists America is on the right side

[129:42] of history.

[129:43] >> If you were going to give yourself a

[129:44] letter gray for your performance as

[129:46] Secretary of Defense, what grade would

[129:49] that be?

[129:50] >> Oh, I'd let history worry about that.

[129:54] >> Meanwhile, the Senate confirmation

[129:55] hearings for Robert Gates are now set

[129:57] for the beginning of December, and the

[129:59] recommendations from that Iraq study

[130:01] group are expected about the beginning

[130:04] of January. Lou,

[130:05] >> Jamie, thank you very much. Jamie

[130:07] McIntyre from the Pentagon. Coming up

[130:09] here next, President Bush and Mexico's

[130:11] president-elect meet to discuss their

[130:13] amnesty agenda for illegal aliens and

[130:16] whether this nation will have open

[130:17] borders with Mexico. That special report

[130:20] coming up. And millions of Latinos voted

[130:22] in these midterm elections. Many of them

[130:24] supporting measures to tackle illegal

[130:26] immigration and our border security

[130:28] crisis. that report and what could be

[130:31] one of the most serious failures of e

[130:34] voting machines on election day. Charges

[130:36] that machines wiped out 18,000 votes in

[130:40] one congressional district. That report

[130:42] and a great deal more straight ahead.

[130:44] Stay with us.

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[132:51] >> Tonight on 360, the Democrats are in

[132:53] control. Their message is changed. But

[132:55] what can they really do about Iraq?

[132:57] We'll look at the facts on the ground

[132:58] and the options. Could it take more

[133:00] troops, not less, to get a solution? 360

[133:03] tonight, 10 p.m. Eastern.

[133:08] President Bush met with Mexico's

[133:09] president-elect Philip Calderon in

[133:11] Washington today. The issue of illegal

[133:14] immigration and border security on the

[133:16] agenda. Both leaders pledging

[133:17] cooperation over border issues. Calderon

[133:20] has compared the building of that

[133:22] proposed border fence to the building of

[133:24] the Berlin wall. Lisa Sylvester has our

[133:27] report.

[133:31] >> This is a picture Mexico's

[133:32] president-elect is glad to see.

[133:34] Democrats in control of Congress. Felipe

[133:37] Calderon also has an ally in President

[133:40] Bush whom he met on his first official

[133:42] US visit since being elected.

[133:44] >> I uh assured the president-elect that uh

[133:48] the words I said in the very oval office

[133:50] that we sit uh about a comprehensive

[133:53] immigration vision are words I still

[133:55] believe strongly. Calderon, invigorated

[133:58] by Tuesday's election results, is moving

[134:00] ahead, lobbying for the amnesty agenda,

[134:03] a guest worker program, and the further

[134:05] opening of US borders. Topping Mexico's

[134:08] to-do list, trying to kill a border

[134:11] fence between the two countries.

[134:14] >> We want to foster our trade

[134:16] relationship, our economic relationship

[134:18] even more. Mexico envisions an economic

[134:20] relationship with its northern neighbor

[134:22] in which it provides cheap labor and the

[134:25] United States provides the investment

[134:27] capital. That's a scenario that benefits

[134:29] Mexico and corporate America, but comes

[134:31] at a grave cost to American workers. So

[134:34] far, Mexico and big business have

[134:36] controlled the debate, keeping tough

[134:38] enforcement measures from taking effect.

[134:40] Mexico City be precisely because it has

[134:43] received no push back from our State

[134:44] Department and especially the Bush

[134:46] administration has felt like it's had

[134:48] cart blanch to just go in and fairly

[134:50] dictate US immigration policy.

[134:52] >> Critics worry now more than ever Mexico

[134:55] will be unbridled in influencing US

[134:58] immigration policy.

[135:00] Congress approved the border fence bill.

[135:02] It was signed by President Bush. But

[135:04] with Democrats now controlling the purse

[135:06] strings on Capitol Hill, the chance of

[135:08] getting the money to ever build that

[135:09] fence is dimming. Lou,

[135:11] >> and President Bush was fairly salivating

[135:14] as he discussed the prospects of a

[135:16] better relationship with a Democratic

[135:18] Congress than he had with uh uh a

[135:21] Republican Congress. So, it will be

[135:23] interesting to watch the dynamics in the

[135:25] days, weeks, and months ahead. Lisa,

[135:27] thank you very much. Lisa Sylvester.

[135:29] Fresh off his victory in Tuesday's

[135:31] election. California's Governor Arnold

[135:33] Schwarzenegger is in Mexico City

[135:35] tonight, meeting there with Mexican

[135:37] officials to discuss trade. The trip

[135:39] funded by taxpayer money and donations

[135:41] from California businesses. Governor

[135:44] Sorser is also expected to discuss

[135:46] immigration issues with Mexican

[135:47] officials. And Sorger meeting with

[135:49] outgoing President Vicenti Fox today. He

[135:52] will meet with President-elect Calderon

[135:55] tomorrow. Later in this broadcast, I'll

[135:57] be talking with Professor George

[135:58] Grayson, one of the country's leading

[136:00] experts on Mexico. He has just met with

[136:03] President-elect Calderon in Washington.

[136:06] And an estimated 79 million people voted

[136:09] Tuesday. That is the highest overall

[136:12] voter turnout in a midterm election in

[136:14] more than two decades. In addition,

[136:15] Democrats drew more votes than

[136:17] Republicans in a midterm election for

[136:19] the first time since 1990. Preliminary

[136:22] analysis shows 40.4% 4% of the voting

[136:25] age population cast ballots. That's up

[136:28] from 39.7% in 2002. It doesn't sound

[136:32] like much, but it was enough to uh do

[136:35] far better than previous midterms uh for

[136:38] the past almost two decades. The

[136:39] previous midterm high was 42.1% that

[136:42] back in 1982.

