Bush Sees Locals Leading Gulf Rebuilding


COVINGTON, La. - President Bush pledged Tuesday that the federal government will not seek to dictate terms for rebuilding the hurricane-devastated Gulf Coast but would allow state and local officials to make key decisions. He rejoiced in what he said is a spirit of revival there.


"I think we've seen the spirits change," Bush said in an interview with NBC's "Today" show. "Local people are beginning to realize there's hope." In the interview, both he and his wife, Laura, defended his choice of Harriet Miers for the Supreme Court. Bush reiterated his statement of last week that he was confident she would be confirmed by the Senate.

Bush and his wife were interviewed at a Habitat for Humanity work site, in a town just north of New Orleans where the nonprofit organization is building houses for displaced people.

In response to the government's initially slow response to Hurricane Katrina, Bush said, "If I didn't respond well enough, I'm going to learn the lessons." The federal government's response to the second huge storm to slam the area, Rita, has gotten better reviews.

"The story will unfold. I mean, the facts of the story will come out over time, and the important thing is for federal, state and local governments to adjust and to respond," Bush said.

The president and his wife joined other volunteers, driving nails into a sheet of plywood with a hammer.

Bush rejected criticism from Democrats that his visits to the region — this was his eighth — were largely picture-taking opportunities for publicity and that his administration lacked a coherent reconstruction plan.

"I don't think Washington ought to dictate to New Orleans how to rebuild," he said. Bush said he had told Ray Nagin, the Democratic mayor of New Orleans, over dinner the night before that "we will support the plan that you develop."

On other subjects in the NBC interview, Bush:

• Defended his Supreme Court choice against criticism by some members of the political right who feel let down because of Mier's lack of a conservative record. "My answer is Harriet Miers is going to be confirmed and people will get to see why I put her on the bench," he said.

• Predicted that the Oct. 15 Iraqi elections on a new constitution would be marked by violence from "a group of terrorists and killers who want to stop the advance of democracy." And, Bush said, "I also expect people to vote."

• Expressed confidence that the government would develop a plan "to handle a major outbreak" of bird flu if it spreads to this country.

• Declined to discuss a federal grand jury investigation that includes an inquiry into the role, if any, that top adviser Karl Rove played in disclosing the identity of an undercover CIA agent. "I'm not going to talk about the case. It's under review. Thank you for asking," Bush said tersely.

Bush was asked about criticism by some Democrats that, while Iraqis were not required to repay money they have received from Washington, hurricane victims were required to do so under recent relief legislation passed by the GOP-controlled Congress.

"What Congress has said is, you'll have five years to repay plus an additional five years to repay. And so I think it's the kind of package that Congress was comfortable with giving and I was happy to sign it," Bush said.

Matt Lauer, the "Today" show host who did the interview, asked Mrs. Bush how her husband was holding up, given the combined pressures of the war, low approval ratings, criticism of the hurricane response and the investigation of Rove and others.

But before she could answer, Bush interjected: "He can barely stand. He's about to drop on the spot."

Laughing, Mrs. Bush said: "He's doing fine. He's got big broad shoulders."

Earlier, Bush's motorcade wended it way through the pitch dark, down Covington's largely unscathed streets. Then it rounded a corner and arrived at the brightly lit Habitat site — a small patch of land amid a still-sleeping, modest neighborhood.

In his visit, Bush was focusing on the vexing issue of how to house — temporarily and then permanently — the hundreds of thousands who lost homes in the storm six weeks ago.

From Covington, he was heading to Pass Christian, Miss., a hard-hit coastal town that has been "adopted" by ABC's "Good Morning America." Bush was to attend the reopening of Delisle Elementary School before returning to Washington.