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The Morning Grind / DayAhead |
The main event: Bush, Cheney face 9/11 panel
By Claire Brinberg
CNN Political Unit
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Stay with CNN for updates and analysis from the campaign trail and follow-up perspective on the Oval Office session between President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and members of the 9/11 commission. |
 VIDEO |
 CNN's John King on Bush, Cheney and the 9/11 panel.
 CNN's Jeanne Meserve on efforts to improve CIA-FBI relations.
 The 9/11 panel cites fragmented intelligence-gathering.
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Trust us, it won't look like a big deal. Hands won't be raised, oaths won't be sworn, flashbulbs won't pop and tape recorders won't whir. Don't count on wall-to-wall coverage or dramatic hallway news conferences or any of the things we've come to expect whenever the 9/11 commission nabs a big fish. But if the commission's been grilling guppies so far, today they'll land a couple of whales.
About 9:30 a.m. ET, all 10 commissioners are expected to troop into the Oval Office to meet with the president and vice president of the United States. It will be the defining political event of the day, the week and maybe even the whole year. And it will all go down behind closed doors. The White House has blocked out 2 1/2 hours for the inquisition, but aides don't anticipate it will take that long.
And we all know it's a tag-team job -- a Bush-Cheney two-fer, with all the requisite drama. Dems say the veep's there to hold his boss's hand, and to make sure their stories jive. Republicans bristle, grousing that these are two busy people here, without a lot of time to kill.
And the White House notes that we're not exactly talking about a couple of hoods here. The president's counsel Alberto Gonzales tells CNN's John King that "this is not a criminal investigation. This is not someone before a grand jury. The purpose of these private sessions is for the president and vice president to provide information to the commission and that is what they are going to do."
Today's proceedings will not be recorded or transcribed. Commission members will, however, be allowed to take notes. Should make for a fun stakeout, huh?
Bush and Cheney have spent several hours over several days prepping for the session, reviewing 2001 intelligence briefings and debriefing administration stars like Condi Rice and Andy Card.
Bush approval rating slips
The presidential audience comes on a day a new poll shows Bush's job approval on the wane. The New York Times/CBS survey, sure to shape political chatter in this news cycle and beyond, shows the president with the lowest numbers it has recorded for his presidency. He gets a 46% approval rating, down from 71% last March.
Although the numbers indicate 60% of Americans approve of Bush's handling of the threat of terrorism, the findings also show a nation increasingly unhappy with his management of the situation in Iraq, one year after he declared an end to major combat operations. Just 41% approve of the president's performance in that area, an 8-point drop since last month and an 18-point plunge from December.
The poll offers lots of ammunition for Democrats, who are gearing up to mark the anniversary of Bush's much-ballyhooed "Mission Accomplished" speech one year young on Saturday. As is his wont, Sen. Ted Kennedy will note the occasion with a stemwinder on the Senate floor at 9:30 a.m. ET this morning.
According to an advance copy of his remarks, the senator will denounce the president's jaunt on the USS Abraham Lincoln as "nothing more than a photo op tailored for the 2004 election." He'll then launch into another blistering excoriation of the administration's Iraq policy, blasting the war as possibly "the worst blunder in the entire history of American foreign policy," and dubbing Iraq "George Bush's Vietnam."
Did someone say Vietnam?
Kerry talks security
John Kerry is in Philadelphia today, talking about homeland security before the National Conference of Black Mayors. His two-fold message will focus on alleviating some of the financial burden new security precautions have placed on cities and on securing the nation's chemical plants.
Kerry will take the administration to task, saying, "Instead of misleading us about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, why won't they lead this nation to take every step to prevent one of our own chemical plants from being turned into a weapon of mass destruction against our own people?" according to an advance text of his remarks.
A page out of Howard Dean's book
Note to those of you who aren't special enough to join Bush, Cheney, the 9/11 commissioners and assorted lawyers for today's Oval Office inquiry. The POTUS and VPOTUS probably won't talk to reporters afterward, and don't expect Cheney to dish any dirt when he phones in to the BC04 Party for the President tonight -- a super-exclusive soiree for TENS OF THOUSANDS Bush-Cheney BFFs. You know the drill by now, right? Go to georgewbush.com, punch in your zip and you'll be instantly invited to like a dozen parties! Thank you MeetUp! Thank you Howard Dean!
Anyway, these aren't fund-raisers. They're designed to rally the roots, grow support and build a volunteer base for the fall. We should note that many of the more than 5,000 pledged hosts are promising wine and vittles. We're holding out for gimlets, though.
The question on everyone's mind: Will the Bushies best Dean's Guiness World Record-breaking conference call where more than 10,000 Deaniacs huddled around speakerphones across the country? In a year of odd political milestones, one can always dream, right?
