Daily Briefing: What Would Gotti Do?
•Supreme Court, by 6 to 3 vote, rules against the administration andJohn Ashcroftto allow Oregon to practice physician-assisted suicide. [ WP , NYT , NYT , W$J , USAT , WT ]
•"High-level intelligence assessment" from early 2002 downplayed the likelihood of Niger providing uranium to Iraq. Admin official: "The president has said the intelligence was wrong, and we have reorganized our intelligence agencies so we can do better in the future." [ NYT ]
• Jack Abramoffhad a "few staff-level" White House meetings; officials are not releasing specifics. [ USAT ]
•Republicans outline their proposals to limit lobbying; some plans contain plenty of loopholes. Sen.Harry Reid(D-Nev.): "It is like askingJohn Gottito do what he can to clean up organized crime." [ WP , WP , NYT , NYT , W$J , USAT , WT ]
•Kidnappers of American journalist in Iraq issue ultimatum: release all female prisoners in Iraq or she will be killed. [ WP ]
•Senators ready their inquiries of NSA eavesdropping; determining its legality will "prove tricky." [ W$J ]
•New Orleans MayorRay Naginapologizes for suggesting that "God is mad at America" and the city will be a "chocolate city." [ WP ]
• Scott McClellancriticizes Sen.Hillary Clinton's (D-N.Y.) characterization that the House is "like a plantation"; White House flack says remarks were "way out of line" and "out of bounds." [ NYT ]
•Sen.Clintonis avoiding Iowa and New Hampshire while quietly laying the foundation for a presidential run; "neither she nor her political advisers want to do anything that might suggest that she has ambitions beyond" New York. [ NYT ]
•Sen.Ben Nelson(D-Neb.) announces he will vote forAlito. [ WT ]
• Abramoffadds drama, uncertainty toRalph Reed's race. [ USAT ]
•Sen.Trent Lott(R-Miss.) decides to seek a fourth term. [ NYT ]
•Sen.Ted Kennedy(D-Mass.) quits all-male Harvard club. [ WT ]