Hotline After Dark -- Bush Admin Pressing Hard

There was a lot of talk last night about the Pope's comments on Muslims. There was also some discussion on Pres. Bush's U.N. visit and the debate over interrogation techniques:

MSNBC's Shuster: "As the president left today for his sixth visit to the United Nations, White House officials and diplomats acknowledged the Bush administration remains isolated over the Iraq war and something of a lone ranger when it comes to the nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea" ("Hardball," 9/18).

CNN's Roberts: "He's a full seven inches shorter than President Bush, but, at every opportunity, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad just loves to poke the president in the eye" ("AC 360," 9/18).

FNC's Goler: "Days after admitting how much the United Nations frustrates him, President Bush traveled to New York to try and rally the organization to support moderate Mideast leaders and oppose extremist ones" ("Special Report," 9/18).

TV TURNS TO TORTURE

CNN's Koppel: "We're getting strong signals from these three Republican senators that there's some flexibility and that there's some real negotiating taking place on the hard issue, in particular, Article 3 of the Geneva Convention" ("Situation Room," 9/18).

FNC's Angle: "Negotiations continued behind the scenes today and sources now say the prospects for a compromise are 50/50" ("Special Report," 9/18).

Newsweek's Wolff: "The White House is stretching here to try and accommodate things, and I suspect, just as we saw before with the McCain amendment on cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment of prisoners, these senators are going to get pretty much what they want" ("Countdown," MSNBC, 9/18).

Sec/State Condoleezza Rice: "No one wants us to give up the methods and the program that has produced information that has stopped attacks" ("Today," NBC, 9/19).

Undersec/state Karen Hughes, on interrogation techniques: "I've seen it reported that we're trying to redefine. We're not redefining anything. We're trying to define it and clarify it and make it clear what the rules are, so that our people won't violate those rules" ("Hardball," MSNBC, 9/18).

RNC Chair Ken Mehlman: "This program is critical. We have a new war. It requires us to adapt our tactics and it requires us to be consistent with our most important values" ("Situation Room," CNN, 9/18).

CAMPAIGNING TO HIS OWN TUNE

TX GOV candidate Kinky Friedman (I) stopped by "Tucker" last night:

Friedman: "If we were doing any better, I'd be nervous about it."

On the Katrina evacuees: "I'm faulting the governor for not that he brought all of these people over but he invited them to
somebody else's house for dinner and he didn't stick around to pick up the tab. I want to send $100 million to law enforcement in Houston so we can get 1,200 more cops on the street, overtime for all the cops and law enforcement, because the evacuees have been responsible for 20 percent of the homicides in Houston last year."

On his chances: "Like in the Lieberman race, I think there was 50 percent more people voted than they thought would vote. I mean, if we get anything even approaching that, it's going to be a landslide for us" (MSNBC, 9/18).