MUMBAI, India – Teams of gunmen stormed luxury hotels, a popular restaurant, hospitals and a crowded train station in coordinated attacks across India's financial capital, killing at least 82 people, taking Westerners hostage and leaving parts of the city under siege Thursday, police said. A group of suspected Muslim militants claimed responsibility.
Police and gunmen were exchanging occasional gunfire at two luxury hotels and an unknown number of people were held hostage, said A.N. Roy, a top police official. Officials said at least 6 militants had been killed since the overnight attacks began around 9:30 p.m., bringing the overall toll to 88 dead.
Later Thursday morning, police loudspeakers declared a curfew around Mumbai's landmark Taj Mahal hotel, and black-clad commandos ran into the building as fresh gunshots rang out from the area, apparently the beginning of an assault on gunmen who had taken hostages in the hotel.
Ambulances were seen driving up to the entrance to the hotel and journalists were made to move even further back from the area.
A series of explosions had rocked the Taj Mahal just after midnight. Screams were heard and black smoke billowed from the century-old edifice on Mumbai's waterfront. Firefighters sprayed water at the blaze and plucked people from balconies with extension ladders. By dawn, the fire was still burning.
The attackers specifically targeted Britons and Americans at the hotels and restaurant, witnesses said. Officials said at least 120 people were wounded.
Alex Chamberlain, a British citizen who was dining at the upscale Oberoi hotel, told Sky News television that a gunman ushered 30 to 40 people from the restaurant into a stairway and, speaking in Hindi or Urdu, ordered everyone to put up their hands.
"They were talking about British and Americans specifically. There was an Italian guy, who, you know, they said: 'Where are you from?" and he said he's from Italy and they said 'fine' and they left him alone. And I thought: 'Fine, they're going to shoot me if they ask me anything — and thank God they didn't," he said.
Chamberlain said he managed to slip away as the patrons were forced to walk up stairs, but he thought much of the group was being held hostage.
The motive for the onslaught was not immediately clear, but Mumbai has frequently been targeted in terrorist attacks blamed on Islamic extremists, including a series of bombings in July 2006 that killed 187 people.
Early Thursday, state home secretary Bipin Shrimali said four suspects had been killed in two incidents when they tried to flee in cars, and Roy said two more gunmen were killed at the Taj Mahal. State Home Minister R.R. Patil said nine more were arrested. They declined to provide any further details.
"We're gong to catch them dead or alive," Patil told reporters. "An attack on Mumbai is an attack on the rest of the country."
An Indian media report said a previously unknown group calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen had claimed responsibility for the attacks in e-mails to several media outlets. There was no way to verify that claim.
The NDTV news channel showed several yellow and black rubber dinghies on a beach near the hotels, apparently used by the gunmen to reach the area.
Police reported hostages being held at the Taj Mahal and Oberoi hotels, two of the best-known upscale destinations in this crowded but wealthy city.
Gunmen who burst into the Taj "were targeting foreigners. They kept shouting: `Who has U.S. or U.K. passports?'" said Ashok Patel, a British citizen who fled from the hotel.
Authorities believed seven to 15 foreigners were hostages at the Taj Mahal hotel, said Anees Ahmed, a top state official. It was also unclear where the hostages were in the Taj Mahal, which is divided into an older wing, which was in flames, and a modern tower that was not on fire.
State Department spokesman Robert Wood said U.S. officials were not aware of any American casualties, but were still checking. He said he could not address reports that Westerners might be among the hostages. "We condemn these attacks and the loss of innocent life," White House spokesman Tony Fratto said. Johnny Joseph, chief secretary for Maharashtra state, of which Mumbai is the capital, said 82 people had been killed and 120 had been wounded. Officials at Bombay Hospital, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a Japanese man had died there and nine Europeans had been admitted, three of them in critical condition with gunshots. All had come from the Taj Mahal, the officials said. At least three top Indian police officers — including the chief of the anti-terror squad — were among those killed, said Roy. Blood smeared the floor of the Chhatrapati Shivaji rail station, where attackers sprayed bullets into the crowded terminal. Nasim Inam's hands shook when he spoke of seeing four attackers gunning down commuters as they walked to catch late trains home. "They wore black T-shirts and blue jeans. They were carrying big guns," said Inam. "They just fired randomly at people and then ran away. In seconds, people fell to the ground." Other gunmen attacked Leopold's restaurant, a landmark popular with foreigners, and the police headquarters in southern Mumbai, the area where most of the attacks took place. The restaurant was riddled with bullet holes and there were blood on the floor and shoes left by fleeing customers. Gunmen also attacked Cama and Albless Hospital and G.T. Hospital, though it was not immediately clear if anyone was killed. Early Thursday, several European lawmakers were among people who barricaded themselves inside the Taj, a century-old seaside hotel complex and one of the city's best-known destinations. "I was in the main lobby and there was all of a sudden a lot of firing outside," said Sajjad Karim, part of a delegation of European lawmakers visiting Mumbai ahead of a European Union-India summit. As he turned to get away, "all of a sudden another gunmen appeared in front of us, carrying machine gun-type weapons. And he just started firing at us ... I just turned and ran in the opposite direction," he told The Associated Press over his mobile phone. Hours later, Karim remained holed up in a hotel restaurant, unsure if it was safe to come out. India has been wracked by bomb attacks the past three years, which police blame on Muslim militants intent on destabilizing this largely Hindu country. Nearly 700 people have died. Since May a militant group calling itself the Indian Mujahideen has taken credit for a string of blasts that killed more than 130 people. The most recent was in September, when a series of explosions struck a park and crowded shopping areas in the capital, New Delhi, killing 21 people and wounding about 100. Relations between Hindus, who make up more than 80 percent of India's 1 billion population, and Muslims, who make up about 14 percent, have sporadically erupted into bouts of sectarian violence since British-ruled India was split into independent India and Pakistan in 1947.
