Hotline After Dark: Man On A Mission

Most of the pundit talk last night focused on the Iraq funding bill and what's next in that process:

VP Cheney sat down with FNC's Baier:

On Iraq: "We didn't get elected to be popular. We didn't get elected to worry just about the fate of the Republican party. Our mission is to do everything we can to prevail in what is now, we believe, a global conflict, a fundamental test of the character of the American people, whether or not we're going to be able to prevail against one of the most evil opponents we have ever faced."

On Tenet's book: "I haven't read George's book, but to state that somehow the president didn't spend a lot of time thinking about this or talking about it -- we had extensive conversations. Maybe George wasn't included in those. But the fact of the matter is this decision was weighed as heavily and given as careful consideration as any I have ever been involved in and I have worked for four presidents."

More: "When George Tenet sat in the Oval Office and the president of the United States asked him directly and said, George how good is the case against Saddam on weapons of mass destruction, and the director of the CIA said it is a slam dunk, Mr. President. It is a slam dunk. ... It's an accurate reflection of what happened. It is not to say that George walked in and said that and everybody decided to run off and go to war. Not by any means. We had been receiving evidence for months. I think this conversation occurred some time in late 2002, as I recall."

Asked if he has any hard feelings toward Tenet: "No, if I had ill feelings toward everybody that has written books, it would be a pretty long list" ("Special Report," FNC, 5/10).

AL IS STILL TALKING

Al Sharpton stopped by "Hardball" to talk about his Mormonism comments:

Sharpton: "I talked today to two of the leaders on the top apostles group of the Mormon Church. I said to them, I was certainly not being anti-Mormon. ... I am going to go see them in Utah. I have said, if I offended Mormons with the misuse of my words, I would apologize to Mormons. ... I think Romney is going to play politics. But I think that we need to have a dialogue."

More: "I have no problem talking to Mr. Romney and explaining to him what I meant and what I didn't say" (MSNBC, 5/10).

And on "LKL" Marie Osmond was asked about the Sharpton/Romney exchange

Osmond: "Al has not led a perfect life. I think people need to be responsible for what they say. And it's unfortunate. ... I'm not saying I'm voting for Mitt. I'm not saying anything. You know we have a year, year and a half left to make our decisions. But I think that it's really, really important, especially as a mother, what I try to teach my children, is who cares what celebrities say, who cares what other people say? What's important is to study the issues" (CNN, 5/10). [EMILY GOODIN]