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Giuliani's campaign struck back at a Vanity Fair article about his wife Judith.

NEW YORK (CNN) - If you're Judith Giuliani, Vanity Fair is not your best friend. An article in the magazine’s September issue reads: "Terror Alert, Judi Giuliani." It goes downhill from there and it’s got former Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s camp crying "hatchet job.”

“There are so many inaccuracies in that story,” Mark McKeon, Rudy Giuliani’s senior adviser told CNN, “so many innuendoes in that story that is so vile that it really isn't worth going into."

But Vanity Fair’s Judy Bachrach stands by her story and every last unflattering detail.

“When the Giuliani people say that Vanity Fair or I’ve done a hatchet job, you have to consider the source,” says Bachrach. “They are the kings of hatchets. They try to muzzle the press at every opportunity.”

Despite the Giuliani campaign’s uncooperativeness, Bachrach says she prevailed in writing "Giuliani’s Princess Bride,” referring to the tiara Judith wore on her wedding day and quoting an un-named former Rudy Giuliani aide who said, "Queen is her goal."

The former mayor stood up for his wife at a campaign event on Tuesday saying, “I think the article is a very incorrect article that has an enormous numbers of inaccuracies in it. And one of the unfortunate prices that families pay in a situation like this is that they get castigated, attacked, and most of the time reporters doesn't even ask about it.”

But Bacharach said she tried to interview Judith Giuliani and was denied access. Through others, Bacharach says she determined that Mrs. Giuliani is an "opportunist" who went after a famous, married man, with kids – then Mayor Rudolph Giuliani – and "proffered her business card,” flaunting their affair by appearing at New York City functions while then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani was still married.

Bacharach went on to write that Judith Giuliani is now enjoying the fame and wealth that accompanies being married to the former mayor, among the perks: a "full-time assistant” to style her hair, designer clothes, and when she flies, an “entire plane seat for Judith’s ‘Baby Louis’” – a Louis Vuitton designer bag.

The Giuliani camp says none of those allegations are true, including the full time hairdresser. As for whether any of this will hurt the campaign, the Giuliani campaign told CNN it will have no effect.

–CNN Correspondent Carol Costello

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Some House Democrats are calling for impeachment hearings against Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to begin in the House Judiciary Committee unless he voluntarily resigns or is dismissed by President Bush.

"There is a national embarrassment in the United States attorney general's office," said Rep Jay Inslee, D-Washington, the resolution's author. "It needs to be remedied. And if the president does not do his clear job, we will do ours."

Inslee and 14 other Democrats introduced a resolution Tuesday ordering the House Judiciary Committee to "investigate whether Alberto R. Gonzales, attorney general of the United States, should be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors."

The measure's sponsors cite Gonzales' controversial testimony last week before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the domestic surveillance program and the firing of several United States attorneys as adequate grounds for impeachment hearings.

"An investigation will root out all the details and will move us in the right direction," said Rep Ben Chandler, D-Kentucky.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer did not explicitly support the resolution, but said it "reflects significant sentiment in Congress and around the country. Alberto Gonzales has not been candid and truthful with the Congress of the United States and the American people."

Unlike the House Judiciary Committee's recent contempt of Congress charges against White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and former White House Counsel Harriet Miers, intervention by the Department of Justice would not be needed for an impeachment investigation, supporters of the measure say.

"The president thinks he has a checkmate over democracy," Inslee said. "Well, he cannot checkmate an impeachment inquiry. This is the tool in the toolbox we can use."

A spokesman for the House Judiciary Committee did not say if the resolution will be taken up by the committee when Congress returns from August recess.

–CNN Congressional Producer Evan Glass

Senator Ted Stevens, R-Alaska

WASHINGTON (CNN) - The day after federal agents raided his Alaska home, Republican Sen. Ted Stevens actively avoided reporters on Capitol Hill.

He finally appeared at the weekly GOP lunch, but slipped in a backdoor and back out down a back stairway in the Senate. But showing a great example of the game of cat and mouse often played by lawmakers and journalists, CNN's Ted Barrett and Dana Bash split up to catch the seven-term senator. Barrett was eying one door and Bash was around the corner. He saw Stevens slip out and gave Bash the head's up to run down a back way to find him. She slipped away from the pack of reporters and ran down to greet Stevens at the bottom of those stairs.

