The Presidency of America's Maverick

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Senate passes Tort Reform Bill after getting some provisions removed to get the required 60 votes needed to invoke cloture:

Blitzer: The Senate today was able to get over the 60 vote hump needed to invoke cloture and pass the tort reform bill after they made some changes to the bill which was able to get some conservative and moderate Democrats on board. Here are the details of the bill that passed the senate with changes from the house bill shown in bold and things being removed shown with a slash.

Details of Bill:

- Would cap Punitive Damages at $300,000 $350,000 or 3 times three times the compensatory damages, whichever is greater

- Eliminates the Collateral Source Rule

- Tightens Statue of Limitation frame

- Reforms Forum shopping by requiring plaintiffs to bring their cases where they live or where they were injured, or where the defendant’s principal place of business is located.

- reduces contingency fees lawyers are allowed to charge

- Replaced Joint and Several Liability with Proportionate liability

- expands federal subject-matter jurisdiction over many large class-action lawsuits and mass actions


Blitzer: Now with us is former OMB Director John Kasich someone who worked on tort reform in the mid 1990s when he was in the house for his reaction on this bill passing

Kasich: Thanks for having me on Wolf and all I can say is this bill is fantastic and while I wish some of the provisions that were removed were kept in the bill, it is still huge that the reforms that we are gonna get are actually gonna happen. This not only will limit the problem of frivolous lawsuits but also should reduce the costs of healthcare for most Americans as our broken legal system was a huge reason for how large the costs were.

Blitzer: What do you think will happen now with the house, will it go to the conference committee or will the house pass this version

Kasich: I believe they will pass this senate version as while not every reform was able to pass, this is still substantial reform and it would be foolish to risk losing more of these provisions as it may indeed do if it goes to the conference committee.


House passes Senate version of Tort Reform and President McCain signs it into law:


Blitzer : The House of Representatives passed the senate version of Tort Reform and here now is the President ready to sign it

McCain : Today thanks to the work of members of both parties in congress , we have finally been able to get important legislation passed that reforms our tort system . For many years we have seen how issues with frivolous lawsuits and other issues have caused for example healthcare costs to go up for many Americans and while this bill isn’t perfect , it’s a major step forward in making our legal system better and in lowering costs for Americans not only in healthcare but in general as well . I want to once again thank all of you here today who did the hard work in getting this passed and now it’s time to get this piece of legislation to be implemented in law so I’m gonna sign it right now


McCain signs Bill

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Stephen Harper and his conservative party win plurality of seats in Canadian Election



Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYmUGg4wTIM

Conservative Party(Stephen Harper) : 139 Seats(+29)
Liberal Party(Paul Martin): 89 Seats(-32)
Bloc Québécois(Gilles Duceppe): 51 Seats(-2)
New Democratic Party(Jack Layton): 28 Seats(+10)
Independents: 1 Seat(-3)

Result: Conservatives Short by 16

King: Stephen Harper's Conservative party was swept into power albeit with a minority government after an early election was triggered after Prime Minister Paul Martin failed a confidence motion in early June. This defeat by the Liberal Party will end nearly 12 years in power for the party , 10 of which were lead by former prime minister Jean Chretien who was really popular but the last two under current prime minister Martin were dominated by scandal and eventually swept them out of power. With us is now is David Frum, so Mr.Frum what do you think of these results and how stable would this government be

Frum: This minority government should be more stable than the last as the gap between the parties is larger than it was in 2004 but even then its hard to see it lasting for much longer than 3 years.

King: As for US-Canada relations what will it mean

Frum: Well as you know the President is really happy with the results, and we are told the incoming Prime Minister spoke to President McCain on the phone a short while ago . It probably will mean more trade deals, Canada supporting US resoultions in the UN more which is something the President will certianly be pleased about.

King: Thank You For coming on

Frum: No problem

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Suddam Hussain Sentences to life in prison without the possibility of parole after being Convicted of War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity at the ICC .

Blitzer: Suddam Hussain, the former who dictator of Iraq who ruled that nation with an Iron first for 24 years before being deposed by a US led invasion has been just convicted by the ICC of War Crimes and further crimes against humanity. This conviction mainly revolve around his actions in the Iran-Iraq War and the Gulf War which the ICC concluded indeed met those two definitions and for that he will be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

CNN International Correspondent: His attorney, Former Attorney General Ramsey Clark has said he will appeal the verdict claiming the process was much too rushed but we are told Mr.Hussain will be sent to the same prison in Miami that houses former Panama Leader Manuel Noriega to serve out the rest of his sentence. 

Blitzer: We did hear the process was streamlined

Correspondent: Yes President McCain we are told helped make many reforms to that process which helped speeden up the process. Now like any prisoner does he will have appeal rights as well, but the President also made sure the rest of the world agree to stricter sentences at the ICC which clearly happened here.

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Where does President McCain stand on changes to intellectual property law to allow free market competition on drugs like insulin?

Well unlike in OTL, Prescription Drugs will be allowed to be imported from Canada, the Government will be able to negotiate prices with pharmaceutical companies, and create a formulary. I believe that would allow more free-market competition on those types of drugs but I am not exactly sure

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Breaking News: Leeves Fail all across New Orleans Metro as Hurricane Katrina makes landfall



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7unlPvNxLLA

Blitzer: We have breaking news to report and that is Leeves all across New Orleans Metro have failed and has caused the entire city to be subject to some extremely dangerous flooding. While we are told that the National Guard and local officials have been working to evacuate many residents from the city, given the size of the city many do remain stranded there. Lets now go to Anderson Cooper who while not in New Orleans is in Baton Rogue where Hurricane Katrina did hit hard as well. So Anderson any news you are hearing

Cooper: Many residents of New Orleans we are told have come to Baton Rogue while being affected by the storm, the effects aren't expected to be as bad as New Orleans where I am told much of the communication system has been destroyed due to the flooding and storm which has made it very hard for local officials to lead further evacuation efforts and have safety measures activated.