[136:45] Another significant indicator, nearly a

[136:46] quarter of those under age 30 went to

[136:49] the polls this year, up sharply since

[136:51] 2002. Analysts say the increase in the

[136:54] youth vote did come in play into play in

[136:57] the Democratic suite. Many predicted

[136:59] that recent border security and illegal

[137:01] immigration proposals would inspire

[137:03] Hispanics to vote and to determine which

[137:05] way they would swing. But tonight, the

[137:07] analysis of ex polling of Latino voters

[137:11] contains more than just a few surprises

[137:13] for you. Casey Wan joins us now with the

[137:15] very latest. Casey

[137:17] >> Lou, many open borders advocates are

[137:19] claiming the Latino vote helped sway the

[137:21] midterm elections away from Republicans,

[137:24] but it is not that simple.

[137:28] The conventional wisdom is that Latinos

[137:30] reacted negatively to efforts by some

[137:33] Republicans to secure the border and

[137:35] reject amnesty for illegal aliens. In

[137:37] fact, 69% of Latinos did vote for

[137:40] Democrats. But the issue of illegal

[137:42] immigration was only slightly more

[137:44] important to Hispanics than to all

[137:46] voters.

[137:46] >> You can't really talk about a monolithic

[137:48] Latino vote. That Cuban Americans vote

[137:50] very differently than Mexican-Americans

[137:52] who vote very differently than Puerto

[137:53] Rican-Americans. And that even among

[137:55] those groups, you have very different

[137:56] voting patterns. So, I think one of the

[137:58] most interesting developments in modern

[138:00] day politics has been the rise of Latino

[138:02] power in politics, the increasing

[138:05] influence of Latino voters, but also the

[138:08] diversity of the Latino vote. About 8%

[138:10] of midterm election voters were

[138:12] Hispanic, and they do make up the

[138:14] fastest growing segment of the American

[138:16] electorate. Latino get out the vote

[138:18] efforts focused on amnesty for illegal

[138:20] aliens.

[138:20] >> Immigration is a national and

[138:22] international issue, and we need to make

[138:24] sure a that no one is deported anymore,

[138:27] that families are kept together or

[138:29] brought together here when they are

[138:31] already here.

[138:32] >> But plenty of Latinos support border

[138:34] security. In Arizona, for example, four

[138:36] anti-illegal immigration ballot measures

[138:39] passed with the support of nearly half

[138:41] of the state's Latino voters.

[138:44] Earlier this year, protesters took to

[138:46] the streets to oppose border security

[138:48] legislation. Their slogan was, "Today we

[138:51] march, tomorrow we vote." And their goal

[138:53] was to register a million new Latino

[138:55] voters by election day. But they fell

[138:58] about 850,000

[139:00] voters short. And their new target date,

[139:02] Lou, is election day 2008.

[139:06] >> Well, that's a target date for a lot of

[139:07] people in this country. Casey, thank you

[139:09] very much. Casey Wine from Los Angeles

[139:12] coming up. It may not have been a

[139:13] disaster, but e voting was far from

[139:15] trouble-free election day. We'll have

[139:17] that report and a new legislative era is

[139:20] about to begin in this country. We'll

[139:22] have a report as Democrats prepare to

[139:24] take control of the House and the Senate

[139:26] for the first time in 12 years. And the

[139:28] chairman of the Republican National

[139:30] Committee is on the way out. We'll have

[139:32] that story a great deal more. Stay with

[139:35] us.

[139:37] >> Tonight, 700 p.m. Eastern. Democrats

[139:39] make a comeback in Washington. Will that

[139:41] help or hurt Hillary Clinton and her

[139:43] plans for 2008? Tonight in the situation

[139:46] room.

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[141:08] >> Larry King tonight, 60 Minutes

[141:10] correspondent Ed Bradley dead. Mike

[141:12] Wallace, Andy Rooney, and Don Hwitt

[141:13] share memories. Larry King live tonight,

[141:16] 9 Eastern, only on CNN.

[141:18] >> What good are you as a police officer if

[141:19] you can't write tickets? We investigate

[141:21] police officers who carry a badge and a

[141:24] gun and a paycheck, but do very little

[141:26] police work. Why are these cops still on

[141:29] the job? Tonight at 6:30, only on K2

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[142:13] The Beavers take on UCLA live Saturday

[142:15] the 11th at 3:15 on CNW14.

[142:20] >> Mike Wallace, Andy Rooney, and more on

[142:22] Ed Bradley's death. Larry King tonight.

[142:26] >> The result of a tight congressional race

[142:28] in Florida is involving now electronic

[142:31] voting machines. Uh it could be that

[142:33] those machines malfunctioned. It's

[142:35] unclear whether that occurred. Uh if so,

[142:37] it dropped thousands of votes and right

[142:39] now it is impossible for anyone in that

[142:42] congressional district to tell.

[142:43] Apparently, Kenny Pilgrim has our

[142:46] report.