Stevens came down, saw Bash and turned around and started going back up the stairs. She said one of his aides tried to physically stop her from following him but she told her it was a public hallway. She followed Stevens back up the stairs asking him questions and he was furious.

Bash asked Stevens why federal agents went to his house and what they took. "Can you understand English? That's the only statement I'm going to make," Stevens said.

When Bash tried to ask again, he said: "I understand you're recording this, but I told you again, I made the statement, it's issued. And that's all I'm going to say!"

Vice President Dick Cheney.

(CNN)–Vice President Dick Cheney told CNN's Lary King Tuesday his thoughts on the Senate investigation regarding the firings of U.S. Attorneys. "With respect to the U.S. Attorneys, there has been, I think, a bit of a witch hunt on Capitol Hill as they keep rolling over rocks hoping they can find something," he said. "But there really hasn't been anything that has come up to suggest that there was any wrongdoing of any kind."

When asked his thoughts on the man at the center of the controversy, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Cheney was equally resolute. "Al's a good man, a good friend, on a difficult assignment," he said.

"Are you troubled by what appears to have happened, the appearance of him not telling the truth?" King asked. "Well, I don't want to get into the specifics with respect to his testimony and the questions that were asked. I know Al on a personal and professional basis and I hold him in high regard," Cheney replied. The Vice president again re-stated his support for Gonzales.

Cheney also discussed with King his role as President of the Senate.

The full interview with Vice President Cheney can be seen on "Larry King Live" at 9:00pm eastern Tuesday on CNN.

–CNN Political Desk Editor Jamie Crawford

Romney re-released an ad focusing on illegal immigration.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Less than two weeks before Iowa's straw poll, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has re-released an ad focusing on the contentious issue of illegal immigration.

"People who are here illegally are going to have to get in line with everyone else, with no special pathways to become a citizen," Romney says in the ad. "Legal immigration is great, but illegal immigration, that we've got to end."

In the ad, Romney criticizes employers that hire illegal immigrants, and calls for a federal database that lists the names of legal workers.

The ad, which originally aired in a longer format in May, has been trimmed down to 30 seconds. It hit Iowa's airwaves on Tuesday.

–CNN Associate Producer Lauren Kornreich

WASHINGTON (CNN) – New polls shows former mayor Rudy Giuliani, R-New York, ahead in the early caucus and primary states of Iowa, South Carolina, and New Hampshire and Sens. Barack Obama, D-Illinois and Hillary Clinton, D-New York, neck and neck.

According to the from polls the American Research Group, Giuliani is the leading Republican candidate in all three states with former Gov. Mitt Romney, R-Massachusetts, coming in second in New Hampshire in Iowa, and former Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tennessee, placing second in South Carolina.

On the Democratic side, Sen. Clinton in ahead in Iowa but neck and neck in New Hampshire with Sen. Obama. In South Carolina, Sen. Obama has the advantage.

Democrats
              IA      NH     SC
Clinton       30%     31%    29%
Edwards       21%     14%    18%
Obama         15%     31%    33%

Republicans
              IA     NH       SC
Giuliani      22%    27%      28%
McCain        17%    10%      10%
Romney        21%    26%       7%
F. Thompson   13%    13%      27%  

Sampling Date: July 26-30
Sampling Size: 600 likely voters
Margin of Error: +/- 4%

–CNN Political Researcher Xuan Thai

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Senators Joseph Lieberman, I-Connecticut, Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota unveiled a bill Tuesday that would radically overhaul the presidential nomination process. The proposed tri-partisan bill, which would take effect in the 2012 presidential race, seeks to solve the issue of so-called primary “front-loading.”

The proposal would spread out primaries by dividing the nation into four regions — West, Midwest, South, and East — with a rotating lottery system determining the order of primaries for each region. The first primary would fall on March 1, 2012 for the first region, followed by one region each month until the season is complete after the final region’s primary on June 1.

Iowa and New Hampshire would retain their privileged “first-in-the-nation” status through a special exemption allowing them to start the delegate selection process before March 1.

“Primaries were not intended to be an arms race,” said Klobuchar. “This schedule gives power and influence back to the voters in every state.”

