What's Next For The Minn. Senate Race?
(AP)
First, if the State Supreme Court's decision favors Norm Coleman, remember that won't in itself give him the Senate seat. If the rejected absentee ballots that Coleman wants reconsidered are actually opened up, it isn't known whether the votes would help Coleman's numbers or Franken's. Depending on what the court orders, such a ruling might only send the race back to the Secretary of State's office to begin a process of reconsidering them.
And if Franken prevails, watch to see if the court also directs the governor and secretary of state to release an election certificate. Although Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty has said he'll sign one if ordered to, there's been much speculation over whether he would issue one after a court ruling for the Democrat Franken, especially if Coleman subsequently appeals or files new lawsuits.
By state law, any election certificate needs to be issued by the governor with the secretary of state's co-signature.
Anthony Salvanto CBS News Elections Director
Lieberman, Graham Fight To Ban Release Of Abuse Photos
(AP)
"To release the photos is, to me, sheer voyeurism," Lieberman said. "It's a disclosure without a purpose, and it's disclosure that brings great risk."
Lieberman said President Obama "did the right thing" in opposing the release of such photos last month. He said doing so would "lead to people entering the war against the United States."
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Nancy Reagan: Statue "Wonderful Likeness Of Ronnie"
(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
"The statue is a wonderful likeness of Ronnie and he would have been so proud," Reagan said while tearing up, according to the Associated Press.
Pelosi, also speaking at the ceremony, applauded her fellow Californian's good humor as well as his willingness to reach across the aisle.
"President Reagan understood that bipartisanship and civility were important in all our debates. Ever a gentleman, he never questioned the motives of the person because he knew people in public office loved our country and acted on behalf of the American people," Pelosi said. "President Reagan said, we must 'not only preserve the flame of freedom, but we must cast its warmth and light further than those who came before us.' That is our responsibility."
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Burris Responds To Wiretap Revelations
(AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)
Sen. Ronald Burris was defiant today in answering criticism stemming from the FBI's release of tape recordings detailing conversations between the senator and the brother of impeached former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
"Please understand, that there was no pay to play in this or any intention of pay to play," Burris said this morning on "The John Williams Show," as reported by the Chicago Tribune. "And therefore, that should be the end of the story. The transcripts bear that out. There's no conjecture."
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Pelosi Quick To Deflect Questions About CIA Claims
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Most journalists who cover Capitol Hill probably woke up this morning thinking of all the questions they could ask Speaker Nancy Pelosi about her claim last week that CIA misled her on the use of enhanced interrogation techniques in a September 2002 briefing. I did.
It's been over one week since reporters had a chance to question the speaker, but today reporters could finally find out if Pelosi regretted her wording, or if she'd received word from CIA Director Leon Panetta recently about declassifying the interrogation briefing memos so she could back up her accusations.
Instead, Pelosi turned her weekly press conference today into an opportunity to tout all that House Democrats have accomplished in the first 5 months of the 111th Congress. Flanked by members of House Democratic leadership, the speaker was eager to discuss energy and health care legislation, but shot down reporters who wanted to talk about anything related to torture.
When I asked her to comment on the political storm her accusation sparked last week, Pelosi said she stands by her comments and that she "won't have anything more to say about it."
Many reporters were shouting questions to follow up, but she managed to find completely unrelated questions and successfully change the subject.
House Republicans have done everything this past week to keep the story in the headlines. They've said the speaker should apologize to the intelligence community and even offered a resolution on the House floor yesterday to create a bipartisan committee investigate Pelosi's claims.
Congress officially started the Memorial Day recess today and won't return until the first week of June. That means Republicans won't have as many opportunities to keep the 'what Pelosi knew and when she knew it' question alive.
As for the speaker, Pelosi is getting far away from Washington and all the questions by traveling to China to talk with leaders there about climate change. A subject the speaker is more than willing to discuss extensively these days.
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Most journalists who cover Capitol Hill probably woke up this morning thinking of all the questions they could ask Speaker Nancy Pelosi about her claim last week that CIA misled her on the use of enhanced interrogation techniques in a September 2002 briefing. I did.
It's been over one week since reporters had a chance to question the speaker, but today reporters could finally find out if Pelosi regretted her wording, or if she'd received word from CIA Director Leon Panetta recently about declassifying the interrogation briefing memos so she could back up her accusations.
