WASHINGTON (CNN) — How does the American public feel about George W. Bush's record as the president prepares for a speech to the country on Thursday night?

More than six in ten Americans disapprove of how Bush is handling his job, according to a CNN-Opinion Research Corporation poll out Thursday morning. The same number feels that President Bush’s policies are moving the country in the wrong direction.

Mr. Bush’s approval rating, now at 36 percent, is unchanged from our last poll conducted in August. Bush’s approval numbers have hovered around the mid-30s since the start of the year.

How does the president stack up against the Democratic majority in Congress? 50 percent say the policies of the Democratic leaders would move the country in the right direction; only 34 percent feel that way about Mr. Bush. The CNN-Opinion Research Corporation Poll questioned 1,017 adult Americans between September 7 and 9. The survey’s sampling error is plus or minus three percentage points.

Democrat Jane Harman has often be outspoken on intelligence issues.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — A leading congressional Democrat on Wednesday accused the director of national intelligence of undermining the authority of his office by taking political positions.

Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., lashed out at DNI Mike McConnell for taking a political role in recent negotiations with Congress about updating the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), the law that regulates foreign intelligence eavesdropping.

"He appeared to be taking orders from the White House, negotiating for the White House," said Harman. The role he played, "whether he intended it or not, appeared to be political," she said.

Read the rest of this entry »

WASHINGTON (CNN) — After Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, unveiled his comprehensive plan to end the war in Iraq Wednesday, his rival for the Democratic nomination Gov. Bill Richardson, D-New Mexico, attacked the senator’s plan and called his ideas "more of the same."

"Senator Obama has offered to turn the page in Iraq, but I think we need a new book," Richardson said in a statement. "Leaving behind tens of thousands of troops in Iraq for an indefinite amount of time is nothing new. This plan is inadequate and does not end the war."

In his speech, Obama said the United States needs to immediately start bringing combat troops home from Iraq, but that some troops should be left to fight al Qaeda in Iraq and in the rest of the region. Richardson called that plan "dangerous" and said that leaving some troops there won't end the war.

"There is only one responsible course of action left for us in this war," Richardson said. "We need to get all of our troops out of Iraq with no residual forces left behind. We need to withdraw both the combat troops and the tens of thousands of other troops who are there. We need to do it now."

–CNN Associate Producer Lauren Kornreich

Watch the heated exchanges among lawmakers that took place during Monday's hearing.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Heated exchanges, outbursts, and even a bit of profanity among lawmakers magnified the pressure Monday amid crucial testimony from the Iraq Commanding General David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker on the future of the war. (Related: Petraeus: Troop withdrawals by year's end)

The first such exchange came before Congress managed to get out of the gates. House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton, D-Missouri, had a contentious moment with Congressman Dan Burton, R-Indiana, over the presence of protesters who had disrupted proceedings.

In open session, Burton made the following demand of Skelton: “I see a number of people in the audience that I anticipate will be making a disturbance. And if this occurs during the testimony by our honored guests, I hope that you will be very firm and get them out of here.” (Related video: Protesters disrupt hearing)

A frustrated Skelton responded, “You don't have to lecture me. They'll be gone. Don't worry about it.”

Burton told him, “Well, I still see them out there.”

Skelton replied, “Do not worry about him. Don't worry about him. We have done this before.”

Minutes later, during a recess to fix the witnesses’ broken microphones, Burton approached Skelton, and in an exchange picked up on an open mic, Burton told Skelton, “I’m not lecturing you.”

Skelton responded, with Congressman Duncan Hunter, R-California sitting right next to him: “The hell you weren’t. Duncan knows I don't need a [expletive deleted] lecture.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Watch CNN's Jack Cafferty discuss how his past shaped his unique perspective on world events.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – CNN commentator Jack Cafferty gets personal and political.

The Situation Room's resident contributor is out with a new book Monday detailing his thoughts on the current state of American politics and the events in his life that shaped his perspective of world events.

