March 26, 2007
The Sunday Snapshot
From Hotline's TV editor, Emily Goodin:
Iraq and the fired U.S. attorneys dominated the Sunday shows but we begin with John and Elizabeth Edwards's appearance on "60 Minutes":
E. Edwards, on if the cancer has spread to other spots: "There are a couple of hot spots, on the bone scan. In my right hip, for example. And one of the questions was whether or not to do radiation on that to reduce the size of the cancer in that location for fear that it might weaken my bone and that I might break my hip. But the consensus was that it was too small an area for that to be a risk. You know, we were on a real roller coaster."
E. Edwards, on the decision to keep campaigning: "You really have two choices here. I mean, either you push forward with the things that you were doing yesterday or you start dying. That seems to be your only two choices. If I had given up everything that my life was about, first of all, I'd let cancer win before it needed to. You know, maybe eventually it will win, but I let it win before it needed to. And I just basically start dying. I don't want to do that. I want to live. ... I want next year to look like last year, and the year after that and the year after that. And the only way to do that is to say, 'I'm going to keep on with my life.'"
More E. Edwards: "It is our intention to deny cancer any control over us, and though I know that there are people who live short lives, I feel optimistic, not because I've got rose-colored glasses on, but because I know that I have only low volume -- a small amount of cancer in my bones."
J. Edwards: "I can promise you, we don't understate or misunderstand the seriousness of this. I mean, this could kill her. And we know it. And what we choose to do is we choose to live our lives fully and with strength and optimism. We get to make that choice. And that's what we choose."
E. Edwards: "That would be my legacy, wouldn't it ... that I'd taken out this fine man from the possibility of giving a great service. I mean, I don't want that to be my legacy."
J. Edwards, on people saying he's capitalizing on this: "Here's what I would say about that. First of all, there's not a single person in America that should vote for me because Elizabeth has cancer. Not a one. If you're considering doing it, don't do it. Do not vote for us because you feel some sympathy or compassion for us. That would be an enormous mistake. The vote for the presidency is far too important for -any of those things to influence it. But I think every single candidate for president, Republican and Democratic, have lives, personal lives, that indicates something about what kind of human being they are. And I think it is a fair evaluation for America to engage in, to look at what kind of human beings each of us are and what kind of president we'd make."
Asked if he's putting work before his family, J. Edwards: "But this is not work. Work is what I did as a lawyer. This is service."
On those who question his ability to run the country while dealing with his wife's illness, J. Edwards: "All I can tell you is I know from my own life experience that I could do it. I don't have to guess about that. Second, people will be able to watch during the course of this campaign, and I ask them to watch."
More J. Edwards: "We have every reason to be optimistic right now. I believe in my heart and soul that Elizabeth is going to do well. I do believe that. She will be out there campaigning with me and separately. If you ask me today whether I'm in this campaign for the duration, the answer to that question is yes."
TOO MANY COOKS IN IRAQ'S KITCHEN?
Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL): "The Senate will take a little bit different approach. It will set as a goal of the withdrawal of some of the troops, leaving troops for the purpose of training the Iraqi army for force protection which could include border patrol. And that follows the recommendation of the unanimous, bipartisan Iraq Study Commission. That, combined with a very aggressive, diplomatic effort in the region is what we're going need to have" ("Late Edition," CNN, 3/25).
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT): "I would like to see us come out of there, but I don't want to undermine the troops, nor do I want to act like a super-imposing general because I'm a senator in the United States Senate" ("Late Edition," CNN, 3/25).
Iraqi Amb. Samir Sumaidaie, on what would happen if Congress sets a deadline for troops: "I don't expect them to do so. Secondly, if they did, they would live to regret it."
More: "If we set out a date now for a complete withdrawal, you can bet your bottom dollar that the terrorists are going to be waiting for that date and attacking and launching their biggest attack on civilians and the institutions of state of Iraq" ("Late Edition," CNN, 3/25).
Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS), on if they have the votes to take the timetable out of the Iraq bill: "We have not done a whip check specifically on this upcoming vote, but I believe that we do. There are members in the Senate in both parties that are not comfortable with how things have gone in Iraq. But they understand that artificial timetables, even as goals, are a problem" ("Fox News Sunday," 3/25).
ALL ABOUT ALBERTO
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC): "The attorney general has been wounded because of his performance, not because of politics. And he is willing to come before the Senate and explain himself under oath. And I think he should. And we should allow him to tell his side of the story, ask him hard questions, not run him off because of newspaper articles. But I'm very disturbed by the way this has been handled. And there's no substitute for him coming into the Senate."
More: "He's going to have to come to the Senate and re-establish his credibility. He's going to have to prove to us that there was a legitimate reason this was poorly handled, because you can't say it was anything other than poorly handled. Nothing nefarious happened here. I'm willing to hear him out. I think he deserves to be heard out" ("Face the Nation," CBS, 3/25).
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), on admin officials: "I want them in the open, under oath, publicly, where both Republican senators and Democratic senators can ask questions. You know, our founders devised this system of checks and balances. This administration has been used to going unchecked. The balances kicked in last November, and they're going to have to deal with that reality" ("Face the Nation," CBS, 3/25).
Graham: "The way to handle this, in my opinion, is to have a private conference, interview, with Karl Rove, Harriet Miers, and have a transcript so we know what happened" ("Face the Nation," CBS, 3/25).
Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA): "Attorney General Gonzales' testimony will be a make or break situation for him. There are a lot of questions to be answered beyond credibility. There's no doubt that what has happened has had a very chilling effect on the United States attorneys across the country."
