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MR. SNOW: Well, now we can have a press briefing. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: What are my plans? A little vague at this point. I know I'll be giving some speeches. I am going to try to work up some book proposals, probably first and foremost, on issues of how you deal with sickness. One of the things that I have found out is that at least getting out and talking about my own experience with cancer, it's proved to be helpful to people, and that's enormously gratifying. I'm sure I'll do some political writing, as well. I'll be involved in charitable work -- still trying to figure out how all that fits together.

But short run, certainly start by doing some speeches. I will stay involved in politics. I'll be going around the country and talking about things I care about. And as far as the other pieces of the puzzle, I don't know. I'm sure I'll do a little bit of radio, a little bit of TV, but I don't anticipate full-time anchor duties, or the sort of things that I've done in the past. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Why am I -- because I ran out of money. A lot of people at home are saying, well, what do you mean, you make all this money. Well, you know what, I made more money when I was in my previous career. And I made the decision not to say to my wife and kids, you know, we've finally saved up all this money and done these things, and you're just going to have to give them away so Daddy can work at the White House. We took out a loan when I came to the White House, and that loan is now gone. So I'm going to have to pay the bills.

As far as my health, I'm doing fine. I know a lot of folks have been thinking, oh, come on, it's really the cancer. No, cancer has nothing to do with this decision. I finished chemo two weeks ago today. We did CAT scans and MRIs in the last week and it indicates that the chemo did exactly what we hoped it would do, which is hold serve. The tumors that we've been tracking have not grown. There are no new tumors. And that's what you want. I'm going to be speaking later today with my oncologist. We'll be doing what's called a maintenance dose of chemotherapy just to keep whacking this thing.

As I described I think upon returning from the cancer surgery, I'm in one of these positions now where we're going to try to turn cancer into a chronic disease rather than a fatal disease. And fortunately, that's one of the things you can do with modern medicine. We'll be doing CAT scans and other scans every three months, just to stay on top of everything. And it certainly gives us the ability to respond quickly to any medical emergencies that may arise. But right now I'm feeling great. I've finally put weight back on. I feel strong. The hair will come back. The President was making fun of my hair before. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: I think anybody who has watched knows how much I love working in this room, and especially love working with you, Helen. I have told people, when I'm your age, I want to be sitting in the front row making life a living hell for a press secretary. (Laughter.) You know, it's just -- you really are -- people talk about inspiration, but you're here working hard, and I just think it's great. And I want to say that I've just got a lot of love and affection for people in this room, and it's been a joy and an honor.

I know the word "honor" is maybe overused, but it's really not. I've been in the business for 27 years, and do not regret a single moment of it, and have really enjoyed not only the thrill of working with the President, but also working with you. And I've got to tell you, I am sure I'm going to go through some serious withdrawals in two-and-a-half weeks. But on the other hand, this is a chance, for the first time in my life, where I'll actually be able to decide what I want to do when I grow up. And I will spend a lot of time trying to speak out on things I care about, and looking at opportunities and trying to do some good. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: More than you can afford. (Laughter.) Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: They never took my name off the door at FOX? Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: I don't think so. Well, the first day. The first briefing I was scared to death, because I didn't know what to expect. So I think if you look for the challenging day, that was the real knee-knocker. I didn't know what to expect from you guys, you barracudas, you. So I honestly didn't know what to expect in terms of working. And early on, especially, when "I don't know" became such a regular mantra that it became an object of some derision in some quarters and good humor elsewhere.

But really this is a job that is engrossing and it is really fun. Dana is going to have a great time doing this. And part of it is, you've got a great staff. I also feel blessed -- I mean, you look, you've got Fratto and Stanzel, and you've got Josh Deckard and Gordon Johndroe, and I go through everybody who works on our staff. They are first rate, but they're first-rate human beings. They're fun to work with and fun to see every day.

And working with the President, as Dana was saying, there's 18 months of real business to do in this White House, and a lot of big issues and a lot of big challenges. And I really do wish that I had the resources to be here till the final day, but I don't. But I'm not going to go shrinking into the sunset, I'll still be out speaking my mind. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: I was just trying to figure out a coy way to answer it. The fact is, we do answer questions, and I think you've found that this is a White House where we try to be forward leaning and give a lot of information.

Now, if somebody wants to ask a question about classified information, you're right, I'm a terrible source. And there will always be times where there are subjects that are of interest, of national interest to curious reporters and to people at home that we cannot discuss. And in those cases, you're not going to get the kind of answer you would like because it would be inappropriate from the podium.

On the other hand, when it comes to giving you information -- we've been through this today with Fratto, explaining a lot of what's going on in terms of housing initiatives -- we think it's important to give more information out rather than less. Yes, there are going to be times when we butt heads over it. It has been ever thus and will be ever thus between government officials and people working in the press. And we expect you to keep pushing and prodding. You wouldn't be doing your job if you didn't, and we wouldn't be doing our job if we spilled the beans on things that would be inappropriate for public discussion.