In his book, “It's Getting Ugly Out There: The Frauds, Bunglers, Liars, and Losers Who Are Hurting America,” Cafferty details a part of his life he has rarely discussed in public before – his turbulent childhood and years spent as an alcoholic. (Read an exclusive excerpt)

"Very little of my back-story qualifies as Hallmark Card material, but it may help you to make sense of the way I see and interpret what's going on around me," he writes in the book. "My folks were alcoholics who, between them, were married 11 times. It would have been an even dozen, but my dad accidentally killed one of his fiancées."

Speaking with CNN's Wolf Blitzer Monday, Cafferty explained he wrote about his background at length so "people who watch this program and listen to the things I say might have some sense of where this ongoing questioning of authority that I have comes from."

"It's probably rooted in the fact that I learned pretty early on – because of the environment I was in – not to trust everything you see and hear because it's likely a good portion of it isn't going to turn out to be true," he added.

And of course, no book by Jack Cafferty would be complete without detailing his frustration of Washington politicians.

"We want our troops home, but we also want a new army of elected officials to march into Washington and take a fresh, uncorrupted look at the needs of the vast majority of Americans," he writes. "If these two parties, however 2008 breaks, can't fix what's broken, this way of life as we've known it may vanish into some deep, dark crevasse."

Check out Cafferty's book at bookstores everywhere.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Sen. John Kerry, D-Massachusetts, criticized MoveOn.org Monday for taking an ad out in The New York Times criticizing Gen. David Petraeus. The general is testifying before Congress today about the situation in Iraq. (Related: Dems join GOP in slamming ad attacking Petraeus)

“I don’t like any kind of characterizations in our politics that call into question any active duty, distinguished general,” Kerry told CNN, adding “who I think under any circumstances serves with the best interests of our country.”

Kerry is a decorated Vietnam War veteran who was awarded two Purple Hearts. In his 2004 presidential campaign, Kerry was attacked by the group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, who questioned his service in the war.

Kerry called the MoveOn.org ad “over the top” and specifically noted that he did not like the wording in the text.

“I didn’t like the terminology,” he said. “I didn’t like it.”

The ad shows a picture of Petraeus with the words “General Petraeus or General Betray us?”

-- CNN’s Ted Barrett and Xuan Thai

Craig announced September 1 he planned to resign his post at the end of the month.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — On the same day that lawyers for Sen. Larry Craig formally seek to withdraw his misdemeanor guilty plea, a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll indicates an overwhelming majority of Americans think the Idaho Republican should stick with his decision to resign.

According to the poll released Monday, 67 percent of Americans think Craig should resign, while only 26 percent say he should hold on to his seat. Solid majorities of both Republicans and Democrats said that the embattled Idaho senator should go. 7 percent said they were unsure.

The poll, conduced on September 7-9, surveyed 1,017 Americans and carries a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.

Craig, 62, announced September 1 that he would resign at the end of the month. He then appeared to backtrack a bit when he told Senate leaders last week that he would remain in office if he is able to get the plea overturned.

Craig's court papers will argue that the senator essentially pleaded guilty to facts that did not constitute a crime, said a source with knowledge of the case. The source, who asked for anonymity because the pleadings had not yet been filed, told CNN on Sunday that Craig waived his rights to trial and counsel and never saw a judge before entering a plea by mail.

– CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney

Related: Attorney: Stress from investigation made Craig plead guilty

CNN's Ed Henry reports this week will be crucial in the Iraq war debate.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Congress is expected this week to pick apart U.S. military data suggesting attacks and civilian casualties in Baghdad have sharply decreased in recent months.

Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, is scheduled to testify before Congress beginning Monday, and he is expected to tell lawmakers the troop buildup is producing results.

Full story

Senator Chuck Hagel, R-Nebraska

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska won't run for president in 2008 and will leave the Senate when his term ends in January 2009, a source close to the Nebraska Republican told CNN Saturday.

The source said Hagel — a vocal critic of the Bush administration — will hold a news conference in Omaha on Monday.