Click Here To Watch Video On Fire
LOS ANGELES – A wind-blasted wildfire tore through the city's northern foothills Saturday, devastating a large mobile home park, forcing a hospital to evacuate some patients and sending thousands of residents fleeing for safety.
The fire broke out late Friday in the foothill community of Sylmar on the edge of the Angeles National Forest and quickly spread across 2,600 acres — more than 4 square miles — as it was driven by Santa Ana wind gusting as high as 76 mph.
Dozens of homes were destroyed, officials said, and aerial footage from television helicopters showed rows of houses gutted in just in one subdivision.
Fire crews had to abandon a mobile home park that was burning out of control.
"We have almost total devastation here in the mobile park," Los Angeles Fire Capt. Steve Ruda said of the Oakridge Mobile Home Park. "I can't even read the street names because the street signs are melting."
At an evacuation center, Oakridge resident Wendy Vannenberg said the park had about 600 residences, many of them housing senior citizens. The same park had been evacuated during a fire last month.
"Last time I took all of my grandparents' things. They had brought over them from Germany after World War II," said Vannenberg, 46. "This time, I didn't really grab anything. I don't know why."
Behind a fireline outside the mobile park, Jo Ordaz, 50, anxiously waited to learn the fate of her three-bedroom home as ash-laden wind gusts flicked branches from trees and rocked parked cars.
Ordaz and her daughter and a friend had grabbed only their essential documents and a few photographs before evacuating.
"I'm just feeling devastated, I don't know," Ordaz said, soot collecting in her ears and around the edges of the dust mask on her face. "We're just waiting."
Fire officials estimated 10,000 people lived in the area under mandatory evacuation in the Sylmar, Knollwood and Porter Ranch communities. About 80 miles to the northwest, an 1,800-acre blaze in the Santa Barbara community of Montecito had forced the evacuation of more than 5,400 homes and destroyed more than 110 homes.
The Los Angeles fire jumped two freeways, leading police to shut them down and forcing evacuees to take surface streets.
"Near hurricane winds made it very difficult for firefighters," Los Angeles Fire deputy chief Mario Rueda said.
The Los Angeles blaze threatened at least 1,000 buildings, fire spokeswoman Melissa Kelley said.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said the fire brought down some power lines and could cause rolling blackouts. He urged residents throughout the city to conserve power.
Flames struck the edge of the Olive View-UCLA Medical Center campus shortly after midnight, causing an electricity outage that forced officials to evacuate two dozen critical patients. About 130 other patients stayed behind.
Several administrative buildings were damaged.
The hospital's power and backup generators failed, and emergency room staff had to keep critical patients alive with hand powered ventilators. Twenty-eight people, including 10 neonatal babies, were rushed out by ambulance to another hospital.
"It was totally dark," said hospital spokeswoman Carla Nino. "There was dense smoke."
Power was restored at the hospital after three hours.
Some people refused to leave their homes, grabbing water hoses to defend their homes, but others left even before mandatory evacuation orders were issued.
"I can see the smoke. It's terrible. I'm going to take my dog and go," Dorothy Boyer told The Associated Press from her home late Friday.
One resident was hospitalized in serious condition with burns over 60 percent of his body, Kelley said. Two firefighters were treated for minor injuries.
More than 600 firefighters struggled to protect homes threatened by flying embers. Because of the rough terrain in the forest, they were relying on water-dropping helicopters to tackle flames. Authorities said some aircraft were grounded during the night by the savage wind, but they expected six airplanes and a dozen helicopters to attack the fire during the day.
