Meet the Press (NBC) - 2006-11-05 - 1 of 2

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[0:00] lineup.

[0:03] >> From NBC News in Washington, this is

[0:06] Meet the Press with Tim Russard.

[0:10] >> Our issues this Sunday. This is it. Only

[0:14] 48 hours to go. Just 2 days until the

[0:18] midterm elections. Will the Democrats

[0:21] recapture control of the House? with us

[0:24] the chairs of the House campaign

[0:26] committees, Republican Tom Reynolds and

[0:29] Democrat Rahm Emanuel. Will the

[0:32] Republicans hold control of the Senate?

[0:34] With us, the chairs of the senatorial

[0:37] campaign committees, Republican

[0:39] Elizabeth Dole and Democrat Chuck

[0:41] Schumer. All four campaign chairs only

[0:45] on Meet the Press.

[0:49] music.

[0:51] >> But first, earlier this morning, the

[0:53] Iraqi High Tribunal of five judges found

[0:56] Saddam Hussein guilty of crimes against

[0:59] humanity for the deaths of more than 148

[1:02] Shiite men and boys from the town of Du

[1:04] Jail in 1982. This was the scene as

[1:07] Saddam was ordered to stand and receive

[1:09] his sentence of death by hanging. Saddam

[1:12] shouting, "Hell to the occupiers. God is

[1:15] great."

[1:16] NBC's Richard Angel was in the courtroom

[1:18] and he joins us this morning. Richard,

[1:20] as we watch Saddam this morning, he also

[1:22] was there seeing, holding, clutching,

[1:26] waving the Quran around in defiance.

[1:30] >> So Saddam, when he governed was not a

[1:32] religious man. What kind of symbols was

[1:35] it was Saddam trying to communicate this

[1:37] morning?

[1:40] Saddam realizes this is a an image that

[1:42] is going to last in the minds of many

[1:44] Iraqis who to today are are even

[1:47] grasping to understand that this really

[1:49] took place. Saddam wants to leave the

[1:51] impression that he is a pious leader, a

[1:54] religious man and a nationalist. In

[1:56] addition to holding the Quran, he kept

[1:58] saying, "Long live Iraq. God is

[2:00] greatest. Long live the Iraqi people."

[2:02] He's hoping that is the message they're

[2:04] going to to keep. But according to the

[2:06] uh street protests we saw today, people

[2:09] celebrating and firing guns in the air,

[2:11] it is certainly not the impression that

[2:13] most Iraqis have of their uh of the

[2:15] former dictator.

[2:16] >> His lawyer said he will appeal. What

[2:18] does that mean?

[2:20] >> There is an automatic appeal that should

[2:22] take place in about 30 days. That appeal

[2:25] is a nine judge panel. It is open-ended,

[2:28] but according to Iraqi prosecutors, it

[2:30] might only take several months for the

[2:33] uh appeals court to uphold this death

[2:34] sentence. If in fact that is what's

[2:36] happens and the and the verdict is

[2:38] upheld, then the Iraqi government has 30

[2:41] days to carry out the uh the punishment.

[2:43] Most analysts here expect that it will

[2:45] happen sometime in the spring of '07.

[2:47] >> There were two different reactions in

[2:48] Iraq today. First, this was the scene in

[2:51] the Shiite neighborhoods. celebration,

[2:53] jubilation, and then what happened in

[2:56] the Sunni neighborhoods? Protest

[2:59] pledging revenge for having done this to

[3:01] Saddam. Will this verdict only encourage

[3:05] the sectarian violence?

[3:08] >> According to the prime minister, no. He

[3:10] believes this will help a Shiite prime

[3:12] minister help heal some of the wounds.

[3:15] However, Sunni leaders have made it

[3:16] clear they do not accept this verdict.

[3:18] They say it was imposed on Iraq by the

[3:21] United States. They would have liked to

[3:23] have seen this trial postponed until

[3:25] after the end of American occupation

[3:27] after all troops have left. That is what

[3:30] Sunni leaders have made it clear.

[3:31] Members of the Bath party that uh make

[3:34] up quite a large portion of the

[3:36] resistance groups here in Iraq as they

[3:38] call themselves have vowed to carry out

[3:40] attacks, but so far they have those

[3:43] threats have not been uh been been

[3:45] they've been taken seriously, but they

[3:46] have not uh amounted to much violence at

[3:48] least today so far. And finally,

[3:50] Richard, the timing of this sentencing.

