"On its face, Fleischer’s account seems to contradict the repeated public assertions of his immediate successor, Scott McClellan, in October 2003 that nobody at the White House was in any way involved in the leak of Plame’s identity. It also potentially puts Bartlett, one of the president’s senior and most trusted advisers, on the hot seat. If Bartlett backs up Fleischer, it suggests he himself played a role in passing along radioactive information that triggered a criminal investigation that has plagued the White House for more than four years. If he contradicts Fleischer, it raises questions about the credibility of a man who was President Bush’s chief spokesman for the first two and a half years of his presidency. His lawyer declined to comment on what Bartlett will say." -- Newsweek http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16832257/site/...

"Rove has said in secret testimony that, during a chat on July 11, 2003, Libby told him he learned about Plame’s employment at the CIA from NBC Washington bureau chief Tim Russert, a legal source who asked not to be identified talking about grand jury matters told NEWSWEEK. If Rove repeats that story on the witness stand, it could back up Libby’s core assertion that he honestly, if mistakenly, thought he had heard about Wilson’s wife from the “Meet the Press” host—even though Russert denies he knew anything about Plame, and more than a half-dozen officials (including Cheney) have said they passed along the same information to Libby earlier than that.

But the Rove account could cut in other ways. Fitzgerald would likely argue that Libby’s comment to Rove merely shows that the vice president’s top aide “was even lying inside the White House,” according to the legal source. Moreover, Rove is likely not eager to recount the story either. The reason? He would have to acknowledge that shortly after he had the chat with Libby, he went back to his office and had a phone conversation with Time magazine reporter Matt Cooper in which he also disclosed the fact that Wilson’s wife worked for the CIA. The disclosure was potentially illegal since, at the time, Plame was employed in the Directorate of Operations, the agency’s covert arm. (There is no evidence that Rove or anybody else knew Plame’s status at the time—and Rove has never been charged with any crime—but the possibility that White House officials were leaking classified information in an effort to discredit Wilson is what triggered the probe in the first place.)" -- Newsweek http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16832257/site/...

Transcript snip: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/061... "

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has rejected a key recommendation of the Iraq Study Group. Now, Secretary Rice told "The Washington Post" she does not support any U.S. engagement with Syria and Iran. Rice said the compensation required by Syria and Iran for talking about Iraq might be too high. She said she does not want to trade away Lebanese sovereignty or allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons.

Some elected officials apparently believe that they can do a much better job at diplomacy than Secretary Rice. An increasing number of lawmakers are organizing their own freelance missions to engage foreign countries.

Bill Schneider reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST (voice over): First the voters expressed no confidence in President Bush's leadership in the midterm election. Then a bipartisan committee of the national establishment in the form of the Iraq Study Group issued a similar no-confidence vote.

So what's happening? Freelancers are rushing in to fill the vacuum. Some of whom want to take over after President Bush. Four senators went to Baghdad to complain about weak leadership in two places.

SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN (D), CONNECTICUT: There has to be leadership from the political leaders here, frankly, as well as the political leaders back home in the U.S.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Good to see you, sir. How are you?

SCHNEIDER: Likely 2008 contender John McCain offered his own policy prescription.

MCCAIN: I believe that there's still a compelling reason to have an increase in troops here in Baghdad and in Anbar Province in order to bring the sectarian violence under control.

SCHNEIDER: Four senators are defying the White House by going to Syria to meet with President Assad.

SNOW: We have discouraged members of Congress from doing this.

SCHNEIDER: Senator Dodd's response? "Members of Congress need to go to hotspots, not just garden spots."

Senator Kerry's spokesman said, "If Ronald Reagan could talk to the evil empire, surely United States senators with the responsibility to American troops can visit Syria."

Oh, by the way, Dodd and Kerry may run for president in 2008.

New Mexico governor Bill Richardson may run, too. The former U.N. ambassador met with North Korean officials in Santa Fe to discuss how to end the nuclear weapons crisis.

Ten members of Congress, six Democrats and four Republicans, went to Havana to talk with acting president Raul Castro about a new opening to Cuba now that Fidel Castro may be dying.

Is all this freelancing undermining the president's authority?

SNOW: No, the president is in charge of foreign policy. It may cost some people their credibility.

SCHNEIDER: White House to freelancers: You stand warned.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCHNEIDER: Freelancers to White House: You stand warned.

It's the president whose credibility may be suffering -- Kitty.

PHILLIPS: This is a lot of air miles, Bill, but are they getting anything done?

SCHNEIDER: Well, they are -- they say that they've made some progress, they've gotten some factual information to bring back both to the State Department and to the White House. It's hard to see progress in the immediate aftermath of these visits, but they claim they've gotten some valuable information.

-- snip-- In recent days, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice asked Specter in a telephone call not to go to Syria, the senator said. But Specter, who had acquiesced previously to similar requests, said time was up.

"I deferred to them a year ago, and I deferred to them last August," Specter said. "And if there were any signs the administrative policy (in the Middle East) was working, I'd defer to them again."