Flying embers ignited sporadic spot fires and firefighters were patrolling the evacuated neighborhoods "making sure these small fires don't turn into big fires," Rueda said.
If the fire continues marching west, it could be slowed by a fire break that resulted from a wildfire which burned about 14,000-acres near Porter Ranch last month, authorities said. A second fire only a few miles away had killed one person, torched 4,800 acres of land and destroyed about 40 homes.
The fire in Montecito started Thursday night, exploding through dry brush and vast stands of oil-rich eucalyptus trees. About 800 firefighters were battling the fire at the wealthy, celebrity-studded enclave, and they were expected to make significant progress through Saturday morning, said Santa Barbara city fire spokesman John Ahlman.
"There's plenty of hot material still left out there," he said. "But things could change in a hurry if the winds pick up."
Several multimillion-dollar homes and a small college suffered major damage in Montecito, a quaint and secluded area that has attracted celebrities such as Rob Lowe, Jeff Bridges, Michael Douglas and Oprah Winfrey.
The fire quickly consumed rows of luxury homes and parts of Westmont College, a Christian liberal arts school, where students spent the night in a gymnasium shelter.
"That whole mountain over there went up at once. Boom," said Bob McNall, 70, who with his son and grandson saved their home by hosing it down. "The whole sky was full of embers. There was nothing that they could do. It was just too much."
Santa Barbara Mayor Marty Blum said up to 200 homes may have been destroyed or damaged.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
At least 13 people were injured in Montecito. A 98-year-old man with multiple medical problems died after being evacuated, but it was unclear if his death was directly related to the blaze, Santa Barbara County Sheriff-Coroner Bill Brown said.
Montecito, known for its balmy climate and charming Spanish colonial homes, suffered a major fire in 1977, when more than 200 homes burned. A fire in 1964 burned about 67,000 acres and damaged 150 houses and buildings.
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Denise Petski, Alicia Chang, Bob Jablon and Daisy Nguyen in Los Angeles and Thomas Watkins and Amy Taxin in Montecito contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON – Threats against a new president historically spike right after an election, but from Maine to Idaho law enforcement officials are seeing more against Barack Obama than ever before. The Secret Service would not comment or provide the number of cases they are investigating. But since the Nov. 4 election, law enforcement officials have seen more potentially threatening writings, Internet postings and other activity directed at Obama than has been seen with any past president-elect, said officials aware of the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity because the issue of a president's security is so sensitive.
Earlier this week, the Secret Service looked into the case of a sign posted on a tree in Vay, Idaho, with Obama's name and the offer of a "free public hanging." In North Carolina, civil rights officials complained of threatening racist graffiti targeting Obama found in a tunnel near the North Carolina State University campus.
And in a Maine convenience store, an Associated Press reporter saw a sign inviting customers to join a betting pool on when Obama might fall victim to an assassin. The sign solicited $1 entries into "The Osama Obama Shotgun Pool," saying the money would go to the person picking the date closest to when Obama was attacked. "Let's hope we have a winner," said the sign, since taken down.
In the security world, anything "new" can trigger hostility, said Joseph Funk, a former Secret Service agent-turned security consultant who oversaw a private protection detail for Obama before the Secret Service began guarding the candidate in early 2007.
Obama, of course, will be the country's first black president, and Funk said that new element, not just race itself, is probably responsible for a spike in anti-Obama postings and activity. "Anytime you're going to have something that's new, you're going to have increased chatter," he said.
The Secret Service also has cautioned the public not to assume that any threats against Obama are due to racism.
The service investigates threats in a wide range. There are "stated threats" and equally dangerous or lesser incidents considered of "unusual interest" — such as people motivated by obsessions or infatuations or lower-level gestures such as effigies of a candidate or an elected president. The service has said it does not have the luxury of discounting anything until agents have investigated the potential danger.
Racially tinged graffiti — not necessarily directed at Obama — also has emerged in numerous reports across the nation since Election Day, prompting at least one news conference by a local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in Georgia.
A law enforcement official who also spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly said that during the campaign there was a spike in anti-Obama rhetoric on the Internet — "a lot of ranting and raving with no capability, credibility or specificity to it."
There were two threatening cases with racial overtones:
• In Denver, a group of men with guns and bulletproof vests made racist threats against Obama and sparked fears of an assassination plot during the Democratic National Convention in August.
• Just before the election, two skinheads in Tennessee were charged with plotting to behead blacks across the country and assassinate Obama while wearing white top hats and tuxedos.
In both cases, authorities determined the men were not capable of carrying out their plots.
In Milwaukee, police officials found a poster of Obama with a bullet going toward his head — discovered on a table in a police station.
Chatter among white supremacists on the Internet has increased throughout the campaign and since Election Day.
