Congress and Bush in showdown over child health bill

Hello on this Thursday, the 18 day of October 2007. I'm Kristin Volk with a UPI top news headline. Congress and President Bush are going head-to-head over a popular children's health care bill. The House is expected to vote today on whether to override Bush's veto of a plan expanding the state-run Children's Health Insurance program. House GOP leaders reportedly predict they have the votes needed to uphold the veto, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says Democrats are still in the fight. The bill passed by the House and Senate in September would cover about 4 more million children. It currently covers about 6 million children from families of four with a yearly income of about 41 thousand dollars. Russian President Vladimir Putin says the U.S. war in Iraq is a pointless battle against the Iraqi people. His comment during an annual televised question-and-answer session today is the latest jab at Washington. Putin added that the Iraqi people have learned to shoot but they're not managing to bring order. During the conference, he also cited improvements in Russia's economy and better mortality rates there. Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert will reportedly resign his congressional seat instead of finishing out his term. Sources say he'll make an announcement soon. The sixty-five year old is the longest-serving Republican leader in history. He stepped down as leader last November after Democrats won control of Congress in midterm elections. An aide to Hastert says he believes the Illinois lawmaker is just done with being a member of Congress. President Bush's nominee for attorney general condemned torture and pledged to run the Justice Department in a nonpartisan way during his confirmation hearings yesterday. Michael Mukasey also said he hopes to have a more cooperative approach with Congress. Senators from both parties have welcomed the former federal judge's nomination. Many say he's likely to be more independent of the White House than former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was. That's all for now. Check out our new special segment called Outgrowing Foster Care on upi.com. Thanks for watching.

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YouTube | October 18, 2007

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