Blitzer: We can only hope that things dont get really bad as that could lead to some disastrous consequences. We are told that President McCain is currently who is at his ranch in Arizona is coordinating with FEMA and other federal emergency response teams to see what they can do to help save as many lives as possible. He is expected to fly back to Washington as soon as he possibly can and coordiante from there but we are told he is coordinating from the so called Western White House for now.

With us now are Lousiana Senators Mary Landrieu and Bobby Jindal who both are at Baton Rouge as well . So Senator Landrieu have you heard anything from FEMA

Landrieu: We are told that 80 to 90% of people in the city have evacuated thankfully both from their own means and through help from local organzations and FEMA but for people who are still staranded there we are told that FEMA has encouraged people to go to the Superdome and the Convention Center and will try to evacuate people from Helicopter as fast as possible

Blitzer: I know you spoke with the President, did he say anything about FEMA

Landrieu: We are told that he has asked FEMA to waive normal procedure for now and urge fire and emergency services departments to respond to the areas affected by the storms even if not formally requested yet due to the failures in the communication system. Also I asked him to ask FEMA to stand by and let any public or private agency help evacuate people if they want cause right now its more important to evacuate residents of the city and help the people stranded then to worry about normal procedure.

Blitzer: Senator Jindal , many are asking how the Leeve failures and whether the United States Army Corps of Engineers shoudl take responsibility for this

Jindal: Currently what is important is we focus first on responding to the present crises then once the crises is over, we can focus on what caused it and how we can prevent it from happening. I am sure that the Army Corps of Engineers and Local Levy Boards will take responsibility for this failure but currently we cannot focus on that.

Landrieu: I agree with my collegue as yes it is an unacceptable failure, currently we need to focus on dealing with this current crises and then later we will investigate why this happened and then we will pass a bill in congress to ensure something like this cant happen .

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President McCain visits New Orleans in aftermath of Hurricane Katrina



Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/25/us/politics/25mccain.html

Blitzer: The President earlier today visited New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina , meeting with the victims of the storm and helping coordinate the recovery efforts as well. The storm we are told could potentially have resulted in over 1000 fatalities due to the disastrous leeve failure that flooded the city.

O Brien: Yes and we could see on the streets of New Orleans many residents were criticizing both President McCain and Governor Blanco for not doing anything to upgrade the Leeves given there have been warnings for years that they were at risk of failing. While many say that FEMA did respond as well as they possibly could after the hurricane made landfall, there is criticism that they did not do enough to prepare for the worst before the Hurricane hit as well. So due to that many say the response to the Hurricane was a mixed bag

Blitzer: Now lets listen in to the President who is about to give some remarks

McCain: What has happened in this great city for the past week has been a great human tragedy and despite the horrific conditions here, the resiliency of the people who were unable to evacuate has been inspiring to see. While many lives were tragically lost, it was thanks to many people here who came to the assistance of others that this tragedy wasnt bigger than it was before. It is why we must not only help the city rebuild to where it was before but rebuild to a stronger place than it ever has been before . Lastly, we must also do all we can to make sure such a tragedy doesn't happen again which is why I am asking Congress to pass a bill that will ensure all our Leave systems throughout our country is full upgraded and to ensure communication systems can also withstand level 5 hurricanes cause both those failures here were completely unacceptable and we cannot afford to have that happen again.

Media Member: Many residents criticized you over the Leeve failure, do you have anything to respond to that

McCain: As the President, I take full responsibility for that failure and the residents here have every right to be angry with me about this failure. It is one of the biggest regrets of my presidency so far that the Leeve system here weren't upgraded in time for this storm and I want to apologize to the residents of this great city for that failure


McCain's approvals drop under 50% after mixed views on reaction to Hurricane Katrina

Approve: 48%(-8%)
Disapprove: 48%(+7%)
Undecided: 4%(+1%)


Congress Passes Hurricane Katrina Recovery Bill as well as a Hurricane Preparedness Bill and President McCain signs them into law:


Blitzer: Congress earlier today passed a bill allocating tens of billions of dollars to help cities affected by Hurricane Katrina recover from the destruction it caused. Most of the funding will go to the city of New Orleans but it will go to other cities as well. Also congress passed a hurricane preparedness bill that will upgrade leeve systems all across the nation so they can all withstand up to a Level 5 Hurricane, and do the same for essential communication systems as well. The President as expected signed both bills into law and said he will do all he can to ensure the money allocated from this bill goes out as quickly as possible to make sure the rebuilding effort can start soon.   

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Breaking News: Chief Justice William Rehnquist Passes Away



Source : https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Rehnquist

Blitzer: We have some sad news to report and that is Chief Justice William Rehnquist has passed away. Chief Justice Rehnquist was appointed to the Supreme Court first as Associate Justice 34 years ago by President Nixon and then as Chief Justice by President Reagan 19 years ago led the court's conservative wing for most of that period.

Schnider: Yes as Chief Justice, his court was the first court since the 1930s to strike down a law under the principle that it exceeded its power under the commerce clause.  It was his court which for the first time in decades many says was moderately conservative after being strongly liberal under the Earl Warren years in the 1950s and 1960s and centrist to moderately liberal in the 1970s and part of the 1980s.


Blitzer: The President also released this statement

McCain: The news of Chief Justice Rehnquist passing is a sad day for our country and his family who I have offered our nation's condolences to. For the past three decades he has been a strong defender of the rule of law and the constitution and our nation will be very grateful for his service. May God Bless his Soul and may god provide comfort for his family in this difficult time for them.

Schnider: Was a brief statement where he made no indication of who he will nominate but we are told he has ordered the flag to fly at half-mast for the next 10 days.

