Bush worries news coverage might cloud his judgment: report

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The president reads newspapers first thing in the morning, flipping through some of them while he's still in the White House residence instead of waiting for clippings assembled by aides. Through the day, he regularly watches war coverage on the nearest TV, which is in the private dining room next to the Oval Office. He knows when heavy bombardments of Baghdad are scheduled and sometimes tunes in to see them.

As he consumes media accounts of the war, Bush has noted criticism coming even from some people he believes should be his allies. He was stung last year when Brent Scowcroft, his father's national security adviser, wrote a newspaper column questioning the necessity and wisdom of going to war.

HUME: How do you get your news?

BUSH: I get briefed by Andy Card and Condi in the morning. They come in and tell me. In all due respect, you've got a beautiful face and everything.

I glance at the headlines just to kind of a flavor for what's moving. I rarely read the stories, and get briefed by people who are probably read the news themselves. But like Condoleezza, in her case, the national security adviser is getting her news directly from the participants on the world stage.

HUME: Has that been your practice since day one, or is that a practice that you've...

BUSH: Practice since day one.

HUME: Really?

Bush said he first saw the pictures on television, noting that he was aware of the investigation that preceded the broadcast on CBS's "60 Minutes."