[142:48] >> The charge is the electronic voting

[142:50] machines malfunctioned and dropped more

[142:52] than 18,000 votes for congressional

[142:54] candidates. Republican Vern Buchanan

[142:57] issued a statement claiming victory by a

[142:59] razor thin margin, 368 votes. The votes

[143:04] have been counted, the people have

[143:05] spoken, and I am honored to be your next

[143:07] congressman. Buchanan claims the

[143:10] machines didn't drop votes. Some people

[143:12] decided not to vote for congressional

[143:14] candidates even though they voted for

[143:16] other issues on the ballot. I can't

[143:18] explain it other than it appears that a

[143:20] number of the voters for whatever reason

[143:23] decided to skip over this race, but um

[143:26] there's no reason to my knowledge to

[143:28] believe that there's any malfunction of

[143:31] the machines or any fraud or abuse.

[143:34] >> But Democratic opponent Christine

[143:36] Jennings says her office got calls on

[143:38] election day from voters complaining

[143:40] that the machines were not registering

[143:43] votes for her. She wants a recount.

[143:46] The problem is these touchscreen

[143:48] machines don't have a paper trail.

[143:50] >> The candidates need to know that the

[143:52] elections are fair. All the voters need

[143:54] to know that their voters are counted as

[143:55] cast. It's a perfect example of why we

[143:57] need voter verified paper ballots and

[144:00] mandatory random audits of elections.

[144:02] >> Jennings lawyer is asking the voting

[144:04] machine company for help.

[144:06] >> We intend to reach out to ESNS

[144:08] uh and we hope that they will also be

[144:11] candid and forthcoming and and

[144:13] assistance. I would like to think that

[144:15] they too would want to get to the truth

[144:16] and that they too would want to know if

[144:18] there are any problems with their

[144:20] system.

[144:21] >> Now, for the time being, this race is

[144:23] still undecided. ESNS today said this

[144:26] entire process is the responsibility of

[144:28] the county and they are only there to

[144:30] assist. Now, the county program the

[144:32] machines they say and the county they

[144:34] say has the responsibility to determine

[144:37] what happened. Lou,

[144:38] >> well, I mean this is a lot of votes.

[144:40] It's 13% of the total.

[144:42] >> It is a lot. Do they have any sort of

[144:43] historical analog with which to to judge

[144:46] if this is an aberration?

[144:47] >> Interesting comparison. On the absentee

[144:49] ballots, the undervote is 2.6%. On the

[144:52] touchcreens, the undervote is 13%. So,

[144:55] it doesn't even match up in in this

[144:57] election.

[144:58] >> And no one has compared this to previous

[144:59] recent previous elections. And

[145:01] >> it's about 10 times higher than is

[145:03] normal.

[145:03] >> Well, there would be, as they say, a

[145:05] clue for the good election officials in

[145:07] Florida. Uh, thank you very much, Kitty

[145:09] Pilgrim. Well, time now for some of your

[145:12] thoughts. Kathy in North Carolina said,

[145:14] "The American people have sent a message

[145:16] to the president and all branches of

[145:18] government. You work for us." Mitch in

[145:21] Florida, hey, Mr. President, can you

[145:23] hear us now? And Greg in California.

[145:26] Now, this new Congress has to prove that

[145:28] it's not like the last do nothing

[145:30] Congress. Only time will tell. Let's

[145:32] just hope that we really are moving

[145:34] forward and placing our country back in

[145:36] the hands of its rightful owners, the

[145:38] people. Reggie in Texas. I think the

[145:41] election was a triumph for the American

[145:43] people, not one party. They should hold

[145:45] the Democrats accountable for their

[145:46] actions in the coming years as

[145:48] Republicans and punish them in a similar

[145:51] fashion if they miss the mark.

[145:52] Government should be run by we the

[145:55] people, not lobbyists and big money.

[145:57] Send us your thoughts at ludobs.com.

[145:59] We'll share more of your thoughts later

[146:01] here in the broadcast. Each of you whose

[146:03] email is read here receives a copy of my

[146:05] new book, War on the Middle Class. And

[146:08] now for more uh thoughts on this shift

[146:11] of power on Capitol Hill and the effect

[146:13] on America's middle class. Uh please go

[146:16] to our website ludobs.com.

[146:19] Uh and uh you can scream hallelujah when

[146:23] you read it if you wish or something

[146:25] else if you don't. When we continue,

[146:27] Democrats have taken control of

[146:29] Congress. They promise to make college

[146:31] and health care more affordable for

[146:33] middle class Americans. How about that?

[146:36] But will they deliver? will have the

[146:38] special report. And I'll talk with two

[146:40] of the nation's most distinguished

[146:42] experts on Congress. They say it has

[146:44] failed us. They have a bold new plan to

[146:47] help turn Congress around. Democrats,

[146:50] get ready to listen up. And one day

[146:52] after the resignation of Defense

[146:54] Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, word of a new

[146:56] shakeup in the Republican political

[146:58] ranks. John King will have that story

[147:00] for us on the future of the GOP. Stay

[147:03] with us.

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[149:01] When your insurance is in sync, you can

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[149:08] for the first time in 12 years,

[149:10] Democrats control both the House and the

[149:12] Senate. President Bush has called for

[149:14] both sides to work together. But the

[149:16] Democrats could be looking at the power

[149:18] of committee chairmanships to set policy

[149:21] and a key Republican is leaving his job.

[149:23] Bill Schneider reports on the

[149:24] possibilities of something called

[149:26] bipartisanship. Do you remember that?

[149:28] Between the new Congress and President

[149:30] Bush, Andrea Cppell reports tonight on

[149:32] the new Senate committee chairman and

[149:34] the power that they will wield. John

[149:37] King tonight reporting on the political

[149:38] fate of Republican National Committee

[149:40] Chairman Ken Melman. We begin tonight

[149:42] with Bill Snyder in Washington. Bill

[149:44] Lou, there are two ways of looking at

[149:47] what those the voters here have created.