One of the most popular white supremacist Web sites got more than 2,000 new members the day after the election, compared with 91 new members on Election Day, according to an AP count. The site, stormfront.org, was temporarily off-line Nov. 5 because of the overwhelming amount of activity it received after Election Day. On Saturday, one Stormfront poster, identified as Dalderian Germanicus, of North Las Vegas, said, "I want the SOB laid out in a box to see how 'messiahs' come to rest. God has abandoned us, this country is doomed."
It is not surprising that a black president would galvanize the white supremacist movement, said Mark Potok, director of the Southern Poverty Law Center, who studies the white supremacy movement.
"The overwhelming flavor of the white supremacist world is a mix of desperation, confusion and hoping that this will somehow turn into a good thing for them," Potok said. He said hate groups have been on the rise in the past seven years because of a common concern about immigration.
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Associated Press writers Lara Jakes Jordan in Washington and Jerry Harkavy in Standish, Maine, contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON – The Air Force general who runs the Pentagon's missile defense projects said Wednesday that American interests would be "severely hurt" if President-elect Obama decided to halt plans developed by the Bush administration to install missile interceptors in Eastern Europe.
Lt. Gen. Henry A. Obering III, director of the Missile Defense Agency, told a group of reporters that he is awaiting word from Obama's transition team on their interest in receiving briefings.
During the campaign, Obama was not explicit about his intentions with regard to missile defense. The program has tended to draw less support from Democrats over the years, particularly during the Reagan presidency when it was seen as a "Star Wars" effort to erect an impenetrable shield against nuclear missile attack from the Soviet Union. More recently the project has been scaled back, although it has again created an East-West divide by stirring Russian opposition to the proposed European link.
Obama has said it would be prudent to "explore the possibility of deploying missile defense systems in Europe," in light of what he called active efforts by Iran to develop ballistic missiles as well as nuclear weapons.
But Obama expressed some skepticism about the technical capability of U.S. missile defenses. He said that if elected his administration would work with NATO allies to develop anti-missile technologies.
Obering, who is leaving his post next week after more than four years in charge, said in the interview that his office has pulled together information for a presentation to the Obama team, if asked.
"What we have discovered is that a lot of the folks that have not been in this administration seem to be dated, in terms of the program," he said. "They are kind of calibrated back in the 2000 time frame and we have come a hell of a long way since 2000. Our primary objective is going to be just, frankly, educating them on what we have accomplished, what we have been able to do and why we have confidence in what we are doing."
Asked whether he meant that Obama or his advisers had an outdated view of missile defense, Obering said he was speaking more generally about people who have not closely followed developments in this highly technical field.
A key question for the new president will be whether to proceed with the Bush administration's plans to install 10 missile interceptors in Poland and a missile-tracking radar in the Czech Republic. That system is on track to be ready for use by 2014, Obering said. It is strongly opposed by Russia, which sees it as an unwelcome military threat close to its borders; the Bush administration says it is needed to defend European allies against an emerging missile threat from Iran.
Obering said he is confident in the technology needed to make the European leg of the missile defense system work.
"In terms of any recommendations for the future, I would say that if we were to walk away from these proposed deployments to Europe, that it would severely hurt, number one, our ability to protect our deployed forces in that region and our allies and friends from what we see as an emerging threat. Number two, I think it would severely undermine U.S. leadership in NATO."
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Circuit City Stores Inc., the nation's second-biggest electronics retailer, filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday but plans to stay open for business as the busy holiday season approaches.
It said it decided to file for bankruptcy protection because it was facing pressure from vendors who threatened to withhold products during the holiday shopping period. The company also said it cut 700 more jobs at its headquarters, after announcing a week ago that it would close 20 percent of its stores and lay off thousands of workers.
