The News in 2 Minutes

From The Associated Press

Bush tours ‘sad situation’ in California
ESCONDIDO, Calif.—President Bush had a message Thursday for Southern Californians weary and frightened from five days of still-burning wildfires. “We’re not going to forget you in Washington, D.C,” he declared in an eery echo of what he once told Hurricane Katrina victims.

On a damage-survey trip , Bush saw by air and on foot the result of fires that have raced through canyons and neighborhoods since Sunday. The blazes have killed at least three people, sent hundreds of thousands fleeing their homes and burned nearly half a million acres.

“We’ve got a big problem out here,” the president said near the end of his quick, four-hour visit. “We want the people to know there’s a better day ahead, that today your life may look dismal, but tomorrow life’s going to be better,” Bush said. “And to the extent that the federal government can help you, we want to do so.”

Said California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bush’s tour guide for the day: “The only way to grasp the true magnitude is to see it for yourself and to be out there with the people whose lives have been turned upside down.”

Fran Townsend, Bush’s White House-based homeland security adviser, said the disaster response this time is unfolding “exactly the way it should be” and is “better and faster” than the administration’s performance after Katrina. “This is not the end of federal assistance. It’s just the beginning,” she said.

A break in this week’s high, hot winds, and a helpful change in their direction, had officials hoping they could make progress Thursday. Some evacuees were even being allowed back into their neighborhoods. But several fires remained far from containment and threatened thousands more homes.

House passes revised children’s health bill
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The House passed a revised children’s health proposal Thursday, but not by the two-thirds margin that supporters will need if President Bush vetoes the measure as promised.

The 265-142 vote was a victory for Bush and his allies, who urged House Republicans to reject Democrats’ claims that changes to the legislation had met their chief concerns. If the same vote occurs on a veto override attempt, Bush will prevail, as he did earlier this month when he vetoed a similar bill.

The tally was seven votes short of a two-thirds majority. Several House members were absent.

Shuttle, station hook up in orbit
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.—Astronauts aboard space shuttle Discovery and the international space station joined forces Thursday, linking their ships and kicking off the biggest construction job ever attempted by a single team in orbit.

History was made with the 215-mile-high linkup: It was the first time two female commanders met in space.

Retired Air Force Col. Pamela Melroy steered Discovery in for the docking and was the first to enter the space station. She was embraced by Peggy Whitson, the station’s skipper.

Rock slide closes Grand Canyon trail
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz.—A trail linking the south rim of the Grand Canyon with a scenic Colorado River rapids will be closed at least through the end of the year because of a rock slide.

The 10-mile Tanner Trail descends to the river’s Tanner Rapids. The damage happened about one mile below the trailhead and includes about 1,500 linear feet of trail and numerous switchbacks, according to the National Park Service.

The trail is not normally maintained and was closed because of the incline of the slope, the expanse of the rock slide and dangerous footing.

About 46 people who have backcountry permits will be affected by the closure through December.