The Speech

ABCNEWS.com : The Note: Press coverage of the president's press conference last night focused on similar points across the board: the lack of acknowledgment of mistakes, errors, or responsibility by the president; his tone during the question and answer period compared to his prepared remarks (defiant/defensive versus calm and methodical), and the questions that he did not answer — first and foremost why he and Cheney are appearing for questions before the 9/11 commission together.

The Washington Post 's Mike Allen was able to sneak in a follow-up question to try to get an answer to that one, but the president just repeated that he was looking forward to meeting with the commission.

Ron Brownstein had news analysis duties for the Los Angeles Times and he places George W. Bush in "the danger zone."

"Long on goals and short on means, his performance left even some supporters [namely Bill Kristol] wondering whether he had found a formula to reassure the growing number of Americans expressing doubt in polls about his course," Brownstein writes.

"Although acknowledging disappointments with developments in Iraq and grief over the losses of Sept. 11, 2001, Bush said that there was no reason to apologize for the government's performance before the attacks and that he could think of no mistake he had made since the attacks," write the Washington Post 's Milbank and Allen in their overview.

The DNC was quick(ish) with its response to last night's press conference, sending out its key points within an hour from President Bush's exit from the East Room. The main thrust from the DNC: Bush failed to take responsibility, respond to questions, and continued to repeat "outright lies and distortions" on Iraq. [No Link.]


The 9/11 Commission released a report saying Bush Saw Repeated Warnings.

"By the time a CIA briefer gave President Bush the Aug. 6, 2001, President's Daily Brief headlined "Bin Ladin Determined To Strike in US," the president had seen a stream of alarming reports on al Qaeda's intentions. So had Vice President Cheney and Bush's top national security team, according to newly declassified information released yesterday by the commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

"In April and May 2001, for example, the intelligence community headlined some of those reports "Bin Laden planning multiple operations," "Bin Laden network's plans advancing" and "Bin Laden threats are real."

"The intelligence included reports of a hostage plot against Americans. It noted that operatives might choose to hijack an aircraft or storm a U.S. embassy. Without knowing when, where or how the terrorists would strike, the CIA "consistently described the upcoming attacks as occurring on a catastrophic level, indicating that they would cause the world to be in turmoil," according to one of two staff reports released by the panel yesterday."