Daily Briefing -- Katrina: 'Time to Untangle'

• Bushvisits Mississippi and Louisiana: "There's a lot of work to be done. . . this country is going to be committed to doing what it takes to help people get back on their feet." [ WP , NYT , WT ]

•Shift ofRobertsprovidesBush"a bit of time to untangle the aftermath of the hurricane, a job that his trip on Monday suggested might take a while, as the images of suffering continued to dominate television news coverage during the long holiday weekend. The challenge for the president is to repair the political damage caused by the government's slow response. . . without looking political.[ NYT , USAT ]

•Republicans return to Washington facing deluge of problems, from rising gas prices to vacancies on the Supreme Court; Democrats hope for upper hand; lawmakers race to provide plans and answers in hurricane's wake. [ WP , NYT , WT , WT , USAT ]

•Administration strategizes long-term relief for hurricane victims. Pastor: "I think the gains that Republicans have made in some parts of the black community, particularly among the young, may be in jeopardy." [ WSJ ]

•Central morgue established outside of Baton Rouge; thousands of bodies expected. [ NYT ]

•FEMA DirectorMichael Brownreceives bulk of criticism regarding government's response to Katrina. [ WP ]

•Former PresidentsClintonandBushwill spearhead fundraising. [ WP ]

• Clinton's defense of the administration's response to Katrina is "the latest time the former president has come to the current president's aid in his second term." [ NYT ]

• Gov. Barbour(R-Miss.) maintains his upbeat assessment of administration's handing of the flooding. [ NYT ]

•Are Homeland Security and FEMA prepared for a large-scale terror attack? [ WSJ , WSJ ]