Al Rodgers "is under a pile of receipts doing his taxes," so I'm filling in for him.
Sunday Talk Lineup:
- Meet the Press: Gen. Anthony Zinni (ret); roundtable of NYT's David Brooks, WSJ's John Harwood, PBS' Gwen Ifill, and WaPo's Eugene Robinson.
- Face the Nation: VP Dick Cheney (R).
- This Week: Gov. Bill Richardson (D-NM); Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA); roundtable of Dem strategist Donna Brazile, ex-Pentagon spokesperson Tori Clarke (R), George Will, and ex-Labor Sec. Robert Reich; comedian (and White House Correspondents' Association 2007 dinner entertainer) Rich Little.
- Fox News Sunday: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC); Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI); Rev. Al Sharpton; Nat'l Security Archive dir. Tom Blanton.
- Late Edition: Walter Mondale (D), Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ); Sen. James Webb (D-VA); Nat'l Urban League Pres. Marc Morial; pundit Amy Holmes (R); Children's Defense Fund Pres. Marian Wright Edelman; AEI's Richard Perle; Iraqi gov't spokesperson Ali Dabbagh; roundtable of John Roberts, Andrea Koppel, and Jeffrey Toobin.
The DNC sent out a list of questions they'd like to see Bob Schieffer ask Cheney. Here's a sampling:
- In light of the bombing of the Iraqi parliament inside the green zone, do you still believe things are going "remarkably well" in Iraq?
- When will we leave Iraq?
- A new poll says a majority of Americans think the Attorney General should be fired. Do you think Attorney General Gonzales should be fired?
- How far into the Bush White House does this scandal go and has anyone on your staff been involved?
More TV Alerts (April 2007 TV Alerts, Guest Watch):
- Political Capital: Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) (Bloomberg, repeats throughout weekend)
- This Week at War: Gov. Bill Richardson (D-NM) on 4/14
- Newsmakers (C-SPAN, 10am): FDA Admin. Andrew von Eschenbach on 4/15;
- Road to the White House: Elizabeth Edwards in IA on 4/15; Mitt Romney in IA on 4/15; Bill Richardson in NH on 4/15
- 60 Minutes: Education in prison on 4/15; 1998 Don Imus interview on 4/15; Duke lacrosse players on 4/15;
- Q&A (C-SPAN, 8pm): CIA dir. Michael Hayden on 4/15
- The View: Bill Maher on 4/16; (yes, Don & Deirdre Imus cancelled their 4/16 appearance)
- The Daily Show: Andrew Card (R) on 4/16; Sig Hansen on 4/17; Ali A. Allawi on 4/18; Jeremy Scahill on 4/19
- The Colbert Report: Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) on 4/16; Elaine Pagels on 4/17; Sean Penn on 4/19; Robert Pinsky on 4/19; Russell Simmons on 4/23; Dr. Andrew Weil on 4/24; David Walker on 4/25; Tom Wolfe on 4/26;
- Tavis Smiley: Bruce Bartlett on 4/17;
- Leno: Tim Russert on 4/18
- Larry King celebrates 50 years in broadcasting: Bill Clinton on 4/19; Bill Maher on 4/20
Political Calendar a.k.a. Congressional Democrats Do Rock More Than You Thought, especially Henry Waxman...
There are some hearings this week that are sure to produce some good stuff.
- 4/16: Senate resumes consideration of S.372, the Intelligence Authorization bill. A roll call vote on the motion to invoke cloture is scheduled for 5:30pm.
- 4/17: Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on combating autism, featuring a variety of witnesses including actor Bradley Whitford (most famously of The West Wing). Starts at 2pm.
- 4/17: Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Army & Marine Corps readiness. 9:30am start time. This hearing is followed by a 4/17 3pm hearing on ground forces readiness and Defense Authorization Request for FY2008 and by a 4/18 9:30am hearing on army readiness. The House is also holding hearings on DoD spending for FY2008 this week.
- 4/17: AG Alberto Gonzales testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee. (TPM has all the goods.)
- 4/17: House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing at 2pm on Counterterrorism Policy and Extraordinary Renditions.
- 4/17: House Oversight & Government Reform Cmte hearing on Walter Reed at 10am. Via Hotline: "National Security and Foreign Affairs Subcommittee hearing on "Is This Any Way to Treat Our Troops - Part II: Follow Up on Corrective Measures at Walter Reed."" (Love Henry Waxman!)
- 4/17: House Veterans Affairs Cmte hearing on veterans benefits legislation at noon. Via Hotline: "Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Subcommittee hearing on H.R.67, the "Veterans Outreach Improvement Act of 2007"; H.R.1435, the "Department of Veterans Affairs Claims Backlog Reduction Act of 2007"; H.R.1444, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to make interim benefit payments under certain remanded claims; and H.R.1490, to provide for a presumption of service-connectedness for certain claims for benefits under the laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs."
- 4/17: Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee hearing on Subprime Mortgage Market at 3pm.
