In what media reports are broadly describing as an about-face, President Obama announced yesterday that he will fight the release of photos allegedly showing US soldiers abusing detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan. The story generated coverage in all three network newscasts including the lead in two of them and earned front-page headlines in major newspapers. The ACLU and other groups are reported to be furious over the President's decision, but the overall tone of the coverage with some exceptions is more analytical that it is critical. On ABC World News, for example, George Stephanopoulos said: "The White House argues that first of all, the President did realize he could make new legal arguments. The second is, these commanders came in hard on the President. Gen. Odierno in Iraq, Gen. McKiernan in Afghanistan, Gen. Petraeus, and they said, you are harming our troops. The President was convinced by this argument."
NBC Nightly News said Obama's "reversal" was caused by "the concerns of US military commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan," who "warned the pictures could spark renewed attacks on US forces." The Politico, however, reports "legal experts are scoffing at the White House's chances of persuading the courts to consider new arguments against the release of photos of abused detainees, though a legislative fix under discussion in Congress might give...Obama the leeway he's seeking to keep the pictures secret."
McClatchy notes that "the timing of the president's decision suggests that a key factor behind his switch of position could have been a desire to prevent the release of the photos before a speech that he's to give June 4 in Egypt aimed at convincing the world's Muslims that the United States isn't at war with them." The AP says that "Obama, realizing how high emotions run on detainee treatment during the Bush administration and now, made it a point to personally explain his change of heart, stopping to address TV cameras late in the day as he left the White House for a flight to Arizona."
ABC World News added that "last week, the President told White House Council Greg Craig to prepare new legal arguments that releasing the photographs would harm national security -- an about-face that devastated officials of the ACLU, who thought they had an ally in the White House on issues of transparency about detainee abuse and torture." USA Today says "Obama's reversal puts him in step with some Republicans. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., sent kudos via Twitter. 'Strongly agree,' he said."
Among the media outlets that are being toughest on Obama, the CBS Evening News reported that "when he took office," the President "promised transparency, and, as part of that, he said he would comply with a court order to release photographs that allegedly show US troops abusing prisoners. But today, three weeks later, he's changed his mind."
On its front page, the Los Angeles Times says Obama's move "sets him on a confrontational course with his liberal base. But it is a showdown he is willing to risk -- and may even view as politically necessary."
Democratic critics of Bush Administration interrogation techniques are backing Speaker Nancy Pelosi on the controversy over charges she failed to protest strongly enough after being briefed on the techniques in 2002. The Hill reports, "Some of the most vehement critics of so-called 'enhanced interrogation techniques' are standing behind House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, despite accusations that she didn't speak up forcefully enough when she first learned of them."
Also "echoing" recent comments by Pelosi, Roll Call reports Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin "said Wednesday that lawmakers briefed on the Bush administration interrogation techniques often wanted to object, but felt their hands were tied."
Meanwhile, The Hill reports Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on Wednesday "threatened to call House Speaker Nancy Pelosi before the Senate for an investigation of abusive interrogation techniques used during the Bush administration." Graham said, "I don't want to retry Nancy Pelosi -- that's not my goal -- but if you're going to accuse these people in the Bush administration of being evil and committing a crime, then if she was told about [interrogation tactics], I want to know what she was told."
Rove: Pelosi An "Accomplice" To "Torture" Karl Rove writes in a Wall Street Journal op-ed under the sub-headline "Nancy Pelosi Was An Accomplice To 'Torture'" that Pelosi "appears not to be telling the truth about her knowledge of the CIA's use of enhanced interrogation techniques (EITs)." Rove says that "it is clear that after the 9/11 attacks Mrs. Pelosi was briefed on enhanced interrogation techniques and the valuable information they produced. She not only agreed with what was being done, she apparently pressed the CIA to do more. But when political winds shifted, Mrs. Pelosi seems to have decided to use enhanced interrogation as an issue to attack Republicans."
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Former FBI Supervisory Special Agent Ali Soufan testified on Wednesday before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee examining the use of harsh interrogation techniques on terror suspects. Media coverage focuses on Soufan's assertion that the harsh methods were ineffective and that cooperative methods yielded more actionable intelligence. Philip Zelikow, former top adviser to then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, also testified about his efforts to oppose the use of the techniques, but his comments are reported only in print media.
ABC World News reported Soufan said "he witnessed CIA interrogation methods on terror suspects that were, in his words, 'borderline torture.' Testifying behind a screen to protect his identity, he called the methods ineffective, unreliable, and harmful," but he "conceded he was unable to say categorically that no useful information came from using those techniques."
The CBS Evening News showed Soufan saying about the interrogation of Abu Zubaydah, "We obtained a treasure trove of highly significant, actionable intelligence that proved instrumental in the war efforts against al Qaeda." Soufan "worked to gain Zubaydah's trust, and quickly learned the identity of 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed."
NBC Nightly News reported on the Senate hearing in the second half of its story on President Obama's order for the Justice Department to try to block the further release of detainee abuse photos, calling Soufan's testimony "dramatic" and adding that Soufan "said it was his questioning, intended to outwit detainees, that got those answers, not the CIA's simulated drowning technique called waterboarding."
The AP reports Soufan testified "the Bush administration falsely boasted of success from extreme techniques like waterboarding, when those methods were slow, unreliable and made an important witness stop talking."
Taking a more negative tone on the nature of the hearing, the Washington Post reports that it "rapidly descended into partisan counterattacks...as Democrats sought to portray the Bush administration's decision making about the interrogation techniques as riddled with misstatements and defective legal conclusions."