Instead, Pelosi turned her weekly press conference today into an opportunity to tout all that House Democrats have accomplished in the first 5 months of the 111th Congress. Flanked by members of House Democratic leadership, the speaker was eager to discuss energy and health care legislation, but shot down reporters who wanted to talk about anything related to torture.
When I asked her to comment on the political storm her accusation sparked last week, Pelosi said she stands by her comments and that she "won't have anything more to say about it."
Many reporters were shouting questions to follow up, but she managed to find completely unrelated questions and successfully change the subject.
House Republicans have done everything this past week to keep the story in the headlines. They've said the speaker should apologize to the intelligence community and even offered a resolution on the House floor yesterday to create a bipartisan committee investigate Pelosi's claims.
Congress officially started the Memorial Day recess today and won't return until the first week of June. That means Republicans won't have as many opportunities to keep the 'what Pelosi knew and when she knew it' question alive.
As for the speaker, Pelosi is getting far away from Washington and all the questions by traveling to China to talk with leaders there about climate change. A subject the speaker is more than willing to discuss extensively these days.
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Republicans Call For Pelosi Investigation
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It's been one week since the dramatic press conference when Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Capitol Hill reporters that the CIA misled her about interrogation methods in 2002. Pelosi has not answered questions from the press since.
Democrats may hope that the story will pass, but with appearances on the Sunday talk shows and a constant spamming of reporter's inboxes with press releases highlighting negative coverage of the speaker, Republicans aren't letting that happen.
House Republicans will offer a resolution on the floor this afternoon to investigate Pelosi's claims that the CIA lied. A senior Republican aide tells CBS News that "the speaker has had a full week now to either produce the evidence or retract and apologize, and she's done neither. There is no choice now. A bipartisan investigation is needed to get to the facts."
Once the resolution is offered, it will be read on the House floor. Democrats must then choose either to hold it over or vote to dispose of the resolution. Democrats have the numbers to kill it easily, but Republicans still win by keeping Pelosi's feet to the fire, and name in the headlines, for another day.
UPDATED at 12:35pm ET: The House voted to table the motion to investigate Pelosi's claims. Every Democrat voting and two Republicans stood by the speaker in the 252 to 172 vote.
Jill Jackson is a CBS News Capitol Hill producer.
It's been one week since the dramatic press conference when Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Capitol Hill reporters that the CIA misled her about interrogation methods in 2002. Pelosi has not answered questions from the press since.
Democrats may hope that the story will pass, but with appearances on the Sunday talk shows and a constant spamming of reporter's inboxes with press releases highlighting negative coverage of the speaker, Republicans aren't letting that happen.
House Republicans will offer a resolution on the floor this afternoon to investigate Pelosi's claims that the CIA lied. A senior Republican aide tells CBS News that "the speaker has had a full week now to either produce the evidence or retract and apologize, and she's done neither. There is no choice now. A bipartisan investigation is needed to get to the facts."
Once the resolution is offered, it will be read on the House floor. Democrats must then choose either to hold it over or vote to dispose of the resolution. Democrats have the numbers to kill it easily, but Republicans still win by keeping Pelosi's feet to the fire, and name in the headlines, for another day.
UPDATED at 12:35pm ET: The House voted to table the motion to investigate Pelosi's claims. Every Democrat voting and two Republicans stood by the speaker in the 252 to 172 vote.
Jill Jackson is a CBS News Capitol Hill producer.
Dems Get Speed Reader, Al Gore To Bolster Energy Bill
(CBS)
Democrats in the House Energy and Commerce Committee have hired a speed reader, the Wall Street Journal reported, in case Republicans request for the more than 900 page bill to be read aloud.
Invoking their procedural right to have the bill read aloud could advance the Republican's plan to stall a vote on the bill. Committee Chairman Henry Waxman wants the bill voted out of the committee before Congress breaks for its Memorial Day recess next week.
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The Democrats' Gun Dilemma
(CBS/AP)
New legislation currently winding its way through Congress is forcing Democratic leaders to face the serious problem the party has when it comes to guns.
At the heart of the matter is the question of packing heat in Yellowstone.
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Republicans Block Interior Department Pick
Republicans have blocked President Obama's selection of environmental lawyer David Hayes as Ken Salazar's deputy at the Department of the Interior.
The Senate vote on Hayes' nomination for the #2 post at the Interior Department came to 57-39, three votes short of the 60 needed by Democrats to invoke cloture, the Associated Press reports.