[3:53] Suggestions made that it was scheduled

[3:56] just two days before the midterm

[3:57] elections. Iraqis deny that. What are

[4:00] you hearing? What can you report?

[4:03] US officials and Iraqi government

[4:05] officials both come out repeatedly

[4:07] telling us that this was not timed to

[4:10] coincide with the US elections. However,

[4:12] Saddam's main lawyer today again

[4:15] repeated that allegation, saying that

[4:16] this was clearly politically timed to

[4:19] help the United States. He said that it

[4:21] was politically rushed so that it would

[4:23] give America an exit strategy out of

[4:25] Iraq. However, both US and Iraqi court

[4:29] officials deny that. Tim

[4:30] >> Richard Angel, thank you again for

[4:32] joining us as always and please be safe.

[4:34] Now, back to politics here at home. An

[4:36] exclusive grouping of four people

[4:38] charged with overseeing their party

[4:40] campaigns across the country. the chairs

[4:42] of the senatorial campaign committee,

[4:43] Republican Elizabeth Dole, Democrat

[4:45] Chuck Schumer, the chairs of the House

[4:47] campaign committee, Republican Tom

[4:48] Reynolds, Democrat Rahman Emanuel.

[4:49] Welcome all. Senator Schumer, this

[4:52] sentencing of Saddam Hussein to death by

[4:54] hanging. Are you suspicious of the

[4:56] political timing?

[4:57] >> Not really. I mean, look, Tim, he was a

[5:00] brutal, evil dictator. He's getting the

[5:02] punishment that he deserves. And uh I

[5:05] don't think the timing makes much of a

[5:07] difference. And and frankly, I don't

[5:09] think his conviction makes much of a

[5:10] difference in this election, even though

[5:12] it's a very good thing that it happened.

[5:14] I think when Dick Cheney says we're

[5:16] staying the course this week, when the

[5:18] president uh refuses to rule out uh

[5:21] finding a new defense secretary and uh

[5:24] firing Donald Rumsfeld, that's going to

[5:25] have far more of an effect on the

[5:27] election than this. So, I don't think

[5:28] the timing matters.

[5:29] >> Do you think this will have an effect on

[5:30] the election, Senator Do? You know, I

[5:32] think what this shows is that uh the

[5:34] Iraqis are putting their past behind

[5:36] them, the establishment of the rule of

[5:38] law. Um I feel that uh you know, this uh

[5:41] this will mean they're moving forward.

[5:43] Um certainly a mad man who uh had in his

[5:46] focus the preparation of nuclear

[5:49] weapons. Um this will I think be

[5:52] received uh as the right thing and um

[5:55] you know I don't expect that it's going

[5:56] to uh to have that much effect one way

[5:58] or the other. Congressman Reynolds,

[6:00] >> they're moving towards democracy in Iraq

[6:02] and uh Saddam Hussein is getting that

[6:04] his justified punishment.

[6:06] >> Congressman Emanuel,

[6:06] >> I think it's good that he's behind bars

[6:08] and getting the justice that he

[6:10] deserves. But I would also like to

[6:12] remind that about 3 years ago when he

[6:15] was caught and he's been in jail for 3

[6:16] years about 800 Americans who were dead

[6:18] at that point. Today there's a little

[6:20] over 2,800 Americans that died. He won't

[6:22] change the facts on the ground there and

[6:24] it won't impact the election here. And

[6:26] as Chuck said, and I agree with him,

[6:28] we're still, you know, at that time when

[6:29] he was caught, the president said, "We

[6:32] had turned the corner in Iraq." And

[6:34] after three years, three and a half

[6:36] years, $380 billion, nearly 3,000

[6:40] American lives. That was a slogan then,

[6:42] like mission accomplished. And we

[6:44] haven't really accomplished much in

[6:45] Iraq. And even our own defense says,

[6:46] Secretary, not defense secretary,

[6:48] general on the ground says, "We're on

[6:49] the brink of civil insurrection. The

[6:51] needle at the Pentagon points towards

[6:53] chaos." It means we need a new direction

[6:55] to our Iraq policy.

