White House Briefing

Following the president's statement in the Rose Garden, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino and Director of the National Economic Council briefed the press on the government's increasing role in attempting to restore investor confidence to the struggling financial markets.

Hennessey outlined the steps that have been taken and those that the government would like to happen, "So we've got the conservatorship for Fannie and Freddie. Treasury and Fed worked over the last weekend, they were up in New York working with firms in the industry," he said. "We had the Fed taking steps just a couple days ago to prevent what they would call the disorderly liquidation of AIG, the insurance company. And then the Fed has been increasing significant amounts of liquidity into the financial system to keep things moving."

Hennessey reiterated statements made by President Bush about urging the Congress to pass legislation that would allow the federal government to buy illiquid assets from struggling financial institutions to further increase liquidity.

"The most obvious example of an illiquid asset is a mortgage asset, a mortgage-backed security that's probably lost value as the values of the homes that are underlying those mortgages have declined," he said. "And what's happening is, as those assets have lost value, people don't want to buy them, they become illiquid, it's hard for people to buy and sell them, and so they're stuck on the balance sheets of financial institutions."

Hennessey said that the White House would be in negotiation with congressional leaders over the weekend. Congress and the administration will need to hammer out the details of this authorizing legislation. Hennessey said that they would have to make "significant, substantive progress on the details" over the weekend.

"This is a very bold set of actions, we are calling on Congress to do something that is very big and that we believe needs to be done quickly," he said.

White House Briefing

Briefer: Dana Perino

White House press secretary Dana Perino briefed the press on the president's radio address which will focus on the administration's priorities for Congress. She specifically mentioned the war supplemental funding, the GI bill, the FISA legislation, the Colombia Free Trade Agreement, and the approval of Steve Preston to be the new secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The president will be giving the commencement address at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina. Perino said that the speech will focus on the culture of responsibility and the importance of volunteering and serving in the military.

The main topic for questions was the book of former White House press secretary Scott McClellen which alleges "a culture of deception" in Washington and in the White House in particular during the run up to the Iraq war. Perino said that the president has not read the book and she has not discussed it with him. She said that the White House will continue to push back against the premise of the book that the White House communications department mislead the public as the administration approached the Iraq war.

In response to a question about the allegations that a Commerce Department laptop was hacked into during a trip to China, Perino said that the White House does not comment on on going investigations but that it has taken all measures to protect against cyber attacks, including international trips where White House staff are prohibited from brining Blackberry phones.

White House Gaggle

Briefer Dana Perino

The focus of the morning gaggle was Scott McClellen's book. White House press secretary Dana Perino said that she has heard about the calls for McClellan to testify before Congress, but that she has not had a chance to address it specifically with White House counsel. When asked if Perino had plans to read McClellan's book she replied "I certainly have no plans to buy it." She said that the White House counsel had reviewed the book and that the White House had been aware of the effect it would have for some time. She said that McClellan has the right to write what he wants, but it is White House wish "that is would be based on some semblance of fact."

There was a discussion about Perino's own perspective on the job as press secretary. She said that one can be as involved as a press secretary as one desires to be. She defined it as a matter of will , not a matter of access. She said that she was very satisfied with her access as press secretary.

She reiterated the White House's primary objection to the book, which is, as Perino phrased it, McClellan's allegation that the White House purposefully misled the American people in the run up to the Iraq war. "Our central objection is to the message of the book , not just the messenger," Perino said. She said that she doesn't remember McClellan complaining about access when she worked under him as deputy press secretary. She said that this book is written with hindsight and that at the time of McClellen's tenure there was nothing to object to as the White House was going off the intelligence it had at the time, which Perino pointed out was accepted by other nations as well.


The President had his normal briefings and later on will record his radio address. The topic of this weeks address is the priorities that Congress should focus on when it returns from Memorial Day recess. The President spoke to Pakistani President Pervez Musharaff on the phone as a follow up to their meeting in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt. Perino announced that Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer will lead a delegation to Rome for the conference on world food security in the first week of June.

When asked whether the president agreed with Vice President Cheney's characterization of the war in Iraq as "succeeding brilliantly," Perino said that while Iraq's progress remains reversible, the strategy of the surge was the right one and that Gen. David Petraeus, who she said was "brilliant in his own right" was implementing the strategy that is gaining progress. She said that Maliki is uniting his government through the offensives in Basra, Mosul, and Sadr City. And she said that the donor's conference to get other Arab nations to invest in Iraq, is something that will take time to gain the trust of donors.

White House Gaggle by Dana Perino

White House Gaggle
By Ellen Ratner
Briefer: Dana Perino

The President’s Schedule
The president had his usual briefings.
At 11:30 a.m. he will make a statement on Iraq. In the morning he met with Gen. David Petraeus, commander of Multinational Forces Iraq and Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker. The president also met with the special envoy to Sudan.