Blitzer: Given the Supreme Court will reconvene soon will there be any realistic possibility that the President can not only nominate a replacement but have the senate confirm him or her.

Schnider: Probably not which is why we are told he will talk to former Justice Sandra Day O'Conner and other retired judges to ask if one of them is interested in accepting a recess appointment to temporaily serve as Chief Justice so the process for a permanent replacement doesn't get rushed.


Shortlist for Vacant Chief Justice Seat:

-Antonin Scalia
Current Position : Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court

- John Roberts
Current Position: Judge of the US Court of Appeals for DC

- J Harvie Wilkinson III
Current Position: Judge of the US Court of Appeals for 4th District

- Frank Easterbrook
Current Position: Judge of the United Court of Appeals for 7th District

- Paul Clement
Current Postion : Solicitor General of the United States

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President McCain to elevate Associate Justice Antonin Scalia to the position of Chief Justice and then will appoint Solicitor General Paul Clement to fill Justice Scalia's seat


Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonin_Scalia
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Clement

McCain: Thank You, Thank You. After careful consideration about who should be the successor to the great late Chief Justice William Rehnquist, I have decided that the best choice for that position is Associate Justice Antonin Scalia. Justice Scalia for the past two decades has shown why he is one of the most brilliant legal minds in the nation , a strong defender of the constitution and has had almost two decades being on the highest court in the land to prepare him for this position. On Justice Scalia's confirmation, I intend to nominate Solictor General Paul Clement to fill Justice's Scalia then vacant Associate Justice seat. Mr.Clement is similarly one of the smartest and competent people I know and I am confident he will do a great job as a Supreme Court Justice.


Media Member 1: Mr.President what do you say of whom who argue that given Mr.Clement is only 39 years old, that he is too young to be a Supreme Court Justice

McCain: Well all I can say is I hope the Senate takes into his consideration his intellectual qualifications, his body of work and his character rather than his age.

Media Member 2: Given there is less than 10 days before the new session of the court, do you plan to recess appoint someone to fill the vacancy

McCain: Yes I do and have requested the senate to go on recess a couple of days before that date so I can indeed do that.

McCain to temporarily appoint former Associate Justice Sandra Day O Conner to be the temporary Chief Justice using his recess appointment powers while confirmation process takes place



Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandra_Day_O%27Connor

Schnider: The President today in a move that should come of little surprise, appointed former Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Conner to be the temporary Chief Justice as the confirmation process takes place as the court session is going on. We are told that the Senate Judiciary Committee is hoping to hold hearings for Justice Scalia and Mr. Clement as soon as the last week of October and no later then the first week of November.

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Breaking News: Tom DeLay steps down as Majority Leader after being indicted of campaign finance violations


Blitzer: We have some breaking news to announce and that is House Majority Leader Tom DeLay has stepped down after being indicted on a campaign finance violation. He is accused of running a conspiracy of running a criminal conspiracy of improperly funneling corporate donations to Republican candidates in Texas. If convicted he faces up to two years in prison and due to that, he was pressured to step down. We are told that Roy Blunt of Missouri will be taking over that position of House Majority Leader but questions arise if he is as skilled at whipping votes as Tom DeLay was in the House.

Greenfield: Yes this has potential impacts of greatly impacting Republicans given that they in 1994 and in 2000 were swept in on anti-corruption, anti-Washington message and having the number two Republican in the House caught up in this does hurt that image greatly. Second yes Republicans will lose one of the most effective members of their leadership at Whipping votes but given the size of their majority, it probably doesnt matter as much as number 1 in terms of 2006 as DNC Chair Howard Dean released this statement

Dean: This scandal by the House Majority Leader shows that Republicans claim that they cared about cleaning up Washington is untrue. It is also hard to believe that Speaker Hastert didnt have some inclination of what was going on and even if this isnt the case, it shows that they have a culture of corruption in their party and the only way to change that is by voting them out in next year's elections.

Blitzer: So Jeff what did you think about that

Greenfield: Well Democrats have taken a generic ballot lead in a snap poll we did today but keep in mind they have a very narrow path to a majority and the question is how much will this issue resonate 13 months from now. Keep in mind that Democrats in both the 1996 and 1998 elections failed to take the house despite President Clinton winning a landslide re-election victory in 1996 and in 1998 while they made gains of the fact that the Republican attempts to impeach a then very popular president, they still failed to take back the house.

Really for Democrats to take back the house, they need to find some way to stem the conservative tide that has dominated Washington since 1994 and that will be a very hard task. While DNC Chair Howard Dean has launched what many are calling a 50 state strategy, doing so is easier said than done.

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Iraq in historic referendum votes to become a federal parliamentary democracy

King: In a historic vote, voters in Iraq approved a referendum that will turn their nation into a federal parliamentary democracy. With us now is former Secretary of State and current contributor at CNN , Colin Powell. So Secretary Powell, what are some more details behind this

Powell: Well first thing is that they will allocate members of their parliament in one way which is similar to what we do in the house meaning that each province in Iraq of which there are 18 will be allocated a certain number of seats based on population. The difference between our system and their system is that unlike us they will not draw individual seats but rather everyone in a province will vote for a particular party and seats in that province will be allocated proportionally to the vote each party got in that province.


King: We also heard they will have a federal system as well, so what does that mean

Powell: Yes, in order to ensure all the ethnic groups in Iraq have their interest met, this constitution will also create a federal system where certain powers and responsibilities will be dealt with at the provincial level rather than the federal level.

King: So when will elections be held on a national level in Iraq and then at each individual province.

Powell: Their national parliamentary election we are told will be held in December of this year, and the provincial elections will be held all throughout March and April.