[149:49] You could say they voted for divided

[149:51] government or for government of national

[149:54] unity.

[149:57] President Bush seems to want a

[149:58] government of national unity to succeed.

[150:01] It's in the national interest of the

[150:02] United States that a unity government

[150:06] based upon a constitution

[150:09] that is uh advanced and modern succeed.

[150:14] >> Except that he was not talking about the

[150:16] United States. He was talking about Iraq

[150:19] where waring sects have to figure out

[150:20] how to work together. Same as here.

[150:23] >> Democrats are ready to lead, prepared to

[150:25] govern, and absolutely willing to work

[150:28] in a bipartisan way. Can it happen?

[150:31] There's reason for hope. The Democratic

[150:33] majorities in the House and Senate

[150:35] include a lot of newly elected moderates

[150:38] like Heath Scheler of North Carolina, a

[150:40] former Washington Redskins quarterback

[150:42] who was courted by the Republicans, and

[150:45] Brad Ellsworth, an Indiana County

[150:47] Sheriff who signed a pledge not to raise

[150:49] taxes. In the Senate, there's Bob Casey

[150:52] of Pennsylvania, John Tester of Montana,

[150:55] and Jim Webb of Virginia, who used to be

[150:57] a Republican and was President Reagan's

[151:00] Navy Secretary, and Joe Lieberman will

[151:03] still be around. How accommodating will

[151:06] Republicans be? Moderate Republicans

[151:08] have diminished in number.

[151:10] Representatives Jim Leech of Iowa and

[151:12] Nancy Johnson of Connecticut were

[151:14] defeated. So were two moderate

[151:16] Republican senators, Lincoln Chaffy of

[151:19] Rhode Island and Mike DeWine of Ohio.

[151:22] Will Republicans move further to the

[151:24] right? Not if they got the message of

[151:26] the election. Republicans lost because

[151:29] they abandoned the center. Independents

[151:32] voted Democratic by the biggest margin

[151:34] ever recorded. The election also

[151:37] provides an alternative model of a

[151:39] Republican who moved to the center and

[151:42] thrived. We fight over our causes, but

[151:45] in the end, we find common ground. This

[151:48] is the California way. The voters have

[151:51] endorsed it. I embrace it.

[151:54] If unity government is going to work in

[151:56] Iraq, the various parties will have to

[151:59] disarm their militias. Now, some steps

[152:01] toward ending the political arms race

[152:04] might be a good idea in this country,

[152:05] too. Lou,

[152:07] >> you know, the question does arise,

[152:08] though, Bill, and I I don't mean this

[152:10] entirely facitiously. Uh we've just

[152:12] gotten through with a unity government

[152:14] uh in this country. Do we really want it

[152:16] with a different label on it?

[152:18] >> Well, you well uh the idea is a unity

[152:21] government between the two parties would

[152:23] be quite different from a unified

[152:25] government completely controlled by one

[152:27] party. At least that's what the voters

[152:28] seem to want.

[152:29] >> All right, Bill Snyder, thank you very

[152:31] much. With the change in majority comes

[152:33] a change of committee leadership. The

[152:36] powerful posts of Congress will soon be

[152:38] in Democratic hands. and its power the

[152:40] Democrats are anxious to wield. Andrea

[152:43] Cppel reports.

[152:46] >> Democrats in the White House have been

[152:48] at odds for years.

[152:49] >> I don't think the president has come to

[152:51] grips with reality.

[152:53] >> I believe that that record is dismal.

[152:56] >> Sir, the president has acted as a

[152:58] divider, not a uniter.

[152:59] >> But come January, Democrats will be able

[153:01] to do more than just criticize. With a

[153:04] majority in the Senate, they'll chair

[153:06] all committees and control the agenda.

[153:10] That puts the gavl back into the hands

[153:12] of senior Democrats like Joe Biden will

[153:15] be at the helm of Senate Foreign

[153:17] Relations. That doesn't bode well for

[153:19] John Bolton, the US ambassador to the

[153:22] United Nations, whose nomination was

[153:24] opposed by Biden and Senate Democrats

[153:26] last year.

[153:27] >> Your boss, the president, and the uh and

[153:30] the vice president, uh I don't think

[153:32] they in this quote year of diplomacy uh

[153:35] really think diplomacy is all that

[153:37] consequential. Today, the White House

[153:39] resubmitted Bolton's nomination to the

[153:41] Senate. Biden's response, John Bolton's

[153:44] going nowhere. Iraq will top the agenda

[153:47] of Senator Carl Levan, poised to lead

[153:50] the Senate Armed Services Committee.

[153:52] >> Good morning.

[153:52] >> We've got to begin a phased reduction in

[153:55] American forces by the end of this year.

[153:57] While Vermont's Patrick Ley, who will

[153:59] chair the judiciary committee, has

[154:01] blamed the Bush White House for

[154:03] nominating judges who are too

[154:05] conservative and out of the mainstream.

[154:08] >> Many see this as part of a concerted and

[154:10] partisan effort to pack the courts and

[154:12] tilt them sharply out of balance.

[154:14] >> Meanwhile, the Democrat with the most

[154:16] seniority, West Virginia's Robert Bird,

[154:19] will head the powerful Appropriations

[154:21] Committee, which controls congressional

[154:23] pur strings. He's railed against the

[154:25] Bush White House for misplaced spending

[154:28] priorities.

