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Bloomberg stirs speculation over presidential bid

NORMAN, Oklahoma (AP) — New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg turned up the volume on a possible independent bid for president on Monday, arguing that partisanship is limiting the nation’s progress at a summit of Republicans and Democrats that stole a bit of the spotlight from the candidates in New Hampshire.

Amid talk about Washington riven by partisanship, Bloomberg gathered with some current elected officials, others out of office for years to discuss bridging the divide between the two parties. The summit came on the eve of the first-in-the-nation primary.

People have stopped working together, government is dysfunctional, there’s no collaborating and congeniality, Bloomberg said to applause from the crowd. America is being held back, he said.

The panel also included Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel, who is often mentioned as an ideal running mate for Bloomberg.

Every one of us in this group this morning believes there are opportunities to turn things around for our country, our future, our children, the world, Hagel said.

A long line of people — students, political junkies and Bloomberg backers — stretched down the street before the event began.

The opportunity to remove partisan politics from the dialogue is a wonderful idea, said Dennis Ryan, 74, a lawyer from Oklahoma City.

But the national media who traveled to Oklahoma University, and some in the crowd of about 1,000, were there to see Bloomberg more than anyone else. The multibillionaire mayor switched his party affiliation from Republican to independent last summer, increasing the political chatter about a potential third-party bid for the presidency.

Some of the event’s organizers themselves have bluntly billed the gathering as a warning to the major party candidates that they are prepared to back an independent candidate — someone like Bloomberg — if they do not see more cooperation among the declared contenders.

Several of the candidates have already made bipartisanship part of their campaign messages.

Democrat Barack Obama, who won the Iowa caucuses, referred to that theme several times during his victory speech, telling his supporters: You came together as Democrats, Republicans and independents, to stand up and say that we are one nation… you said the time has come to move beyond the bitterness and pettiness and anger that’s consumed Washington.

The Republican winner in Iowa, Mike Huckabee, also referred to a desire for bipartisan unity.

What Americans want, he said in his speech, is for their president to bring this country back together, to make Americans, once again, more proud to be Americans than just to be Democrats or Republicans, to be more concerned about going up instead of just going to the left or to the right.

The group in Oklahoma spent several hours Sunday night and Monday morning drafting a joint statement about the urgency of drawing the parties to work together in addressing issues such as health care, climate change, homeland security and the economy. It urged the presidential candidates to provide clear descriptions of how they would establish a government of national unity, and specific strategies for reducing polarization and reaching bipartisan consensus.

The forum included former Republican Sen. Bill Brock of Tennessee, former Defense Secretary William Cohen, former Democratic Sen. Bob Graham of Florida, former Democratic Sen. David Boren of Oklahoma, former Democratic Sen. Sam Nunn of Georgia and former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman.

We come together to appeal to all presidential candidates to tell us how they plan to bring us together: Hear our plea, bring us together, Boren said.

Asked what he would do if the candidates did not respond, Bloomberg demurred.

I think all the members of the panel are optimistic that the candidates will listen to us and will understand that there is a deep need in this country and a deep desire among the electorate to have the candidates face the issues, he said.

The billionaire mayor, who is in his second term, says publicly that he will not run, but his denials have weakened as his aides more boldly explore a potential candidacy.

The mayor has been entertaining presidential speculation for more than two years, but time is closing in — he needs to make a decision within about the next several months in order to begin the exhaustive and complicated process of collecting signatures to get on the ballot, a process that differs state by state.

The earliest deadline now is Texas; he would need to collect about 74,100 signatures by May 12, and can only begin the petitioning there on March 5. A number of states follow with June deadlines, including Arizona, Colorado and North Carolina.
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Candidates talk change on the campaign trail

(CNN) — A narrowed field of White House hopefuls is fighting to show New Hampshire who can be the agent of change.

Candidates from both sides of the aisle are jumping on the campaign trail’s latest buzzword, one day before the state holds its first-in-the-nation primary.

Democratic contender Barack Obama, who has opened up a double-digit lead over rival Sen. Hillary Clinton, told supporters the theme of his campaign has remained constant.

We talked about change when we were up; we talked about change where we were down, the Illinois senator said at a rally in Claremont, New Hampshire, on Monday. This change thing must be catching on.

Obama, who won last week’s Iowa caucuses, led Clinton 39 percent to 29 percent in a CNN/WMUR poll conducted Saturday and Sunday, a sharp difference from a poll out Saturday that showed the Democratic front-runners tied at 33 percent.

The CNN/WMUR poll, conducted by the University of New Hampshire, surveyed 341 Democrats and 268 Republicans likely to vote in Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary. It had a sampling error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.

Clinton holds a comfortable advantage in the area of experience, but 61 percent of likely Democratic voters in New Hampshire say what matters most is the ability to bring about change, according to the survey. Watch what’s at stake in New Hampshire

In the aftermath of a third-place finish in Iowa, Clinton’s camp is sending thousands of e-mails to supporters saying her campaign is about action. Clinton has been focusing on her record while trying to downplay Obama’s experience.