- 4/18: House Oversight and Government Reform Cmte hearing on electronic voting systems at 2pm. Via Hotline: "Information Policy, Census, and National Archives Subcommittee hearing on "Ensuring Fairness and Accuracy in Elections Involving Electronic Voting Systems.""
- 4/18: House Oversight and Government Reform Cmte. Via Hotline: "Full committee hearing on "Unanswered Questions Regarding the Administration's Claims that Iraq Sought Uranium from Niger, White House treatment of Classified Information, the Appointment of Ambassador Jones as 'Special Coordinator' for Iraq and Other Subjects."" Condi Rice testifies. Hearing starts at 10am.
- 4/18: House Appropriations Cmte hearing on General Services Administration. GSA Administrator Lurita Doan testifies again. Her last performance was embarassing
- 4/18: Senate Environment and Public Works Committee 9:30am hearing on Lt. Gen. Robert Van Antwerp nomination to be chief of engineers and commanding general of the US Army Corps of Engineers. (Hope this guy will do a better job than the ones before him... yeah, I'm talking NOLA and Katrina.)
- 4/19: House Appropriations Cmte on public diplomacy & broadcasting programs. Undersecretary of State Karen Hughes testifies. Hearing begins at 9am.
- 4/19: Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Insurance Impacts of Global Warming hearing at 9am. (There are several House and Senate hearings this week on topics related to climate change and alternative energy. This is just one of them. )
- 4/19: Senate Judiciary Committee mtg at 10am. Via Hotline: "Full committee markup of S.376, the "Law Enforcement Officers of Safety Act of 2007"; S.119, the "War Profiteering Prevention Act of 2007"; S.1079, the "Star-Spangled Banner and War of 1812 Bicentennial Commission Act"; S.735, the "Terrorist Hoax Improvements Act of 2007"; H.R.740, the "Prevention Harassment through Outbound Number Enforcement (PHONE) Act of 2007"; S.221, the "Fair Contracts for Growers Act of 2007"; and S.495, the "Personal Data Privacy and Security Act of 2007"; vote on the nominations of Robert Howard Jr. to be U.S. Marshall for the Eastern District of Arkansas; Frederick Kapala to be U.S. district judge for the Northern District of Illinois; and Benjamin Settle to be U.S. district judge for the Western District of Washington; and vote on the authorization of subpoenas in connection with investigation into replacement of U.S. attorneys."
- 4/21: White House Correspondents Association dinner. Rich Little is the entertainer. Celebrity guest list here.
- GA-10 special election. Filing deadline is 4/26. Special election is 6/19. Runoff is 7/17.
- Other hearings: various homeland security committee hearings on improving homeland security; Darfur; tax issues; various veterans issues.
What's up Doc?
One Hotline Last Call reader writes in:
"In all the news coverage of Corzine's accident, did you all notice that, of the last 3 NJ governors, the 2 Democrats broke their left legs and the Republican broke their right leg?"
In addition to Gov. Jon Corzine's (D-NJ) leg injury, a few other prominent Dems are having leg trouble. Link
Turns out [Sen. Tom] Carper [(D-DE)] broke a bone in his foot last month running a half marathon in Wilmington, while keeping an eight-minute mile pace.
The 60-year-old senator had a screw inserted into his foot during surgery.
And the device he was using to get around? It’s called the “Roll-A-Bout,” and it’s made in — you guessed it — Delaware.
In related news, Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., had her knee replaced over the recent break, and was heard jokingly asking Sen. Robert Byrd if he’d like to race.
The 89-year-old West Virginia Democrat has been using two metal crutches to help him walk.
Ha Ha
Late Night Jokes
- Leno: "While speaking to some gun group, Mitt Romney proclaimed himself a hunter. ... Turns out he only went hunting twice in his entire life. Twice? Rudy Giuliani's been married more times than this guy went hunting."
- Letterman: "Have you seen pictures and videos of Don Imus lately? ... I've been thinking that if I were Don Imus, I wouldn't be saying anything about other people's hair"
- Conan O'Brien: "The White House says it wants to appoint a high-powered official to oversee the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and issue directions to the Pentagon and the State Department. This person would be called 'the president of the United States.'"
Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) was on Letterman Monday night. Watch a clip here.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) was on Leno Thursday night. Watch here. (Thanks to Scarce.)
Don't Forget
In all the 08 pres hubbub, there are some other political races in 2007 and 2008. 2008 Race Tracker is a good place for information on this.
DCCC is aggressively going after Rep. Heather Wilson (R-NM) for her role in the US Attorney purge scandal. There are radio ads and a special website.
Freshman House Dems are showing up at grocery stores and commuter train stations around the country. Why? Because it's smart politics, and while many are ignoring Rahm Emanuel's advice on The Colbert Report, they're not ignoring him on this one. You may catch Jerry McNerney in CA or Patrick Murphy in PA at a train station!
Plus, don't forget to make your donations:
Happy viewing, folks!