[154:28] >> This administration has ignored urgent

[154:31] matters such as the crisis in health

[154:33] care for our elderly.

[154:36] This administration has been slow to

[154:40] provide adequate funding for homeland

[154:42] security. And speaking of Homeland

[154:45] Security, a senior Democratic leadership

[154:48] aid tells CNN that despite grumbling

[154:50] among some Democrats, the newly

[154:53] reelected Democratic senator from

[154:55] Connecticut, Joe Lieberman, an

[154:57] independent, will chair the Homeland

[154:59] Security and Governmental Affairs

[155:01] Committee. Lo.

[155:02] >> Okay, Andrea, thank you much. Andrea

[155:04] Cppel, that brings us to the subject of

[155:06] tonight's poll. Do you believe that

[155:08] there will be less or more partisanship

[155:11] with a Democratically controlled House

[155:13] and Senate? More or less? Cast your vote

[155:15] at less.com. We'll have those results

[155:17] later here. Following the Democratic

[155:20] victory, a key Republican appears to be

[155:22] leaving his post. The chairman of the

[155:23] Republican National Committee. John King

[155:25] joins me now and has the latest for us.

[155:27] John

[155:28] >> Lou, this is not a done deal and we are

[155:29] told it's possible Ken Melman could

[155:31] decide in the end to stay on, but more

[155:32] than a half dozen now. Senior Republican

[155:34] sources telling CNN this evening that

[155:36] Mr. Mr. Melman has told his close

[155:37] associates that he is all but certain to

[155:40] leave that post at the end of the year.

[155:41] Now, we want to be clear. There is no

[155:43] pressure from the White House on Mr.

[155:44] Melman to leave and there is no

[155:46] dissatisfaction with his performance in

[155:48] the midterm elections. Yes, Republicans

[155:50] took a dubbing, but there is no one no

[155:52] one substantial anyway in Republican

[155:53] politics that I know of pointing a

[155:55] finger at Ken Melman. In fact, they are

[155:56] saying they believe he did the best he

[155:58] could in a very difficult environment.

[156:00] Instead, Lou, what friends of Mr. Melman

[156:01] and associates are telling us that he

[156:03] was involved in both of the Bush

[156:04] campaigns. He has been at the RNC some

[156:06] time now and he simply believes it is

[156:08] time to move on and we know that because

[156:10] he is close to making this decision,

[156:12] close to making it official. Anyway, we

[156:14] are told that the White House is already

[156:15] actively looking for someone or perhaps

[156:18] a combination of people to take the top

[156:20] jobs at the Republican National

[156:21] Committee. And again, this is not

[156:23] because of any dissatisfaction. And it

[156:24] is part of something I think we will see

[156:26] more and more of. I know we will see

[156:28] more and more of in the next coming

[156:29] weeks and months. As Mr. Bush enters the

[156:31] seventh and the eighth years of his

[156:32] presidency, you will see a number of

[156:34] changes. We are told to look for perhaps

[156:36] two or three changes in the cabinet

[156:37] early next year and other top officials

[156:39] as well. Lou simply deciding it's time

[156:41] to move on.

[156:42] >> Uh time to move on. There was a

[156:44] interesting moment in the president's

[156:46] news conference after the election uh

[156:49] when he uh asked about the reading

[156:51] contest with Carl Rove seemed to be

[156:54] expressing more than just a sense of

[156:56] humor. uh when he said he was working

[156:58] harder than Carl Rove uh and therefore

[157:01] had less time to read, he later recanted

[157:04] and said Carl Rove is a a much faster

[157:06] reader, but he was he seemed a little

[157:08] peaked if you will at that point on Carl

[157:11] Rove. Any truth to it?

[157:12] >> Oh, I think it was a joke from the

[157:14] president. All by all accounts inside

[157:15] the White House, it was a joke from the

[157:17] president that look, they're

[157:18] disappointed they lost Lou and the

[157:19] president said he took some of the blame

[157:21] and I'm sure Carl Ro would say he takes

[157:22] some of the blame. Ken Melman would say

[157:24] he takes some of the blame. They had a

[157:25] very tough year and they lost. There are

[157:27] some people, I will tell you, who say

[157:29] that perhaps Carl Ro would leave before

[157:30] the end of this administration. Others

[157:32] say no, he'll be there to the final

[157:33] second on the final day. If he wants to

[157:35] be involved in 2008, he would obviously

[157:37] have to step out at some point.

[157:38] >> Let's move over to the Democratic side

[157:40] here quickly, John. Uh do you think

[157:42] Democrats are likely to try to move

[157:46] toward the center uh after this election

[157:48] when they take power in January?

[157:50] >> Well, it certainly depends on your

[157:52] definition of the center. But one thing

[157:53] is crystal clear. There are a number of

[157:55] conservative Democrats in both freshman

[157:58] class. You have anti-abortion, proun

[158:01] people who oppose same-sex marriage,

[158:03] people who have signed pledges not to

[158:04] raise taxes coming into the Democratic

[158:06] caucuses in both the House and the

[158:08] Senate. And now, some say this will be a

[158:10] leadership challenge, especially for the

[158:11] lady you're looking at right there, the

[158:12] incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who

[158:14] is individually clearly among the more

[158:17] liberal members of Congress, but is also

[158:19] l of potential most Democrats believe to

[158:21] make this an opportunity. It is the

[158:22] Republicans they say in the last

[158:24] Congress that brought up issues like

[158:25] flag burning and samesex marriage and

[158:27] abortion. They say the Democrats have no

[158:29] interest in bringing those issues up for

[158:31] national debate anyway. They want to

[158:32] focus on breadandbut economic issues.