“The guiding principle of our democracy is that every citizen has the opportunity to choose his or her political leaders,” said Lieberman. “But the sad truth is this principle no longer bears a resemblance to the reality of an increasingly compressed and arbitrary presidential primary system.”

Lieberman added that many voters feel the 2008 presidential race started too early and is already too long.

Currently, a large number of states have scheduled their primaries for the first Tuesday of February 2008, or what some are now calling “Super Duper Tuesday.”

In addition to the proposed regional primary, Sen. Alexander announced his intention to push for an increase in the amount an individual can donate to a presidential campaign from the current $2,300 to $10,000.

                                                                          -From CNN's Kevin Mayer and Xuan Thai

Brownback in Ames, Iowa today.

AMES, Iowa (CNN) - Republican presidential candidate Sam Brownback fired a few shots today, though not at any of his opponents.

The Kansas senator spent some time on a shooting range in Ames, Iowa - a town also known for a certain well-known straw poll coming up August 11 - and emphasized his position on gun rights to a group of reporters.

"We have a Second Amendment," Brownback said. "It is a right to bear arms, and those should be stood by and those should be honored as a right an individual has."

Brownback said he holds an 'A' rating from the National Rifle Association but that he is not currently a member. The campaign said he's hunted on several occasions.

"I don't think there should be more gun control. I think there should be more education," he said.

Brownback fired an AR-15 rifle. And in case you're wondering, he didn't quite hit the bull's-eye but wasn't too far off from the target either.

"Am I low, high?" Brownback asked after his first shots. "Where'd that go?"

"Just over the top of the target," said an onlooker.

–CNN Iowa Producer Chris Welch

Listen to the latest Race to '08 podcast.

CNN Senior Political Correspondent Candy Crowley and CNN's John Lisk take a look at the money Fred Thompson has raised for the month of June.

John and Elizabeth Edwards celebrate their 30th anniversary at Wendy's.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - John and Elizabeth Edwards took a break from their hectic campaign schedules on Monday to celebrate their annual tradition - eating their anniversary dinner at Wendy's.

The tradition started on their first anniversary, when the Edwards were in the middle of moving and too busy for a formal dinner. They decided to continue it and have eaten there every year since.

The couple celebrated their 30th anniversary at a Wendy's in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

–CNN Associate Producer Lauren Kornreich

Thompson raised $3.4 million in June.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson raised $3.4 million in June for a possible White House bid, his presidential exploratory committee announced Tuesday.

“The level of support and enthusiasm from people across this country is inspiring,” said Thompson in a written statement. “It tells me that people are ready for a leader who will change the national attitude from political bickering to a shared vision for our future. A leader who will bring us together, one who understands the challenges we face.”

The committee says it received contributions from 9,167 donors in less than one month and spent just over $625,000 in the same timeframe.

Thompson, who is not yet an official candidate, created a presidential exploratory committee, also known as a “testing the waters” committee, in early June. Federal law required the former senator to register the committee with the Internal Revenue Service as a so-called “527” organization, which he may later convert to a federal campaign committee once he declares his candidacy.

He is expected to officially launch his campaign after Labor Day.

Obama's campaign will air a new ad in Iowa

DES MOINES, Iowa (CNN) –The Obama Campaign announced Tuesday that a new ad focused on reforming Washington will begin airing Wednesday across the Hawkeye State. Ethics reform has become a staple in the Democratic candidate's stump speeches in the region. In a press release, the campaign also plans to put signs reading "Not paid for by PAC or federal lobbyist money" in offices statewide.

"I am extremely proud of amount of money our campaign has raised," the Illinois senator said in a statement, "but I’m even more proud of how we did it. We didn’t take a dime from Washington lobbyists or special interest group because if we’re going to truly change the way Washington works, we need to break the stranglehold that the lobbyists and special interests have on our democracy."

Ethics reform was a primary focus of remarks Obama made Monday in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. In his speech, he said that lobbyists "stop us from addressing issues that matter."

"Special interests dominate on a day to day basis in terms of legislative activity," he said. "If we can’t change that, we’re not going to change anything.”

–CNN Iowa Producer Chris Welch

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Virginia Senator John Warner was full of praise for Senator Hillary Clinton at Tuesday’s confirmation hearing for Joint Chiefs Chair nominee Mike Mullen – maybe a bit too much for her campaign backers.