I think it’s time for people to say, ‘Wait a minute. Let’s get real here.’ There is a big difference between talking and acting, Clinton told CNN on Sunday.

Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, a distant third, has been trying to differentiate himself from the front-runners by pushing his plan for the middle class. He says while Obama promises change, he would be more effective at taking on special interests in Washington. Watch Edwards talk about his plans to create jobs

You can’t just nice these people to death and bring them to the table. You have to actually be willing to battle them and fight them, he said Sunday in New Hampshire. That is the difference between us.

Edwards is on a 36-hour, 15-stop tour. He told an audience in Nashua that he’s showing the determination as a candidate that he would have as president.

Gov. Bill Richardson, polling fourth in the Granite State and harping on the same theme, has set his sights on the undecided voters.

With Bill Richardson, you get change and you get experience. You have to have experience to change things. I have a record, he said Monday on CNN’s American Morning. Watch Richardson explain why he represents change

On the Republican side, Sen. John McCain, insists he’s the one with the gumption to deliver change.

My friends, I am most proud of the change that I brought about in Iraq that saved Americans’ lives, he said.

McCain, who finished in a tie for fourth in Iowa, leads the GOP pack in New Hampshire, according to the latest poll. McCain has more than doubled his numbers from where he was six months ago. He won New Hampshire in the 2000 primary.

McCain leads former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney 32 percent to 26 percent, CNN’s survey found. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, whose upset win in Iowa came after being outspent by millions of dollars by Romney, passed former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani to gain third place.

Romney, who won the Wyoming Republican caucuses on Saturday, has purchased two minutes of New Hampshire airtime Monday night to make his closing arguments.

There’s a tide of change sweeping New Hampshire and America, Romney says in the ad. Everywhere I go people say Washington is broken. And they know that those who’ve spent their careers in Washington can’t change Washington.

It’s long past time to bring real change to Washington, he says.

Romney on Monday questioned McCain’s ability to do so. Frankly, I don’t think Sen. McCain — despite his service and his length of experience — that that’s going to be able to stand up to the message that Barack Obama has brought forward, he said.

Others have put less emphasis on New Hampshire. Giuliani has largely skipped New Hampshire and is pinning his hopes on Florida and the Super Tuesday states.

Huckabee says he’s not expecting a first-place finish in New Hampshire.

If we come in anywhere in the third or fourth spot, we are going to be doing great, he said on CNN Monday. Watch Huckabee describe his hopes for New Hampshire

Among other Republicans, anti-war Texas congressman and onetime Libertarian Party presidential nominee Ron Paul was in fifth place at 10 percent in the poll, with Rep. Duncan Hunter of California and former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee both at 1 percent.

New Hampshire’s independent voters, who make up about 40 percent of the state’s electorate, could throw a surprise in tomorrow’s primary.

A growing number of independents say they will vote for Paul, who was excluded from Sunday night’s Republican forum on Fox, saying his campaign has done a tremendous job. Watch Paul respond to recent attacks

How far we go in the campaign, we don’t know, Paul told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Sunday. The American people, and there’s this large segment sending money to our campaign, that are determined that this revolutionary spirit will continue.
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U.S. F/A-18 fighter jets crash in Persian Gulf

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Two U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornets — flying off the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman — crashed Monday night in the Persian Gulf, U.S. Navy officials said.

The aircrafts’ three aviators were recovered safely after they ejected from the jets — a single-seat F/A-18E and two-seat F/A-18F.

The U.S. Navy did not immediately know the cause of the F/A-18 crash.

There is no indication of hostile fire action, the officials said.

The incident is not related to Sunday’s confrontation between three U.S. Navy warships and five Iranian boats, Navy officials said.
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Iranian boats ‘harass’ U.S. Navy, officials say

(CNN) — Five Iranian Revolutionary Guard boats harassed and provoked three U.S. Navy ships early Sunday in international waters, the U.S. military said Monday, calling the encounter a significant confrontation.

An Iranian official, however, said it was not a serious incident, the state-run news agency IRNA reported.

U.S. military officials said the incident occurred early Sunday morning in the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow shipping channel leading in and out of the Persian Gulf.

They said that as the guided missile destroyer USS Hopper, the guided missile cruiser USS Port Royal and the guided-missile frigate USS Ingraham were entering the Persian Gulf, five Iranian boats approached them at high speed and swarmed them.

The Iranian boats made threatening moves toward the U.S. ships and in one case came within 200 yards of one of them, the U.S. officials said. Watch what U.S. officials are saying about the incident

The U.S. Navy also received a radio transmission that officials believe came from the Iranian boats. The transmission said, I am coming at you. You will explode in a couple of minutes, the U.S. military officials told CNN.

When the U.S. ships heard that radio transmission, they took up their gun positions and officers were in the process of giving the order to fire when the Iranians abruptly turned away, the U.S. officials said.

After the radio transmission, one of the Iranian boats dropped white boxes into the water in front of the U.S. ships, the officials said. It was not clear what was in the boxes, the officials said. See a map of the Strait of Hormuz

No shots were fired, and no one was injured.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman downplayed the incident, calling it ordinary, IRNA reported. Mohammad Ali Hosseini said that similar incidents had occurred in the past between Iranian and American ships, and the issues were resolved as soon as the ships recognized each other, IRNA reported.