Hagel, 60, was a decorated infantry sergeant in Vietnam. He supported the 2002 congressional resolution that authorized the invasion of Iraq the following
year, but has become increasingly critical of the way the president has handled the war.

He called Bush's plan early this year to send thousands of additional U.S. troops to Iraq "the most dangerous foreign policy blunder in this country since Vietnam."

Hagel was the only Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to back a measure condemning the decision to deploy an additional 30,000 troops in an effort to end the sectarian violence.

Despite his break with the party on Iraq, the North Platte native has an otherwise-orthodox GOP voting record.

He supported the Bush tax cuts in 2001, received a perfect score on abortion issues from the National Right to Life Committee and backed efforts to open part of Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration.

Hagel, who was first elected in 1996, is latest Republican to announce he is voluntarily leaving the Senate.

On August 31, Sen. John Warner, R-Va., a foreign policy expert who also has criticized the administration's handling of Iraq, announced he would not seek a sixth term.

Warner, once secretary of the Navy, chaired the Armed Services Committee until Democrats seized both houses in the 2006 midterm election.

– CNN Capitol Hill Correspondent Dana Bash

WASHINGTON (CNN) — First lady Laura Bush was "resting comfortably at the White House" Saturday following a successful surgery to relieve pinched nerves in her neck, according to a statement from her press secretary, Sally McDonough.

McDonough said the 2 1/2-hour procedure was conducted at the George Washington University Hospital by a team led by Dr. Anthony Caputy, chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery and co-director of the Neurological Institute. Dr. Richard Tubb, U.S. Air Force brigadier general and physician to the president, consulted in the procedure, she said.

The procedure, called a posterior cervical foraminotomy, was described as "minimally invasive."

McDonough said the first lady spoke with President Bush, who was aboard Air Force One on his way back from Australia, after the surgery. Bush attended the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Sydney.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Former Clinton cabinet member Federico Peña announced Friday he will endorse Illinois Sen. Barack Obama's presidential bid and serve as his National Campaign Co-Chair.

Despite working in the Clinton administration, Peña decided to back Obama over his former boss’ wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton.

“I have spent years working with presidential administrations and world leaders, and what I see in Barack Obama is the kind of judgment this country needs to usher in a new era of global leadership," Peña said in a statement. "The challenges we are facing in Colorado, in the Hispanic community and across the country are formidable and it is time for bold and thoughtful leadership in the White House.”

Peña was the mayor of Denver before President Clinton tapped him to be his Secretary of Transportation, and later, his Secretary of Energy. He was Denver's first Hispanic Mayor.

“I look forward to working with Federico to bring about the transformation this country desperately needs," Obama said in a statement. "His vision for change as mayor of Denver and his strong record on energy and transportation issues brings invaluable experience to our team."

– CNN Associate Producer Lauren Kornreich

Go behind the scenes with CNN's Elaine Quijano.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – CNN White House Correspondent Elaine Quijano shows you what it's like to cover the president.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Fresh off the news that Osama bin Laden is planning an imminent address to the American people, a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll indicates that, for the first since 9/11, a majority of Americans thinks the U.S will be unable to capture or kill the al-Qaeda leader.

The poll reports 54 percent of Americans do not have confidence bin Laden will be killed or captured, while 42 percent do.

The percentage of Americans who think the U.S. will capture or kill bin Laden has steadily decreased since the 9/11 attacks.

In 2001, 78 percent of Americans were confident bin Laden would be captured or killed, compared to 66 percent in 2004 and 58 percent in 2006.

The poll, conducted on August 6-8, interviewed 1,029 Americans and carries a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Rep. Paul Gillmor was first elected to Congress in 1988.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Police said on Thursday they have no reason to be suspicious of Ohio Rep. Paul Gillmor's death a day earlier.

Gillmor, a 68-year-old Republican, was found dead in his Arlington, Virginia, townhouse on Wednesday, police said.