The opposition to Hayes, which was led by Sen. Bob Bennett, was tied to Salazar's decision to cancel oil and gas leases near national parks in Utah, Bennett's home state.
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The Senate vote on Hayes' nomination for the #2 post at the Interior Department came to 57-39, three votes short of the 60 needed by Democrats to invoke cloture, the Associated Press reports.
The opposition to Hayes, which was led by Sen. Bob Bennett, was tied to Salazar's decision to cancel oil and gas leases near national parks in Utah, Bennett's home state.
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Vitter Ends Block Of FEMA Nominee
(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
"Louisianans have gotten way too many easy spoken assurances from FEMA over the last four years that didn't mean anything. Now that I've secured a specific written commitment from them on the V-Zone issue, we can move forward," Vitter said a press release Tuesday.
Vitter, angered over a dispute with FEMA on its rejection of three construction projects in an area of Louisiana prone to flooding, said he was holding up the nomination until he received answers, the Washington Post reports.
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Senate Considers Federal Tax On Soda
(AP)
"While many factors promote weight gain, soft drinks are the only food or beverage that has been shown to increase the risk of overweight and obesity, which, in turn, increase the risk of diabetes, stroke, and many other health problems," Michael Jacobson of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which is pushing the idea, said in his testimony. "Soft drinks are nutritionally worthless…[and] are directly related to weight gain, partly because beverages are more conducive to weight gain than solid foods."
According to Jacobson, "Beverage companies market more than 14 billion gallons of calorie-laden soft drinks annually. That is equivalent to about 506 12-oz. servings per year, or 1.4 servings per day, for every man, woman, and child."
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Burris: I Need Funds For 2010 Campaign
(AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)
It's practically inconceivable that anyone living in his native Illinois – or any of the other 49 states, for that matter – hasn't heard of the embattled junior senator and his troubles. But Burris' time in the spotlight, along with his tumultuous tenure in the Senate, may be a short one. In an interview with the Beltway publication The Hill Thursday, Burris indicated that he won't campaign for election to the seat he now holds if he feels he cannot raise enough money. He said he will make his decision in the next few weeks.
"I'm moving into a phase now where I will be talking to people and assessing the opportunities in terms of my ability to raise the funds and stay here," Burris told The Hill.
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Congress Cleans Up Its Hands
By CBS News Correspondent Bob Fuss.
Congress is cleaning up its act, or at least its hands.
After listening to the director of the Centers of Disease Control, Secretaries of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services and even President Obama himself at a White House news conference give the same advice to stop the spread of the H1N1 flu -- namely to "wash your hands!" -- they are.
In the past few days, electric hand sanitizer dispensers have popped up all over the Capitol complex, at entrances and in hallways and outside every bank of elevators where germ-covered fingers can punch buttons.
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Congress is cleaning up its act, or at least its hands.
After listening to the director of the Centers of Disease Control, Secretaries of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services and even President Obama himself at a White House news conference give the same advice to stop the spread of the H1N1 flu -- namely to "wash your hands!" -- they are.
In the past few days, electric hand sanitizer dispensers have popped up all over the Capitol complex, at entrances and in hallways and outside every bank of elevators where germ-covered fingers can punch buttons.
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Are Moderate Republicans Disappearing?
(CBS)
By now, Maine Senator Olympia Snowe may be wondering whether she is destined to wind up as a disappearing political curiosity: The "moderate" Republican.
Following the decision by Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter to become a Democrat, Snowe's frustration with her party's rightward shift bubbled over in the form of a blistering public critique of fellow Republicans. In a 747 word "J'accuse" published in Wednesday's New York Times, Snowe blamed the party for ignoring "the iceberg under the surface" and for "failing to undertake the re-evaluation of our inclusiveness as a party that could have forestalled many of the losses we have suffer."
"It is true that being a Republican moderate sometimes feels like being a cast member of "Survivor" — you are presented with multiple challenges, and you often get the distinct feeling that you're no longer welcome in the tribe. But it is truly a dangerous signal that a Republican senator of nearly three decades no longer felt able to remain in the party."
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Sen. Arlen Specter To Become A Democrat
(CBS)
His decision opens the door to the Democratic Party achieving a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate.
Specter, a 79-year-old fifth-term senator, wrote in a statement that he has been a Republican since 1966 and was elected nearly 30 years ago "as part of the Reagan Big Tent." Since then, he said, "the Republican Party has moved far to the right."
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