[6:57] >> We'll talk a lot more about Iraq later,

[6:58] but let's first turn to these elections

[7:00] and go through some of the horse races.

[7:03] Uh, three political newsletters have

[7:06] come out with their final projections.

[7:08] Here's the Cook political report. They

[7:10] say Democrats gained 20 to 35 House

[7:13] seats, four to six Senate seats. The

[7:15] Rothenberg political report puts it at

[7:17] 34 to 40 House seats for the Democratic

[7:21] Party. Senate gained five to seven. The

[7:24] Evans and Novak political report say

[7:26] Democrats gained 20 seats in the Senate

[7:29] uh five. Congressman Reynolds and all

[7:32] those the Democrats with significant

[7:34] gains in the House. Do you agree? No,

[7:36] I've seen those uh numbers I guess kind

[7:38] of consistent by most of what has been

[7:40] up there. Uh what I uh look at is

[7:42] there's about three dozen hotly

[7:44] contested races across the country.

[7:46] They're in the margin of error. And

[7:47] right now, the 72-hour uh uh efforts by

[7:51] the Republicans uh to turn their vote

[7:53] out will make the difference of what it

[7:54] looks like on election day. Uh Glenn

[7:56] Bulier, Republican pollster involved in

[7:58] these races, says this is the worst

[8:00] political atmosphere for Republicans

[8:01] since Watergate. Why? Well, there's wind

[8:04] to our face in the second term midterm

[8:05] election of a president, the party in

[8:07] power. I think we all from the

[8:09] Republican side went into the election

[8:10] understanding that. The reality is we

[8:13] are now with about three dozen races

[8:15] that are very close in the margin of

[8:16] error in the house that will be

[8:18] determined on who comes out to vote.

[8:20] Congressman Emanuel, you'll see those

[8:21] projections. You agree?

[8:23] >> Well, here's what I let me give you four

[8:25] quick points and snapshots around the

[8:26] country. De Mo Register this morning

[8:29] says an open Republican seat. The

[8:31] Democrat Brayley is up by 21 points. in

[8:33] New Hampshire uh in Charlie Bass's seat.

[8:36] The University of New Hampshire has

[8:39] consistently uh the Democrat up by nine.

[8:41] Down in Florida, Ron Klein against Klay

[8:43] Shaw, an incumbent has uh Ron Klein up

[8:47] by 10. And Albuquerque Journal has Paty

[8:49] Madrid uh against Heather Wilson.

[8:51] Albuquerque up by four. One thing

[8:52] consistent, Democrats across the board

[8:54] are growing in their margins in each of

[8:56] these races. Four contested Republican

[8:58] districts. There's one to two Democratic

[9:01] seats that I am uh concerned about with

[9:04] about 48 Republican seats that we are

[9:06] contesting and I like those margins and

[9:08] those numbers.

[9:08] >> So you're confident of a Democratic

[9:10] takeover.

[9:10] >> I'm confident that we have put that we

[9:12] are playing offense across this country

[9:14] in every region of this country. And let

[9:15] me say one other thing to him. You go to

[9:17] history in 58 there was a big election.

[9:19] 66 a big election. 1974 a big election.

[9:22] 1982 a big election. In 1994 a big

[9:25] election. Every decade, the American

[9:27] people have a big election where they

[9:29] say no to the status quo and yes to a

[9:31] new direction. And this election is a

[9:33] yes to a new direction, which is what

[9:34] Democrats are offering.

[9:35] >> Let me turn to the US Senate. Senator

[9:38] Schumer, two states that you must hold

[9:41] that currently have Democratic senators

[9:43] are New Jersey and Maryland. Here is our

[9:45] latest poll on New Jersey. Mendez, the

[9:48] Democratic candidate, 48, Tom Kaine Jr.

[9:50] 41. In Maryland, the Democrat, Ben

[9:53] Carden, 47, Michael Steele, the

[9:56] Republican, 44. How concerned are you

[9:58] that in those two Democratic states, you

[10:00] may get upset?

[10:02] >> Well, we think we're going to win both

[10:04] of those states. I think in blue states

[10:06] in particular, the wind is strongly at

[10:08] our back. Democrats, independents, even

[10:10] Republicans in those states want change.

