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Opponents of the immigration bill blocked its passage in the Senate while the President was traveling in Europe. So, upon his return, George Bush took a trip to Capitol Hill to lobby his fellow Republicans to resuscitate the measure. Both NBC and CBS led with his less-than-successful efforts, NBC from the White House and CBS from Capitol Hill, as illegal immigration became Story of the Day. ABC chose the real estate market, where home mortgage foreclosures are on the increase.

The President's lunch did not go well. "He may not have changed any minds," reported NBC's David Gregory. "Republican leaders said their opposition is firm." CBS' Jim Axelrod, also reporting from the White House, relayed the optimism of Bush's aides who argued that the Republican senators "just want more time to debate it and address constituent concerns." But NBC's Gregory insisted that those concerns are unaddressable: "A hard line on immigration is now the litmus test for grassroots conservatives."

On Capitol Hill, CBS' Sharyl Attkisson floated a couple of amendments that may salvage the legislation: first, assign responsibility for certifying the security of the border to each state's governor; second, appropriate border security spending first, before passing the bill, so voters "know it is really there." But when Majority Leader Harry Reid pledged not to restart debate unless 25 Republicans were committed to support the bill, ABC's Jake Tapper called that "a very, very tall order…This bill may just be dead."

Andrew Tyndall 6/13/07 7:07:13 pm

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