The funny moment occurred as senators questioned Admiral Mullen before the Armed Services Committee. Chairman Carl Levin, D-Michigan, asked the Democratic presidential hopeful if she would allow Warner to finish his line of questioning before she started. Clinton politely replied, “Absolutely.”

Warner said, “Senator Clinton, may I thank you for that courtesy? You know, the many years that you’ve been on this committee, that’s the hallmark of your service. Courtesy and respect. And you’ve been a good strong working partner through the years.”

Warner then deadpanned, “We don’t want to lose you.”

To laughter, Levin then interrupted, “Your time is up, Senator Warner.”

–CNN's Steve Brusk and Jim Barnett

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson

DES MOINES, Iowa (CNN) - New Mexico governor and Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson will tour southeast Iowa on Thursday for two days of events centering on energy. The campaign announced Tuesday that the former energy secretary will discuss his plan to boost domestic renewable fuel production and making America energy independent.

The eight stops of the tour are all being dubbed as "presidential job interviews" - Richardson's version of town hall meetings - and will begin in Eldridge, Iowa, on Thursday and conclude in Wapello on Friday.

–CNN Iowa Producer Chris Welch

DES MOINES, Iowa (CNN) - It's a sight that Iowans are used to seeing by now, but nonetheless Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards announced that he, too, will be touring the state in a bus.

The campaign said Tuesday that the seven-day trip, dubbed the "Fighting for One America" bus tour, will make stops in 30 counties. It will begin Monday, August 13, in Des Moines, where the Iowa State Fair will be well underway. The tour will take the former senator through all regions of the state before returning back to Des Moines on Sunday, August 19, for a Democratic debate at Drake University.

In a statement, Edwards said, "I’m looking forward to this trip and talking with Iowans about our fight to build One America – an America where everyone has a chance to get ahead and where the needs of regular Americans come before the needs of powerful special interests."

Recently, buses stocked with presidential hopefuls have been no strangers to the Hawkeye State. Thus far Democrat Chris Dodd and Republicans Sam Brownback, Mitt Romney, and Tommy Thompson have all jumped on the bandwagon, so to speak. Republican John McCain also took his "Straight Talk Express" –made famous in his 2000 presidential bid– out for a ride in March.

–CNN Iowa Producer Chris Welch

Rudy Giuliani took issue Tuesday with Democratic health care proposals.

(CNN) - Speaking before a town hall forum Tuesday, Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani lambasted the health care plans put forward by the Democratic presidential field.

"We've got to do it the American way. The American way is not single-payer, government-controlled anything. That's a European way of doing something; that's frankly a socialist way of doing something," the former New York mayor said. "That's why when you hear Democrats in particular talk about single-mandated health care, universal health care, what they're talking about is socialized medicine."

Giuliani was in Rochester, New Hampshire, to discuss his health care proposals. He said he would reform the current system by using free-market solutions that he said would facilitate consumer-driven health care.

"America's health care system is being dragged down by decades of government-imposed mandates and wasteful, unaccountable bureaucracy," he said. "To reform, we must empower all Americans by increasing health care choices and affordability, while bringing accountability to the system."

Giuliani was scheduled to appear later in the day in Norwalk, Connecticut.

–CNN Political Desk Editor Jamie Crawford

Al Gore III, right, appears with his father, former Vice President Al Gore, and mother, Tipper, at the Oscars in February.

LOS ANGELES (CNN) – Al Gore III pleaded guilty Monday to felony and misdemeanor drug possession charges stemming from his arrest earlier in July when he was pulled over for allegedly driving more than 100 mph in a Toyota Prius.

An Orange County Sheriff's deputy reported that he could smell marijuana when he approached the car. After conducting a search, the deputy found a small amount of marijuana and prescription pills - including Adderall, Vicodin, Xanax and Valium - all without a prescription.

Gore, 24, was charged with two felony counts of possession of a controlled substance, two misdemeanor counts of possessing a controlled substance without a prescription, one misdemeanor count of possession of marijuana and a traffic infraction.

Farrah Emami of the Orange County District Attorney’s Office said the son of former Vice President Al Gore agreed to enter a 90-day residential drug treatment program.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Jaime Coulter told the Associated Press that if Gore successfully completed the drug treatment program the sentencing could be continued for another year and that charges may be dropped in 2009.

