White House Gaggle

Guantanamo:

Two Uzbek detainees from Guantanamo Bay will be taken by Ireland. The White House is making progress in closing Gitmo. If they will stay in detention is a question for the Pentagon.

Flu Virus:

There has been a question of flu virus on Capitol Hill and pages being treated for it. There is no known virus at the White House campus. A press person joked as to if there was could they be sent away?

Health Insurance:

The President will address insurance reform and consumer protection in the town hall meetings today.
President Obama will talk about pre-existing and out of pocket expenses.
Asked about Rahm Emmanuel on the Hill yesterday, Mr. Gibbs answered " maybe its more compelling if it comes from Capitol Hill." Mr. Gibbs said that they are talking about issues and making progress.
The Senate Finance Committee is working on a plan. Mr. Gibbs said that the President is concerned with choice and competition and that the differences will have to be ironed out. He said there are "many more twists to go." The President is also concerned about pre-existing and exorbitant co-pays or out of pocket deductibles. On Boehner's comment that the "bill leads to euthanasia”, Gibbs said that the President believes that these are important forums to address false information. Gibbs also said that if you look back to 93 and 94, many of the same messages were used.
Asked about the soda/sugar tax he said it was not on the President's list to pay for health care.
On the Christina Romer call today, Gibbs referred to the increased cost of health care contributing
to job loss and the ramifications for small business.

Travel Plans during the Congressional Recess:

Yes, but there are no details yet and the President will continue to talk about his priorities.

Cabinet and Senior Staff for Retreat:

Robert Gibbs said that since the Eisenhower administration staff and cabinet members have
gotten together. There is time now without having such time crunch. Some of it, said Gibbs, is "get to
know your stuff". The President's schedule is Friday night and part of Saturday. The retreat will happen at
Blair House.

Secretary Clinton Thailand:
Mr. Gibbs said that our policy is to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.