Daily Briefing: 'He Listened. He Smiled. He Nodded.'
• Robertssupports privacy rights, wavers on Roe;Schumeris "pleasantly surprised."Gary Bauer: "A careful reading of the transcript shows he committed to nothing once [Roberts] is on the court. We are left with what we always had. . . a new conservative majority." [ WP , WP , NYT , NYT , WSJ , LAT , USAT ]
• Bush: "Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capability at all levels of government, and to the extent that the federal government didn't fully do its job right, I take responsibility. I want to know what went right and what went wrong." [ WP , NYT ]
• Robertsremained posed and cautious: "He listened. He smiled. He nodded."Brownstein: He "exuded the quiet confidence of a man who knew that he was ahead in the game during a lengthy but mostly sedate confirmation hearing Tuesday. . .Roberts'performance marked a bright spot for a White House battered by criticism of its response to Hurricane Katrina, and demonstrated the inherent vitality of presidential power." [NYT , LAT , NYT ]
•FAA knew Al Qaeda wanted "to hijack a commercial jet and slam it into a U.S. landmark" in 1998 and knew vulnerability of airports.Kean: "[Katrina] is not a terrorist incident, but it brings into play all of the same issues and shortcomings. . . Whoever is responsible for acting in these places hasn't acted. Are they going to do it now? What else has to happen for people to act?" [ NYT , WP ]
•Democrats, led byHillary, seek investigation of government's response to Katrina. [ NYT ]
•Homeland Security officials will oversee distribution of Katrina relief funds to ensure responsible spending. [ WSJ , NYT ]
•Texas grand jury issues more indictments inDeLaycase. [ WP , LAT ]