"At that point, he will be able to withdraw his guilty plea as if he never entered it," Coulter told the AP.

Gore’s next court date is scheduled for February 7, 2008.

– CNN Assignment Editor Karan Olson

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Vice President Cheney said Monday he was amused to hear Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama call rival Hillary Clinton “Bush-Cheney Light” last week.

In an interview with CBS Radio, Cheney laughed and said, “I wasn't quite sure. I didn't think that was meant to be a compliment, but it was an interesting line of attack.”

Cheney said he was happy to watch this campaign from the sidelines. He told CBS, “I watch with great interest on both sides, both Republicans and Democrats. Our presidential campaigns are one of the unique and distinguishing features of our society. And the process by which we select presidents and then hold them accountable is unique in many respects here in the United States. As somebody who has participated in that process now for the better part of 40 years, I am always fascinated by it. Not involved this time, but fascinated.”

He said he has no regrets choosing not to seek the Republican nomination for president. Cheney called it “the right decision,” saying, “I addressed that issue some ten years ago, and decided I wasn't going to be a candidate. And that was the right decision for me and my family, and I have no second thoughts.”

While Cheney was briefly acting as president recently, he wrote a letter to his grandkids.  "A souvenir for them to have down the road some day," he said to CBS Radio.  

Cheney will appear on CNN’s “Larry King Live” Tuesday night.

-CNN's Steve Brusk

Mitt and Ann Romney

WASHINGTON (CNN) – The wife of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is facing criticism from some cancer patients and survivors for saying in a magazine interview that, rather than continue living with multiple sclerosis, she once wished she could “just have cancer and die.”

Ann Romney, who was diagnosed with the degenerative nerve disease in 1998, said in a recent interview with People magazine, “It wasn't as though I was suicidal, but I was at the point where I thought, ‘Couldn't I please just have cancer and die?’”

The comment received an angry reaction from Leroy Sievers, a journalist who has been chronicling his own battle with cancer on National Public Radio.

“Cancer does not bring a quick death. Cancer is painful and debilitating,” said Sievers on his “My Cancer” blog on NPR’s Web site. “Cancer wreaks havoc on the life of anyone who has it and the lives of the people who care about them. Cancer twists the present and steals the future. Cancer hurts.”

Many of the 100-plus readers who commented on Sievers’ posting were also critical of Mrs. Romney’s statements, though some were more charitable.

“Ms. Romney is to be forgiven. She is suffering, too. I'll bet we have all opened our mouths and said something we were sorry for later,” said one reader.

Carolyn Weyforth, a Romney campaign spokeswoman, told CNN, “Mrs. Romney was recounting a very real and very difficult emotional reaction to the news about her disease. It’s something that many people go through, and it’s an honest reflection about a difficult period of her life. It’s a reflection that has obviously evolved as she has come to terms with the disease.”

– CNN Political Researcher Xuan Thai

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (CNN) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Monday if U.S. troops aren't out of Iraq by the time he's president, the first thing he'd do in office is order the Joint Chiefs of Staff to "get a plan to begin withdrawing" troops from Iraq. He was careful not to say he'd try to bring troops home immediately."This will be a messy withdrawal," Obama said. "People who say we'll just pull them out are irresponsible."

Obama made his comments at a town hall meeting in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to a group of about 600 people, according to the campaign.

The Illinois senator also devoted a substantial amount of time to ethics reform in Washington, taking a few shots at the Bush administration and "no-bid" contracts.

"When our government gives Halliburton seven billion dollars in taxpayer dollars to put out Iraqi oil fires that don't exist, when we hand over Katrina contracts to more of George Bush's FEMA friends, it doesn't just violate the American people's trust," Obama said. "It takes away the tax dollars they've earned and the valuable services they need."

Obama said that lobbyists "stop us from addressing issues that matter" and that the country needs to "change the way business is done in Washington."

"It's not our agenda being moved forward in Washington," he said. "Special interests dominate on a day to day basis in terms of legislative activity.  If we can't change that, we're not going to change anything."

Touting what he says is his refusal to accept money from political action committees has become a staple in Obama's bid for the nomination.

-CNN Iowa Producer Chris Welch