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The Situation: Friday, April 14

Editor's Note: The Situation Report is a running log of dispatches, quotes, links and behind-the-scenes notes filed by the correspondents and producers of CNN's Washington Bureau. Watch "The Situation Room" with Wolf Blitzer on CNN 4 p.m. ET to 6 p.m. ET and 7 p.m. ET to 8 p.m. ET weekdays.

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An internal report says it was almost three days before FEMA realized the scope of the hurricane's destruction.

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_{Posted 4:04 p.m. ET
From The Situation Online Producers}

Faulting FEMA
We examine a scathing new DHS report (PDF) criticizing FEMA's response to Hurricane Katrina as "slow and ineffectiive."

Egging them on
Who is attending this year's annual White House Easter Egg Roll and why is it drawing criticism?

Bush's tax return
Can tax returns makes for riveting reading? They can if filed by the President and Vice President. How much did the Bushes make last year? Which charities received millions from the Cheneys? How much did the Bushes donate to hurricane relief efforts? We give you a first-hand look. (View parts of President Bush's and Vice President Cheney's tax returns in PDF form)

Mumps outbreak
Federal and state officials in Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota, Illinois, Missouri, and Wisconsin respond to new mysterious mumps epidemic.

The Morning Grind

_{Posted: 9:40 a.m. ET
From Mark Preston, CNN Political Unit}

President Gravel?

Former Sen. Mike Gravel (D) likes to boast that when he first arrived in Alaska in 1957 he didn't have enough money to buy a pack of cigarettes. A dozen years later the Massachusetts-born Gravel was elected to represent The Last Frontier in the United States Senate.

After serving 12 years, Gravel failed to win a third term and faded away from national politics just as quickly as he entered. The 75-year-old Gravel re-emerges today as he files papers to seek the Democratic Party's presidential nomination in 2008.

"I am extremely angry with the direction the nation is going and the lack of leadership in the Congress and what I would call terrible leadership in the Executive Branch," Gravel said in an interview with the Grind. "I am ashamed there is no leadership in the Democratic Party and the Republican Party is worse."

Gravel is number 1653 of the elite club of 1885 people who have served in the Senate. But unlike most of the Senators who failed to distinguish themselves and are now footnotes in history, Gravel did make a mark by using the protections of his office and a bit of showmanship to express his opposition to the Vietnam War. Gravel filibustered the draft and he released the Pentagon Papers in 1971 by using his position as a subcommittee chairman to insert them into the public record. Gravel intended to read the full content of the papers in this dramatic late night hearing, but emotions overcame him.

"I was exhausted," Gravel said. "I probably hadn't slept for three days and I started crying. All I was thinking is my country is making a terrible mistake in Vietnam. I asked unanimous consent to put the Pentagon Papers into the record."

Why did he do it? "I took my position as a United States Senator and said they got no reason to lie to the American people," he said.

Gravel has similar thoughts about the Iraq War, an issue he said "angers him the most" and vowed to remove U.S. troops immediately if elected.

"This is a mistake we made and it is absolutely immoral to hang onto the mistake when we are killing Americans and killing Iraqis," he said. "I would pull back the military and concentrate on aggressive diplomacy."

While Gravel embraces the concept of being a dove, the former Senator said he is not a liberal. He points to his Senate record of championing the Alaska Pipeline and opposing the Alaska lands bill, as well as his current support for a national sales tax and a desire to reform Social Security.

He also wants to see the power to make laws put into the hands of the voters -- in essence diluting the power of the legislative body he once served.

Gravel was described in an August 28, 1980 Washington Post story as having "earned a reputation as one of the Senate's heavier hands in campaign fundraising, shaking the Washington money tree for all its worth." For his presidential bid, the former Senator predicted he would raise $40 million to $50 million. But he has yet to hire a professional campaign staff, and said he would follow Howard Dean's example of reaching out to donors through the Internet.

"If my message resonates with the American people, the money will be there," he said.

At the very best, Gravel is a long shot for the nomination but he is following a similar path blazed by the likes of former Sen. George McGovern (D-South Dakota) and the late Sen. Eugene McCarthy (D-Minnesota), who sought the Democratic presidential nomination after leaving the Senate.

"Sometimes people run for President, not because they think they have a chance of winning, but they have something they want to say and want to be part of the debate," Senate Associate Historian Don Ritchie said.

Gravel will hold a 10 a.m. ET news conference Monday at the National Press Club to formally announce his candidacy.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-New York), the frontrunner for her party's presidential nomination, continues to bulk up her already considerable war chest. Clinton raised more than $6 million in the first quarter of this year and she now has $19,703,421 in the bank, her campaign announced yesterday. Clinton is expected to easily win reelection in November and she could then use this money to run for the White House if she chooses to do so.

And President Bush, having left for Camp David yesterday, has no public schedule.

Political Hot Topics

_{Posted: 9:40 a.m. ET
From Stephen Bach, CNN Washington Bureau}

BUSH NOT CONVINCING AMERICANS WITH IRAQ SPEECHES: Like a man on a treadmill, President Bush has gotten almost nowhere making speeches over the past seven months to boost public support for the war in Iraq. Since Bush began a round of Iraq speeches last fall, approval for his handling of Iraq has remained stuck, with about a third of the nation approving what he's doing. Shortly before the speeches began in late September, 32% of Americans approved of Bush's handling of Iraq, according to a Sept. 16-18 USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll. The rating inched up as high as 39% in the ensuing months, but the latest poll, taken April 7-9, showed that approval had dropped back to 32%. USA Today: Iraq speeches have done little to buoy war support