Mike, and then Goyal. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Well, I think that anybody who works closely with the President gets a much fuller appreciation of the person in the office. So, while I was naturally inclined to like the President, my admiration for him has grown by leaps and bounds.

Some of you have had the opportunity to see the President behind closed doors, talking with passion and in great detail about the job he does and the challenges he faces. And you find that, quite often, the public caricature of this man is a grotesque disservice to the man himself and to the job he does. And so there's always a certain level of frustration when you see a man who is bright, who is engaged, who is passionate and who is principled being written off in kind of cartoonish terms by people who would rather appeal to stereotype than dig deep and figure out, in fact, he makes decisions.

But he's a great guy to work for. And he's somebody who manages to understand the real importance of the office, and also how important it is to conduct oneself in the office in a way that reflects honor upon it. And, at the same time, he's somebody who has terrific historic insight. He's not somebody who is going to allow himself to get whipsawed by passing controversies. He understands what his long-term obligations are to the country and to the office.

He has a wonderful sense of humor; he is generous; he is extremely kind. And he is somebody that I will be holding up to future friends, employees, and always to my children as a role model, not merely in terms of how he manages the office and conducts the responsibilities of the office, but the kind of person he is. He's a good guy, a good human being. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Well, number one, I would -- I would parse your question a little more closely, because if you take a look at trust numbers and so on, people trust and admire the President. What they don't like is the war. And so do not -- if you want to take a look even beneath your own numbers, they ask two different kinds of batteries of questions. One is, do you approve of the war? One is, do you trust him, do you think he's trustworthy, and that kind of thing. And you get different kinds of answers. But you would have to expect that in something as difficult as a war, that Presidents, in fact, are going to be the recipients of the public's displeasure and also the public's anxiety -- rightful anxiety -- about a nation at a time of conflict. It has happened to every wartime President and will happen to every wartime President.

When times are tough the anxieties of a nation are quite often visited in terms of their reflections on the job a President is doing. Having said that, you also now have I think a glimmer of what happens when a President is steadfast to his policy. We have begun to see out of Iraq a series of stories now about how the surge not only has affected the battleground, but also has affected the spirit and attitude of the Iraqi people, themselves.

And quite often we tend to think of approval as something that is unchanging, whereas it is constantly changing. And we tend to make too much of a number that's taken over a weekend, rather than trying to put it into perspective in terms of trends and developments around the world.

Take a look at what's gone on in Europe. We now have a friendly French President, we have a German Chancellor who is a key and valued ally. Some -- and you see a number of governments in that region that previously had been less than completely warm toward the President where we now have closer relations. And it does seem that many of the things that may have registered as unpopular have been vindicated by subsequent events and by the challenges that the world faces.

Again, to give you one of the reasons I admire the President: He understands how important it is to bring the public along, but he also understands that 20 to 30 years from now, if this nation does not do what is necessary to fight effectively a war on terror and, in fact, we pulled our punches in order to gain five points in a Gallup Poll, nobody is going to ask about that Gallup Poll, they're going to say, why didn't you do your job.

And I love working for somebody who looks at the office that way, because it gives you a task to pursue. The task is not merely to try to get the policies right, but also to engage in a public dialogue so that the American people know what we're thinking about, why we're thinking about these things in these ways, and to engage in a debate that will sometimes stray beyond the poll data itself and into the facts on the ground. And I think that is, again, what -- if you take a look at changes in polls in recent weeks, including whether people think we can win in Iraq -- and those numbers have changed dramatically and positively -- a lot of times that's a reflection of debate about actual facts on the ground there.

In the past, much of the debate had been focused on domestic polls. Now we see a lot more raportage about what's going on on the ground, and I think it makes an important difference.

Goyal. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Tony, two questions. First of all, I wish you all the best and I pray for you, and God bless you

MR. SNOW: It's hard for me to compare because I wasn't Press Secretary before, you know, so I don't even want to try to. All I know is -- of course -- let me put it this way. The last time I was here, Hunt and Plante were here. So I guess my sense is that the place never changes -- and Helen.

Look, the thing you've got to understand about the White House press corps is that the job of the press corps is to figure out what's going on in the White House. And I like and respect and admire the people who work in this room. You don't get here by being a dummy. You don't get -- this is a job that has some of the most unusual constraints in any political job on Earth. You do not have the ability and freedom to walk the halls as you do when you're covering Congress. You don't have the kind of access that you have in other jobs. It's a tougher job. And yet you generally pursue it with good cheer and hard work, and sometimes you're thinking, wow, where did they get that? So I've got a lot of admiration for the people who work in here. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Secondly, if I may change the subject. As far as terrorism is India is concerned, one, we have

MR. SNOW: Well, I don't think this in any way colors the President's perceptions of the terror network. It gives you a sense of the MO, which is, to try wherever possible to use fear as a political weapon. It's not going to work. The fact is that al Qaeda tried fear in Iraq, and what has happened is that the Iraqi people have risen up. As a matter of fact, I think maybe the most encouraging signal is what the President has talked about for a long time, which is the natural human desire for freedom and self-determination ultimately is going to crush those who believe that somehow they've got a better sell in saying that if you don't do what we want, we will terrorize you, we will behead you.

