All Blog Posts from Political Hotsheet

The Senate confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor are expected to wrap up Thursday with a full vote early next month. There was a "Perry Mason" moment at the hearings today.

"I was a big fan of 'Perry Mason,'" said Al Franken, the junior senator from Minnesota who took office only last week.

Apparently neither one of them would do very well on a "Perry Mason" trivia quiz.

"What was the one case in 'Perry Mason' that [Hamilton] Burger [the district attorney] won?" Franken asked.

"I wish I remembered the name of the episode, but I don't," Sotomayor said. "I just was always struck that there was only one case where his client was actually guilty."

"And you don't remember that case?" Franken asked.

"I know that I should remember the name of it, but I haven't looked at the episode," Sotomayor said.

"Didn't the White House prepare you for that?" Franken asked laughing.

Senator Franken didn't know either – but CBS News looked it up – it was the "Case of the Deadly Verdict."


Watch the exchange below.


Watch CBS Videos Online

Former Saturday Night Live star Al Franken was sworn into the Senate today after months of court battles against the incumbent Norm Coleman. CBS News Capitol Hill Correspondent Nancy Cordes talked to Minnesota's senior senator Amy Klobuchar and Politico's congressional reporter Manu Raju about what Franken's election means for Minnesota and the future of Senate legislation on the latest episode of Washington Unplugged.

Klobuchar says that, although Franken's win grants Senate Democrats the fabled 60 vote majority, it won't guarantee that all legislation will be pushed through the Senate.

"Our members aren't always locked in," Klobuchar says. "The issue will be what is important to this country."

Whether it's health care reform or promoting alternative energy sources, Klobuchar says her constituents just want "Congress to get things done." She says they are "tired of having unaffordable health care."

Referencing Franken's former career, the senator says that Minnesota elected him not because of his comedy, but because of his politics. According to Klobuchar, her state has "gotten used to" the fact that Franken knows the issues and that he is smart.

Read full post…

Al Franken took the oath of office to officially become a U.S. Senator for the state of Minnesota on Tuesday.

After a protracted, eight-month battle with incumbent Republican Norm Coleman, the swearing in session took just a few brief moments. Franken was administered the oath by Vice President Joe Biden and was accompanied by his fellow Democratic Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar and former Vice President Walter Mondale.

While Franken has kept a serious demeanor in his role as a politician, Klobuchar made light of her new colleague's lengthy road to the Senate when she introduced him today.

"I think it was Al who told me that the third year of his campaign would be the best," she said.

Franken won a hearty round of applause from his fellow senators in the chamber after he accepted the oath and Biden congratulated him.

The new senator will join the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Committee on Indian Affairs, the Special Committee on Aging and the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee -- once health care reform legislation has been marked up.

Politics Today is CBSNews.com's inside look at the key stories driving the day in Politics, written by CBS News Political Director Steve Chaggaris:

**Day 2: President Obama in Russia...

**Palin explains herself...

**Obama adviser says a second stimulus package should be considered...

**Sanford censured by S.C. GOP...

**Franken to be sworn in today...

PRESIDENT OBAMA IN RUSSIA: "President Barack Obama, working to drastically reshape U.S. relations with a skeptical Russia, said Tuesday the two countries are not 'destined to be antagonists," reports the Associated Press' Ben Feller.

"'The pursuit of power is no longer a zero-sum game,' Obama said, speaking in the Russian capital to graduates of the New Economic School but also hoping to reach the whole nation. 'Progress must be shared.' Obama used his speech to further define his view of the United States' place in the world and, specifically, to argue that his country shares compelling interests with Russia. 'Let me be clear: America wants a strong, peaceful and prosperous Russia,' he declared.

"Obama's upbeat comments came on the second day of his summit in Russia, where polls show people are wary of the United States and taking a skeptical measure of Obama himself. Earlier Tuesday, Obama held private breakfast talks with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin at Putin's country home outside Moscow. The atmosphere seemed cordial, and both voiced hope for improved relations between Washington and Moscow."

Mr. Obama sat down with CBS News' Chip Reid in Moscow this morning and described Putin as "smart, tough, shrewd… he is unsentimental."

Read full post…

Politics Today is CBSNews.com's inside look at the key stories driving the day in Politics, written by CBS News Political Director Steve Chaggaris:

**President Obama's visit to Russia...

**Latest on Gov. Sarah Palin, R-Alaska...

**Congress returns, health care dominates agenda...

**Sen.-elect Al Franken, D-Minn., to be sworn-in tomorrow...

PRESIDENT OBAMA IN RUSSIA: President Obama kicked off two days of meetings with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev today where they're expected to focus on nuclear arms control, Afghanistan, and the environment.

