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Huckabee apologizes for comments on Mormons

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Republican Mike Huckabee Wednesday personally apologized to rival Mitt Romney for comments he made in an upcoming New York Times Magazine article that appear to disparage the Mormon faith.

The former Arkansas governor said he apologized to Romney after the GOP debate in Johnson, Iowa.

I said, I would never try, ever to try to somehow pick out some point of your faith and make it an issue, and I wouldn’t, Huckabee said.

I’ve stayed away from talking about Mitt Romney’s faith, Huckabee said. I told him face-to-face, I said I don’t think your being a Mormon ought to make you more or less qualified for being a president.

In the article, a preview of which is posted on the New York Times Web site, the former Arkansas governor is quoted as asking, Don’t Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?

The remark came after New York Times reporter Zev Chafets asked Huckabee whether he thought Mormonism was a religion or a cult. Huckabee, a former Baptist minister, said he thought it was the former but conceded he doesn’t know much about it. The article is to appear in Sunday’s paper.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a Huckabee rival for the 2008 GOP nomination, is a member of the Mormon church, officially known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Speaking Wednesday on NBC’s Today show, Romney said, I think attacking someone’s religion is really going too far. It’s not the American way.

Huckabee’s comment is consistent with those that are often used to vilify the Mormon church, a spokeswoman for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints told The Associated Press.

In a statement sent to CNN, church spokesman Michael Purdy said, Like other Christians, we believe Jesus is the divine son of God. Satan is a fallen angel.

As the apostle Paul wrote, God is the Father of all, Purdy added. That means that all beings were created by God and are his spirit children. Christ, however, was the only begotten in the flesh and we worship him as the son of God and the savior of mankind.

Huckabee’s campaign says the article takes the candidate’s comments out of context. Huckabee was not bashing the religion but instead was illustrating his unwillingness to answer questions about Mormonism and to avoid addressing theological questions during this campaign, the campaign said in a statement released Tuesday night.

Gov. Huckabee has said consistently that he believes this campaign should center on a discussion of the important issues confronting our nation, and not focus on questions of religious belief, Charmaine Yoest, a senior adviser to the campaign, said in a statement. He wants to assure persons of all faith traditions of his firm commitment to religious tolerance and freedom of worship.

Huckabee, locked in a battle with Romney for support among the evangelical community, also took heat this month for declining to say whether he thinks Mormonism is a cult.

I’m just not going to go off into evaluating other people’s doctrines and faiths. I think that is absolutely not a role for a president, he said.

Huckabee told reporters last week he didn’t watch Romney’s highly anticipated speech on his faith. But he argued that he has been confronted with questions about his faith more than Romney has and that he also would make a God speech if given the airtime.

I get all of the God questions at the debates, so you know when people say, ‘Oh, he had to make a speech,’ I’m thinking, ‘Hey you know what? If you’ll give me national television time, I’ll make you a God speech, and I’ll tell you what I’ll do, I’ll throw in an offering and an altar call to throw in with it.’
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CIA chief: Agency ‘could have done better’ on interrogation tapes

WASHINGTON (CNN) — CIA Director Michael Hayden admitted Wednesday the agency could have done a better job of keeping the House Intelligence Committee in the loop when it destroyed videotapes showing agents using waterboarding and other alternative interrogation techniques on al Qaeda operatives.

I think it’s fair to say that particularly at the time of the [tapes’] destruction we could have done an awful lot better in keeping the committee alerted and informed as to that activity, Hayden told reporters after emerging from a three-hour closed-door meeting with the committee.

Hayden disclosed the existence and destruction of the tapes in a memo to CIA employees last week after he learned a newspaper was about to publish the information. U.S. officials said the recordings were made as an internal check on the CIA’s use of interrogation techniques authorized in 2002 against suspected terrorists.

The tapes showed interrogations of two al Qaeda suspects in 2002. The tapes were destroyed in 2005 after it was determined they no longer had intelligence value, Hayden wrote.

One of the suspects, Abu Subayda, was waterboarded to get him to talk, and he yielded valuable information, a former CIA officer, John Kiriakou, told CNN on Tuesday. Watch Kiriakou say he now feels waterboarding is unethical

Human rights groups consider waterboarding — in which a prisoner is restrained and water poured over his mouth and nose to produce the sensation of drowning — a form of torture dating back to the Spanish Inquisition.

The Justice Department and the CIA have launched an investigation into the destruction of the tapes.

The CIA chief said he was aware of the existence of the tapes before he took his current job, but he didn’t know about them before they were destroyed in 2005.

Hayden’s comments to the committee vary from his employee memo, in which he said the leaders of our oversight committees in Congress were informed of the videos years ago and of the agency’s intention to dispose of the material.

Our oversight committees also have been told that the videos were, in fact, destroyed, Hayden’s December 6 memo said.

Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Michigan, ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, said the CIA chief’s comments Wednesday prove the committee was not kept up to date on the matter.

It’s pretty clear that the House Intelligence Committee was not kept fully informed of what was going on with these tapes, whether it was the existence of these tapes, the discussion and the plans to destroy these tapes, and then actually the destruction of these tapes a few years ago, he said.

