Talk Radio News Service: News, Politics, Media

By Lovisa Frost
White House Gaggle
February 10, 2006

President's Schedule

This morning President Bush had his usual intelligence briefings and taped his radio address on the topic of Medicare. He continues his morning with a breakfast meeting with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Later this morning, he will meet with the Minister of Transportation, Roads, and Bridges of the government of Southern Sudan.

This afternoon the President visits with the House Republican Conference in Cambridge, Maryland. He is expected to make remarks about the war on terror and priorities laid out in his State on the Union Address.

President's Week Ahead

On Monday the President will be making remarks and a presentation of the National Medals of Science and Technology at the White House. There is also a meeting with the Secretary of the United Nations, followed by a photo opportunity and remarks to the 2005 World Series Champions, the Chicago White Sox. In the evening, the President will attend the National Republican Senatorial Dinner in Washington D.C. On Tuesday, the President will participate in a photo opportunity and make remarks to the 2005 NCAA National Football Champions. He will also meet with the President's Counsel on Service and Civic Participation. That evening, Bush will attend a Valentine's Day social dinner, followed by entertainment at the White House. The rest of the week is still being finalized but a day of travel is expected on Wednesday and Friday.

Sudan

When asked if the President is willing to send United States troops as peacekeepers to Sudan, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan replied that the UN ambassador already expressed the position of the President last week.

Cheney leaking information

Helen Thomas asked if Vice President Cheney has the right to authorize the leaking of classified information. McClellan stated that he announced the policy for those types of questions on Thursday.

Michael Brown Hearings

600,000 pages of documents and an additional 15,000 of White House documents have been put forward and McClellan said that the White House is working to make sure the Committee has what it needs to get the job done. Though he could not comment on the Michael Brown hearing, he said, "I am not in a position to respond since I haven't heard what he said". McClellan refreshed the reporters' memories and talked about the lead up to Hurricane Katrina, where emergency declarations were issued ahead of the storm. He also quoted Governor Blanco of Louisiana on a conversation with a very concerned President Bush. McClellan went on to read the President's statements from the day before Hurricane Katrina hit. He continued to say that the President was not happy with the overall response, and "government on all levels fell short in the response effort. That is why we undertook a comprehensive lessens learned review headed by Frances Townsend and we are nearing completion so we can look at what went wrong and what went right."

Irresponsible White House Reporting

When asked if there is a directive at the White House that the President should not to be woken up once he goes to sleep, McClellan replied, "It is such an irresponsible question that I am not even going to dignify it with a response." When McClellan asked the reporter what should have been done instead, the answer was, "One of your cities is drowning maybe you should wake up?" The conversation continued with McClellan reading part of a story on Katrina in the today's issue of the New York Times, calling it "sad and irresponsible that the New York Times is rewriting history to fit an inaccurate story line, and conveniently ignoring key facts." When asked if the President raised the question of this issue and if he is as angry as McClellan seems to be, he replied that "this morning, we have been focused on other priorities."

Jack Abramoff

McClellan was questioned about pictures of Jack Abramoff and the President from around December 23, 2003 in the Oval office. He replied, "I saw the pictures the other day, and it is not him."

Al-Qaeda Prisoners

A reporter wanted to know if there was anything being done proactively in other countries holding Al-Quada detainees to prevent incidents such as the one in Yemen. McClellan replied, "It is always our priority that dangerous terrorists are not released or do not escape from prisons. "