All Blog Posts from Political Hotsheet

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani said red flags in the Fort Hood shooting suspect's past were ignored out of officials' fear of being labeled as bias against Muslims.

Maj. Nadil Malik Hasan is accused of killing 13 people and wounding 29 others in an attack at an on-base medical facility earlier this month. In the wake of the shooting, a host of potential warning signs that were never acted upon were uncovered.

Among them:

A joint terrorism task force was aware of e-mail exchanges between Hasan and Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical imam who espoused hostility against U.S. soldiers overseas. Investigators didn't follow up because they said the communications contained no references to terrorism.

Supervisors at Walter Reed Medical Center expressed concerns that Hasan could be belligerent about religious issues. And according to a 2007 evaluation letter published by NPR Wednesday, Hasan exhibited a "pattern of poor judgment and lack of professionalism."

Hasan also delivered a lecture at Walter Reed on the dangers of forcing Muslim soldiers to fight against other Muslims. He advised the military to grant conscientious objector status in such cases.

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Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani said the Obama administration's decision to try professed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in a federal court is a political move to satisfy "left-wing critics" of military tribunals.

Attorney General Eric Holder has drawn heavy fire from Republicans and some Democrats since announcing last week that Mohammed and four alleged henchmen would be prosecuted in a civilian trial instead of a military tribunal. A CBS News poll released earlier this week shows Americans wary of the idea as well, with 54 percent opposed compared to 40 percent in favor.

Giuliani, who was mayor at the time of the World Trade Center attacks, said the move was part of a political agenda "because it makes no sense," during an appearance on CBS' "The Early Show" Thursday.

"The reality is that they could be tried in a military tribunal. There is no reason to try them in a civilian court. Others are going to be tried in the military tribunal. And the reality is we've never done this before. And this is something that was pushed very, very hard by the left wing for President Obama to do and he's been criticized for delaying in doing it."

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President Barack Obama isn't losing any sleep over Sarah Palin's jabs in the media.

The former Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential candidate graded Mr. Obama's job performance a four out of 10 during an interview with ABC's Barbara Walters that aired Tuesday – part of a media blitz to promote new memoir "Going Rogue: An American Life."

But the president didn't seem concerned about his potential rival in 2012.

"Obviously Mrs. Palin is out there selling books right now and I think she'll do very well," the president told CBS News White House correspondent Chip Reid. "She and I have different political philosophies and it's probably not the person I look to to see how our administration is doing."

In other interviews Wednesday, Mr. Obama said he probably won't read the book - already a best seller before its release Tuesday but one that's been criticized as factually inconsistent and vendetta-driven against former McCain campaign aides and the media.

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Eric Shinseki, the retired four-star general who currently heads the Department of Veterans Affairs, said his agency is "working diligently" to better aid veterans suffering from post traumatic stress disorder and other mental health issues.

Shinseki appeared on CBS' "The Early Show" Wednesday, a day after attending a memorial for the 13 victims of the Fort Hood shooting rampage. As a former Army chief of staff, Shinseki described the attack as a "heart wrenching, terrible tragedy - unexplainable."

He also said President Barack Obama's speech during the ceremony was important to "bring the community together and begin the healing."

Special Section: Tragedy at Fort Hood
Fort Hood Memorial

Shinseki said one of the focuses during his first nine months at the helm of Veterans Affairs has been on the increasing diagnoses of PTSD, traumatic brain injuries and other mental health issues – a problem "Early Show" co-anchor Harry Smith noted was exacerbated by multiple tours of duty in combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Well, we are working diligently to increasing our capabilities here," Shinseki said, adding that Veterans Affairs employs 19,000 mental health professionals to address the problems.

Shinseki also said the department is busy implementing a new post-9/11 G.I. bill.

"We have a large backlog of claims that has been there for years. And that's the next priority. And we've begun taking that down, as well."

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Election wins in the New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial races show the GOP has "found its voice again," the Republican party's chairman said Wednesday.

During an appearance on CBS' "The Early Show", Michael Steele touted the victories of New Jersey's Chris Christie and Virginia's Bob McDonell as a "bellwether for the party."

Steele said the wins, in two states carried by President Barack Obama last fall, recast the GOP as a "transcendent party."

"The conservative message resonated, but it was translated in a way that people felt embraced by it at the polls," Steele said.