King : Does the constitution also guarantee rights as well

Powell : Yes it does have statues that protect the rights of women , religous minorities , and also free speech rights

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Ratings of the 2005 Off-Year Elections:

Blitzer: In less than 10 days two states will be holding gubernatorial races, and New York City their mayoral one. Here is how CNN rates them

New Jersey Gubernatorial Election: Acting Governor Richard Codey(D) vs Former Mayor Doug Forrestor(R) - Likely Democratic Hold

Virginia Gubernatorial Election- Lieutenant Governor Tim Kaine(D) vs Former State Attorney General Jerry Kilgore(R) vs State Senator Russ Pots(I) - Tossup

New York City Mayoral Election- Micheal Bloomberg(R) vs Mr. Fernando Ferrer(D) - Safe Republican Hold


Blitzer: So Bill is Virginia gonna be the only real competitive race

Schnider: It looks like it as Acting Governor Codey in New Jersey is now up double digits in the polls and I would say its basically safe at this point and in New York City, Mayor Bloomberg is up 20 points in nearly every poll and Id say its pretty safe to say he will be re-elected which by the way would extend the Republicans hold on that office in one of the most solidly Democratic cities in America to 4 straight terms.

Blitzer: So what are the polls saying in Virginia

Schnider: Right now in the latest CNN Poll the Republican Mr.Kilgore leads 47% to 46% but keep in mind the independent candidate in that race is a Republican state senator who is polling at 4% so he very much could be a spolier. Which is why The President is slated to do 2 rallies for Mr.Kilgore, one in Northern Virginia and the other in Virginia Beach but on the other hand President Clinton and Governor Warner are out campaigning in conservative democratic areas trying to boost their margins there as well as in Northern Virginia too . So this will be a very close race and an exciting one to see.


Breaking News : Secretary of Defense Tom Ridge to step down at the end of the year and President McCain announced DHS Secretary Robert Gates will take his place . He also announces that he will appoint former NYC Police Commissioner Bill Bratton to replace Gates at DHS .


Blitzer : Defense Secretary Tom Ridge announced earlier today he will be stepping down as Secretary of Defense at the end of this year like many expected him to do once the Iraqi national elections finished taking place . The President in a statement thanked Secretary Ridge for his service and announced that he will be appointing DHS Secretary Robert Gates to take his place , and on Secretary Gates confirmation will appoint Former NYC and current LA police commissioner Bill Bratton to take his place .

Secretary of Defense : Secretary of Homeland Security Robert Gates



Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Gates

Secretary of Homeland Security: Police Commissioner Bill Bratton



Source : https://youtu.be/EzwGe-t_z48

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CNN: Election Night in America 2005:



Source: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/haRo8uLQNok/hqdefault.jpg

7:00:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rchmoqssrQw&t=0s

Blitzer: Good evening and welcome to CNN’s coverage of the 2005 Off Year election. We will be watching the results in Virginia, New Jersey and the city of New York to see who will be elected governor and mayor of those places and we will also discuss whether these results have national implications. The polls have just closed in Virginia and currently we are unable to make a projection. Here is the CNN map for tonight and keep in mind while the state of New York is colored in green , it does not stand for the state of New York tonight but the city of New York .

Schneider: So far no surprise given the fact this race was very close but I will say we should have some key indication in an  hour . If the independent candidate is say not hitting the 3 percentage mark then the Republican Jerry Kilgore will likely win but if the independent candidate is say going over the 5 percentage mark then the Democrat Tim Kaine will likely win tonight.

Greenfield : One thing I am interested in seeing is the Virginia house of delegates where currently Republicans hold 64% of the  seats there and the democrats goal this time has been to bring the republicans under the 60% mark while  Republicans hope to get a 2/3 majority there but both scenarios according to the experts is unlikely . With us is one of the experts Larry Sabato who can tell us more about that

Sabato: Yes I would definitely like to and seeing some of the numbers going in I’d say that the democrats probably will make gains though probably not enough to get the GOP under  the 60% mark . As for the gubernatorial race I’d say another key is if Mr.Kaine can flip either Loudoun or Prince William counties as if he does he will almost certainly win . If not he needs them to be under 5 points for him to have a realistic path to victory tonight

8:00:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rchmoqssrQw&t=0s

Blitzer : The polls have just closed in New Jersey and CNN Right now can project The Democrat, Acting Governor Richard Codey, will win a full term on his own and thus the democrats will control the gubernatorial mansion in New Jersey for another 4 years . Right now in Virginia, currently the Republican candidate hold an lead there though but some good news for the Democrat Tim Kaine is the independent candidate is so far winning over 4% of the vote .

Schneider : Well no surprise in New Jersey and from the looks at it Virginia is gonna be really close

Greenfield : Yes I agree , the results so far in Virginia do confirm what the polls were saying and that it will be very tight .

Sabato : So far I’d say if I had to say who has the edge , it’s the democrat Tim Kaine who has it though it’s too early to say for sure . The reason I say that is the independent is getting 4% of the vote which does hurt Mr.Kilgore plus the way Prince William and Loudoun are coming in that once the more democratic areas of those counties come in , those areas will be within 5 points

Blitzer : In a Republican state like Virginia why is Mr.Kilgore struggling so much

Sabato : Well there are multiple factors  one being that Mr. Kaine is a moderate to conservative democrat and is running to succeed a very popular governor who fits that label as well . Second Mr.Kilgore alienated many republicans during the primary by refusing to debate any of the candidates and that explains the third party vote there as well.


9:00:

Blitzer : The polls have closed in New York City and we can now project that the Republican,  Mayor Bloomberg, will be re-elected as mayor of the largest city of the nation . This will be the 4th consecutive win for the republicans in this traditionally very democratic city at least in national and state elections . In Virginia Mr.Kilgore leads but his margin has now dropped under 5 points showing it could be very close their tonight indeed

Schnider : Again no surprise here as Mayor Bloomberg is indeed extremely popular that even the editorial board of the New York Times that generally endorses democrats , endorsed him for reelection . I also wouldn’t look much into their streak as keep in mind both then Mayor Giuliani and Mayor Bloomberg are more liberal than the GOP as a whole on many issues like abortion , guns and others .