Full story

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Congressional Democrats took a swipe at their political rivals Wednesday in a new Web video that highlights the personal indiscretions of GOP lawmakers, as the theme song to “Cops” television show plays in the background.

CNN obtained an early version of the video that runs a slide show of six prominent Republicans caught up in various scandals including Idaho Sen. Larry Craig, who pleaded guilty last month to a disorderly conduct charge for allegedly making sexual advances to an undercover police officer in a restroom at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in June. It also features Louisiana Sen. David Vitter, who is linked to the D.C. Madam scandal. The other GOP officials in the video are no longer in office.

– CNN Political Editor Mark Preston

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Citizens Club for Growth, a so-called “527” political organization affiliated with the conservative anti-tax group “Club for Growth,” has agreed to pay a $350,000 civil penalty to settle a lawsuit filed against it by the Federal Election Commission.

The lawsuit arose after the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee filed a complaint with the FEC in 2003 alleging that the group was violating federal election laws. After an investigation, the FEC concluded that the 527 was required to register as a political action committee because it was accepting contributions and engaging in activities intended to influence the outcome of federal elections.

In a statement released on its Web site Wednesday, Citizens Club for Growth emphasized that it had acted with the good-faith belief that it was not violating federal election law when it failed to register as a PAC. The statement also emphasized that it had agreed to the settlement with the FEC in order to avoid protracted litigation costs.

“If we had proper respect for the First Amendment, such a lawsuit never would have taken off the ground to begin with,” said Chuck Pike, vice president for both the Citizens Club for Growth as well as the Club for Growth.

A separate statement released Wednesday by the Club for Growth, a 501(c)4 non-profit organization, stressed that the two groups are separate legal entities, and that settlement only affects Citizens Club for Growth and other 527s.

If approved by the federal trial court in Washington, D.C., the $350,000 settlement would be the largest civil penalty ever obtained by the FEC once an enforcement action was pursued in court, according to the FEC’s press release issued Wednesday.

– CNN Associate Producer Martina Stewart

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Going stag in Australia, President Bush still managed to find a date to dinner with President John Howard and his wife Wednesday.

During a photo-op right before walking into dinner, Bush made a suggestion to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

"You can be my date," Bush said, to laughs.

– CNN Associate Producer Lauren Kornreich

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday that embattled Sen. Larry Craig will not resign if he's able to get the disorderly conduct case against him dismissed in the next 25 days.

"He said that he is going to try to get the case in Minneapolis dismissed. That if he is unable to have that disposed of, prior to Sept. 30, it is his intention to resign from the Senate as he expressed last Saturday," McConnell told reporters.

"If he is able to get the case favorably disposed of in Minneapolis, it would be his intention to come back to the Senate to deal with the Ethics Committee case that he knows that he will have and to try to finish his term," he added.

Craig's seat will be up for re-election in 2008

Full story

WASHINGTON (CNN) — It’s been almost three decades since the name “Tsongas” has appeared on a general election ballot in Massachusetts. That streak is about to end.

Niki Tsongas, widow of the late Paul Tsongas – the former Bay State senator and 1992 presidential candidate – won a hotly contested Democratic primary fight Tuesday in the Commonwealth’s Fifth Congressional District. Tsongas, currently a dean at Middlesex Community College, finished first in a five-candidate field with 36 percent of the vote. She edged out Lowell City Councilor Eileen Donoghue, who captured 31 percent.

Tsongas has now won the right to face off against the GOP nominee, Jim Ogonowski, who trounced his sole opponent, Marine Corps veteran/consumer activist Tom Tierney, by a 78 percent margin in the Republican primary. Ogonowski’s brother, John, was the pilot of American Airlines Flight 11, which was hijacked and crashed into the World Trade Center on September 11.

Read the rest of this entry »

Ohio Rep. Paul Gillmor was found dead in his apartment Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Ohio Rep. Paul Gillmor was found dead in his Washington apartment Wednesday, leadership aides tell CNN.

Full story