Gonzales: Round Two; Putin's Slap at America
BLITZER: To our viewers, you're in THE SITUATION ROOM. Happening now, Arab League delegates planning an unprecedented trip to Israel in the next few weeks. The visit was announced today after the Israeli foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, met with the Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak, in Cairo. She says Israel also wants to strengthen ties with Egypt. A change in leadership over at JetBlue. The New York-based airline today removed founder David Neeleman as chief executive, although he will remain on as chairman. JetBlue suffered a major service malfunction back in February that cost the company $30 million. And the manufacturer of OxyContin agrees to a $600 million penalty in a plea deal with the Justice Department. Purdue Pharma was charged with defrauding doctors and consumers by falsely claiming the drug is less addictive than other pain medications. I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM. It was round two today for the attorney general, Alberto Gonzales, on Capitol Hill. He was pummeled by House Democrats over the firings of those U.S. attorneys. But some Republicans in his corner say enough is enough. Let's go straight to our justice correspondent, Kelli Arena. She's joining us with the latest -- Kelli.</s>KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: You know, Wolf, Alberto Gonzales insists that he doesn't remember any new details since the last time he appeared before Congress three weeks ago. Now, that was good enough for members of his own party, but as you could guess, it didn't fly with Democrats.</s>ARENA (voice over): Attorney General Alberto Gonzales finally feeling some love. Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee say they've heard enough about fired prosecutors and pushed hard to change the subject.</s>REP. LAMAR SMITH (R), TEXAS: If there are no fish in this lake, we should reel in our lines of questions, dock our empty boat, and turn to more pressing issues.</s>ARENA: But Democrats say they won't stop asking questions until they get to the bottom of why those prosecutors were fired and whether any crime was committed.</s>REP. ROBERT WEXLER (D), FLORIDA: With all due respect, Mr. Attorney General, you won't tell the American people who put Mr. Iglesias on the list to be fired. It's a national secret, isn't it?</s>ALBERTO GONZALES, ATTORNEY GENERAL: Congressman, if I knew the answer to that question, I would provide you the answer.</s>ARENA: There was even another call for Gonzales to resign.</s>REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D), CALIFORNIA: I hope you will reconsider your decision. And I hope you will resign, because the department is broken and I don't think you're the one to fix it.</s>ARENA: The Democrats' disdain for the attorney general was palpable and matched by the Republican disdain for the subject.</s>REP. DAN LUNGREN (R), CALIFORNIA: We're acting around this place like U.S. attorneys are product of the immaculate conception, and once they've been created they cannot be undone.</s>ARENA: There's little chance of getting Democrats to let go of this issue, though, especially since there are new allegations to deal with. Lawmakers are now investigating new charges that yet another U.S. attorney, a guy by the name of Todd Graves, was pushed out for political reasons -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: But as long as the president of the United States believes he should stay, he's not going anywhere.</s>ARENA: He's not going anywhere.</s>BLITZER: Kelli, thanks for that. Kelli arena reporting. Is the Russian president Vladimir Putin comparing America to Nazis? His stunning comments came this week during a commemoration of the World War II defeat of Germany. Let's go live to our senior international correspondent, Matthew Chance. He's joining us in Moscow. This is very disturbing stuff, Matthew. What's it all about?</s>MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly some very pointed criticism, Wolf, coming from the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, apparently directed towards the United States about its perceived dominance of global affairs. In a speech, as you say, marking Victory Day in Red Square in the center of the Russian capital, Moscow, Vladimir Putin said that the world today faced threats just like those before the Second World War.</s>CHANCE (voice over): Amid the pomp of Russia's annual Victory Day parade, a stinging Cold War-style attack on the United States. The U.S. wasn't mentioned by name, but in a speech to commemorate defeat of Nazi Germany, Russian President Vladimir Putin made what analysts say was a blunt reference to current U.S. foreign policy.</s>VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): These new threats, just as under the Third Reich, share the same contempt for human life and the same aspiration to establish an exclusionive dictate over the world.</s>CHANCE: The Kremlin has been a vocal critic of the U.S.-led war in Iraq. It's also resisted stronger U.N. sanctions Washington wants imposed on Iran over its controversial nuclear program, developed in part with Russia's help. More recently, tensions before the former Cold War enemies have been inflamed by U.S. plans to install elements of a missile defense system in eastern Europe. Analysts say a resurgent Kremlin, fueled by vast oil wealth, seems determined to voice ever-stronger anti-U.S. criticism. And the choice of venue for the latest attack was symbolic. The defeat of Nazi Germany is commemorated with a nationalistic passion here. Annual parades through Red Square in Moscow, where Russia remembers its own painful sacrifice -- 27 million lives lost. It seems under Vladimir Putin they've become a venue for political point- scoring as well.</s>CHANCE: Well, relations between the two countries remain complicated on a whole range of issues, Wolf. U.S. officials say that the two former Cold War enemies are still very much on speaking terms, emphasizing the friendship that still exists between the two leaders, President Bush and Vladimir Putin. Back to you.</s>BLITZER: Now, tell our viewers, Matthew, how the secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, reacted to these really, really tough words from Putin.</s>CHANCE: Well, she didn't respond to them directly, but she certainly expressed Washington's view that it is deeply concerned about the direction in which Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, is taking this country. She again expressed concerns about the plight of democracy in Russia, about the plight of press freedom. That's been -- that's been restated repeatedly by administration officials. And so, there are obviously a great deal of concerns that Washington has too about the direction Moscow is taking.</s>BLITZER: Matthew Chance reporting for us from Moscow. We're going to stay on top of this story. U.S.-Russian relations on the line right now. Up ahead, "What If?" What if the world took climate change seriously? Our special correspondent, Frank Sesno, takes a peak over the horizon. And the controversial filmmaker Michael Moore in the middle of yet another controversy, but this time he's under investigation by the federal government. We'll tell you what's going on. Carol Costello standing by to explain. Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.