BUSH SLAMS REID FOR "THWARTING" IMMIGRATION BILL: President Bush accused Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid on Thursday of "single-handedly thwarting" action on immigration legislation, and got a brisk retort in return. "President Bush has as much credibility on immigration as he does on Iraq and national security," shot back the Nevada Democrat. The exchange was the latest in a series of maneuvers among party leaders trying to assign blame for Senate gridlock over comprehensive immigration legislation. AP via Yahoo! News: Bush, Reid Trade Barbs on Immigration

TWO MORE GENERALS CALL FOR RUMMY RESIGNATION: The widening circle of retired generals who have stepped forward to call for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's resignation is shaping up as an unusual outcry that could pose a significant challenge to Mr. Rumsfeld's leadership, current and former generals said on Thursday. Maj. Gen. Charles H. Swannack Jr., who led troops on the ground in Iraq as recently as 2004 as the commander of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division, on Thursday became the fifth retired senior general in recent days to call publicly for Mr. Rumsfeld's ouster. Also Thursday, another retired Army general, Maj. Gen. John Riggs, joined in the fray. New York Times: More Retired Generals Call for Rumsfeld's Resignation

LIBBY JUDGE THREATENS TO GAG: The federal judge presiding over the pending trial of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby threatened yesterday to impose a gag order barring statements or disclosures to the news media by Libby's defense team or by the special prosecutor investigating alleged wrongdoing by the former White House official. U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walston did not explain exactly what provoked his pique, but he wrote in his order that "on several occasions information has been distributed to the press by counsel, which has included not only public statements, but also the dissemination of material that had not been filed on the public docket." Washington Post: Judge in CIA Leak Case Threatens Gag Order

DEFENSE TEAM WANTS WH DOCS: Lawyers for former vice presidential aide I. Lewis ''Scooter" Libby are citing prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald's disclosure last week that President Bush had authorized Libby to leak sensitive Iraqi intelligence as justification for a request to obtain thousands of documents that could shed new light on the administration's use of prewar intelligence. In papers filed late Wednesday night in connection with Libby's perjury indictment, his lawyers accuse Fitzgerald of trying to ''have it both ways" by revealing information about the inner workings of the administration while dismissing their own requests for similar information as irrelevant to the charges, which concern only whether Libby lied under oath about his contacts with reporters. Boston Globe: Libby seeks administration documents

GAY FAMILIES TO CAMP OUTSIDE WH TONIGHT: This year's White House Easter Egg Roll will feature an egg hunt, the traditional egg roll, face painting, a bunny trail obstacle course, magic tricks and readings by well-known children's authors. But the event on the South Lawn on Monday morning comes with something new: More than 100 gay and lesbian families from around the country plan to attend, part of a strategy to make themselves more visible as politicians debate new restrictions on same-sex adoptions and marriage... Tickets to the event are offered on a first-come, first-served basis Saturday morning, so dozens of gay and lesbian couples plan to camp outside the White House visitor pavilion starting at 8 p.m. today. San Francisco Chronicle: Lesbian and gay families camp out for egg roll tickets

HRC RAISES $6M IN Q1: Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York continued raising money at a brisk pace during the first three months of this year, taking in slightly more than $6 million, her campaign announced on Thursday. Mrs. Clinton's fund-raising haul for the first quarter of this year leaves her with nearly $20 million in the bank, a sum that dwarfs the amount of money that either of her Republican opponents have. John Spencer, a former mayor of Yonkers seeking his party's nomination to challenge Mrs. Clinton, raised $1.1 million in the first three months of this year, his campaign said... The other Republican seeking the party's nomination, Kathleen Troia McFarland, raised $170,000 in the first three months of the year. New York Daily News: Clinton Raises Over $6 Million This Year, Dwarfing Rivals

...AND THEN THERE'S CASH ON HAND: Sen. Hillary Clinton's enormous campaign war chest has grown dramatically as she continues to raise money like a White House wanna-be rather than a popular incumbent coasting to reelection. By raising $2 million a month in the first three months of the year, she is now sitting on $19.7 million - a colossal pile of money compared with her little-known and ill-funded challengers for the Senate seat. Former Yonkers mayor John Spencer has $340,000 on hand and former Pentagon official Kathleen "K.T." McFarland has $430,000. Clinton campaign spokeswoman Ann Lewis said the senator just wants to be ready. New York Daily News: $19.7 mil for Hil stuffs war chest

BUILDING HIS IA ARMY: Sen. John McCain said in Iowa on Thursday that recent political steps he has taken would help him compete in the Iowa caucuses, should he decide to run for president in 2008. And the Arizona Republican, who once described ethanol as "good for neither the environment nor the consumer," said that rising oil costs make the alternative fuel worthy of another look... "We all know what it takes to win in Iowa," McCain told The Des Moines Register Thursday when asked about recently hiring for his national political team two top GOP advisers with Iowa ties. "If I decide to run -- and I emphasize, if I decide to run -- you've got to have an army on the ground," he said. "That's something everybody knows." Des Moines Register: McCain softens ethanol position

ARNOLD KEEPS APPOINTING "THE ENEMY": Few people have worked harder than Joe Nuñez to sabotage Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's political fortunes. A high-ranking teachers union official, he helped engineer the governor's embarrassing defeat in the special election last year. So to Republicans, it was nothing short of infuriating and confounding that Schwarzenegger would appoint Nuñez to the state Board of Education. He handed a Democrat and avowed enemy one of the most prestigious patronage jobs in government... Yet the appointment was not just another example of Schwarzenegger's keeping his friends close and his enemies closer. After more than two years in office, Schwarzenegger has flummoxed the political establishment -- particularly Republicans -- by making dozens of appointments from outside his own party. Los Angeles Times: Gov.'s Allies Upset at Enemy Within

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