The Strait of Hormuz, which is in international waters, is near much of the world’s oil supplies.

The White House urged Iran to refrain from such provocative actions that could lead to a dangerous incident in the future, National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.

U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the United States probably would not make a formal protest to Iran about the incident.

McCormack said, I can’t speak to their rationale, their reasoning, their motivations.

Iran and the United States do not have diplomatic relations. Switzerland represents U.S. interests in Tehran, while Pakistan represents Iranian interests in Washington.

McCormack declined to comment further on the incident but said, The U.S. will confront Iranian behavior where it seeks to do harm either to us or to our friends and allies in the region.

On Friday, the U.S. Navy announced the same team of naval ships had been searching in the Arabian Sea for a sailor missing for a day from the USS Hopper. The outcome of the search was not immediately known Monday.

In November, the U.S. military reported that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps had taken command of Tehran’s naval operations in the Persian Gulf.

The United States considers the Revolutionary Guard to be a major supporter of terrorist activity.

Tensions between Iran and the U.S. have increased over the last few years. The U.S. has concerns about Iran’s nuclear program and has accused Iran of supplying weapons to insurgents in Iraq who target American forces.

In March, Iran detained 15 crew members of a British ship before releasing them after nearly two weeks. Iran alleged the British vessel strayed into Iranian waters — an assertion Britain strongly denied.
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Rival Kenyan leaders agree to meet as death toll climbs

NAIROBI, Kenya (CNN) — Kenya’s president and opposition leader will meet to address vote-counting irregularities and the ensuing violence in which nearly 500 people have been killed, U.S. envoy Jendayi Frazer said on Monday.

Frazer, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, told CNN that she was able to get President Mwai Kibaki and bitter rival Raila Odinga to agree to talk under the mediation of the African Union’s chairman by relaying the concerns of the Kenyan people.

I was simply able to echo that voice with the leaders, Frazer said.

They both have to acknowledge certain key issues — for instance that there were irregularities in the counting of the vote and that violence is not the answer to these problems.

I think that both are prepared to move the country forward on an understanding of that basis.

Ghanaian President John Kufuor is expected to arrive in Kenya on Tuesday evening to mediate talks between the two, Frazer said, which has led Odinga’s party to cancel a planned rally earlier that day.

Government spokesman Alfred Mutua would not say if the president was prepared to enter into a power-sharing arrangement with Odinga, but said Kibaki is ready to work with like-minded parties.

We do want a strong opposition, otherwise we would have a one-party state, Mutua added.

Kibaki invited Odinga to take part in talks Friday at the president’s official residence, the State House, Mutua said.

Reacting to that written invitation, Odinga’s spokesman said the opposition leader would be happy to meet Mr. Kibaki on Friday if it is part of the negotiations that are to be mediated by President Kufuor of Ghana.

International mediation is a key demand of Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement, which has accused Kibaki of stealing his re-election victory.

Odinga supporters trying to attend two scheduled rallies in Nairobi last week were met with water cannon and tear gas before the party agreed to postpone the demonstrations.

Frazer was dispatched to Kenya on Friday to help find a diplomatic solution to the political fallout that led to the widespread killings between supporters of Kibaki, a member of the large Kikuyu tribe, and supporters of Odinga, who comes from the minority Luo tribe.

The violence has been concentrated in Nairobi and near the Rift Valley town of Eldoret in western Kenya, where international aid began pouring in over the weekend.

Frazer said she hoped the mediated discussions would focus on more than just the power struggle between Kibaki and Odinga.

Kenya is going to have a long future of instability if, in fact, they don’t address the fundamental questions, Frazer said.

Getting the politicians to dialogue is not just about the past election — it is about the future of this country and owning up to the real crises that we are all seeing the evidence of over the past week.

The Kenyan government said on Monday that the death toll had reached 482 people, while the United Nations had said that about 250,000 people have been displaced by the violence since the December 27 vote.

International election monitors have cast doubt on the legitimacy of the vote, but the United States does not want to push for any solution that says there’s a fresh round of elections, Frazer said.

Kibaki has said he is ready to consider a government of national unity. While Odinga has indicated he is willing to negotiate, he has not backed down from his demands that Kibaki resign and hold fresh elections.

The United States is also pushing to get a ban on live broadcasts lifted, the U.S. official said. The country plunged into a news blackout after the government suspended all broadcasts as violence engulfed the capital.

Meanwhile, a convoy of food trucks left the eastern port of Mombasa on Sunday in an effort to address the humanitarian crisis.

Twenty trucks loaded with 670 tons of food — enough to feed at least 70,000 people for two weeks — set out under police escort, the World Food Program said in a statement.

Carrying pulses, vegetable oil and a highly nutritious corn-soya blend, the vehicles were destined for Nairobi and the Rift Valley town of Eldoret in western Kenya, the U.N. food agency said.
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