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Sen. John McCain said the White House was dragging its feet on the decision to increase troop levels and chided President Barack Obama for the delay, saying "it's time to act."

"We watch this situation continue to deteriorate while this long protracted process of decision-making goes on. We're not operating in a vacuum. The president of the United States needs to make this decision and soon," McCain, R-Ariz., said on CBS' "The Early Show." (Watch the video at left)

Violence continues to flare up in that country as the president mulls whether to send the additional 40,000 troops recommended by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan. The Taliban claimed responsibility for 12 more deaths Wednesday, including one American, after gunmen stormed a U.N. complex in Kabul. U.S. troop deaths earlier this week made October the deadliest month for American forces since the 2001 invasion.

But McCain said the spike in violence, believed tied to Afghanistan's upcoming runoff election, should not dissuade Mr. Obama from authorizing the troop increase.

"Yes, it's a heavy responsibility. But to drag that responsibility out and that process out is not helpful to our effort," he said.

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Sen. Olympia Snowe may have been the lone Republican on the Senate Finance Committee to approve that panel's health care bill, but she plans to draw the line at the public option as the legislative process continues.

"Because I prefer in utilizing the private sector as we do in this legislation that doesn't include a public option. I think the government would have a disproportionate advantage in the marketplace against private insurers," Snowe, R-Maine, told "Early Show" co-anchor Harry Smith Wednesday. "But at the same time, I want to make sure the insurance industry performs and that's why we eliminate and prohibit many egregious practices."

Appearing later ABC's "Good Morning America," Snowe said that if the insurance industry failed to live up to the new standards, "then you could have the public option kick in immediately."

The Finance Committee approved the proposal in a 14-9 vote Tuesday. While it's considered the most moderate of the five plans voted through various congressional committees, it must be merged with the other legislation before coming to a wider vote in the Senate. Snowe said her initial vote is no guarantee of future support, depending on how the plan changes during the next phase of the process.

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Count "Face the Nation" host Bob Schieffer among those shocked by President Barack Obama's surprise win of the Nobel Peace Prize.


"My first reaction was 'What?' I don't think anybody expected this," Schieffer told "Early Show" co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez Friday.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee cited Mr. Obama's "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples" as the basis for the award, but Schieffer thinks it might have a lot to do with Mr. Obama's predecessor.

"President Bush was very unpopular in Europe and it is almost as if this is more of a comment on the previous administration than it is on the new one."

Schieffer said the prize may also hurt the president domestically. In the first nine months of Mr. Obama's term, his political foes have criticized the president's conciliatory tone in international forums.

"You have to wonder, is this going to widen the partisan divide rather than bring people together."

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Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., disputed an assessment that the Senate Finance Committee's draft $829 health care bill would cut the federal budget deficit by $81 billion over 10 years.

"The claims that we're saving $81 billion by spending $829 billion, you know, you can say that if you want to go ahead and really rob Peter to pay Paul. And that's exactly what's going on here," Cantor, the House Minority Whip, told "Early Show" co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez Thursday.

On Wednesday, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released a -preliminary estimate on the cost of the proposal, projecting budget savings of $81 billion over the next decade. It also said "continued reductions in federal budget deficits" were probable in the years beyond. The plan would cover 94 percent of legal, nonelderly Americans within 10 years and would be paid for through a combination of tax increases and spending cuts.

"The way that they are expanding coverage is by taxing employers, is by taxing those of us who have insurance, and, frankly, to the tune of $500 billion," Cantor claimed. "And they're adding on top of that $400 billion worth of cuts to Medicare, which that will mean seniors will have less opportunity, less benefit, less ability to choose the kind of health care that they want."

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The government's effort to distribute H1N1 vaccine throughout the U.S. is "a little bumpy" but should improve later this month, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Wednesday.

Speaking to CBS' "The Early Show", Sebelius said "we won't have as much as everybody wants right away" but the nation would have "good supply" of the specialized flu vaccine in October and urged people to prepare for vaccinations.

A nasal spray version of the vaccine was made available this week, but not to everyone. Those at risk for flu complications – such as pregnant women, children under age 2 and people over 49 – are not eligible for the spray vaccine, Sebelius said.

"It's a fairly limited group," she said.

The injectable vaccines are, however, recommended for five primary groups – pregnant women, caregivers for children under 6 months, health care workers, people age 2 to 24 and older Americans with underlying health conditions.

Sebelius said an injectable vaccine will be available by the end of the week.

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