ANNOUNCER:   CROSSFIRE. On the left, James Carville and Paul Begala; on the right, Robert Novak and Tucker Carlson. In the 
CROSSFIRE:   Remember all those reasons the CIA gave us for invading Iraq? 
ROBERTS:   Well, today, we know these assessments were wrong. 
SEN. JAY ROCKEFELLER  , WEST VIRGINIA:   We would not have authorized that war with 75 votes if we knew what we know now. 
ANNOUNCER:   Where does U.S. intelligence go from here? And will the intelligence fight spill over on to the campaign trail? 
BUSH:   They haven't found the stockpiles, but we do know he could make them. 
ANNOUNCER:   Today on CROSSFIRE.    Live from the George Washington University, James Carville and Robert Novak. 
CARVILLE:   Welcome to CROSSFIRE. Today, the Senate Intelligence Committee told us the decision to go to war in Iraq was based on flawed, unreasonable and largely insupportable intelligence. In plain English, the Bush administration got it all wrong. 
NOVAK:   No, no, it was the CIA that got it wrong. Everybody else believed them. Are the Democrats really interested in fixing what's wrong with U.S. intelligence or just scoring political points? You know the answer to that. We'll debate it right after the best political briefing in television, our CROSSFIRE "Political Alert." Just completed today on National Public Radio, a debate between leftist Howard Dean and leftist Ralph Nader. Was that a matter of trouble in the leper colony? Dean was belaboring Nader for daring to run for president and for accepting contributions from Republicans. The little doctor repeated his talking points when he couldn't think of anything else to say. Nader accused Dean of a desperate attempt to smear our campaign and said Dean has switched from being an insurgent to being a detergent to clean Democratic dirty linen. I would say Ralph cleaned Howard's clock. Aren't the Democrats lucky that they didn't follow their hearts and nominate Governor Dean for president? 
CARVILLE:   Just -- no. As a point, I grew up in Carville, Louisiana, which has a treatment for Hanson's disease, which you refer to as leprosy. And the good folks there really -- it's not a nice word. But I know you didn't mean it. And I know that they... 
NOVAK:   That was an old line by Gene McCarthy. 
CARVILLE:   I understand. 
NOVAK:   Can I just answer it, since you brought it up?    Gene McCarthy said it. Gene McCarthy once talked about two liberals going after each other. He said, trouble in the leper colony. I didn't mean to be... 
CARVILLE:   I have a lot of friends there. I don't think you meant anything by it. I don't want to make a big deal about it. 
NOVAK:   Well, I'm so glad you brought it up. 
CARVILLE:   But I just -- I have a lot of friends there, OK?    When you run an administration, you're busy and you still have to choose your priorities. For example, President Bush's priority in his first year in office was to take more vacation than any other president in history. Dick Cheney's priority was to meet with Ken Lay, rather than his terrorism task force. Today, we learned something that isn't President Bush's priority. For the fourth time, President Bush has decided not to speak to America's oldest and largest civil rights group, the NAACP. This will make the first sitting president since Warren G. Harding not to address the NAACP. And the reason Warren G. Harding didn't address the NAACP is because he died before his term ended. And just so Hispanic voters don't feel left out by his insensitivity, President Bush also decided not to speak to the National Council of La Raza, the largest Hispanic organization, either. President Bush says he's reaching out to minorities. He is. He's reaching out and brushing them off. 
NOVAK:   You know, James, the NAACP is not what it used to be. It used to be a very middle-road organization. It's a leftist organization now, with leftist leadership. And they ran that terrible campaign ad accusing Governor Bush in the 2000 campaign of the murder of a black man in Texas. 
CARVILLE:   They never accused him of that. 
NOVAK:   There's no -- there is no... 
CARVILLE:   They never accused him of that. They accused of him of not going to the funeral. 
NOVAK:   No, they made an accusation. There's no reason the president of the United States has to go be hissed and booed and despised. 
CARVILLE:   They're the same organization your friend Ronald Reagan had the courage to go do. He just doesn't have the courage to go there. That's all. 
NOVAK:   Hollywood's left-wing glitterati gathered in New York last night and raised $7.5 million for the Kerry-Edwards ticket and raised a little hell, too.    Singer John Mellencamp called President Bush just another cheap thug. But Whoopi Goldberg set the tone while waving around a bottle of wine. She delivered a speech filled with vulgarities, including sexual word plays on the president's name. She said, -- quote -- "I xeroxed my behind and I folded it up in an envelope and I sent it back with a big kiss mark." John Kerry and John Edwards arrived at the place to praise this event, with Senator Edwards calling their campaign -- quote -- "a celebration of real values." Whose values, Johnny, Whoopi Goldberg's? 
CARVILLE:   You know what Whoopi Goldberg needs to do? Let me tell you, Whoopi Goldberg needs to go to Dick Cheney's school of proper language.    Because, my God, that's one thing these Republicans can't stand is a little off-color language here. 
NOVAK:   How did I know? 
CARVILLE:   What a whiny... 
NOVAK:   How did I know you were going to bring Dick Cheney up? He uses one word 
CARVILLE:   Did she use the big bazooka?    The right wing talks a lot about personal responsibility. Of course, when someone talks about personal responsibility, but doesn't practice it themselves, that's called hypocrisy. 
NOVAK:   You know, James, -- you know, James, thankfully, you don't determine who has freedom of the press in this country. That's the First Amendment.    And let me say, I have been in the -- my column has been 
CARVILLE:   I understand. 
NOVAK:   Can I talk while you're interrupting? 
CARVILLE:   Sure. 
NOVAK:   My column has been printed in "The New York Post" for about 40 years. I'm proud to be in "The New York Post." And I think Rupert Murdoch is a great owner of a newspaper. 
CARVILLE:   Well, why doesn't he own up to the fact and take responsibility?    And what are we going to tell the children, Bob? 
NOVAK:   Senators have released a bipartisan report condemning intelligence gathering leading up to the war in Iraq. Now the Democrats are trying to blame President Bush for the bum intelligence the CIA gave him. Later, first, it was team hair. Now the Democrats are all huggy huggy. Late-night comics are having a field day. Stay tuned for some laughs, believe it or not. 
ANNOUNCER:   Join Carville, Begala, Carlson and Novak in the CROSSFIRE. For free tickets to CROSSFIRE at the George Washington University, call 202-994-8CNN or visit our Web site. Now you can step into the CROSSFIRE.
