Daily Briefing: Three Day Weekend Ahoy
• Ari Fleischerrecalls skepticism ofGannon/Guckert;McClellandeflects: "The credentialing is all handled at the staff assistant level." [ NYT ]
• DeLay, Hastertstep away fromBushon Social Security by opposing idea of fiddling cap on taxable earnings. [ WP , NYT , LAT , WT ]
• Bush: "Iran is different from Iraq -- very different. . . there's more diplomacy, in my judgment, to be done." On Syria: "Democracy is on the move, and this is a country that isn't moving with the democratic movement." [ WP , NYT ]
•CattyRovecreditsBushwith making conservatism "forward looking." Plus: "The next time one of your smarty-pants liberal friends says to you, 'Well, he didn't have a mandate,' you tell him of this delicious fact: This president got a higher percentage of the vote than any Democratic candidate for president since 1964." [ NYT , WT , AP ]
•Overhaul of class action guidelines passes Congress; a victory for business. [ WP , LAT ]
• Negroponte, an administration loyalist, tapped as first director of national intelligence.Bush: "He understands the power centers in Washington. He's been a consumer of intelligence in the past. And so he's got a good feel for how to move this process forward in a way that addresses the different interests." [ NYT , NYT , LAT , USAT ]
• Ridgemet with Republican pollsters during campaign while saying, "We don't do politics in the Department of Homeland Security." [ AP ]
• Bushhopes trip will smooth relations with Europe; Iran to be forefront. [ USAT ]
• Kerry, Hillaryintroduce election-reform bill that would allow same-day registration and designate a federal holiday.Kerry: "This has nothing to do with the question of outcome of 2004. This has everything to do with full civil rights for Americans, period." [ LAT ]
• Bob Schieffer's brother recently named ambassador to Japan. [ NYT ]