Olympic Torch Turmoil; Showdown Over Trade; Commander in the Crossfire
CAFFERTY: Fred in Pennsylvania: "Hillary can turn it around by changing the goal. It's got to be getting obvious, even to those inside the bubble, her chances at winning the nomination are slim and getting slimmer every day. She has, however, shown herself to be the toughest, most resilient candidate in modern memory. If she were to change her goal to take over Harry Reid's position in leading the Senate, she could come out of this election in perfect position to advance her agenda where the law actually gets made. I hope she does." Sherri in Canada: "I think she quits talking outside the issues, quits telling stories, she may still hang on to a 7 to 9 percent win in Pennsylvania. Just a note to all those bashing the media as being anti-Hillary -- Senator Clinton is the person saying these things. The media just reports it." And Robert writes: "If I knew, I wouldn't tell her." -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: All right, Jack. Thank you. And to our viewers, you're in THE SITUATION ROOM. Happening now, a daring display of anger against China high atop San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge and massive protests in Paris as the Olympic Torch becomes a lightning rod for demonstrations against human rights abuses. A big spike in the number of people losing homes -- we're on the foreclosure front lines, as a U.S. Senate panel holds a special hearing in hard hit Philadelphia. And the U.S. military commander in Iraq preparing to brief Congress on the state of the war. He'll step into the crossfire of the presidential campaign, the candidates hanging on every word. I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM. The Olympic Torch snuffed out in a bid to escape angry protesters in Paris. And well before the Torch even reaches San Francisco, a dramatic demonstration as the protesters scale the Golden Gate Bridge. Targeting China's human rights record, protesters are shadowing the Olympic Torch along its around the world relay. Let's bring in our State Department correspondent, Zain Verjee. She's watching this story for us -- it seems, Zain, like the protests are gaining strength.</s>ZAIN VERJEE, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: And getting a lot more dramatic, Wolf. At every stop, the Olympic Torch is running an uphill battle, drawing more anger than spirit.</s>VERJEE (voice-over): The Olympic Torch didn't make the finish line in Paris -- almost half of its planned run canceled as protesters blocked its way. Amid arrests and scuffles, the flame was put out at least twice by officials rushing it onto a bus for safety. At the Eiffel Tower, protesters angry over China's human rights record and its crackdown in Tibet unfold a flag showing the Olympic rings as handcuffs. Thousands of French security forces deployed to prevent similar scenes that gripped London the day before. Torch bearers caught up in it were torn.</s>KONNIE HUQ, OLYMPIC TORCH BEARER: It's the perfect opportunity to be able to speak out.</s>PAULA RADCLIFFE, BRITISH MARATHONER: And I think this is the wrong way.</s>VERJEE: The flame's next stop -- San Francisco.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We look forward to the Olympic Torch coming through our city peacefully.</s>VERJEE: Already protesters are in action -- scaling the suspension cables on the Golden Gate Bridge with anti-China banners and a Tibet flag. Many more Americans are angered by China's support for Sudan, whose government is accused of killing its own citizens in Darfur. The State Department's diplomat security is helping the city brace for mass protest.</s>SEAN MCCORMACK, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: I think everybody, it goes without saying, wants to have this be an event that is secure.</s>VERJEE: But the route has been scaled down to a six mile run around the waterfront. The Golden Gate Bridge out. A planned Torch journey on a cable car cut. A proposed stop in Chinatown canceled. Senator Hillary Clinton is calling President Bush to partially boycott the Games: "I believe President Bush should not plan on attending the opening ceremonies in Beijing absent major changes by the Chinese government," she says. President Bush has said the Olympics should be about athletes and not politics. The White House says the U.S. position has not changed -- meaning the president is still going to the opening ceremonies.</s>TONY FRATTO, DEPUTY WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The Olympics will take place and we expect the Olympic -- American qualifying Olympic athletes to participate in those games.</s>VERJEE: Senator Clinton criticized the Bush administration, saying it has been wrong to downplay human rights in its policy toward China, citing violent clashes in Tibet and the failure of the Chinese government to stop the genocide in Darfur. A White House spokesmen responded today, saying there's a great deal of concern about human rights in China and we have never been afraid to express those views directly by the president or by his senior advisers -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: All right, Zain. Thanks very much for that report. These protesters on the Golden Gate Bridge are getting an early start. The Olympic flame isn't due in San Francisco until Wednesday. It's one of 23 cities in the 34-day Torch relay around the world. After its only American stop in San Francisco, the Olympic flame continues through four more continents before arriving in China. The Olympics open in Beijing August 8th. You can track the Torch's progress on CNN.com/olympics, by the way. And stay with CNN for live coverage of the relay and the protests later in the week. The stage is set for a showdown between President Bush and Congressional Democrats over a free trade agreement with Colombia. And the more contentious it becomes as it is, happening in the midst of an election year political environment. Let's go to our White House correspondent, Ed Henry. He's joining us now with more. What's the president saying about the deal -- Ed?</s>ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, he's trying to say that this will boost the economy -- something Democrats don't really deny. Instead, they're focusing their fire on the fact that so many trade unionists have been killed in Colombia -- an explosive argument at a time when the Democratic presidential candidates are courting labor unions.</s>HENRY (voice-over): Caterpillar tractors like this one President Bush tried out last year are made in the USA.</s>HENRY: But it's no laughing matter. Colombia gets to slap a tariff of up to $200,000 on agricultural equipment -- making U.S. products hard to sell in Bogota, even though Colombian products face no such charge if they're shipped to America.</s>GEORGE BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The current situation is one-sided. Our markets are open to Colombian products, but barriers exist to make it harder to sell American products in Colombia.</s>HENRY: The stakes are enormous with the economy possibly headed for recession, sparking the president to demand Congressional Democrats ratify the trade deal by tend of the year.