On Gonzales: "As to his independence, there's a real question that he has allied himself a little too closely with the president when the attorney general has broader responsibilities than most other Cabinet officers. ... I want to hear from him directly what he did vis-a-vis the White House, what kind of independence he showed, if any."
Specter: "If there's a confrontation here on executive privilege for the president and oversight by the Congress, it's going to take a long time to decide. The last matter took more than two years, so we'd be in the term of another president before the courts had ruled. ... I think the president is wrong when he refuses to have a transcript. If you don't have a transcript, senators are going to walk out and, in good faith, have different versions as to what occurred. ... I would vastly prefer to have the situation public because there is a great public concern here" ("Meet the Press," NBC, 3/25).
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL): "It would be so refreshing to bring a real prosecutor in there, someone independent to clean up the Department of Justice to restore the integrity and credibility, what that important agency needs" ("Meet the Press," NBC, 3/25).
Nelson, asked if Gonzales should resign: "Personally, I would because I think he's lost his credibility. But I think we ought to go through the procedures and hear what he says. And I don't see what all this fuss is about people coming forth and raising their hand and saying they're going tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. That's what the American people deserve, and that's what we ought to get to" ("Late Edition," CNN, 3/25).
Hatch, on Gonzales: "He's honest, he's decent and he's honorable. But let's be honest about it, the Justice Department has bungled this attorney thing. There's no question about it. There's no excuse for it" ("Late Edition," CNN, 3/25).
Lott: "I see no evidence that anything illegal was done or improper. As a matter of fact, it looks to me like when you look at the dates there that this discussion took place kind of after the decisions had been made" ("Fox News Sunday," 3/25).
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), on Gonzales: "He called me when I began to become involved in this and told me I didn't know my facts, I didn't know what I was doing. And it turns out he wasn't telling me the truth then either. ... I believe he should step down, and I don't like saying this. This is not my natural personality at all. But I think the nation is not well served by this. I think we need to get at the bottom of why these resignations were made, who ordered them, and what the strategy was" ("Fox News Sunday," 3/25).
HAGEL'S STILL HAGEL
Only one '08er appeared on the Sunday shows this weekend. Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) was on "This Week":
On Gonzales: "He does have a credibility problem."
More: "I don't know if he got bad advice or if he was not involved in the day-to-day management. I don't know what the problem is, but he's got a problem. You cannot have the nation's chief law enforcement officer with a cloud hanging over his credibility. ... This needs to be addressed, and I think the president makes a big mistake if he tries to make this a constitutional issue and make it a separation of powers issues. Fix the problem."
Asked if he thinks Gonzales can still be AG: "I do not, and I think the president is going to have to make a tough choice here."
Asked if the admin should send officials up to testify: "That's the way I would do it, and I think we have a very clear past record of other presidents taking that same course of action and I think we have a very clear past record of other presidents taking that same course of action. President Reagan did that on Iran-Contra. The Washington Post has a story today that highlights your picture and your episode."
ABC's Stephanopoulos: "Thanks for reminding me, senator."
Hagel: "And we were very appreciative of your selfless public service to our country, George."
On Congress' role in Iraq: "Congress is going to play a role now like we've not played before. You've already seen the House play that role. We will debate it this week in the Senate. Senator Jim Webb and I are going to introduce some legislation that will in fact have the force of law in the future involvement of our military and our country, and what conditions that future will be."
On the resolution: "It will be binding legislation, and it will be focused on deployment, redeployment, training, equipment."
On his presser saying he'd make on a decision on the future in the future: "I didn't ask all the media to come. In fact, I don't think there was one network correspondent there, except one from a cable news show. I told the people of Nebraska that I would make an announcement on a decision sometime early this year. I owed that to them. I thought about just putting out a press release ... and saying, this is what I'm going to do. Then I thought, I don't think that's right. People deserve to understand why. And I think the way to do that is just come before them. I went to Nebraska. We didn't make a big deal about it. We didn't ask people to come. We put out a one-paragraph statement. I didn't ask the party to come. My family wasn't there. It was the press who built this up. I didn't build that."
More: "I will make a decision when I think I'm ready and my family is ready. I can't control what the Nebraska people or the people of this country will do or will not do. I learned a long time ago to put my energies in the things ... that I can control. So I'm sorry if I didn't fulfill expectations of some people, but I never misled anybody on this" (ABC, 3/25).
ROUNDTABLE ROUNDUP
The "Fox News Sunday" roundtable discussed the U.S. attys story, WH '08, and cong. action on Iraq:
Fortune's Easton, on Elizabeth Edwards: "She loves the campaign trail. She thrives on it. She's said as much. I think this decision was at least as much hers as his."
The "Face the Nation" roundtable discussed the U.S. attys and WH '08:
New York Times' Brooks, on if the attys' story will effect '08: "I would say only if we have two years of partisan warfare. That's going to disgust everybody. And that's what the Democrats really have to worry about, that they had 100 hours of policy to start the legislative year. I didn't realize that would be the end of their legislation. If they're all scandal all the time, that will sicken people in both parties."
The CNN roundtable discussed cong. action on Iraq, Gonzales, and WH '08.
CNN's Bash, on Congress and Iraq: "This all could and it's very likely to stop when this gets to the Senate, because, as you know, the votes aren't there."
Dem strategist Donna Brazile: "There are millions of cancer survivors out in this country today, and they are applauding the decision by the Edwardses to keep going. Life goes on."
Ex-RNC Chair Ed Gillespie: "That's a decision for John Edwards and Elizabeth Edwards to make with their doctor. And no one, I don't think, frankly, has a right to second-guess it."
The "This Week" roundtable talked about WH '08, cong. action on Iraq, and Gonzales.
Posted at 09:14 AM
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