Almanac: At the Capitol

The big unexpected story out of the Capitol today is Senate hearings looking into a possible Northwest Airlines merger. Sen. James Metzen (DFL-South St. Paul) crashed Tarryl Clark's weekly briefing with reporters. He said he was just going to come and tell Bill Salisbury from the Pioneer Press but decided to talk to all of us because he said "this scares the dickens out of me." The NWA headquarters are in Metzen's district. He says Congressman Oberstar will also be attending hearings he's hoping to hold next week at the Capitol. Metzen, who's the Senate President, says "we'll ask a lot of tough questions." Metzen will be live on Almanac tonight.

The House isn't jumping on board yet on the hearings, but they are concerned. Speaker Anderson Kelliher said "the loss of a hub would be dramatic; the job loss could be very severe." The governor just weighed in too, sending a letter to Northwest and Delta's CEOs. He reminded the airlines that the state gave $445 million in loans and leases and said "we trust and expect these commitments will be honored." Pawlenty also went on to say that "we are willing to make additional commitment to keep the hub at full operation and the headquarters in Minnesota."