And in Texas, authorities have closed the investigation into Vice President Dick Cheney’s shooting accident without bringing any charges. On Saturday Cheney accidentally shot his hunting partner Harry Whittington. The 78-year-old Whittington remains hospitalized. He was hit by shotgun pellets in the face, neck and chest. Cheney and the White House have come under intense scrutiny for how it handled the shooting in part because the press wasn’t notified for nearly a day. Cheney didn’t make any public comment until Wednesday when he sat down for an interview with Fox News. On Thursday President Bush discussed the shooting publicly for the first time. “I thought the Vice President (Cheney) handled the issue just fine. And I thought his explanation yesterday was a powerful explanation,” Bush said. “This is a man who likes the outdoors and he likes to hunt and ..uh..he heard a bird flush and he turned and he pulled a trigger and saw his friend wounded. It was a deeply traumatic moment for him and obviously for Harry Whittington. And so I though his explanation yesterday was a very strong and a very powerful explanation and I am satisfied with the explanation he gave.”