</s>BUSH: It's time to level the playing field.</s>HENRY: Democrats have heard the same argument before -- only to see deals like NAFTA not pan out. So they're opposing this one. But what's telling is Democrats like Hillary Clinton are not attacking the Colombia pact on economic grounds.</s>SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We've got to have new trade policies before we have new trade deals. And that includes no trade deal with Colombia while violence against trade unionists continue in that country.</s>ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Her chief rival, Barack Obama, is also playing to labor unions, whose support is critical in upcoming battlegrounds like Pennsylvania.</s>SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You've got a government that is under the cloud of potentially having supported violence against unions, against labor, against opposition. That's not the kind of behavior that we want to reward.</s>HENRY: Mr. Bush insists his Colombian counterpart, Alvaro Uribe, has decreased kidnappings, terror attacks and violence against union members and is battling neighboring Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez from expanding his influence in Latin America.</s>BUSH: President Uribe has stood strong against these threats and he's done so with assurance of America's support because his fight against tyranny and terror is a fight that we share.</s>HENRY: You can hear the president there try to make the case this is not just an economic issue, that it's also a national security issue. That's, in part, because he realizes it's a political loser in an election year to tout what is called free trade. So he's trying to broaden the argument out right now. But Speaker Nancy Pelosi is not on board. This is going to be very much an uphill battle -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Thanks very much. Ed Henry watching this story for us. While the economy certainly has dominated the presidential campaign lately, the war in Iraq is back in the spotlight right now. There's an upsurge in violence in Iraq, as Iraqi forces and U.S. troops have taken on Shiite militias. And the U.S. military commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, will give a progress report to Congress tomorrow. Democrats are stepping up demands for a withdrawal. Senator John McCain, on the other hand, is sticking to his guns, saying those calls by Democratic rivals represent a failure of leadership.</s>SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I hold my position on Iraq not because I am indifferent to the suffering caused by this war, but because I detest war and believe sincerely that should we fail in Iraq, we will face an even sterner test in the very near future -- an even harder war, with even greater sacrifice and heartbreaking loss than we have suffered over the last five years.</s>BLITZER: A Barack Obama supporter sent political sparks flying when he called John McCain -- and I'm quoting now -- "a warmonger." A comment Friday by a liberal radio talk show host at an Obama rally drew angry reaction from Republicans and the Obama campaign quickly distanced itself from the remarks. But the radio host, Ed Schultz, certainly wasn't backing down today on CNN's "</s>AMERICAN MORNING". (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "AMERICAN MORNING") ED SCHULTZ, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: And we need to speak up and challenge these candidates. John McCain has no end game in Iraq. He's saber rattling with Iran. He wants to throw the Russians out of the G8. And yesterday on your network, he said he wants to increase the military. Now, I ask the Americans this morning, what kind of message does it send to the rest of the world when we're occupying Iraq and we've got a candidate calling for more of a military build-up? This is outrageous. The man is a warmonger.</s>BLITZER: For the latest political news at any time, you can always check out our Political Ticker at CNNPolitics.com. The Ticker is the number one political news blog out on the Web. That's also where you can read my latest blog posts. I just posted one before the show. Let's go back to Jack. He's got The Cafferty File -- Jack.</s>CAFFERTY: And to paraphrase Shakespeare, in this case it's she who doth protest too much. Secretary Condoleezza Rice, it turns out, might be interested in being on the ticket with John McCain as the vice president, despite her numerous claims in recent years that she has no plans to run for office. Republican strategist, former Bush aide Dan Senor stirred the pot yesterday when he told ABC News that Rice has been "actively campaigning" for the number two slot in recent weeks. Senor says she's been cozying up to the elite in the Republican Party, including an appearance before Governor Norquist's group of economic conservatives. Senor suggests Rice's experience would make her a prime candidate and the McCain campaign wouldn't have to waste a lot of time introducing her to the American people. When asked about Rice's lobbying for the job, McCain said he "missed those signals". But he went on to compliment Rice, calling her a great American, and added that there's very little but the utmost praise that he can give for someone who has served as a role model to millions of people all around the world. Right. One little problem -- McCain's been critical of the way the Bush administration's handled the war in Iraq and said that Rice, who was national security adviser, remember, in the run-up and first year-and- a-half of that war, bears some responsibility for that mismanagement. Some would suggest McCain would have to be crazy to put anybody associated with the Bush administration on his ticket, that it will only lend to the Democrats' argument against a third Bush term. But having an African-American woman on the ticket could make things interesting in the general election this fall, because on the other side it's going to either be Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton. The State Department today denied Rice is interested in the job. They said that if she's actively seeking the position "she's the last one to know about it." Sort of like some other things. Here's the question -- would you be more or less likely to vote for John McCain if Condoleezza Rice is his running mate? You can go to CNN.com/caffertyfile and post a comment on my blog -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Good question, Jack. Thanks very much. Families are forced from their homes by the mortgage meltdown. Senators get a firsthand look at one of the cities hit hardest by the foreclosures. But can they do anything, really, to help? Also, the stand-off in Sadr City in Baghdad -- we're on the scene as U.S. troops are battling Shiite militias right in the heart of the Iraqi capital. Can the Americans count on their Iraqi allies? And an unlawful killing -- a British inquest into the death of Princess Diana delivers a final verdict and points the finger of blame. Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.