Committee Chairman Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, agreed.

There is a tremendous amount of frustration, because notwithstanding what Hayden put out last week, we feel our committee was not informed, has not been kept informed, and we are very frustrated about that issue, he told reporters.

The committee plans to call several other witnesses, including those whom Hayden called experts — those who were actually involved in the program.

Hayden briefed the Senate Intelligence Committee on the matter Tuesday. After the briefing, Sen. Kit Bond of Missouri, the ranking Republican on the Intelligence Committee, said nothing he heard during Hayden’s appearance indicated anything illegal or unlawful was done. The committee’s Democratic chairman, Sen. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, told reporters, We need to get to the bottom of it.

A U.S. government official said Tuesday the tapes were destroyed in November 2005 on the orders of Jose Rodriguez, the head of the CIA’s National Clandestine Service, who retired in September. Lawyers for the NCS gave written approval for the move, the official said.

Government officials have said CIA General Counsel John Rizzo opposed destroying the tapes and found out only after the fact as did then-CIA Director Porter Goss, a former chairman of the House Intelligence committee.
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GOP candidates face off in crucial Iowa debate

(CNN) — The financial situation facing the country dominated the first part of Wednesday’s GOP presidential debate.

The financial situation is a major problem that must be addressed, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani said at the start of the debate.

Rep. Duncan Hunter of California called the budget deficit and the trade loss a threat to national security.

Texas Rep. Ron Paul agreed, saying, It’s absolutely a threat to our national security because we spent too much, we taxed too much, we borrowed too much, and we print too much.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said the best answer for economic woes is to make sure we have good jobs for our citizens, good schools for our kids, good health care for everyone and that we have policies that promote the growth of the nation.

The debate, sponsored by The Des Moines Register and Iowa Public Television, marks the last time the GOP presidential hopefuls will appear on the same stage before the crucial Iowa caucuses on January 3.

When asked what his plan is for keeping foreign markets open while protecting American jobs, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said excessive taxation penalizes the productivity of a company.

You add to that excessive regulation, which means that you’ve got more red tape than is possible to get through, he said. I can’t part the Red Sea, but I believe I can part the red tape.

When asked to raise their hands if they believed global climate change is a serious threat and caused by human activity, former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson said he wasn’t doing hand shows today.

Other candidates agreed. Thompson asked if he could answer the question instead, but was told no.

The Democratic candidates will face off at 2 p.m. on Thursday.

The battle to win Iowa has increasingly come down to Romney and Huckabee, who has surged to the top of the polls largely due to the support of evangelical Christians.

A McClatchy-MSNBC poll conducted earlier this week had Huckabee leading the GOP field with the support of 32 percent of likely caucus-goers. Romney, who had been leading in Iowa for months, was at 20 percent in that poll, which had a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.

Romney has sharpened his attacks on Huckabee, particularly on immigration, the issue the Romney camp views as one of his rival’s biggest vulnerabilities, after the Arkansas Republican began rising in the polls. Huckabee was only at 12 percent in Iowa in September, according to the McClatchy-MSNBC poll. Watch Huckabee respond to Romney’s latest attacks

While Iowa’s population is overwhelmingly white, the state’s agricultural industry is attracting an increasing number of both legal and illegal Hispanic immigrants. The influx of these new workers has created a backlash among certain segments of Iowa’s electorate, and is a hot button issue in the Republican presidential nominating contest.

Some GOP candidates are not only airing television ads touting their personal positions on illegal immigration, but they are also criticizing their opponents for being weak on the issue.

On Tuesday, Romney, who has lost his front-runner status in polls to Huckabee in Iowa, began airing an ad, titled The Record. The ad compares the candidates’ conservative stands on social issues but draws a sharp contrast on their track records on immigration policy, particularly the fact that Huckabee supported in-state tuition for children of illegal immigrants in Arkansas while Romney opposed a such a measure in Massachusetts. Watch Romney’s ad

During an event Tuesday in Council Bluffs, Iowa, Huckabee called the ad desperate and said he thought it would backfire.

I’m somewhat flattered in that I seem to be the recipient of the first negative attack ad in the Republican primary, Huckabee said. That’s usually the kind of desperation on the part of an opponent who feels that his only way of winning is to attack and destroy.
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Deaths blamed on Tropical Storm Olga

SANTIAGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — Tropical Storm Olga triggered floods and landslides in the Caribbean on Wednesday, killing at least eight people in the Dominican Republic and in Puerto Rico and forcing thousands to flee their homes.

Hardest hit was the northern Dominican province of Santiago, where heavy rains forced authorities to release water from a near-capacity dam into the already swollen Yaque River. The provincial governor said at least seven towns were completely flooded.

People complained on local radio that they were not warned of the water release from the dam, and officials acknowledged it might have caused some of the deaths.

We have an emergency situation. It’s a catastrophe, Gov. Jose Izquierdo said.

Dominican Attorney General Radhames Jimenez said at least seven people were killed and 5,000 evacuated. The storm also was blamed for one death in Puerto Rico, where a rain-triggered avalanche buried a sport utility vehicle.