Circuit City filed under Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy code, which will allow it to hold off creditors and continue operations while it develops a reorganization plan. Its Canadian operations also filed for similar protection. Doing so "should provide us with the opportunity to strengthen our balance sheet, create a more efficient expense structure and ultimately position the company to compete more effectively," James A. Marcum, vice chairman and acting president and chief executive, said in a statement. Shares in Circuit City fell 14 cents, or about 56 percent, to 11 cents on Monday before being halted. The Richmond, Va.-based company, which has had only one profitable quarter in the past year, has faced significant declines in traffic and heightened competition from rival Best Buy Co. and others. While the retail industry overall is facing what's expected to be the weakest holiday season in decades, Circuit City's struggles have intensified as nervous consumers spend less and credit has become tighter. In court documents, Chief Financial Officer Bruce H. Besanko said three factors led to the bankruptcy filing: erosion of vendor confidence, decreased liquidity and the global economic crisis. "Without immediate relief, the company is concerned that it will not receive goods for Black Friday and the upcoming holiday season, which could cause irreparable harm to the company and its stakeholders," Besanko said in the filing. The company's biggest creditors are its vendors: Hewlett-Packard has a $118.8 million claim followed by Samsung ($115.9 million), Sony ($60 million), Zenith ($41.2 million), Toshiba ($17.9 million) and others. Smaller creditors include GPS navigation system maker Garmin, Nikon, Lenovo, Eastman Kodak and Mitsubishi. Circuit City Stores Inc. announced a week ago it planned to close 155 of its more than 700 U.S. stores by Dec. 31. The stores are spread throughout 28 states, including multiple locations in areas like Phoenix and Atlanta. It is laying off about 17 percent of its domestic work force, which could affect up to 7,300 people. "This isn't a surprise," JPMorgan analyst Christopher Horvers said of the bankruptcy filing, adding that the reorganization could help the company get out of leases for certain bad store locations. Circuit City also said last week that it will further cut back on new store openings and planned to work with landlords to renegotiate leases, lower rent or terminate agreements while it dealt with tightening credit from its vendors. "At the end of the day I think it's really about an inventory position," Horvers said. "If they can get inventory into the stores, I can think they'll remain competitive." Horvers also found it encouraging that the company was able to secure financing. Circuit City said it had lined up $1.1 billion in loans to provide working capital while it is in bankruptcy protection. That replaces a $1.3 billion asset-backed loan it had been using. Loans to operate while in bankruptcy are called debtor-in-possession, or DIP, loans. "That's a big DIP in the current market," said John Penn, a partner at law firm Haynes & Boone who is not involved in the case. "To secure that size DIP now is quite a achievement. With the news of the cuts last week -- and vendors wanting to know they can get paid -- having a recognizable source like a DIP can calm a lot of vendor concerns." The company said in its filing that it had $3.4 billion in assets and $2.32 billion in liabilities, as of Aug. 31. Circuit City posted a wider second-quarter loss in September with a 13 percent decline in sales at stores open at least a year. The company has been under new leadership since late September when Chief Executive Philip J. Schoonover agreed to step down. Shares in Circuit City have traded under $1 for more than a month and the company received a warning about that last month from the New York Stock Exchange. AP Business Writer Vinnee Tong reported from New York.
LOS ANGELES (ABC 4 News) - Thousands of protestors gathered outside the LDS Los Angeles temple in Westwood, California on Thursday.
They were protesting the church's involvement in Proposition 8, which bans same-sex marriage. The measure passed on Tuesday with 52 percent of the vote.
This is something of a continuation of the protests that began Wednesday night in Hollywood.
The focus shifted Thursday from Hollywood to the LDS Temple on Santa Monica Boulevard.
A crowd now estimated at over two thousand marched around the building, the largest temple in the church, decrying the role Mormons played in the passage of California’s Proposition 8.
Proposition 8 defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman, thus making illegal same sex marriage.
LDS church members, both in and out of California, gave millions of dollars and millions of hours of volunteer work in support of Proposition 8.
Their church has become the focus of anger of those who opposed it.
Wednesday night's march in Hollywood caught the LAPD off guard and prompted a city-wide tactical alert.
Several streets were closed by protesters, and a few caused some trouble. Seven were arrested.
The LDS church issued a statement concerning the protest early Thursday evening, noting the issue is emotionally charged.
In the statement, the church, “…calls on those involved in the debate over same sex marriage to act in a spirit of mutual respect and civility towards each other. No one on either side of the question should be vilified, intimidated, harassed or subject to erroneous information."
The protest continued after nightfall as well, and there was one report of violence after protestors surrounded a pick-up truck with a pro-Proposition 8 sign on it. According to the Associated Press, the driver of the truck hit one of the protestors, and two people were taken into police custody.
The march continued toward Beverly Hills later into the night.
A separate protest was planned for Salt Lake CIty's Temple Square Friday night.
Earlier in the week, an anti-Proposition 8 group released a video on YouTube and on some national cable channels that depicted two men in white shirts and ties.
The video, posted by the "Courage Campaign Issues Committee" depicts two men knocking at the door of a lesbian couple. The men, dressed as LDS missionaries commonly do, announce they are there to take away rights, then proceed to rummage through the house, looking for the couple's marriage license. In the video, the missionaries are seen taking the couple's wedding rings, and are also seen rifling through the women's underwear drawer until one of them finds the marriage license. The missionaries are then seen ripping up the license, and leave the home wondering what other rights they can "ban."
When the women protest and say the men "can't do that," one of them laughs as the other responds, "Just try and stop us."
LDS Church statement on protest “The Church acknowledges that such an emotionally charged issue concerning the most personal and cherished aspects of life — family and marriage — stirs fervent and deep feelings.
