April 28, 2006

Hotline After Dark -- The Sting Edition

PBS showed "All the President's Men" last night, but cable had scandals of its own to talk about.

BUT FIRST ...

Brian Williams anchored “Nightly News” from New Orleans, where he got an interview with Pres. Bush. Asked about his approval ratings, Bush: "I've been up in the polls, and I've been down in the polls, but I'm going to continue doing what I think is right for the country" (NBC, 4/27).

FOLLOW THE PROSTITUTES

Brian Unger guest hosted on "Countdown" and led with the latest allegations in the Randy "Duke" Cunningham scandal. He noted: "The three key ingredients of any D.C. key political scandal are as follows, sex, money, and the Watergate apartment complex. ... I guess the lesson no one seems to be learning, if you're going to do something illicit in Washington, do it at, say, the Comfort Inn in Tyson's Corner."

He also asked David Shuster if there were more allegations to come. Shuster replied: "You always hear rumors about this congressman or that congressman who sort of gets drunk with power in Washington and engages in these sort of activities. But until, I think, we get some substantial allegations, I'm not going to drop any names" (MSNBC, 4/27).

San Diego Union Tribune’s Dean Calbreath talked about the scandal on "Scarborough Country." On if there are more allegations to come: "We've been checking out of rumors that not only Congressman Cunningham but as many as a half a dozen other congressmen may have been involved in this. ... The rumor mill is alive with at least half a dozen names" (MSNBC, 4/27).

THIS DOESN'T GET ROVE OFF THE HOOK

And there was still a lot of talk about Karl Rove.

MSNBC's Shuster: "Sources close to Karl Rove say the presidential adviser is now more worried, not less, that he's going to get indicted. The sources say Rove was surprised by some of the questions he was asked, and by the fact the session stretched on for three and a half hours" ("Hardball," 4/27).

CNN's King: "Publicly Karl Rove has been quite optimistic including today when he arrived and talked to his staff. But behind the scenes, some people view this as quite ominous" ("Situation Room," 4/27).

FRIST IS TRYING TO MAKE THIS HIS ISSUE

Senate Maj. Leader Bill Frist played "Hardball" with guest host Norah O'Donnell. Most of the talk was on high gas prices: "The things that the administration can do and that's why in our bill, we give them the authority to regulate those so-called CAFE standards or fuel economic standards for our cars. The administration needs to look at that and move it up, move it down, but do what's appropriate. The American consumer is ready to step up, is ready to sacrifice for what they know is a national problem."

But he was also asked if he was going to IA or NH anytime soon. Frist: "Well no, not right now" (MSNBC, 4/27). [EMILY GOODIN]

Posted at 07:19 AM

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