Families living along the banks of the swollen Yuna River near Santiago were evacuating, placing mattresses atop their heads, and climbing aboard motorcycles headed toward higher ground. Televisions and small ovens were stacked outside humble wooden homes, ready to be moved. Trucks carrying soldiers headed toward Santiago province.

As heavy rains began to overwhelm the Tavera Dam, outside Santiago, the country’s second-largest city, officials gave the order to begin releasing millions of gallons per second into the river, said Ismael Matias, planning chief of the Dominican emergency operations center.

Local authorities had warned repeatedly that a release was possible during the storm and told people to evacuate areas in the path of floodwaters rising as high as 66 feet above normal, Matias said. It was unclear if the warnings were heeded or even relayed.

Perhaps some people did not believe that the water was going to come and they stayed, that’s possible, Matias told The Associated Press.

Olga struck nearly two weeks after the official end of the Atlantic hurricane season. It is only the 10th named storm to develop in the month of December since record keeping began in 1851, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida.

It’s not completely unusual to have a storm form in December, said Daniel Brown, a hurricane specialist at the center, who noted that three named storms have formed after November 30 since 2003.

At 10 a.m. ET, Olga was centered about 75 miles south of Guantanamo, Cuba, and moving west at about 23 mph. It had maximum sustained winds of about 40 mph, the hurricane center said. See the storm’s predicted track

Forecasters predicted it would gradually weaken into a tropical depression.

The storm passed through the southwestern areas of the Dominican Republic that were hardest hit by Tropical Storm Noel six weeks ago. At least 87 deaths in the country were blamed on Noel, the deadliest storm of the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season.

The storm passed Puerto Rico on Tuesday night, knocking out electricity to 79,000 people and water to 144,000.

A tropical storm warning was in effect for the southeastern Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands, meaning tropical storm conditions are expected there within 24 hours.

Olga will be included in the tally for the 2007 hurricane season, bringing the number of named storms to 15, including six hurricanes. The next season begins June 1.
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Iraq contract worker seeks hearing on alleged rape

HOUSTON, Texas (AP) — The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee asked the Justice Department on Tuesday to give a full account of its investigation into the alleged rape of a female contract worker in Iraq two years ago.

Jamie Leigh Jones, a former Conroe resident, filed a federal lawsuit in May against Halliburton Co., its former subsidiary, KBR Inc., and others claiming she was raped by co-workers while working for a Halliburton subsidiary at Camp Hope, Baghdad, in 2005.

The Associated Press usually does not identify people who say they have been sexually assaulted, but Jones’ face and name have been broadcast by ABC News and appear on her own Web site.

In a letter dated Tuesday, Rep. John Conyers, D-Michigan, asked Attorney General Michael Mukasey if his office had investigated Jones’ claims and whether the Justice Department has jurisdiction to prosecute under military provisions of the USA Patriot Act.

Conyers also seeks clarification on a statement from KBR, the military contractor that split from Halliburton in April, that says it had initiated investigations into the alleged assault but later halted the probe.

KBR has said it was instructed to cease by government authorities because they were assuming sole responsibility for the criminal investigations.

Justice Department spokesman Peter Carr said Tuesday the agency was reviewing Conyers’ letter. The department is investigating this matter, and because it’s an ongoing investigation, we are unable to comment further, Carr said.

Jones’ case got renewed attention this week after ABC News previewed a report of the allegations it plans to air on 20/20 next month.

Jones began working for KBR as an administrative assistant in 2004 when she was 19, but later transferred to Iraq with another Halliburton subsidiary, according to her lawsuit. Watch how woman brought rape claims to government’s attention

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Beaumont, claims Jones lived in a coed barracks and, after enduring harassment from some of the men in the quarters, was drugged and raped July 28, 2005. Her attackers were Halliburton and KBR firefighters, the suit claims.

The petition says the facility was under direct control of the U.S. government, KBR and Halliburton, collectively.

Jones’ attorney, L. Todd Kelly, declined to say where Jones was living now because she fears for her safety. He declined to elaborate.

Jones’ Web site highlights her nonprofit foundation to help fellow contract workers who may have been sexually assaulted, and displays her therapeutic still-life paintings that she offers to paint on commission. The site also mentions a screenplay of her story in Iraq.

In a statement, KBR said it couldn’t comment on specifics of the case but that the safety and security of its employees were its top priority.

Halliburton says it is improperly named in the matter and expects to be dismissed from the case. It would be inappropriate for Halliburton to comment on the merits of a matter affecting only the interest of KBR, the oilfield services company said in a statement.

Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, who signed Conyers’ letter, sent his own inquiry to Mukasey on Monday. He said Jones’ father contacted his office after the alleged rape and said his daughter reported KBR/Halliburton was holding her in a shipping container without food and water.

Poe said he then contacted the State Department, which dispatched agents to rescue Jones.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack declined Tuesday to comment on specifics of the case, but he confirmed its Bureau of Diplomatic Security had responded to and investigated the incident. He said the results were turned over to the Justice Department.
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