Greenfield : Yup , and also keep in mind that it’s a local race and the fact is crime has gone down drastically in New York City over the past 12 years following  the preceding 10 to 12 years when crime was viewed as out of control . So when you have things like that happen, the party in power tends to benefit justifiably or unjustifiably and the Republicans definitely benefited from that .

Blitzer : Larry what are you hearing in Virginia so far

Sabato : Well in the house of delegate it does look like Democrats will make gains but not enough to get the Republicans below that 60% mark but we are told that they can get them down to as low as 60% though 61 or 62 percent seem more likely . In the gubernatorial race I don’t think much as changed and we will have to wait and see till all the results are in too see how wins that race

Blitzer: Ok our decision desk has agreed that it will likely be until after midnight till we have results so we will send it back to normal programming for now and then be back once we can make a decision here to discuss about it .


12:53

Blitzer: Basically all the votes have come in Virginia and CNN can now project that the Democrat Tim Kaine will be the next governor of the state defeating his Republican opponent 47.9% to 47.6% with the independent getting 4.3% of the vote .

Schnider : Looks like Virginia will continue its streak of electing a governor of a different party than the party that holds the White House , which is a streak that goes all the way back to 1973.

Greenfield: Also for republicans before they blame the independent Russ Pots , that it was the fault of their Republican candidate for being unable to unite the party and not the fault of Mr.Pots or even Republican voters who didn’t back Mr.Kilgore as it’s the job of the Candidate to appeal to voters while it’s not the job of voters of their party to vote for them .

Sabato: Fully agreed with that sentiment but for any of you interested in the house of delegates, the final numbers are expected to be 61 republicans to 39 democrats a gain of 3 for the Democratic Party tonight. Those gains came from seats in Fairfax county which democrats here  after seeing that Senator  Biden won that county , put in resources to flip marginal seats held by the republicans here .

Blitzer : All right that does it for our coverage of election night 2005

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Breaking News: Antonin Scalia and Paul Clement sworn in by outgoing acting Chief Justice Sandra Day O'Conner after being confirmed by the United States Senate



Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9PIf1rkrmo

Blitzer: Just a few moments ago Justice Antonin Scalia was sworn in by outgoing acting Chief Justice Sandra Day O'Conner who was temporarily appointed by President McCain to ensure the Supreme Court has 9 justices during this confirmation process and now he will officially be moving up from Associate Justice to Chief Justice.

Schnider: Yes and keep in mind while many prominent liberals opposed his nomination, given the fact he was already an Associate Justice did make this process easier and as you can see in the nearly 2/5 of the Democratic caucus voted for this appointment. Now on the other hand for Mr.Paul Clement who will be taking over Chief Justice Scalia's spot as Associate Justice faced a pretty grueling confirmation process.

At first these confirmation hearings got delayed, as many senators who were on the fence wanted to wait to receive more information before the hearings began which is why this process has dragged out to mid-Novemeber. The reason for that is while Paul Clement does have a great legal background, he never has been a judge before and the fact that he was a Solictor General made many senators question over and over again if he could be unbiased in cases involving the White House and the adminstation in general. In the end though 7 Democratic Senators: Inez Tenenbaum, Ben Nelson, Evan Bayh, Tim Johnson, Mary Landrieu and Robert Byrd voted for cloture which meant even though Republican Senators like Jim Jeffords, and Lincoln Chafee didnt , there was more than the 60 votes required to break a filibuster. So due to that he now will be one of the youngest Associate Justices ever at age 39 though there have been justices in the past who have been younger.

Blitzer: What does this mean for the ideological composition of the court

Schnider: On paper it really shouldnt doesn't change given the late Chief Justice Rehniqust was personally very conservative, and in fact before he became chief justice had a more conservative judicial record than Justice Scalia ever has had before he more or less became more or less pragmatic when he moved up from Associate Justice to Chief Justice. From the evidence we have, it seems like it likely will happen with now Chief Justice Scalia too given that Scalia has moderated over the years and has shown more of a pragmatic side over the years.

Similarly with Justice Clement, ideologically he is considered to be similar to Justice Scalia but again given he never has been on the court before, he more or less could be a wildcard. It is very possible he could end up like say Justice Thomas and be this very ideologically conservative but he could also end up more moderate like Justice Kennedy so its hard to know how he would change the court really.  I would say overall these picks just upheld the status quo but I will say that the Scalia Court overall will likely end up being more conservative than the Rehnquist court given Justice Cook is definitely more conservative than Justice O'Conner.

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White House releases outline of corporate tax reform plan they would like to see passed in Congress   

Blitzer: The White House today released an outline of a tax plan which we are told isnt that detailed so what is in the outline

Dobbs: So the crux of this plan to reform the corporate tax rate is one to slash rates from 35% to 25% a cut that many experts believe would reduce tax revenues by around a trillion dollars over the next 10 years and right now their plan is to make up for that revenue by making Corporate Alternative Minimum Tax Rules stricter and limiting other deductions such as the NOL deductions. Now there aren't many exact details released in this plan on how they plan to recoup most of the trillion dollars but what we are told is that that the reason for that is the President and his team is very flexible in that regard so we will have to wait and see what exactly they will do in that regard.

Blitzer: We are told that Paul Ryan did have a lot of influence over this

Dobbs: Yes absolutely we are told though he wanted to cut the rate all the way down to 20% and potentially impose a border adjustment tax which is something the President did not want to do which is why the rate is at 25% instead.