The Miami Herald reports Soufan "disputed claims by former Vice President Dick Cheney and others that" the harsh techniques "helped uncover major terrorist plots. ... 'It was one of the worst and most harmful decisions made in our efforts against al-Qaida,' he said." The Washington Times reports Zelikow "decried the Bush administration's use of enhanced interrogation techniques," saying, "This was a mistake, perhaps a disastrous one."
The Los Angeles Times leads its story on the testimony from Soufan and Zelikow by reporting, "The partisan clash over controversial Bush administration interrogation methods intensified" at the hearing, and with subcommittee Chairman Sheldon Whitehouse "saying a 'truth commission' is all but inevitable."
Speculation continues to grow around President Obama's Supreme Court nomination, with media reports noting sources have identified six potential "short list" candidates. The AP reports President Obama is "considering a list of more than six contenders for the Supreme Court that is dominated by women and Hispanics, one that includes judges and leaders from own his administration who have never donned a judicial robe." Among those "under consideration are Solicitor General Elena Kagan, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and U.S. Appeals Court judges Sonia Sotomayor and Diane Pamela Wood. California Supreme Court Justice Carlos Moreno is also under review by Obama."
The Washington Post reports President Obama "told senators at a White House meeting yesterday that he would review names of potential Supreme Court nominees over the weekend, leading participants to believe an announcement could come within days, according to senior Senate aides who were briefed on the gathering."
The Wall Street Journal reports White House officials "said the list of potential nominees is longer than the six to eight names circulating in public." The New York Times reports well before Justice David H. Souter "announced his retirement on May 1, several layers of digging had already taken place on a group of potential candidates familiar to Mr. Obama." Gregory B. Craig, "the White House counsel, is overseeing the search, but one central player is Cynthia Hogan, counsel to Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., who is reporting directly to the president."
The Politico reports President Obama "met with Senate Republican and Democratic leaders at the White House on Wednesday to discuss the process for nominating and selecting a new Supreme Court justice a sign that he may be nearing a decision on who he wants to fill the seat being vacated by retiring Justice David Souter." The Politico reports Democratic sources said James B. Comey Jr., "the top Bush administration official who rebelled against plans for domestic eavesdropping, is being pushed by some White House officials for inclusion on the short list."
The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Judge Diane Wood was among the Chicago appellate judges who heard a case involving a condominium that prohibited Jewish families from posting religious artifacts known as "mezuzahs" on their doors. Wood -- who "rises to the top of many pundits' short lists to be nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court -- did most of the talking at Wednesday's hearing and illustrated once again her backers' boasts that she is unafraid to take on conservative colleagues."
The Wall Street Journal reports court watchers "were immediately unified on one point" after Justice Souter announced his retirement, namely his "successor would likely be female." The "lack of women is widely perceived as the gap that most needs to be addressed. It stems partly from the idea that a nearly all-male court raises questions of fairness."
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ABC World News, The Hill, and the AP all run reports today portraying the early endorsement of Gov. Charlie Crist's Florida Senate bid by national Republicans as a sign that GOP leaders are looking to make the party more open to moderates. The AP adds, "In other high-profile Senate races, party leaders have encouraged or recruited centrists such as" ex-Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge (R), DE-AL Rep. Mike Castle (R), and IL10 Rep. Mark Kirk (R). Longtime GOP political consultant Roger Stone "said Republican leaders are taking the right approach by focusing on election results over ideology."
In a story headlined "As Cheney Seizes Spotlight, Many Republicans Wince," the Washington Post reports that former Vice President Dick Cheney's "running argument with the new administration" has "spawned" a side debate over whether he is helping or harming the image of the GOP, a subject also touched upon by NBC Nightly News and ABC World News briefly last night. NBC, for example, says, "Cheney's newfound fondness for the public spotlight has raised eyebrows among Bush family loyalists, even criticism from those who think he stepped over the line."
The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports Florida state CFO Alex Sink (D) announced yesterday that she will run for governor now that current Gov. Charlie Crist (R) is running for Senate. The Herald-Tribune says Sink "becomes the immediate Democratic front-runner," though "she is likely to face a strong challenge from a crowded Republican field." The Miami Herald calls sink a "moderate Democrat" and says she is "widely viewed as the party's strongest contender to win the governor's mansion in a decade." The Politico adds state AG Bill McCollum (R), "a former congressman, is considered a front-runner for the Republican nomination," though he's "not officially announced his plans."
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David Letterman: "Do you remember...the old guy who was running for president? John McCain. Remember him? And the governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin. Remember Sarah Palin? That was a lot of fun, wasn't it? Well, guess what? Sarah Palin has got a deal to write her memoir. Got a deal to write her memoir, yup. I believe it's titled, 'The Book to Nowhere.'"
David Letterman: "Well, here's what I've heard from Washington. The Republicans are downhearted. They're disenchanted and they're worried now, the Republicans, because they're out of office, they're out of power. The Republicans are worried that the image of the Republican Party is downbeat and angry. ... And I was thinking, well if you ask me, honestly, all the fun went out of the Republican Party when Arlen Specter left. Are you like me, do you kind of feel, all right, the party's over!"
Craig Ferguson: "Last night, President Obama hosted a poetry slam at the White House. ... A poetry slam is when...poets stand up and read poems. They try and outdo each other. And things can get out of control. Apparently, last night, one person got up on stage and rambled on and on and didn't make any sense. And then, when Joe Biden was done, they started the poetry."
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