[Dobbs:] The Democrats today elected their new leadership for the 110th session of Congress, beginning in January. As expected, the Democratic Party selected California Representative Nancy Pelosi to be the first female speaker of the House of Representatives. But Pelosi's candidate for majority leader well, it didn't go Nancy's way. Dana Bash has the story.
[Dana Bash, Cnn Congressional Correspondent:] A moment in history. Democrats unanimously elected the first woman to be speaker of the House. But with her victory, also a stinging defeat. Nancy Pelosi put her prestige on the line in backing Iraq war critic and longtime friend John Murtha to be her number two, majority leader, but Murtha lost to Steny Hoyer in a blowout.
[Rep. Nancy Pelosi , House Speaker-elect:] Steny came out a big winner today. It was a stunning victory for him. We've had our debates, we've had our disagreements in that room. Let the healing begin.
[Bash:] A plea for healing just 10 days after triumphantly seizing of Congress was proof to many Democrats their new leader made a major strategic blunder even before being handed the speaker's gavel.
[Rep. Allen Boyd , Florida:] Well, I think the caucus, Dana, is fractured now, not because of the race, but because of Speaker-Elect Pelosi's heavy involvement in the race.
[Bash:] Some Democrats complained about strong-arm tactics, like suggesting committee assignments were at stake in the vote.
[Rep. Ron Kind , Wisconsin:] We're all grownups around here, and sometimes elbows are thrown sometimes. It shouldn't surprise too many people.
[Bash:] Pelosi said she had no regrets and attributed her support for Murtha to his prominence in making Iraq a central election issue.
[Pelosi:] He changed the debate in this country in a way that I think gave us this majority in this November.
[Bash:] Murtha took defeat in stride and promised his focus on the war would continue.
[Rep. John Murtha , Pennsylvania:] My congratulations to the other leaders. I look forward to working with them to redeploy our troops and to get get these troops out of Iraq.
[Bash:] Hoyer has been Pelosi's deputy for four years, but they have been rivals. She beat him in a head-to-head leadership race back in 2001. In the end, Hoyer's feverish campaigning and fund-raising for colleagues won him a victory by a wide margin.
[Rep. Steny Hoyer , Majority Leader-elect:] In my opinion, it was not that somebody was rejected today. It was that a team that had been successful was asked to continue to do that job.
[Bash:] Now, despite the pledges of unity all around, there are Democrats here who say that Pelosi's loss, at least her pick for majority leader's loss, should be a signal to her. In the words of one Democratic lawmaker, she must realize she needs to expand her close circle of advisers, trusted advisers, and reach out more to fellow Democrats who are not her natural allies Lou.
[Dobbs:] Well, if the speaker and everyone else take this less as a defeat for the speaker rather than a rejection of orthodoxy and we've seen plenty of that in Congress in recent years this could be looked upon as a strong positive. Thank you very much.
[Bash:] Thank you.
[Dobbs:] Dana Bash from Capitol Hill. That brings us to the subject of our poll tonight. Do you believe the newly elected Democratic Congress will be able to come together successfully with Republicans and succeed in putting middle class Americans first? Yes or no? Please cast your vote at loudobbs.com. We'll have those results coming up here. An incredible report tonight, unbelievable to those in this country who believe that five years of so-called economic growth is reaching all levels of society in this country. Today, the USDA reports that tens of millions of people in this country are struggling to put food on the table. Christine Romans reports.
[Christine Romans, Cnn Correspondent:] Last year, 35 million people struggled to put food on the table. And the Agriculture Department reports the number of the poorest, hungriest Americans keeps rising. Five years into an economic recovery, deep concerns that prosperity is not being shared.
[Kate Coler, Dep. Undersecretary, Usda:] There are some families that do face food insecurity, and that's why we're so aggressive with our programs to reach out to people so that they are aware of the food assistance programs that are available to them.
[Romans:] Thirty-six percent of poor families have what the government calls low food security. If it weren't for $33 billion in government assistance, that number would be higher. Living above the poverty line is no guarantee of food on the table. Families on the cusp of the middle class are seeing stubborn hunger rates. Of families earning around $37,000 or more, more than five percent had trouble putting food on the table.
[James Weill, Food Research & Action Center:] Some of the middle class are joining working poor families and other poor families in what the government calls food insecurity. And we just see families struggling to not be hungry on a regular basis.
[Romans:] Stagnant wages, higher healthcare and energy costs putting a squeeze on the food budget. The government says the typical family of four spends $150 a week for food. A full-time minimum wage jobs earns just $205 a week. Advocates for a higher minimum wage seized on the hunger data.
[Maude Hurd, Acorn:] I think the minimum wage certainly will help alleviate some of that. You know, people right now have to decide on whether they should eat quality food or put gas in the car to go to work.
[Romans:] A choice working Americans should not have to make. Now, this government getting some grief for dropping the word "hunger" from its classifications. "Low food security" is how the government wants to characterize what 35 million people experience in this country. Critics say changing what hunger is called for whatever bureaucratic reason it might be, changing what it's called doesn't change the reality that too many Americans in this day and age are still hungry.
[Dobbs:] Well, this administration should be marched straight over to a dictionary, the entire administration, and taught that words actually are important in their meaning, and to take create something called food insecurity, I mean, that is disgusting. We're talking about people being left hungry in this country.
[Romans:] That's what a lot of the advocates are saying here today. They say hungry is hungry, period.
[Dobbs:] It's what are they food insecurity?
[Romans:] There's low food security.
[Dobbs:] These are just abject idiots. I don't even want to and the fact that we have this problem in this country in the 21st century, it's reprehensible, whether you are a Democrat, a Republican, no matter what. Thirty-five million people.
[Romans:] And the Bush administration has set a target to cut that number in half by 2010. And so far, there is still a long way to go.
[Dobbs:] Cut it in half?
[Romans:] Cut the rate of low food security in half.
[Dobbs:] So 17.5 million should be feeling better about their prospects. Unbelievable. All right. Thank you very much, Christine Romans. Still ahead here, Congress abdicates its responsibility, and the Bush administration presses for another free trade agreement to a country sure to swamp the United States with cheap, foreign goods and provide an opportunity for cheap foreign labor. Free trade everywhere. The deal will pit middle class American workers against some of the cheapest in the world. Promises from Arizona's new immigration official of harsher penalties for employers who hire illegal aliens. Could this be the beginning of sense, reason and effectiveness? Don't hold your breath. Also, bold new warnings of the economic and security threats to this country from communist China, a new report. We'll have that special report and a great deal more, straight ahead. Stay with us.