Senator Hillary Clinton Attends Fundraiser Hosted By Conservative Media Mogul Rupert Murdoch
BLITZER: New developments right now in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal. Just a short while ago, the Secret Service released logs of Abramoff's visits to the White House. Questions have been raised about the extent of the convicted lobbyist's contacts with the president and the Bush administration. Our Internet reporter Jacki Schechner is standing by with more -- Jacki.</s>JACKI SCHECHNER, CNN INTERNET REPORTER: Wolf, we got our hands on the documents because the conservative watch dog group Judicial Watch filed a Freedom of Information Act request. Here is what they said they wanted. They wanted the visitor logs from January 1, 2001, to the present for lobbyist Jack Abramoff to the White House. While we got them today and there's two pages, two visits you can take a look at. One on March 6 at 4:00 in the afternoon. He stayed for about 25 minutes. And then if you take a look, there is another one on January 20th, 2004. He was there for about 47 minutes. Now Judicial Watch is saying they think these logs are incomplete. The reason they give is they asked for Secret Service reports back in the Clinton era. When they got those, they got more information, like the visitee, the requester, and the room the person went to. This information is not on the Abramoff documents. But the U.S. Department of Justice that delivered these documents today say there were no exemptions and nothing has been withheld. Go to CNN.com/situationreport and you can read these for yourself, Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Thanks, Jacki, for that. Many liberals dislike him. Many conservatives are hostile to her. So what will happen when Senator Hillary Clinton attends a fundraiser hosted by none other than conservative media mogul Rupert Murdoch? CNN's Mary Snow is in New York and she has details -- Mary.</s>MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, a spokesman for Rupert Murdoch says Murdoch wants to show support for Senator Clinton's work in New York as she seeks re-election. Now when Clinton first ran in 2000, the Murdoch-owned "New York Post" was highly critical of her. The different tone comes as speculation builds, of course, that Clinton will seek a White House bid in 2008.</s>SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), NEW YORK: Am I worried about being targeted by Republicans?</s>SNOW (voice-over): Senator Hillary Clinton makes light of a question about Republican foes, and now one of the foes is a new and unlikely ally. Conservative media mogul Rupert Murdoch will host a fundraiser for Senator Clinton. She's been a frequent target of Murdoch's media companies.</s>HOWARD KURTZ, CNN ANCHOR: Murdoch's media properties, the "New York Post" most famously, Fox News Channel beat up on Hillary for years. She was a big, fat, juicy target when she was first lady.</s>SNOW: She fired back at Republicans, going on NBC's "Today Show," telling Matt Lauer in 1998 the right wing waged a battle against her husband.</s>CLINTON: The great story here for anybody willing to find it and write about and explain it is the vast right wing conspiracy that has been conspiring against my husband since the day he announced for president.</s>SNOW: Smack in the middle of the battle, say political observers, was Murdoch's media empire. Of Murdoch's support now, Senator Clinton says, quote, "I am very gratified that he thinks I'm doing a good job. With Murdoch's praise comes criticism towards Clinton.</s>BEN SMITH, "N.Y. DAILY NEWS" POLITICAL COLUMNIST: Liberal bloggers are saying she sold her soul to the devil.</s>SNOW: Others say it it's a move toward moderation, much in the same way she's formed alliances with Republicans such as Senator Lindsey Graham, former House speaker Newt Gingrich and Senator John McCain.</s>HANK SHEINKOPF, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: It proves again that she's a consensus builder who is not extraordinarily ideological, but significant enough as a Democrat, and who is not a polarizer.</s>SNOW: The question is, will it effect the news coverage of Hillary Clinton at Murdoch's media companies. Some media observers say the "New York Post" is taking a gentler tone with Clinton, especially after 9/11. Others doubt the coverage will change dramatically.</s>PAUL WALDMAN, MEDIA MATTERS FOR AMERICA: They know that beating up on Hillary Clinton is part of their bread and butter. And I can't imagine them stopping now.</s>SNOW (on camera): Political observers say, though, that Murdoch had a big influence on elections in the U.K. in 1997 when he crossed over from the Conservative Party and backed Tony Blair of the Labour Party -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: We'll see what he does here. Thanks very much, Mary, good report. One group Senator Clinton may need the court should she run for president, that would be Latinos. There's new data showing surging Latino population growth possibly setting the group up for some lasting political impact. CNN's Chris Lawrence is in Los Angeles. He's joining us with details. Chris?</s>CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, the latest census report shows that nationwide nearly half the children under the age of five years old are now racial or ethnic minorities. Most of that boom is being attributed to a booming Latino population. And that causes some very real political consequences down the road, has huge implications. Experts say a lot of the immigrants are no longer clustering on the coast. They're moving into Midwestern states like Illinois and Iowa. And they're moving South. A lot of the recent immigration move is now going into traditional red states like Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, and that has huge implications for political parties.</s>MARK SAWYER, UCLA: And that is what is of concern to Republican Party. That if they alienate this group of potential new voters who have a different view. They're much more - they much more believe in a kind of social safety net. They're concerned about education and health care and believe the government should play a role in it. And that potentially means that many red states may turn blue. Particularly those that still have a large African American population.</s>LAWRENCE: In fact here on the West Coast, a lot of African American politicians are already making a concerted effort to reach out to their Hispanic communities. Now a lot of the changes are years away from having their full impact. But coming up in the next hour of THE SITUATION ROOM, we'll tell you why these demographic changes are so important for the elections this November and how the Republican and Democratic parties are going in different directions in how they're trying to recruit these potential voters -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Chris, thanks. Chris will be back in the 7:00 p.m. Eastern hour with more on this story. Chris Lawrence, Mary Snow, Jackie Schechner. Part of the best political team on television. CNN, America's campaign headquarter. Up ahead, Jack Cafferty has your answers to our question of the hour. Should Americans change their behavior when they're abroad? Also coming up in our 7:00 p.m. Eastern hour, plunging poll numbers. No laughing matter at the White House. But are they for TV jokesters? Jeanne Moos has a unique look. You'll want to see that 7:00 Eastern, tonight right here on THE SITUATION ROOM.