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Iraqi elections take place with high turnout and relatively low violence

Blitzer: Earlier today voters in Iraq went to the polls to elect their first-ever Democratically elected government and we are told that it was indeed a success as there was a relatively high turnout with over 60% of citizens voting and with very little violence as well. President McCain and outgoing Defense Secretary Tom Ridge called it a great day for the people of Iraq and hope it can lead to more nations becoming democracies as well in the future.

Foreign Affairs Correspondent: Yes it is indeed a great day but keep in mind the President also said the work is not over as now whoever the Iraqi Prime Minster must show the Iraqi people that Democracy can work in improving people's lives as well .


Senate Confirms Robert Gates to be the next Secretary of Defense and Bill Bratton to be the next Secretary of Homeland Security following Secretary Ridge’s resignation

Blitzer : The Senate earlier today confirmed that Homeland Security Secretary to the Position of Secretary of Defense following Secretary Ridge’s official resignation and then confirmed Police Commissioner Bill Bratton to the Position of Secretary of Homeland Security. Both of them received unanimous support from the senate like expected for there positions and now we will see if they can meet the President and the senate’s expectations for that role .

Schneider: One thing I’d like to add is Tom Ridge probably will go down as one of the greater Secretary of defense since that position was created in 1947 and he goes out with praise from leading members of both parties which makes sense given that he’s always been relatively a pragmatist even as governor of Pennsylvania.

Blitzer: There are rumors he may run for president in 2008 , how true are those rumors

Schneider: I think he definitely may run but as long as Governor Giuliani wins re-election next year as polls say he almost certainly will and runs , I believe Governor Giuliani will most likely be the main Republican candidate from the moderate wing in the primary .

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Federal Reserve Chair Greg Mankiw reconfirmed by the Senate despite tough questioning on his decisions to raise interest rates:



Blitzer: Federal Reserve Chair Greg Mankiw was reconfirmed by the Senate earlier today meaning he will remain as head of the Federal Reserve until January of 2010. Lets Go to Bill Schnider for more detail about this

Schinder: Keep in mind that Mr.Mankiw did initially face a lot more opposition by many senators from both parties then most nominees to the Federal Reserve usually do and that was due to the fact the effective federal fund rate has been raised to over 6%. Many senators from both parties were worried that it was slowing down economic growth and many are worried about a potential slow day and maybe recession in the near future due to this as well. His answers seem to have satisfied enough senators that he was able to be reconfirmed .

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Excerpts from President McCain's 2006 state of the union address:



Souce: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/app/uploads/2019/02/RTX6LFXE-1024x683-e1549455385158.jpg


Speaker Hastert: Ladies and Gentleman , its my high honor to welcome to you , the President of the United States!!

Congress Floor: Standing Ovation

President McCain: Mr. Speaker, Vice President Danforth, Members of Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow citizens: I want to start out by congratulating the people of Iraq for creating a strong constitutional democratic system in October and electing a democratically led government in December and let the people know that it was an inspiring sight to see(Standing Ovation). It is a reminder also to all of us here that Democracy and a government that adheres to the needs of the people first is worth not only fighting for but worth continuing improving as well(Applause). It is why I am proud of the many reforms we have made over the past few years to improve our democratic system as well(Applause). We also must continue to fix issues facing our nation in general to ensure that our nation's system remains the envy of the world(Applause).

One of those issues is the issue of immigration where over the years its became more and more clear for over a decade that our system is broken and it is time now for us to come together to solve that issue(Applause). It is been an issue that has polarized politics in many of our border states such as California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas and it is time that we stop punting that issue for those states to deal with as it is our responsibility to solve that issue not theirs(Applause). Solving this issue requires us to deal with multiple issues: One being that we must secure the border which is why I propose we allocate the funding needed to build a fence and increase border security on the vulnerable parts of the border and to create an employment enforcement agency that penalizes employers that hire undocumented immigrants(Applause). Number two we must provide a way for undocumented immigrants who have been here for 5 years or longer and have not committed any crimes since then to come out of the shadows which is why I propose creating a visa called the Z-Visa which would let them stay here while they apply for permanent residency status and they would be placed in the back of the line as well so they dont get ahead of anybody who has done it the right way(Applause).

We also must come together to continue to pass policies that help create a better economy for all of our citizens which is why I have proposed this body pass corporate tax reform(Applause). We currently have a corporate tax code that one makes us uncompetitive with the rest of the world as we have one of the highest tax rates on the planet and number two we have a tax code that is filled with loopholes that allows some corporations to get away with paying nothing while others are penalized for being too successful. It is time we fix that system by creating one a tax code that has rates that are in line with the rest of the world instead of rates that are higher than them and one that levels the playing field so less profitable corporations don't have to pay more in taxes than the ones that are more profitable(Applause). Doing so would make it possible for us to get the types of investments we need in our economy which in turn will make it easier for more and more Americans not only to get jobs but higher-paying ones as well(Applause).

It is critical that we continue to solve the problems we face at home to keep moral high when we fight to make the world a better place as well(Applause). We have been the greatest beacon of freedom the world has ever and it is my intention that we continue to be that beacon for generations to come(Standing Ovation). Thank You May God Bless You and May God Bless America

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President McCain drops attempt to get South America on board with a trade deal as he submits trade deal agreed to by Central America and Dominican Republic to Congrees:

Blitzer: The President earlier today dropped an attempt to get South America on board with a trade deal that would have included all of Latin America and sent to congress the trade deal the US already has tentatively agreed to by Central America and the Dominican Republic. We are told that nations such as Brazil and Argentina made it clear they would not sign on to any such trade deal and instead of risking the entire trade deal falling apart, the President decided to formally submit a trade deal now being called CAFTA to congress.

Greenfield: Yes the phrase is that while half a loaf isnt as good as the entire loaf it certainly is better than no loaf at all is certainly applicable here. While the President wanted South America to be part of this trade deal the fact is with nations as large and influential in South America such as Brazil and Argentina being so adamantly opposed to such a trade deal, it wasn't going to happen.