[10:13] And when they find out, as they have

[10:15] that candidates like these are going to

[10:18] continue a rubber stamp Congress, uh

[10:21] both have said uh both uh Tom Kaine Jr.

[10:23] and Michael Steele have said stay the

[10:25] course in Iraq. People of their states

[10:28] don't like it. Both have supported uh or

[10:31] both are against stem cell research. The

[10:33] people in their states don't like it.

[10:35] Kaine has talked about privatizing

[10:37] social security. Michael Steele is

[10:39] against stem cell research. They are so

[10:41] against what the people in the states

[10:43] want that I believe we're going to keep

[10:44] both of those states.

[10:45] >> Senator Doe, there are seven key

[10:47] battleground states for the Republicans.

[10:49] Let me start with Pennsylvania. Democrat

[10:51] Bob Casey, our latest poll 52. Rick

[10:54] Santorm 39. Ohio Democrat Sherid Brown

[10:58] 50. Mike Dwine, the Republican 44. These

[11:01] are all polls out this morning. Rhode

[11:02] Island, Lincoln Chaffy, the Republican

[11:04] 46. Sheldon White House the Democrat 45.

[11:09] Virginia, Jim Webb, the Democrat, 46,

[11:12] George Allen, the Republican, 45.

[11:15] Missouri, Clare McCascal, the Democrat,

[11:18] 46, Jim Talent, 45, Montana, Conrad

[11:22] Burns, 47, John Tester, 47, Dead Heat.

[11:26] In Tennessee, the Republican, Bob

[11:28] Corker, 50, Herald for the Democrat, 38.

[11:32] In six of those seven, the Republican is

[11:35] either behind or tied. Uh, and with JV

[11:39] up one, what do you think?

[11:40] >> We've got some internal polls that

[11:41] certainly differ from some of the ones

[11:43] that you just read. So, you're gonna

[11:44] sweep them all. Let's let me let me talk

[11:46] about what is normally regarded as uh

[11:48] you guys talk about the firewall with uh

[11:50] Virginia and Tennessee and Missouri and

[11:53] uh we're winning in all those states.

[11:56] Now, I wanted to expand that firewall

[11:59] because I have a much broader firewall.

[12:01] Uh you look at uh at uh at Rhode Island,

[12:04] uh the state of Montana, these are very

[12:06] very tight races. Uh and then we've been

[12:09] putting money into three blue states.

[12:12] Chuck has had to put millions of dollars

[12:14] into New Jersey, into Maryland, into

[12:17] Michigan. You put a lot of money into

[12:18] the state of Washington. That's

[12:20] millions. That doesn't go against our

[12:21] incumbents. So as I look at uh the

[12:24] situation at this point, sure, this is a

[12:26] very tough cycle. No question. When a

[12:29] president has been when a president has

[12:31] been reelected, you look through history

[12:33] and there's no question it's a very

[12:35] tough cycle. But, you know, we've got

[12:37] some X factors that uh really enable us

[12:40] to have an opportunity to break through

[12:42] uh to weather the storm. For example,

[12:45] corruption in New Jersey. Uh Tom Kaine

[12:48] has been uh a real reformer on trying to

[12:50] get rid of paytoplay uh where where you

[12:53] have to pay in in order to uh pay

[12:55] contributions in order to get contracts.

[12:58] Uh Bob Menendez, his opponent is under

[13:00] federal criminal investigation. That

[13:02] issue is front and center. Uh you look

[13:04] in Maryland and you've got a fresh uh

[13:07] leadership uh here in in uh Michael

[13:09] Steel in terms of wanting to really

[13:11] shake up uh uh Washington and uh his

[13:15] opponent Ben Carden has been in

[13:17] government for 40 years. Uh you know,

[13:19] Michael has just gotten the endorsements

[13:21] of some key African-American leaders in

[13:23] Prince George's County. Great leader up

[13:26] in Michigan. uh that state, here's the X

[13:28] factor there. Uh the state is is really

[13:31] hurting economically. 7.1% unemployment,

[13:34] three years of job losses. Uh Debbie

[13:37] Stabinau's policies are not right for

[13:40] growing the economy there,

[13:42] >> but nobody in Michigan has the Michael

[13:44] Michael Buchard uh is doing a great job,

[13:48] but let me tell you, they're a late

[13:50] closing state. Remember John Engler was

[13:53] double digits at this point. He was down

[13:55] double digits.