"Obama's distinctive Air Force One jetliner touched down with drizzly gray skies blanketing Moscow," reports the Associated Press' Ben Feller. "He continued down a formal reception line on the airport tarmac, introducing his wife, Michelle, and their two daughters to the Russian officials waiting to greet them. The entourage then headed directly to a wreath-laying ceremony at Russia's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, brilliant sun breaking over the city's center through the days of clouds as they drove in. The president walked slowly behind three high-stepping Russian soldiers, then straightened the wreath's ribbon where they placed it in front of the eternal flame and stood alone briefly.

"From there, Obama was meeting at the Kremlin with President Dmitry Medvedev, a full-scale, two-day U.S.-Russia summit that is the first of its kind since the early part of the George W. Bush presidency."

In a brief photo op during a break in their meeting, CBS News' Jeff Goldman reports that Medvedev told reporters that he hopes he and President Obama can tackle the problems of security and the economy successfully.

Mr. Obama thanked Medvedev for the "hospitality" and added he is "confident" that they can build on their April meeting in London and pointed out that they have "more in common than they have differences."

Read full post…

Politics Today is CBSNews.com's inside look at the key stories driving the day in Politics, written by Kevin Hechtkopf:

**Franken wins

**President Obama to hold health care online town hall

**Latest on Gov. Mark Sanford

Franken Wins: Minnesotans voted November 4 of last year, but it wasn't until yesterday that they learned officially who their new senator would be. The Minnesota State Supreme Court announced its long awaited decision yesterday afternoon, rejecting incumbent Republican Sen. Norm Coleman's challenge to the recount conducted in December and declaring former comedian Al Franken as the state's next senator.

Following the ruling, Coleman conceded the race to Franken, saying, "The Supreme Court of Minnesota has spoken... I respect its decision and will abide by its result."

A short time later, Franken said: "I can't wait to get started." He will likely be sworn in next week when Congress returns from its Fourth of July recess.

"The two candidates and their allies spent over $50 million on their campaigns, the recount and the trial," writes Pat Doyle of the Star Tribune in Minneapolis.

"At the heart of Coleman's appeal was his insistence that the varying treatment of absentee ballots violated voter rights to equal protection under the Constitution. But the justices said voter rights weren't violated because local officials merely applied state election law differently for the convenience of their residents. There has to be evidence of an intent to discriminate, they wrote."

Read full post…

Democrat Al Franken said today that he "can't wait to get started" in the U.S. Senate following a nearly eight-month legal battle with former rival Norm Coleman.

Franken, accompanied by his wife and amid cheers from supporters, said he had received a "very gracious call" from Coleman, who earlier conceded the Minnesota Senate race after the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled against him in an appeal over disputed absentee ballots.

Franken's final margin of victory over Coleman was just 312 votes out of 2.9 million cast.

Franken said he and his family are "so thrilled that we can finally celebrate this victory, and I am so excited to finally be able to get to work for the people of Minnesota."

"I know there's been a lot of talk about the fact that when I'm sworn in I'll be the sixtieth member of the Democratic caucus," Franken said, a reference to the fact that his presence in the Senate gives Democrats a filibuster proof majority. "But that's not how I see it."

Read full post…

Updated 6:03 p.m. ET

Nearly eight months after voters went to the polls, the Minnesota Senate race has finally yielded a winner: Democrat Al Franken.

Republican Norm Coleman conceded his loss in a press conference Tuesday afternoon, saying he has called to congratulate the former comedian on his victory. His statement came after the Minnesota Supreme Court unanimously rejected his appeal of a lower court ruling in Franken's favor.

"The Supreme Court of Minnesota has spoken," Coleman said. "I respect its decision and will abide by its result."

Coleman could have appealed the state court decision in the federal courts, though polls indicate that Minnesota voters wanted the legal battle between the onetime bitter rivals to draw to a close. The former senator said he believed that "it is time now to move forward."

Read full post…

UPDATED 4:18 p.m. ET

NOTE: Coleman has now conceded and congratulated Franken on his victory. Read more here.

Former Senator Norm Coleman has lost his appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court, paving the way for Democrat Al Franken to join the Senate and give his party a filibuster-proof majority – though Coleman's could still appeal the decision in U.S. federal court.

"We affirm the decision of the trial court that Al Franken received the highest number of votes legally cast" in the election, the decision states. The justices also explicitly ruled that Franken is "entitled" under Minnesota law to receive the certificate of election as senator.

The judges stated that Coleman has "not shown that the trial court's findings of fact are clearly erroneous or that the court committed an error of law or abused its discretion." They ruled unanimously for Franken, 5-0.

"Coleman has exhausted all of his state legal options at this point," said CBS News political director Steve Chaggaris. "His choice now is to either appeal to federal courts or concede."

A Minnesota court awarded Al Franken about $95,000 in legal fees from Norm Coleman Wednesday, but we still await the big decision from the State Supreme Court on the Senate race. While we do, here are a couple of things to keep in mind.

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.