This afternoon he will go to the ranch in Crawford, Texas. The White House announced that the president will make three commencement addresses this year. The first is May 4 at Greensburg High School in Greensburg Kansas, the second is May 29 at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and the third will be May 31 Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina.

The White House announced the summer schedule for tee ball on the White House lawn. There will be three games this summer: one in June with Hispanic Americans and others with members of the U.S. military.

The president also had a private meeting in the Oval Office and on the Truman balcony with the Prime Minister of Luxembourg Jean-Claude Juncker, but Perino said that would not discuss the content of the meeting.

On Iraq
Perino said that the cost of reconstruction is increasingly being picked up by Iraqis and that they have more resources available to them. A question arouse as to the timing of a dramatic pull out in Iraq as it relates to the U.S. presidential election. “From our perspective, politics will not enter into it,” Perino said.

She explained that the speech is going to focus on the recommendations from Gen. Petraeus. The president will speak about the planning reduction from 20 brigade combat teams to 15. The president will also announce his support for a 45 days of “consolidation and evaluation” before another draw down of forces is scheduled.

The president will also speak about the tours of duty for soldiers scheduled to deploy after August 1, 2008 will be 12 months in Iraq and a min of 12 months at home in the United States. Perino said “the troops will continue to come home,” but she said “some people" (implying the Congressional Democrats) want to “change the goal posts.”



On Columbia Free Trade
Dana said that they “dismayed and disappointed” and if Democrats have a vote today they will effectively kill the agreement. She said they had been working with Democrats for months and yesterday’s meeting was cordial and frank. The president feels that his hand was forced.

On Torch Relay and Protests
The president said that people around the world have the right to express themselves he will continue to have private talks with China about human rights. Perino said that President Bush has a good relationship with the Chinese, which allows him to do that.

White House Gaggle

Briefer: Dana Perino

President had his normal briefings this morning. At 10:25 am, he will receive the Annual Report to the Nation by the Boy Scouts of America. At 10:50 am, President Bush meets with the King of Jordan. At noon, President and Mrs. Bush will host a private social lunch with the King and Queen of Jordan in the Family Dining Room of the White House. At 1.15 pm, the President makes remarks to Political Appointees and Federal Government Employees in DAR- Constitution Hall in Washington, DC.
White House Press Secretary Dana Perino will brief the press at noon today.


Middle East

Perino said that, “there is a lot of tension between the Israelis and the Palestinians, “and Secretary Rice is in region to bridge the gaps and bring them back together. One of the things Secretary Rice said, and the President agrees with is that, “Hamas has made themselves an enemy of the Palestinian state.” Perino said that the Palestinians could have a Palestinian state given the leader they have now--Hamas is what is holding them back. Secretary Rice will also be meeting with Prime Minister Olmert as they are also concerned about the situation.

When asked if it is really possible to negotiate peace with a divided Palestine, Perino said that they believe Hamas is a terrorist organization and Israel has the same feeling. She continued to say that, “President Abbas has said that he wants to be the Palestinian President for everybody, including the people living in Gaza, who are living under terrible conditions right now… The strategy is to try to allow the Palestinians to see that is a choice to make. There is a path that can get you to a Palestinian state and possible more security and prosperity… The purpose of Secretary Rice’s trip is to try to establish again this clear strategy and division between the choices there is to make for the Palestinians. “ A reporter questioned Perino when it comes to the Palestinians in Gaza, saying that she assumes that they actually have a choice or wish to make a choice, which that does not seem to be the case. Perino said that she thinks they do have a choice. She also said that the government that US is working with, lead by President Abbas, is the one that has chosen peace. Perino said the “issue is that it is extremely complicated, and we never said that this was going to be easy.” But we do believe that people have a choice, Perino continued, “and the President believes that when people have a choice they will chose freedom.”


OPEC

When asked about a response to OPEC’s decision to not increase production to ease prices, Perino said that she hasn’t heard anything about yet. She will wait until they make an official announcement. Perino did say that she oil producing countries should work to keep the markets well supplied.


Iran

Perino was asked about a comment on Iran who has rejected the sanctions resolution that was imposed by the United Nations. Perino said that they were not expecting anything else from the regime of Iran. We have provided several incentives for the Iranians if they would halt the enrichment of uranium and come to the negotiation table. Perino also said that she was pleased to see that the UN went forward with the 3rd rounds of sanctions. “A lot of people did not think that it was not going to be possible after our National Intelligence Estimate came out in December…”


Ahmadinejad in Iraq

When asked if the President talked to the Iraqi Prime Minister Malaki after the visit of the Iranian President Ahmadinejad, Perino said that they haven’t talked since. Though there have been reports by Ambassador Crocker and General Petreus.


Boy Scouts

When asked if the President has any concerns about discriminatory practices by the Boy Scouts against gays and atheists, Perino said that she had not asked about it, but “the President has always said that everybody should be treated with dignity and respect. “