TPMDC Sunday Roundup

Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Gillibrand: Giffords Making ‘An Extraordinary Amount Of Progress’
Appearing on Meet The Press, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) that her friend Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) is making progress in her recovery from the shooting in Tucson, though she is not yet able to speak: “It’s far too early for that. But she’s making progress every day. She’s using both sides of her body. She’s able to breathe on her own. She’s able to open her eyes and to show people she understands what she’s hearing and seeing. So she’s really–it’s an extraordinary amount of progress for a woman who sustained such a horrific injury that she did.”

Schumer: I Will Sit With Coburn At SOTU
Appearing on Meet The Press, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said that he and Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) will sit together at the State of the Union address: “My colleague Senator Mark Udall called for Democrats and Republicans to sit together at the State of the Union. I called up Tom after he did that, and he graciously agreed, we’re going to sit together Wednesday night at the State of the Union, and we hope that many others will follow us. Now, that’s symbolic, but maybe it just sets a tone and everything gets a little bit more civil.”

Coburn Opposes New Gun Restrictions
Appearing on Meet The Press, Sen. Tom Coburn indicated his opposition to increased gun restrictions in the wake of the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ): “If, if you have somebody that is a criminal, that wants to get around the law, they’re going to get around the law. The problem with gun laws is they limit the ability to defend yourself, one. But number two is, the people who are going to commit a crime or going to do something crazy aren’t going to pay attention to the laws in the first place. And there’s numerous examples over the last few years where concealed carry has, in fact, benefited people, especially in, for example, in Colorado Springs, where a individual with a concealed carry stopped somebody who was going to kill multiple people in a church, and, and, and wounded them so that they could not continue to do that. So it’s a controversial issue.”

Giuliani Calls For Mental Health Care Improvements
Appearing on Face The Nation, former New York City Rudy Giuliani (R) called for a major overhaul in the country’s policies on mental health, in the wake of the Tucson shooting. “This man was crying out for someone who needed to be treated,” said Giuliani. “He was being told to be treated. People were saying he was bizarre. People were saying he was frightening. A teacher wouldn’t be with him without a guard being there. Gosh, you would think at some point along the way he’d have been evaluated. He added: “It isn’t an isolated incident: We could go back and look at lots of incidents like this where people weren’t being treated.”

House GOPer Wants Hearings On Mental Health Issues
Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA), co-founder of the Congressional Mental Health Caucus, said on State of the Union that he hoped to hold hearings on the shooting in Arizona. “I want to know where things stand on a state and federal level, what can be done,” Murphy said. “We do want to know what happens and what else we can do in the federal level to provide assistance.”

Christie: Remark About Palin ‘Wasn’t A Criticism Of Her’
Appearing on Fox News Sunday, Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) clarified a seemingly critical comment he had made about Sarah Palin, that she was not open to spontaneous, unscripted moments in the media: “And so really it wasn’t a criticism of her. It was an observation. In that interview with The New York Times, they asked me about what I thought about the various candidates. They brought up her name. And I said about all candidates that you really learn about them in the unscripted moments. And if you avoid the unscripted moments, I don’t think that the American people will trust their instincts about whether you, in fact, would make a good president or not.”

Latest DC
Comments
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: