Daily Briefing: The 'Lull' on the Homeland

* FEMA and the White House knew of levee failure earlier than previously disclosed; also, "officials knew long before the storm showed up on the radar that 100,000 people in New Orleans" had no exit strategy. [ NYT , NYT ]

* Former top CIA official accuses the administration of "cherry-picking" intelligence to justify war against Iraq and suppressing warnings about post-war conditions: "It has become clear that official intelligence was not relied on in making even the most significant national security decisions, that intelligence was misused publicly to justify decisions already made, that damaging ill will developed between [Bush] policymakers and intelligence officers, and that the intelligence community's own work was politicized." [ WP ]

*Lewis Libbysays "supervisors" authorized leaks of classified documents about Iraq's weapons programs. [ NYT , W$J ]

*Bushdefends eavesdropping by citing foiled terror plot against Los Angeles: "We cannot let the fact that America hasn't been attacked in four and a half years since September 11, 2001, lull us into the illusion that the threats to our nation have disappeared. They have not." [ WP , NYT , USAT , WT ]

*Jack Abramoffsays he met withBushin "almost a dozen settings" over the last five years. [ WP , NYT ]

* Sen.Harry Reid(D-Nev.) received about $68,000 fromAbramoff's firm; ties found between lobbyist andReid's staff. [ WP ]

* White House reaches compromise with key senators over the Patriot Act. [ WP , NYT , WT , LAT ]

*Michael Brownwill testify today about FEMA's response to Hurricane Katrina. [ WP , NYT ]

*Cheneysays eavesdropping issue should be campaign topic. [ WP ]

* Conservatives "seem less celebratory than divided." [ NYT , LAT ]

* Most programs facing cuts byBushhave seen the threat before. [ USAT ]

* House Republicans include ethics course in weekend retreat. [ WT ]

*Cindy Sheehandecides not to run against Sen.Dianne Feinstein(D-Calif.). [ LAT ]