Blitzer: Could it happen in the future

Greenfield: Sure it could as you remember for NAFTA originally just the US and Canada signed a trade deal and Mexico later joined on so a similar thing could happen here. Though it likely won't happen until well into whoever the next president's administration as it will take some time for the full effects of this agreement to be known and if its proven to be good then that would be something that could get South America to join this deal.

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Former Iraqi insurgency leader and Notorious Terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi Sentenced to Death after being convicted of multiple counts of terrorism

Blitzer: Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, one of the most notorious terrorists in the world and former leader of the Iraqi Insurgency was convicted earlier today of multiple counts of terrorism and immediately sentenced to death following his conviction. Now with us is our legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin to give us more details

Toobin: Yes, now many be asking wouldnt such a case usually be going to a penalty phase of a trial to decide if he receives the death penalty or not, and while that is true for almost any case it is not for this one. The reason for that is due to the Mandatory Sentencing for Terrorism Act of 2001, anyone over the age of 18 who is convicted of the types of terrorism counts that al-Zarqawi must receive the death penalty.

Blitzer: So will the appeals process be any different

Toobin: Yes one major difference in this case vs an appeal in others is unless the courts strike down this act , it is basically impossible for his sentence to be reduced to life in prison while in many other cases it usually is possible for such a sentence to be reduced. Keep in mind that the courts so far have not struck this act down and given the fact others have been sentenced under this act, its unlikely that it will be struck down. Now al-Zarqawi will still be given the opportunity to appeal his conviction and most likely his lawyers will do so .

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Breaking News: House Passes Immigration Reform Bill After Months of Debate:

Blitzer: The House today passed a sweeping immigration reform bill with these major provisions

What it does to prevent new illegal immigration:

- Would allocate funding to construct a Fence across the entire southern border

- Would allocate funding to increase border patrol agents at the border as well

- Would significantly increase penalties on employers who hire illegal immigrants, with repeat offenders facing higher penalties including jail time

Legal immigration Reforms :


- Creates blue card program which will allow for more agriculture workers to immigrate to the US

- Requires companies who apply for the program to prove they are unable to fill jobs with American citizens and residents first

- Let’s Kids of Immigrants who have been here for more than 10 years to stay in the nation after they turn 21 even if their parents haven’t gotten green cards yet


Schnider: One thing that does jump out is this bill does nothing to address the issue of the over 10 million illegal immigrants already here in the US which is one of the major issues about immigration. It also pretty is much stricter border security wise than the President's proposal

Blitzer: What are the chances this passes into law

Schnider: Probably not high given many Senators from both side, and the President himself have made it clear that immigration reform also must address the issue of the over 10 million illegal immigrants here and the fact that it does not do that means its very unlikely in my opinion this bill passes. Now that does create another problem as getting a bill that includes a pathway to citizenship       will be very hard to pass in the house, but at the same time a bill without that likely would have hard time passing the senate as well.

Blitzer: Would this bill have implications for the upcoming midterms

Schinder: Yes we are told Republicans are very worried about what implications this could have for key gubernatorial races such as Texas, Colorado, Nevada, and in battleground house races in the southwest in general. Keep in mind immigration is an issue that can alienate multiple groups of voters Republicans need in those areas such as Hispanics who may be get alienated by tough on immigration rhetoric and some very conservative voters who may think it doesn't go too far enough and not turnout due to that. This is why the President and party leaders so far have kept negotiations of this bill private as Republicans believe a public confrontation over this issue is more likely to hurt them than whatever the actual bill turns out to be itself.

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Breaking News: President McCain announces the US will impose stricter sanctions on Iran


Blitzer: Earlier today President McCain announced the US will impose stricter sanctions on Iran in hopes of stopping their nuclear project and to force the government of Iran to liberalize as well. Here is his statement from earlier today

McCain: The Government of Iran for the past 27 years has operated as a rogue state by sponsoring terrorism all around the region and the world. They have also brutally repressed its citizens for that time with its medieval theocratic policies and it is high time and now they have made it clear they want nuclear weapons. That in my opinion is unacceptable and it is high time the world comes together to tell their government enough is enough, and it is time they 1: End their nuclear project 2. Respect basic human rights of its citizens and 3. To stop being a state sponsor of terrorism. We though will not wait as if we being the beacon of freedom and liberty don't take a stand, who will which is why the United States will increase our sanctions on Iran as well as the enforceability of its sanctions.

Breaking News: Secretary of Defense Robert Gates stopped the President from launching an airstrike against Iran



Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjPeTKSlMQY

Blitzer: A Leak from the White House Earlier today showed that the President was very close to authorizing a potential air strike on Iran but was stopped from doing at the last minute by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. So John are there any truth to these rumors

King: Yes the President's Press Secretary was asked about this and he basically confirmed that it was partially true. Lets play a clip from that

Press Secretary: Well the President has made it clear multiple times that one that all options will always be on the table, and two that he views members of the cabinet as not only his advisors but people who should be obviously part of the decision making. Secretary Gates made it clear that he believed Sanctions were the best way to deal with the Iranian Government at this moment.

Media Member: Was the President close to launching airstrikes though or not

Press Secretary: Listen, the President for the past few years has made it clear that no option should be taken off the table while that option may have been discussed between the President and Secretary Gates, they decided that it wasn't the correct option

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House passes Corporate Tax Reform Bill:

Blitzer: The House today passed a sweeping corporate tax reform bill that cuts taxes and one will limit how much corporations will be allowed to deduct in taxes

- Top rate will be cut from 35% to 25%

- NOL Deduction will be limited to up to 75% of net income

- Corporations have less than 20 million dollars of Taxable Income(before NOL Deductions) will no longer need to calculate their tax liability under AMT

- Corporations that make more than 20 million dollars of Taxable Income(before NOL deductions) will be only allowed to deduct up to 80% of any taxable income(before NOL deductions) over 20 million dollars for AMTI calculations


Schnider: Yes and to explain more for our viewers say a corporation as 21 million dollars of taxable income(before NOL deduction) and say 21 million dollars worth of qualified deductions under AMT then they will be able to fully deduct the first 20 million dollars worth of that and then for the remaining million only be allowed to deduct 80% of that.

