fundraisers in the next 90 minutes. the man hurrying past our camera is utah democrat jim mathisen. his ski pac is holding one of them. a $5,000 a plate breakfast. a fundraiser for a guy who would soon announce he s leaving congress. around the corner a steak house is holding a fundraiser for the republican chair of the ways and means committee, dave camp from michigan. for $5,000, the invitation says, you ll be a star of his re-election campaign. this thursday morning a dozen or so fundraisers will be held before a single congressional vote is cast. all all status quo. business of politicians. shaking hand and shaking down anyone who wants to do business here. it is a feeding frenzy that s going on. and i think we need to somehow break the back of the ability of politicians to leverage their
on and goes on and goes on. reporter: we wanted to ask utah democratic congressman jim mathisen about fundraising at his breakfast. specifically why he was raising money for his political action committee at the same time he was deciding to leave congress. he wasn t interested. we also wanted to ask michigan congressman dave camp why he need eed so much money. he raised nearly $4.5 million in his last campaign. his opponent raised a paltry $37,000. camp has blown out his closest challengers for years. so what s all this money for? no comment. and then there s florida governor rick scott. remember that first fundraiser he was having? it was hosted by the principi group, a company founded by former veterans administration secretary anthony principi. two days before hosting this fundraiser for the governor, the principi group gave $10,000 to governor scott s political action committee, which is
to win back the house, you know, slim, slim, slim chance that they can, i think it s something like 1%, but when seats like this open up it certainly gives democrats more of a chance to win back in-some seats in the house. well, sam stein, gerlach s seat looks interesting. mitt romney won that district with only 51% of the vote. that seems like it could be something the democrats could get. yeah. now, gerlach won his re-election by 57% of the vote. so it was trending away from democrats because of redistricting. however, one thing that is in the democrats favor is the governor of pennsylvania, tom coburn, is up for re-election. widely unpopulated guy. there will be depressed republican turnout it s expected because of that and intensified democratic support. so it is one of these seats that democrats feel they have a legitimate shot to pick up a number. but nia-malika s right. they are starting from a deficit that s going to be very difficult to overcome. they re also forfeiting a
democrats more of a chance to win back in-some seats in the house. well, sam stein, gerlach s seat looks interesting. mitt romney won that district with only 51% of the vote. that seems like it could be something the democrats could get. yeah. now, gerlach won his re-election by 57% of the vote. so it was trending away from democrats because of redistricting. however, one thing that is in the democrats favor is the governor of pennsylvania, tom coburn, is up for re-election. widely unpopulated guy. there will be depressed republican turnout it s expected because of that and intensified democratic support. so it is one of these seats that democrats feel they have a legitimate shot to pick up a number. but nia-malika s right. they are starting from a deficit that s going to be very difficult to overcome. they re also forfeiting a seat in all likelihood with jim mathisen in utah retiring. the one democrat so far retiring. so it is still an uphill battle for democrats, but this is pro
goes, each party is going to claim victory. all right, let s go to the five democrats who have confirmed that they will vote in finding the attorney general in contempt of congress. looks like this. jim mathisen we told you yesterday out of utah. nick rayhall is there from west virginia. west virginia not too happy lately with the president. john barrow of georgia. colin peterson also andike mcentire of north carolina. unconfirmed, we understand but leaning that way, joe bacca of california will vote yes as well. we believe. but we don t have it confirmed yet. meantime, the agent who started the fast & furious situation is now defending the gunrunning operation in the first public interview. i believe his name is william newell, veteran federal agent who spent five years as the head of the bureau of alcohol, tobacco and firearms and explosives in phoenix. he s now saying that, you know, the intent of this was to try and stop gun trafficking coming across the border from mexico.