The Church calls on those involved in the debate over same sex marriage to act in a spirit of mutual respect and civility towards each other. No one on either side of the question should be vilified, intimidated, harassed or subject to erroneous information.”
---Information from: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
WASHINGTON – So much for a lasting Republican majority.
The Republican Party is essentially in tatters, and not that long after President Bush's 2000 election spurred talk of enduring GOP dominance.
John McCain's shellacking, along with recent congressional losses, leaves the party searching for a new leader and identity.
"It's time for the losing to stop. And my commitment to you is that it will," House GOP leader John Boehner of Ohio told his rank and file after the party lost at least 19 congressional seats Tuesday — on his watch.
Saying the party's image has been tainted by "scandals and broken promises," Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina declared: "We have got to clean up, reform and rebuild the Republican Party before we can ask Americans to trust us again." He called for party leaders to "embrace a bold new direction" or hit the road.
Indeed, a leadership shuffle brewed in the House.
Boehner announced he will seek two more years as Republican leader. But Rep. Adam Putnam of Florida, the No. 3 Republican, was "reluctantly" stepping down from his post. And a GOP official said Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor intends to run for the second-ranking spot now held by Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri. Whether Blunt intends to seek a new term was not immediately known.
Plenty of Republicans from the conservative to the liberal wings of the party agree the GOP is in shambles as the Bush presidency comes to a close, leaving the party without a titular leader when the president's term ends in January.
"Nationally, the Republican Party is going to go through a Dr. Phil, self-analysis moment," Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty said.
Nearly two dozen prominent conservatives planned to meet in Virginia on Thursday to try to chart a path going forward.
And, plenty of prospective White House hopefuls seem to be lining up for 2012.
McCain running mate Sarah Palin has signaled that she will remain on the national political scene. She says: "I'm not doing this for naught." Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who lost the nomination this year, has restarted his political action committee. And, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is heading to the leadoff caucus state of Iowa on Nov. 22 to deliver the keynote address to a conservative group. Any number of other Republicans may test the waters as well.
Republican National Committee Chairman Mike Duncan said it would be wrong to view the election results as "the death rattle of American conservatism," pointing to a roster of GOP rising stars that includes Palin, Jindal, Cantor and Sen. John Thune of South Dakota.
Republicans, Duncan said, "are going to take a deep breath and listen to the American people." The party is creating a new online forum that will allow people to explain "how we let them down" and "what we can do to restore confidence in our party," he said.
Tuesday's electoral losses for the GOP culminate a campaign that took place in an extraordinarily challenging political environment for the party in power amid two lingering wars and a spreading economic crisis. Bush's job approval ratings are at record lows and much of the country is demanding change.
Republicans were severely punished — for the second straight election.
McCain's loss to Democrat Barack Obama in an Electoral College landslide dramatically reorders the divided political map that's been the norm during the last two elections. Obama won in traditionally Republican states like Indiana and gained ground in just about every demographic group, including the fast-growing Hispanic bloc that Republicans have courted.
In Congress, House Republicans lost at least 19 seats, just two years after losing 30 seats and House control. Democrats now have locked up every seat in the Northeast. Senate Republicans, for their part, will lose at least five seats, although the GOP blocked a complete Senate rout and thwarted Democratic hopes for a 60-vote majority needed to overcome Republican filibusters. It's all quite a reversal from just eight years ago, when it was the Democrats in disarray. In 2001, Bush set up shop in the White House with Republicans firmly in control of both the House and Senate. His chief strategist, Karl Rove, envisioned building a long-term Republican majority by broadening the party's base in part by building support among women, labor groups and Hispanics. Two years later, Rove said: "Political parties kill themselves, or are killed, not by the other political party but by their failure to adapt to new circumstances." That turned out to be true — for the GOP. "The party just simply lost its way," said Republican Dick Armey, the former House majority leader from Texas. "It was no longer about small government and individual liberties ... and the party became enormously unattractive to the American people." Many point to the Iraq war — and anger over how it was handled — as just the start of the troubles. "Try as it might, the party has been unable to get it off its back," said Frank Fahrenkopf, a former Republican National Committee chairman. He also pointed to Hurricane Katrina and a spate of scandals, including the leak of a CIA operative's identity, as kindling that fueled distrust of government and disgust with the GOP. By 2006, the country issued a double repudiation of Bush and the party, giving Democrats control of both the House and the Senate. Two year later, the GOP lost the White House in Obama's barrier-breaking election as the first black president. ___ Associated Press Writer Brian Bakst in St. Paul, Minn., contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON – President Bush says he'll meet with President-elect Barack Obama next week as his administration works to achieve a seamless transition of power to the Democrat.
