not in modern times did the house split 50/50 democrats and republicans, but i saw trent lott and tom daschle, leaders of the party, trying to figure out what to do about making it, and i realize that the institution came down to the personality of these two men, and i thought, wow, our government is so personality driven that i thought it was -- and that was the beginning of the book. host: but you honed in on the 2006 election, and how many people newly elected in 2006? >> there were 10 new senators in 2006, nine of them democrats, and one republican, bob corker, and as you remember, the election that brought the democrats back into power after 12 years of republican rule after the 1994 republican revolution. host: we have those names that we are going to put on the screen. one republican. it starts with bob casey from pennsylvania, ben cardin, sherrod brown, amy klobuchar, claire mccaskill. bob menendez -- and bob corker, the only republican from tennessee. tell a story about somebody followed in that election. guest: the montana senate election was kind of wrapped up in everything that wa

former white house majority leader tom daschle and former epa director christine whitman. less than a year ago, a former bp exec was appointed to head a division of the minerals management service, meant to police oil drilling. >> the oil and gas industry has had an extraordinary power over particularly the department of interior. but the government in general, and you've seen it across agencies and in the congress and now we're seeing the impact of that. >> reporter: bp controls the cleanup and taken the lead in deploying skimmers, methods to cap the well, and until today had sole discretion of dumping dispersants on the oil. why did they choose that chemical? >> we're following through unified command of what dispersants are believed to be the best to use. >> reporter: and the company has effective veto power on the information released about the spill until congress strongarmed it to release this live video. and it should be mentioned, and bp has said all along, that every decision it has made was in collaboration with the u.s. government and other federal authorities,

i am sure you can remember where you were on that election night when he took down at tom daschle. [applause] in honor of that great feat, we plan to take down harry reid. [applause] at that time, it was the first time in 52 years a sitting senate leader had been taken out. this man came with his best game and got it done. we look forward to having that great moment again this year. the senator is the head of the politics committee and i have the pleasure of meeting with him and many of the senators every tuesday as they talk about not opportunities in the senate but how, as a party, we get through the message. he is number four in leadership in the senate. his heart is in grassroots. it is important in this time for us because we need that connection. it says that this party is about our grass roots. john thune is one of those guys who allows us to do that every day through his leadership in his state and across the country. it gives me great pleasure to welcome to the microphone a friend, a family member, and someone who is doing great work for us, the hon. john stone from south

he took down tom daschle. [cheers and applause] well, senator, in honor of that defeat, we plan to take down harry reid this year. [cheers and applause] and at that time, it was the first time in many years a sitting senator had been taken out, so this man came with his a game, and he got it done, and we are looking forward to having that great moment again this year. he is the head of a committee, and i had the pleasure of meeting with him and many of the senators every tuesday as they talk about not just the leadership opportunities in the senate but how as a party we get through the policies and the mission--- and the message. he has his ear and his heart with the grass roots, and is much important this time for us because we need that touch, that connection that says that this party is about our grass roots, and john thune is one of the guys that allows us to do this every day in his state and across the country, so it gives me great pleasure to welcome to the microphone a friend, a family member, and some

[applause] >> jake topper's story on the details of tom daschle's tax problems and the trouble they would for his cabinet nomination was a lesson in getting news on a beat in which it is hard to do so. getting it out fast and accurately with background, context and using the web to augment on-air reporting. for the merriman-smith award in broadcast, jake topper's story is the winner. [applause] >> the aldo beckman award recognizes repeated excellence in white house coverage with a single award for either print or broadcast in journalism. the award goes to mark noler of cbs. [applause] >> this award is for a body of work covering the white house for more than 15 years, keeping tabs on every president since gerald ford. his insightful reporting on multiple platforms including radio, television, blogs and now twitter has demonstrated repeated excellence in white house coverage over a long period, one of the criteria for the award. his meticulous records keeping as an unofficial archivist of the presidency serves the public and keeps the white house accountable. [applause] he lives and breath