[13:57] Bottom line, Debbie Stabinau was down at

[13:59] this point and she won.

[14:00] >> You've endorsed all your candidates, but

[14:03] bottom line, will the Republicans hold

[14:05] control of the Senate?

[14:06] >> Yes, they will. We will hold. We will

[14:07] hold the majority.

[14:08] >> She's confident. Will the Democrats take

[14:10] control of the Senate?

[14:11] >> Well, Tim, we're right on the edge of

[14:13] taking back the Senate. I wouldn't uh

[14:15] open up the champagne or do the high

[14:17] fives, but we are feeling very good.

[14:19] Something we never would have said uh

[14:22] even three months ago. Here's what's

[14:23] happened. This election has evolved into

[14:26] a national referendum on change. And

[14:29] when the election becomes a referendum

[14:31] on George Bush and the rubber stamp

[14:33] Congress, the the Republicans lose. And

[14:36] that's what's happened from one end of

[14:37] the country to the other. People are not

[14:39] happy with what's going on in foreign

[14:41] policy. Not only Iraq, but North Korea,

[14:44] Afghanistan. The middle class is

[14:46] struggling here at home. Wages are flat.

[14:48] The overall macro numbers are good, but

[14:50] most of that's going to the very high

[14:52] end. And the average American's wages

[14:54] are flat. Tuition costs go up.

[14:56] Prescription drug costs go up. Energy

[14:58] costs go up. So people want change. And

[15:01] that's why we are so so close to taking

[15:04] back the Senate.

[15:05] >> Let me talk I'll come back to the

[15:07] >> need to be answered.

[15:08] >> I'll come back to the Senate. I promise.

[15:09] Let me turn to the House. Congressman

[15:11] Reynolds, you were considered a shoe in

[15:13] for re-election. Here's the latest poll

[15:15] from the Buffalo News this morning.

[15:18] Tom Reynolds 47. Jack Davis, Democratic

[15:20] opponent, 46. What happened? Well, I

[15:23] moved 15 points according to the same

[15:24] pollster in two weeks when most put the

[15:27] obituary on the 26th district of New

[15:29] York. Uh it's all about turnout and my

[15:32] race is going to be the model just like

[15:34] 35, 36, 37 races across the country. Uh

[15:37] they're in the margin of error. It's

[15:39] about turnout. One thing you know about

[15:40] Buffalo, it isn't snowing today. There

[15:42] were 400 people in the streets yesterday

[15:45] running the operation of turnout the

[15:47] vote. and uh we'll do it today, we'll do

[15:50] it tomorrow, and uh if that's being done

[15:52] across the country, we're in this race

[15:54] to hold the House. It all gets down for

[15:56] Republicans turning out the vote. The

[16:00] same poll, however, asked this question.

[16:02] What did they think of your role in the

[16:04] Foley Page scandal, 31 approved, 57

[16:08] disapprove, and the con their concern

[16:11] goes back to this. In the spring of '05,

[16:13] you say that Congressman Rodney

[16:15] Alexander brought to your attention the

[16:17] existence of the emails between Mark

[16:19] Foley and a former page of Mr.

[16:21] Alexander's that you told the speaker of

[16:24] a conversation that Mr. Alexander had

[16:26] with me. Speaker Hazard says he doesn't

[16:28] remember that conversation.

[16:29] >> Two things. It was a spring of 06 and uh

[16:32] second, the speaker has never denied the

[16:34] conversation. What he said, he didn't

[16:35] recall it.

[16:37] >> Why did Mr. Alexander, a congressman

[16:39] from Louisiana, go to you, the chairman

[16:42] of a campaign committee, as opposed to

[16:44] the page committee or the speaker? Why

[16:47] would he be thinking politically? Why go

[16:48] to you?

[16:49] >> Well, uh, I never outright asked him,

[16:52] but I got the impression maybe he came

[16:54] by to, uh, to tell me that, uh, based

[16:56] on, uh, the fact that, uh, I know Rodney

[16:59] pretty well. It was one of those.