Category: able danger

Daily Briefing: Terrorists & Katrina

• Leahy, Baucus, Johnson will support Roberts; Kerry, Kennedy, Corzine, Boxer, Reid will vote no. [NYT, LAT, USAT]
• Bush multitasks over second Supreme Court nomination, hurricanes, Iraq, and Social Security; talks of Katrina and terrorists, "They're the kind of people who look at Katrina and wish they had caused it. We're in a war against these people." [NYT, USAT]
• Republicans propose spending cuts as Congress passes $6b in Katrina-related tax breaks. [WSJ, WP, USAT]
• Next Supreme Court nominee will face heightened scrutiny. [WP]
• House Republicans will pursue inquiry of government's response to Katrina in spite of boycott by Democrats. [WP, NYT]

• Senators want answers, not obstruction from the Pentagon about Able Danger's pre-9/11 knowledge of Mohamed Atta. [NYT, USAT]
• Lawyer of arrested official accuses Justice Department of coercion. [NYT]
• Democratic activists are united against Roberts. [NYT]
• Frist deflects ethical questions by explaining sale of stock that subsequently lost value. [WP, NYT]
• Gold Star Families For Peace launch $1m television and print campaign; anti-war rally will be held on Saturday. [WP]
• Karen Hughes begins "listening tour" trip to Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. [USAT]

READ MORE: Democrats , Pentagon , Republicans , Rita , SCOTUS , able danger , barbara boxer , bill frist , cindy sheehan , congress , george w. bush , harry reid , john g. roberts , john kerry , katrina , max baucus , mohamad atta , patrick leahy , ted kennedy , terrorists , tim johnson , war in iraq

Daily Briefing: 'A National Disgrace'

• House will pass $10.5b relief package for the Gulf Coast; officials on the ground complain about the administration's response. Head of emergency management in New Orleans: "This is a national emergency. This is a national disgrace. . . We can send massive amounts of aid to tsunami victims, but we can't bail out the city of New Orleans." [WP, WP, USAT]
• Experts blame "late evacuation order and insufficient emergency shelter." New Orleans Police Superintendent: "We're in our fifth day and adequate help to quell the situation has not arrived yet." [NYT, WP, WT]
• Katrina shows government was unprepared for energy crisis. Bush: "Americans should be prudent in their use of energy. Don't buy gas if you don't need it." [WSJ, WP]
• Democrats say Bush's decision to underfund levee fortification left New Orleans vulnerable. McClellan: "Flood control has been a priority of this administration from Day One. This is not a time for finger-pointing or playing politics." [WP, NYT]
• Al Qaeda takes credit for London bombings in video broadcast by Al Jazeera; group vows more attacks will come. Suspected bomber: "We are at war, and I am a soldier and now you too will taste the reality of this situation." [NYT, WP]
• Gas prices top $6 a gallon in some areas. [USAT]

• Republicans and Democrats plan tough quizzing of Roberts; Democrats may seek delay of confirmation hearings if more documents arrive too late. [WSJ]
• More Pentagon employees confirm Mohamed Atta was identified before 9/11, but no evidence is found. [NYT]
• Gay marriage approved by California Senate. [LAT, WP]
• Liberal advocacy groups clamor for attention to block Roberts. Said one organizer, "Now there is this hurricane. . . We have to do something." [NYT, ]
• Specter seen as unpredictable, maverick force in Roberts' confirmation hearings. [WP]
• Governors Kathleen Blanco (D-La.) and Haley Barbour (R-Miss.) split along party lines when assessing the administration's response to Katrina. [WSJ]
• 160 law professors announce disapproval of Roberts. [WP]
• Potential '08 candidates hit New Hampshire. Huckabee, Kerry, Vilsack, Bayh, Richardson, Feingold, Clark, Edwards, McCain, Hagel, Allen, Brownback have visited. [WP]

READ MORE: 2008 campaign , able danger , al qaeda , arlen specter , gay marriage , george w. bush , house , hurricane katrina , john g. roberts , london bombings , mohamed atta , new hampsire , new orleans , oil , politics , scott mcclellan , senate

Daily Briefing: Disappointed in Crawford

• Files show Roberts tried to "shield" President Reagan and his administration from legal troubles, "political blunders and public relations missteps." In 1985, Roberts advised on AIDS: "I do not think we should have the president taking a position on a disputed scientific issue of this sort." [NYT, LAT]
• Roberts disapproved expansion of women's rights by the Reagan administration and questioned legal challenges to the "purported gender gap." [WP, LAT]
• Shaffer says claims about Able Danger are from two associates, not his own memory. [WP]
• "The Democrats aren't scoring points in terms of landing any significant punches on Bush or in terms of saying anything meaningful to the American people," says Zogby. [WT]
• Sheehan leaves Crawford to visit her hospitalized mother; expects to return to ranch soon. [NYT]
• Roberts supported national identification cards in 1983; argued cards would "not suddenly mean constitutional protections would evaporate." [WSJ, USAT]

• Defense Department officials express concern about Chavez and Castro in echo of cold war rhetoric. [NYT]
• White House defends drug policies, specifically regarding meth. [NYT]
• Bush has no quick fix for rising gas prices. [WP]
• Cheney maintains U.S. "will not relent" in Iraq. [WP]
• Rice calls for China to change its economic policies. [NYT]
• Feingold calls for full withdrawal from Iraq by '06. [WP]
• With over 1,000 days until the '08 election, prospective candidates begin uphill battle; Bayh heads straight for Iowa. [LAT]
• Tourists look for Bush in Crawford. Said one, "I was disappointed." [USAT]
• Site touting Christopher Walken for president is --surprise-- a joke. [LAT]

READ MORE: Campaigning , Democrats , White House , able danger , chavez , christopher walken , cindy sheehan , condoleezza rice , dick cheney , evan bayh , fidel castro , george w. bush , iraq , john g. roberts , ronald reagan , war on drugs

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