Daily Briefing: 'Even a Zealot'
* Administration projects the cost of rebuilding New Orleans levees will be $10 billion, triple the previous estimate. Gov.Kathleen Babineaux Blanco(D): "This means that, just two months before hurricane season, the Corps of Engineers informs us they cannot ensure even the minimum safety of southeastern Louisiana. This is totally unacceptable." [ WP ]
*Bush, in Cancun with the leaders of Mexico and Canada, aims to rebuild trust and find "move forward" on immigration.Bush: "We don't want people sneaking into our country who are going to do jobs Americans don't want. We want them coming in an orderly way." [ WP , NYT , USAT , AP ]
* Pentagon will test the "largest single explosive we could imagine" --a bunker-busting 700-ton explosive-- at the Nevada Test Site. [ WP ]
* Appeals Court JudgeRichard Posnersays restructuring of intelligence agencies is not an improvement. [ WP ]
* Immigration issue divides Democrats and organized labor. [ WP ]
* Senate begins arduous task of debating immigration legislation. [ W$J , NYT ]
* Sen.Frist"faces mounting criticism" for pursuing self-interests ahead of his party. [ LAT ]
* Senate tackles issue of foreign investments in the U.S. in the wake of Dubai ports controversy. [ W$J ]
* Republicans try to bring down 527s as MoveOn.org puts its 527 on hold. [ NYT , WP ]
* Rep.Tom Tancredo's (R-Colo.) political life began with his "obsession to stem the tide of immigration"; Congressional colleagues see him as a "loose cannon or even a zealot." [ WP ]
* For some lawmakers, "amnesty" is a scarlet letter. [ WP ]