We are told Republicans were reluctant to add that provision in as it would make the tax code in that way more complicated but also wanted to ensure that the bill doesn't add this much to the deficit which is why they took the direction they did.

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Congress approves Sweeping Trade Deal with Central America and the Dominican Republic



Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominican_Republic%E2%80%93Central_America_Free_Trade_Agreement

Blitzer: Congress earlier today approved of a trade deal between Central America, the Dominican Republic and the United States. With us now is former OMB Director John Kasich to discuss this in further detail

Kasich: Wolf this trade deal will eliminate 80% of all tariffs that have been placed on our goods by these nations will be eliminated immediately and the rest will be eliminated by 2015. Number two this deal will also ensure more transparency in the trade arena as well and three will protect our intellectual property rights. These 3 provisions are provisions I think that Americans and American owned businesses will find most beneficial and I believe that this passing is a good thing for our nation.

Blitzer: We are told that the President was disappointed though that it couldn't include all of Latin America

Kasich: Well, the fact is you don't get everything you set out to do, and my hope and I believe the President as well is this trade deal working out well so South American nations in the future join it and help create a trade deal across Latin America.

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Midterm outlook 6 months out

King: With the midterms now less than 6 months out , the campaign for control of Congress is heating up and while conventional wisdom is that Republicans pretty much have a lock on control of congress things can change. Keep in mind that until 1994 nobody believed Republicans ever had a chance of winning back control of the house until it happened and while for the past 12 years it seems like Republican firewall seems unbreakable, things in politics can change swiftly.

Now that doesn't mean it will be an easy task for the Democrats as while the out of party usually tends to make gains in midterms, it hasn't been true for the past two midterms and also keep in mind that in 4 of the past 5 midterm elections the party not controlling the White House has failed to even gain 10 seats. So James, how do you think Democrats are doing so far in developing a strategy to both defy the recent history of midterms and their own over the past 12 years.

Carville: Well one I think DNC Chair Howard Dean has done so far an excellent job in developing a strategy to potentially creating a path for us to make significant gains and potentially even taking back the house. First keep in mind the debate in Washington for many years has been whether Democrats should run a national strategy or local one  and the problem is you cant do one or the other. Running a purely national strategy in a time when neither the economy is in a recession, or there has been a real foreign policy blunder is a strategy doomed for failure as number 1 the fundamentals arent there and two given how different many districts are from each other , it doenst allow you to create a distinct local brand for you to win. The issue with a purely local strategy is it can fail to provide voters a reason why they should vote for change and that usually benefits incumbents.

King: So how are they doing a so-called hybrid strategy

Carville: Well one the Democrats are hammering the Republicans on the fact that since they have been given all this power they have used it for one reducing the power of consumers to hold big corporations accountable and two are now on the verge of giving a 500 billion dollar tax cut to corporate America. I am of the belief that the voters wont be a fan of those actions and democrats should hammer the Republicans over it. Now Mr.Dean is also running a 50 state strategy where he has recruited people to run as Democrats who while they may disagree with the national party on issues like welfare and guns they hold the values of voters in their districts which is very important as voters wont vote for you unless you can clearly show that you represent them as well.

King: So do you think it can give your party a majority in the house

Carville: Well I am not sure about that as gaining 30 house seats in one cycle is very difficult and doesn't happen much but I believe it can result in us potentially picking up more than 20 seats and also even helping us create a pathway to taking the house in 2008.

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Senate Passes different Immigration Reform Bill sending Immigration issue to the conference committee:


Blitzer: The Senate earlier today passed an immigration reform bill that is remarkabley similar to the proposal put out by the President a year ago and since the House Bill was not similar, it means this bill will head to the conference committee where the house and senate will have to reconcile their differences otherwise attempts at immigration reform will fail.

What it does to prevent new illegal immigration:

- Would provide funding to construct a Fence on the most vulnerable parts of the Southern Border

- Would provide funding to increase border patrol agents at the border as well

- Would increase penalties on employers who hire illegal immigrants, with repeat offenders facing higher fines and sanctions

How it would deal with illegal immigrants already in this nation:

- Would deport illegal immigrants who have been here for 5 years or less, and those who have committed crimes after coming to the US

- Would grant Z visas to illegal immigrants who have been here for 5 years or more which would let them stay in the US and apply for permanent residency status but would be put in the back of the line

- Would also require those illegal immigrants to pay fines before they would be eligible to receive Z Visas

Legal immigration :

- Creates blue card program which will allow for more agriculture workers to immigrate here

- Requires companies who apply for program to prove they are unable to fill jobs with American citizens and residents first

- Let’s Kids of Immigrants who have been here for more than 10 years to stay in the nation after they turn 21 even if their parents haven’t gotten green cards yet


Blitzer: As you can see the main provisions are basically identical to the President's proposals. So Jeff what are the chances the differences can be reconciled

Greenfield: Well it wont be easy as keep in mind the house bill doesn't even provide a pathway to legalization for illegal immigrants living here while the Senate bill provides a pathway to citizenship. That is a major major difference and the fact is it won't be easy for both sides to reconcile their differences

Blitzer: We are told Republicans mostly do want to keep these negotiations private, why is that

Greenfield: Well the fact is it is election season and immigration is a very polarizing issue among Republicans so getting into a public fight over this would risk alienating a lot of their own voters on either side of the debate