[158:34] And if they start to move in that

[158:35] direction, there will be more

[158:36] conservatives around to raise their hand

[158:38] and say, "You can't do that. I can't go

[158:40] home and run for re-election on that."

[158:41] >> Uh I'm sorry certainly not among those

[158:43] who can divine precisely what the

[158:45] American people uh want based on a

[158:48] midterm election. But I certainly hope

[158:50] uh that at least in part that that vote

[158:52] was an expression that everybody's just

[158:54] about had a belly full of wedge issues

[158:57] as a deflection and a distraction from

[158:59] the profound issues that confront the

[159:01] country. We can hope, can't we, John?

[159:03] >> We sure can. Look,

[159:04] >> thank you. John King from Washington. Up

[159:07] next, new leadership in Congress may be

[159:09] no panacea for struggling working people

[159:11] in this country. I'll be talking with

[159:13] two congressional experts and the

[159:15] authors of an important new book,

[159:17] whether they anticipate real action on

[159:19] behalf of this nation's middle class

[159:21] working people. And President Bush and

[159:23] the president-elect of Mexico say they

[159:25] can do just about anything when it comes

[159:27] to illegal immigration and border

[159:28] security. We'll find out what's going

[159:30] on. I'll be talking with someone who

[159:32] just met with Mexican Presidentelect

[159:34] Phip Calderon. You're next. Stay with

[159:37] us.

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[161:42] >> The Democrats have a historic

[161:44] opportunity to listen to the voters and

[161:47] to change the way in which Washington

[161:49] works. Will they? For that, we're

[161:52] turning tonight to two men who are

[161:54] absolutely experts on the inner workings

[161:56] of government and Congress. Thomas Man

[161:58] and Norman Orinstein. They're the

[162:00] co-authors of the book Broken Branch:

[162:02] How Congress is Failing America and How

[162:04] to Get It Back on Track. Gentlemen, good

[162:07] to have you here. Tom, let me turn to

[162:08] you first.

[162:10] This there's no one, I think, in the in

[162:12] the country who would argue that it's

[162:14] broken. or perhaps a couple of people.

[162:17] But do the Democrats have an opportunity

[162:20] here to fix Congress the way it works

[162:22] and to really achieve something?

[162:24] >> They have an extraordinary opportunity.

[162:26] The public has spoken out loud and

[162:28] clear. They're mad as hell. Part of it

[162:31] is associated with the the culture of

[162:34] corruption, the acquiescence to the

[162:38] executive, the presidency, the failure

[162:40] to do their job. And so, so now if

[162:44] they're smart, they will seize the

[162:45] opportunity, pass a really tough ethics

[162:48] and lobbying bill and restore that

[162:52] institution to what the framers had in

[162:54] mind to actually deliberate, to talk, to

[162:57] debate, to legislate,

[162:59] >> to achieve to achieve.

[163:01] >> Norm

[163:04] and and as the two of you have written

[163:06] in your book, uh,

[163:09] can we push back those lobbyists? Can we

[163:11] rid this country or that's asking for

[163:14] too much. Can we diminish

[163:16] substantially the influence of corporate

[163:19] America through its lobbyists in

[163:21] Washington DC so that the House of

[163:23] Representatives can once again become

[163:26] the people's house that once again the

[163:28] United States Senate become a

[163:30] deliberative body with the common good

[163:31] and the national interest as its focus?

[163:34] >> You're asking a lot, Luke.

[163:35] >> I am.

[163:36] >> And so are the I truly believe so are

[163:38] the American people.

[163:39] >> Yes, absolutely. And you know, that's a

[163:41] good part of the critique we have in the

[163:42] book. The the the fact is you can't uh

[163:44] eliminate them. We shouldn't eliminate

[163:46] them. The the right to petition for red

[163:48] address grievances is in the the

[163:50] Constitution, but you can build some

[163:52] boundaries around the kind of inordinate

[163:54] influence that has been there. And you

[163:56] can start with earmark reform and with,

[163:58] as Tom said, tough lobbying reform and

[164:01] an ethics process with teeth. It's not

[164:03] just the lobbyists. It's members of

[164:05] Congress and other elected officials

[164:07] who've shaken down lobbyists for money

[164:09] in a system that hasn't worked very well

[164:11] either. There is an opportunity here to

[164:13] do something. Some Democrats would

[164:14] prefer to just turn this around and

[164:16] become the beneficiaries, but an awful

[164:18] lot, including the leaders, I think, are

[164:20] determined to make some changes, and

[164:21] we're going to be on their backs.

[164:23] >> Well, we're going to all be watching

[164:25] very carefully and and I I in, you know,

[164:28] hope springs eternal. Uh I I hope we'll

[164:31] see a departure from history. But

[164:33] whether it's the Democrats controlling

[164:34] Congress or for the past 12 years

[164:36] Republicans, uh these have not been men

[164:40] and women who've distinguished

[164:41] themselves and pushing back uh the

[164:43] laress of government uh the the spoils

[164:46] of victory as they see it. Uh do you

[164:49] have any instinct as to what the

[164:51] Democrats, we know many of the likely

[164:53] chairman of these committees, uh what

[164:55] their likely impulse will be?

[164:57] >> Actually, they have learned something.