Bush talked outside the White House as he gathered with a host of Executive Mansion and administration workers to urge cooperation with the Obama team on the transition that will take place over the next 75 days.
Bush said that "this peaceful transfer of power is one of the hallmarks of our democracy." And he warned that the United States would be vigilant against any attempts by enemies to take advantage of the country during its period of transition.
The Bush administration is providing security clearances, working space and policy briefings to President-elect Obama's team as the transformation of the White House gets fully under way. World leaders are calling for Obama, and the White House is helping to get them connected.
"All of us here at the White House have a special responsibility to ensure that the next president and his team hit the ground running," White House press secretary Dana Perino said Thursday.
Preparation for the complex transition process has quietly been unfolding for about a year, but only accelerated with the nation's election on Tuesday of Obama, the Democratic senator from Illinois. He will be sworn in as the country's 44th president in 75 days.
President Bush addressed about 1,000 employees from his executive office — a combination of a thank-you and an admonition to ensure a smooth transfer of power. He and his wife, Laura, also have invited Obama and his family to visit the White House as soon as they can.
Obama on Thursday was receiving the first of what will become regular briefings on highly classified information from top intelligence officials. The process of getting White House security clearances for staff members of Obama and McCain, depending upon who won, already had begun long before the election took place.
Perino said world leaders are reaching out to the White House, the State Department and other federal agencies to get in touch with Obama.
"People are very excited about our next president," she said. "They're interested in getting to meet him and putting their ideas and their agenda in front of him to make sure that they continue to have a good, seamless relationship with the United States of America. And we're going to help facilitate that."
Meanwhile, officials at the Department of Homeland Security warn that the U.S. is in a heightened state of alert against terrorism. The fear is that enemies could exploit the transition period to test the country's defenses.
"That is something that we're very concerned about," Perino said in underscoring the seriousness of a smooth transition.
During the campaign, Obama relentlessly blistered the Bush administration for what he called failed, tired policies that have harmed the country. The White House has sought to make clear that politics will not affect the transition in any way.
The transition involves a delicate dance, in which the White House keeps the president-elect in the loop, and even solicits his input, while decisions still remain solely Bush's to make.
"He doesn't change his principles nor his policies," Perino said. "But what we have pledged to do and we are doing is to work and consult with the Obama team on issues as we move forward."
And even as Bush offers advice, he is mindful he can't go too far.
"I don't think that President Bush will be presumptuous in tying to talk to Barack Obama about how he makes his decisions or how Barack Obama should make decisions," Perino said. "The American people decided that this is the man that they want to be president of the United States and that he'll be the one that they trust to make decisions."
KIWANJA, Congo – Sporadic gunfire and explosions echoed Wednesday around this town in eastern Congo, as rebels fought pro-government militiamen for a second day, forcing thousands to flee.
A wider cease-fire between the rebels and the government was holding, however, and diplomats scrambled to assemble a regional peace summit Friday in Kenya.
In Kiwanja, 70 kilometers (45 miles) north of the provincial capital of Goma, clashes erupted between rebels and a militia known as the Mai Mai.
Associated Press journalists saw several thousand people on the roads, including mothers with babies on their backs, trying to find safety. As insurgents loyal to rebel leader Laurent Nkunda searched houses, artillery fire boomed in the hills nearby, and rebels told the journalists to leave.
In nearby village of Mabenga, a Belgian journalist working for a German newspaper was kidnapped by the Mai Mai late Tuesday along with his assistant and three rebel fighters, according to local official Gilles Simpeze. He said the government was negotiating their release.
On the edge of Kiwanja, hundreds of people took shelter at a roofless, abandoned school beside a U.N. base manned by Indian peacekeepers. The soldiers, in blue helmets and flak jackets, crouched behind sandbags and a ring of concertina wire.
"(The U.N.) should open up their gates to protect us," said Ntaganzwi Sinzahera, a 30-year-old refugee.
But soon after, Sinzahera and everyone else at the school left, joining a large crowd of refugees streaming toward the adjacent rebel-controlled town of Rutshuru.
"Tonight we don't know where we're going," said 21-year-old Omar Issa, who joined the crowds leaving Kiwanja. "I didn't bring anything. We don't have any food."
Few had time to gather up possessions. One man carried only his bible.
In Kiwanja, the streets were empty except for refugees. Ramshackle shops were shuttered, wooden doors were padlocked. A few residents peeked out of their homes and ducked back inside.
Fighting in Congo intensified in August and has since displaced around 250,000 million people, forcing exhausted refugees to struggle through the countryside, lugging belongings, children, even goats. Tropical rainstorms, which drench eastern Congo every day, have added to their misery.
After forcing the army into a humiliating retreat and reaching the outskirts of Goma, Nkunda called a cease-fire Oct. 29. The rebel leader has warned, though, that war could resume if the government does not accept his demand for direct negotiations. The government says it will talk — but only with all rebel and militia groups, not just with Nkunda.