guest: he is a 30-year veteran of capitol hill, he is often called the 101st senator, he was tom daschle'shief of staff and when the barack obama arrived in 2005 in the senate, he became obama's chief of staff. in the senate. pete is kind of shy. on the inauguration, for instance, instead of sitting in the front row, he watched it on television. the president, who likes to wander around the west wing and walk into other people's offices, he jokes that pete does not like to travel, does not like to take foreign trips much, would not even traveled down to the oval office to see him so obama had to go down to peter's office. he is sometimes calle a kinder winston wolf. this is the character from "pulp fiction." when there was a problem, he could handle it. he does not talk to many people but he gave me great insights as did many people around the president. they knew that this was going to be a mixed picture and i was not going to cover for them. they thought that i would treat this in a fair minded way. guhost: -- guest: is the only person who is a senior official and in the innermost circle

guest: he is a 30-year veteran of capitol hill, he is often called the 101st senator, he was tom daschle's chief of staff and when the barack obama arrived in 2005 in the senate, he became oba's chief of staff. in the senate. pete is kind of shy. on the inauguration, for instance, instead of sitting in the front row, he watched it on television. the president, who likes to wander around the west wing and walk into other people's offices, he jokes that pete does not like to travel, does not like to take foreign trips much, would not even traveled down to the oval office to see him so obama had to go down to peter's office. he is sometimes called a kinder winston wolf, w was a party -- character and pulp fiction because when there is a problem, often the president will assign pete to handle it. pete was a very generous with his time with me. he does not talk to too many reporters, but he gave me great insight, as did the other top people around the present appeared they knew it was no all going to be positive. that this was going to be, in some ways, aixed picture. and that i was not going t

guest: he is a 30-year veteran of capitol hill, he is often called the 101st senator, he was tom daschle's chief of staff and when the barack obama arrived in 2005 in the senate, he became obama's chief of staff. in the senate. pete is kind of shy. on the inauguration, for instance, instead of sitting in the front row, he watched it on television. the president, who likes to wander around the west wing and walk into other people's offices, he jokes that pete does not like to travel, does not like to take foreign trips much, would not even traveled down to the oval office to see him so obama had to go down to peter's office. he is sometimes called a kinder winston wolf, who was a party -- character and pulp fiction because when there is a problem, often the president will assign pete to handle it. pete was a very generous with his time with me. he does not talk to too many reporters, but he gave me great insight, as did the other top people around the present appeared they knew it was not all going to be positive. that this was going to be, in some ways, a mixed picture. and that i was not

guest: he is a 30-year veteran of capitol hill, he is often called the 101st senator, he was tom daschle's chief of staff and when the barack obama arrived in 2005 in the senate, he became obama's chief of staff. in the senate. pete is kind of shy. on the inauguration, for instance, instead of sitting in the front row, he watchedt on television. the president, who likes to wander around the west wing and walk into other people's offices, he jokes that pete does not like to travel, does not like to take foreign trips much, would not even traveled down to the oval office to see him so obama had to go down to peter's office. he is sometimes called a kinder winston wolf, who was a party -- characr and pulp fiction because when there is a problem, often the president will assign pete to handle it. pete was a very generous with his time with me. he does not talk to too many reporters, but he gave me great insight, as did the other top people around the present appeared they knew it was not all going to be positive. that this was going to be, in some ways, a mixed picture. and tt i was not going

tom-0. we work closely with the- operation. -- the daschle operation. i remember then the endinhinkins compelling, smart, and got a call. -- and thoughtful. he was picking -- speaking to the issues on my mind, and i had not really seen that yet. informal chatting, but not anything particularly serious. i really did not think he would run for president. >> what was your role in the campaign? >> i ended up getting involved pinafore in policy core group. at the beginning it was maybe 12 of us. -- i ended up getting involved in the corn poliforeign policy . group. i was definitely torn, but on the other hand i felt that this is a guide -- i always say that compelling people do not go into politics. ani thought the least i can do s take my three time on the weekends to volunteer to help out wherever i can with the assumption that he still had different issues that he wanted to explore and maybe my advice might be helpful in some way, shape, or form. i knew that hillary clinton had pretty subtle cues when the games to -- views when it came to a foreign-policy