[164:59] uh the veteran Democrats from this

[165:02] 12-year experience. I mean, one of

[165:05] course they've been embittered by their

[165:06] treatment, but they've also become

[165:08] appalled at the way in which uh the

[165:11] House and the Congress as a whole is has

[165:14] fallen into illreute, the ways in which

[165:17] so much of the process is manipulated

[165:20] behind closed doors by people outside

[165:23] the Congress uh itself. and and they

[165:27] speak now sincerely about doing business

[165:30] uh differently. Now will they hold to

[165:33] that? I I think initially you'll you'll

[165:36] see them try very hard. The question is

[165:38] whether they sustain it over time.

[165:40] That's why it takes a vigilant public

[165:42] and and people like us uh the three of

[165:46] us who are willing to uh to go after

[165:49] them when uh when they seem to fall back

[165:51] on old patterns. you know the fight will

[165:54] be and the vigilance continual and

[165:56] constant but the only argument I had

[165:59] with your book gentlemen which is a

[166:02] terrific book is you'd identified only

[166:04] one branch as broken there you know we

[166:07] could you could have expanded that I

[166:09] think a little but the idea that uh

[166:13] voters I mean I love the fact everyone's

[166:15] trying to divine exactly what the

[166:17] American people uh said as they spoke on

[166:20] November 7th I think it's highly presump

[166:22] presumptuous thing to do for anyone.

[166:24] >> Yeah.

[166:25] >> But the idea that the middle class in

[166:27] this country has functioned basically

[166:29] without representation now for certainly

[166:33] two decades. Special interests carving

[166:35] them up. They've been sliced and diced

[166:37] with socioeconomic demographic labels

[166:40] and and identification. So that they at

[166:43] the end the middle class in this country

[166:45] which I consider the foundation is

[166:47] basically told go to hell. Do you think

[166:50] that there is an impulse in this

[166:53] leadership and in this democratically

[166:55] elected Congress now and Senate to

[166:58] change that?

[166:59] >> Yeah, I do actually, Lou, and I do in

[167:01] part for self-preservation purposes. The

[167:03] Democrats have a one vote margin in the

[167:05] Senate, what may end up being about 15

[167:08] in the House. A lot of precarious

[167:10] districts there. Now having taken over

[167:12] after 12 years uh in uh for the most

[167:16] part in both houses, they've got a very

[167:18] important opportunity to show that they

[167:20] can behave differently. They can deal

[167:22] with the dysfunction that's been there,

[167:24] you're right, in more than one branch,

[167:25] including doing some serious oversight.

[167:27] They can broaden this beyond just simply

[167:29] a focus on the ideological extremes to

[167:32] go back to the middle. they can get some

[167:34] legislating done and they've got every

[167:36] interest in doing so because if they

[167:38] don't then the voters are going to

[167:40] respond and we don't know exactly what

[167:41] they said except they did say you're out

[167:43] of there. They could do that again in

[167:44] two years. Tom, the two most important

[167:48] structural operational uh reforms that

[167:52] the Democrats could bring to both the

[167:53] House and the Senate in your opinion to

[167:55] make it uh function uh government

[167:58] function far better. one, uh, a return

[168:02] to regular order, allowing committees to

[168:05] meet, allowing members to participate in

[168:07] writing legislation, of allowing

[168:10] amendments on the floor of the House, of

[168:12] having real conference committees in

[168:17] the open uh, and allowing members to

[168:20] actually have time to read that

[168:22] legislation before they vote on it. It

[168:24] would make a huge difference. Wouldn't

[168:25] that isn't that a revolutionary concept

[168:27] that these people should actually read

[168:29] legislation that they're about to pass?

[168:31] Norman Orinstein, thank you very much.

[168:34] Thomas Man, thank you. The authors of

[168:36] the important book, The Broken Branch,

[168:38] how Congress is failing America and how

[168:40] to get it back on track. Uh, one way

[168:43] might be a house cleaning, but it turns

[168:46] out a Senate cleaning as it were based

[168:48] on the people's votes there.

[168:49] >> Amen.

[168:50] >> Thank you both.

[168:51] >> Thank you. Still ahead here, Mexico

[168:53] proved once again today it will not stop

[168:55] trying to meddle in the national affairs

[168:58] of this country. I'll talk with one of

[169:00] the nation's most respected experts on

[169:02] Mexico. He's just met with Mexico's

[169:04] president-elect. He'll be here next.

[169:07] Stay with us

[169:10] tonight, 700 p.m. Eastern. Democrats

[169:12] make a comeback in Washington. Will that

[169:14] help or hurt Hillary Clinton and her

[169:16] plans for 2008? Tonight in the situation

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[171:33] a

[171:38] >> home from war. Anderson Cooper 360, CNN

[171:41] Monday night.

[171:45] >> Coming up in a few minutes, uh, the

[171:47] situation room with Wolf Blitzer. Wolf,

[171:48] what are you working on?

[171:49] >> Thanks, Lou. There's a political

[171:51] earthquake here in Washington. A seismic

[171:53] power shift. Democrats take control of

[171:55] the House and the Senate. The nailbiter

[171:58] in Virginia and Montana finally come to

[172:00] an end as well. Republicans in both

[172:03] states conceding defeat. Also, political

[172:05] indigestion. President Bush welcomes

[172:07] Nancy Pelosi for lunch at the White

[172:09] House. And while the cabinet lines up in

[172:12] the Rose Garden, the Secretary of

[172:14] Defense Donald Rumsfeld is off on a

[172:16] speaking trip in Kansas. This the day

[172:18] after he was forced out of office. We're

[172:20] covering all sides of this unfolding

[172:22] story. All that, Lou, coming up right

[172:24] here on the situation.

[172:25] >> Thank you very much, Wolf. Looking

[172:26] forward to it. As we reported earlier,

[172:28] President Bush meeting with Mexico's

[172:30] president-elect today. My next guest,

[172:33] one of a small group of scholars who met

[172:35] with the president-elect uh Phipe

[172:37] Calderon yesterday. Joining us now is

[172:39] George Grayson, professor at College of

[172:42] William and Mary and a renowned expert

[172:45] on Mexico. Professor, good to have you

[172:47] here. Uh is there a chance we're going

[172:50] to see something different in the person

[172:53] of Calderon than we have seen from Fox?

[172:56] Well, the expectations are quite low for

[172:59] Felipe Calderon because he won by such a

[173:02] narrow margin and six years ago when Fox

[173:05] won uh the expectations were skyhigh and

[173:09] it turned out that Fox couldn't organize

[173:11] a onecar funeral while Calderon is much

[173:14] more focused. Uh he's much smarter

[173:17] politically and he's also had experience

[173:19] in Congress and knows how to build

[173:22] coalitions. Okay, with all of that said,

[173:25] the policy of Mexico toward this

[173:27] country, that is exporting its poor and

[173:30] trying to bring as much hard currency

[173:33] into that country as they possibly can

[173:35] with uh billions of dollars uh in

[173:38] remittances and billions of dollars in

[173:40] drug money and of course billions of

[173:42] dollars in trade.

[173:44] >> Uh Lou, that's what I call the Mexican

[173:47] mantra. And I think the Mexican elite is

[173:50] really embarrassed by the fact that in a

[173:52] country that has such a cornucopia of

[173:55] wealth, they're not able to uh provide a

[173:58] decent living for half their population.

[174:01] And so yes, you hear from Calderon the

[174:04] same refrain is that Mexicans are

[174:07] crucial for the well-being of the US

[174:10] economy and that walls create

[174:13] confrontation, not cooperation.

[174:16] uh you know we're to make another

[174:18] judgment. Uh there is a view in this

[174:21] country that Mexico is the poorest

[174:23] nation in Latin America rather than the

[174:25] wealthiest. Uh a view that uh if only

[174:28] the government of Mexico could be

[174:30] assisted uh half its people would no

[174:32] longer live in poverty. Uh but there is

[174:35] absolutely uh at least and I would like

[174:37] you to straighten me out on this. I see

[174:39] no impulse whatsoever on those elites to

[174:41] do anything about the abject poverty

[174:45] which they permit to be imposed on 50

[174:47] million Mexican citizens.

[174:50] I think the hope Lou is that Calderon

[174:53] lost to Andres Manuel Lopez Orador who

[174:57] is a messianic populist and he's now

[175:00] running around Mexico making speeches

[175:03] against any possible appointment or

[175:06] program that Calderon might propose and

[175:09] it's just possible and this is a long

[175:12] shot that Mexicans nomenclature

[175:17] doesn't accomplish reforms to improve

[175:20] the lot of the have nots that they may

[175:22] have another messiah, a second coming of

[175:26] Andres uh Lopez Orador in six years.

[175:31] It's a long shot, but it's a

[175:32] possibility.

[175:34] >> George Grayson, thank you very much.

[175:36] >> Thank you.

[175:37] >> A reminder now to vote in our poll. Do

[175:39] you believe that there will be less or

[175:41] greater partisanship with a

[175:42] Democratically controlled House and

[175:44] Senate? More or less? Cast your

[175:46] votively.com. Those results coming up in

[175:49] just a few minutes. Now, 60 Minutes

[175:51] correspondent Ed Bradley died of

[175:53] leukemia in New York today. Bradley

[175:56] began his career at CBS News as a radio

[175:58] stringer in Paris in 1971.

[176:01] Bradley reported on the Vietnam War and

[176:04] later became the White House

[176:05] correspondent for CBS News. In 1981,

[176:08] Bradley joined the staff of 60 Minutes.

[176:11] Bradley was 65 years old.

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[178:41] The results of our poll tonight, 56% of

[178:44] you say there will be less partisanship

[178:46] with a Democratically controlled House

[178:48] and Senate. May you be correct. Time now

[178:52] for more of your thoughts. Lee in

[178:53] Arizona is a lifelong 67year-old

[178:55] Republican. I was sure glad to see one

[178:58] of President Bush's rubber stamps run

[179:00] out of ink. And Hank in New Jersey, Lou,

[179:02] thank God the people have spoken. Now

[179:04] all we have to worry about is whether

[179:06] the politicians are listening. Terra in

[179:08] Massachusetts, the party that is willing

[179:10] to work for the American people and put

[179:12] Americans first and protect American

[179:14] interest and our economy will win in

[179:17] 2008. Greg in Texas. Lou, it seems that

[179:20] just when Donald Rumsfeld might run into

[179:22] opposition and be held accountable by

[179:24] the new Congress, the cutandrun policy

[179:27] became attractive. What happened to stay

[179:29] the course? And Lois in Iowa, why can't

[179:31] we go to one party, the American party,

[179:34] where candidates run on issues and are

[179:36] judged by their strengths and ability to

[179:38] perform the job? No more sleazy campaign

[179:40] ads. No more lobbyists and special

[179:42] interest groups. No party thinking and

[179:44] acting like they're better or above the

[179:46] law. Simply Americans for Americans by

[179:50] Americans. We love hearing from you.