A regional summit is expected Friday in Nairobi, Kenya, attended by Congo President Joseph Kabila, Rwandan President Paul Kagame and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Kagame is believed to wield strong influence over Nkunda's Tutsi-led rebels.
The conflict in eastern Congo is fueled by festering ethnic hatred left over from Rwanda's 1994 genocide and Congo's civil wars from 1996-2002, which drew neighboring countries in a mad rush to plunder Congo's mineral wealth.
Nkunda claims the Congolese government has not protected ethnic Tutsis from the Rwandan Hutu militia that escaped to Congo after helping slaughter a half-million Rwandan Tutsis.
Nkunda, who defected from Congo's army in 2004, now says he is fighting to liberate all of Congo from a corrupt government.
Rebels also say regional powers are again getting involved in the fighting. They accuse Congo allies Angola and Zimbabwe of mobilizing to back government forces, while the government says Rwanda is helping the insurgents.
On Wednesday, Rwanda's government called Congo's crisis an "internal" problem.
"The prevailing assumption that the crisis is a matter between Rwanda and the (Congo) is wrong," it said.
The U.N. World Food Program said Wednesday's fighting, which appears isolated around Kiwanja, stopped it from visiting refugee camps near Rutshuru that had been deserted. Residents have said the rebels forced them to leave, but it was unclear why.
"This is a dangerous and unstable environment and it's going to be challenging to deliver food to where it is needed most," regional WFP director Mustapha Darboe said. "We need proper security in place to ensure everyone involved is safe and that we reach the most vulnerable."
The Mai Mai are one of dozens of small militias operating across the forests and valleys of eastern Congo, which the central government has unsuccessfully struggled to control for years.
The U.N. children's agency criticized the Mai Mai for recruiting 37 children to bolster their forces last week.
"Child recruitment by all armed groups has increased significantly over the past two months," the agency said. "UNICEF reminds all armed groups of their obligation not to recruit and use children, and to release all boys and girls under the age of 18."
WFP began distributing 10-day rations Wednesday to more than 135,000 recently displaced people in six camps around Goma.
PHOENIX – Before resting from the grueling presidential race, John McCain began discussing with senior aides what role he will play in the Senate now that he has promised to work with the man who defeated him for president.
Democrats, who padded their majorities in the House and Senate, have a suggestion: McCain can mediate solutions to partisan standoffs on key legislation as he did to help avert a constitutional meltdown over judicial confirmations in 2005.
"There's a need for the old John McCain, a leader who worked in a bipartisan way," Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Wednesday.
GOP leaders, never fond McCain's independent streak or blunt style, nonetheless are reaching out to keep him in the fold and keep Republican ranks as robust as possible during the next Congress, two knowledgeable GOP officials said on condition they not be named because the conversations were private.
One obvious focus will be the war in Iraq. After two years spent more on the campaign than in the Senate, McCain will return as the ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee. That will put the four-term Arizona senator in a position to influence Democrat Barack Obama's plan to set a timetable to withdraw U.S. troops from combat in Iraq.
"That would be good," Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., said in a telephone interview. "I would love to see McCain work with President Obama in dealing with Iraq in a way that Republicans and Democrats could agree on."
During the campaign, McCain staunchly opposed setting such a time frame, even as the Iraqi government began working with the Bush administration to do so.
But in conceding the presidency to Obama Tuesday night at a Phoenix hotel, McCain pledged "to do all in my power to help him lead us through the many challenges we face."
He allowed that defeat was disappointing but said that starting Wednesday "we must move beyond it and work together to get our country moving again."
Aides said they believed McCain would work well with Obama as president because much of his best work in the Senate had been done with Democrats, including a landmark campaign finance law he crafted with Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold and an unsuccessful effort with Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy to pass comprehensive immigration reform.
The day after Election Day quickly returned McCain to something much closer to normal life. After months of travel on his campaign bus or plane, McCain and his wife, Cindy, drove themselves to Starbucks for coffee near their Phoenix condominium.
McCain and his family planned to spend a few days at their vacation compound near Sedona, Ariz., to rest from the long contest.
Friends said that despite his disappointment, McCain also was relieved that the demanding campaign was finally over. Aides said he was relaxed Tuesday night — at peace with his loss and confident that he had done his best in a political climate where a failing economy, an unpopular GOP president and two lingering wars set steep odds against a Republican victory.
"We fought as hard as we could. And though we fell short, the failure is mine, not yours," McCain told supporters Tuesday night. "I don't know what more we could have done to try to win this election. I'll leave that to others to determine."
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Associated Press writer Laurie Kellman in Washington contributed to this report.
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