September 21, 2006
Hotline After Dark -- A King Sized Evening
TV went presidential last night:
Pres. Bush sat down with CNN's Blitzer:
Bush: "Frankly, if anybody thinks there's not an enemy coming to attack us, they just don't see the world the way it is."
More: "Osama bin Laden is in hiding and we're still spending a lot of time trying to find him. But the key thing that the American people have got to know is that security comes not only with getting him -- which I'm convinced we will -- but also doing other things to protect them. One is to dismantle al Qaeda. Two is to listen to phone calls if al Qaeda's calling to the United States and respond to that. Three is to get information so we can prevent attack. Getting bin Laden is important, but putting things in place, putting procedures in place that protect you is equally important, and we're doing both."
Blitzer, asking about al Qaeda: "If you had good actionable intelligence in Pakistan where they were, would you give the order to kill them or capture them?"
Bush: "Absolutely."
On Iran: "Our position is very clear to the Iranians, that if they want to sit down with American officials, that they first must verifiably suspend their enrichment program. They know our position, the world knows our position, and I clarified it at the United Nations over the past couple of days."
On Iraq: "I fully recognize it's still dangerous and there's more work to do. The enemy has got the capacity to get on your TV screens by killing innocent people, and that should speak volumes to the American people about the nature of these people we face."
Asked if he was considering dealing with Saddam before 9/11: "I wasn't in office long before 9/11." More: "It was 9/11/2001 and I swore in in January of 2001."
Blitzer, noting an interview he did with Bush before the 2000 IA caucus: "The weapons of mass destruction issue, in your mind, even as a candidate running for president, was a trigger potentially that could lead to war."
Bush: "I viewed Saddam Hussein for what he was, a threat. He was declared a state sponsor of terror ... by previous administrations."
Asked why it's taking so long to secure our borders: "It's a long border. ... It takes a lot of manpower and new equipment to enforce that border."
More: "What they're talking about in the House and the Senate is a temporary step. If you're question is, will I stop trying to push for a comprehensive reform? The answer is, no, I won't stop trying to push for comprehensive reform" (CNN, 9/20).
And ex-Pres. Clinton stopped by "LKL":
On Laura Bush: "She's had an interest that Hillary and I both have shared for a long time in all the problems facing kids, especially young girls, in the developing world. And once you get into it, first you start saying, well, I want these kids to get more education. That's self-evident in poor countries. And we particularly have to educate girls."
Asked if he saw Al Gore's movie: "I did. It's terrific. I called him and told him it was great. And, I said you know, Al, my favorite chart was the very last one. You remember, it's about his lecture? So, his last chart is, here's greenhouse gas emissions, here's where they could be, here's all the things you can do. I said, you need to make a second movie out of that last chart. And, he's doing it I think. He's going to make another movie."
Asked if Hillary Clinton is running for the WH: "I don't know yet. But, if I did know, I wouldn't tell you because I think it's so important for her to make the decision at an appropriate time."
CNN's King: "She'll make it without your input?"
Clinton: "No. She'll make it with my input. But, I should be giving it to her and not anybody else. I'll say what I've said until I'm blue in the face. I think it would be an error for her to think about this now until she is reelected and has a chance to get a sense of the lay of the land and what her options are for service in the Senate, and what the presidential options are. That's what I believe. So I wouldn't even discuss it with her now."
More: "The second thing I want to say is if she did decide to run, I have no idea if she would win. You know, she would be the immediate favorite, but there's a million things that can happen. There's only one thing I know with absolute conviction. If she got elected, she'd be fabulous. I don't know if she's going to run, I don't know if I want her to run, I don't know if she'd win if she ran. She would be a magnificent president. I do know that."
On CT SEN: "It's a complicated thing. ... Most of the independent voters are against our Iraq policy, but most of the Republican voters are for it. So it just depends on how many Republican votes Joe gets, as opposed to the Republican nominee, and how many independent and Democratic votes Lamont gets. It's really sort of an unpredictable race."
More: "I don't have the same view of this as some people do. My view is Connecticut is an unmitigated blessing for the Democrats because Lieberman has said if he wins he's going to vote with us to organize the Senate" (CNN, 9/20).
THE REST OF THE EVENING
Other topics on TV were the debate over interrogation techniques and Venezuelan Pres. Hugo Chavez calling Bush "the devil." Some highlights:
MSNBC's Shuster: "Bush met with Republican congressional leaders at the White House amidst new signs that GOP infighting over terror detainee legislation is even deeper than has been publicly acknowledged" ("Hardball," 9/20).
Washington Post's Milbank: "You talked about the family squabble. It's really entering a domestic violence phase here now" ("Countdown," MSNBC, 9/20).
FNC's Rosen: "In his 25 minutes on the world stage, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez spent most of his address before the UN General Assembly demonizing President Bush literally" ("Special Report," 9/20).
SENATE MANIA
There was also a lot of talk on SEN races:
VA SEN candidate Jim Webb (D) was on "Hardball" and MSNBC's Matthews asked him: "Do you have paid
bloggers and are they pushing this story about Allen's Jewish grandparent?"
Webb: "I did not know that this would even be the subject of a discussion with you when I agreed to come on your show. Dick Waddams is part of a Karl Rove method of conducting political campaigns. He worked for Karl Rove for several years. This is clearly an attempt to turn something around onto us that has nothing to do with what we are doing in this campaign. This is absurd."
Asked if Allen was tring to hide his ancestory: "I have no comment on that" (MSNBC, 9/20).
FNC's Cameron profiled the NJ SEN race: "New Jersey has been plagued by a number of Democratic scandals in recent years. And while Menendez has not been charged with wrongdoing, the mere existence of an investigation could be enough to undo his reelection and with it Democratic hopes of reclaiming the majority" ("Special Report," 9/20).
And Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) was on "Hannity & Colmes" where the discussion focused on immigration:
Santorum: "I don't think that we need to go to amnesty. I think we can handle this problem without giving people who have broken the law the right to be citizens in this country" (FNC, 9/20). [EMILY GOODIN]
Posted at 07:28 AM
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