That is not a very good sales pitch. And in the long run, an ideology and a philosophy and a governing philosophy that is built around hope and freedom and the capacity of individuals to affect their lives and to build a better future ultimately is going to win. It doesn't mean that terrorists are simply going to give up; they're not. They're going to do their very best to try to scare people. But they have tried and they have failed. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: No, I think there have been a couple of times where I think -- and I can't even remember -- but there have been times where I didn't know about something that I probably should have known about, and that could be my fault. I just -- but are there any egregious things where somebody just woefully misled me? No. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: No, I did not run into any of that. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Look, I'll let other people hand out scorecards. I simply don't even want to try to get at that.

Look, the way you serve the American people, again, is you try to tell the truth and tell it straight. And there are going to be times -- I mean, I've been pretty straight; when I want to stonewall you, I've not tried to hide the fact. There are just times when I'm not going to answer questions because it would be inappropriate for whatever reason. But on the other hand, the one thing that we have tried to do and will continue to try to do is to get information out. Ultimately the cause of this presidency in any democracy is going to be better served by getting facts into public distribution. And frankly, one of the things that we hope that we're going to be able to do and continue to do better is to make sure that you get full information about the things that this administration is doing, how we pursue them, how we put the policies together.

When we come to points where you run into matters of privilege, and so on, we're not going to be able to answer certain questions. But on the other hand, in trying to give you as full a picture of how this White House operates, it's good for us, and I presume it would be good for you.

Paula. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Yes. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: No, I think the administration probably thinks cancer is a really lousy thing and -- look, I know I'm going to spend a lot of time on cancer activism. I can't tell you exactly how it's going to work, but I've been very lucky. I've been lucky I work at the White House, I've had the use of diagnostic care. I'd like to find ways to help those who, for whatever reason, don't get the -- don't get diagnostic treatment, don't take care of themselves, may not have the resources that I've had at my disposal. So I'll look for ways to try to make it possible for people to get healthy. That does not mean that I'm going to be necessarily banging the tin cup for federal funding. It may be that I'll go out, try and raise some money myself to try to help people directly.

As far as -- look, I will be speaking my mind, but to tell you the truth, very little distance between me and the President on any significant issue. That's been one of the great things about working at this White House. And I will be speaking out on behalf of this President and this White House on a number of issues, as well. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Yesterday you said Alberto Gonzales has been the object of a "concerted series of personal attacks

MR. SNOW: Because those are things that have -- it's been requested that they take a look at it. The Inspector General is an independent operation within the Department of Justice. Just because -- again, as I was trying to caution earlier today, Ed -- just because somebody is asking a question doesn't mean that somebody is guilty of a crime. It does mean that questions have been raised. Senator Leahy had some concerns that he raised. The IG is going to look at it. That's the way it works within an IG's office. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: I think he also wanted to take a look at an additional angle -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q In the case of Senator Craig, though, he did plead guilty to a crime. Why hasn't the White House

MR. SNOW: Well, again, we have said a number of things in this case -- number one, that it's a disappointment, and number two, it ought to be handled by the Senate. We have also not spoken out on a number of other members of -- on the Democratic side who find themselves in legal difficulties. Those are issues that are properly handled by a separate and co-equal branch of government. We would expect them to do the requisite policing of their members and to uphold their own high standards. As I've said, we are not going to go any further than we have gone on the case of Senator Craig.

Les. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: I'll miss you, too. I don't know where I'll get questions like this, but I'll -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Well, I have two questions. Teamsters President Hoffa has called the Bush administration's test

MR. SNOW: There are a number of things that the Department of Transportation is involved in, in trying to maintain and ascertain and guarantee the safety of any trucks that are on U.S. highways. I don't think that I will buy lock, stock and barrel what the President of the Teamsters Union has to say about possibly competing trucking operations. Nonetheless, they have done a filing -- I would direct you to take a look at what the Department of Transportation has had to say to respond to some of the factual allegations contained in your question. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Actually that's wrong. More than 80 miles have been completed. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Yes, yes. So -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. JOHNDROE: Good afternoon. I want to introduce Dennis Wilder, the National Security Council Senior Director for Asian Affairs, and Dan Price, the National Security Council Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economic Affairs. They are here to give an on-the-record, but off-camera briefing on the President's trip to Australia, his bilateral meetings, as well as the visit to and meetings of the APEC summit.

And with that, Dennis Wilder. Also Jim Connaughton, Chairman of the Council of Environmental Quality, is here to help deal with any climate change issues, since it's a major topic of discussion.

With that, Dennis. MR. WILDER: Thank you. Good afternoon. On Monday, President Bush will leave Washington and travel to Sydney, Australia, to attend the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders meeting.

As you know, this is an annual gathering of the leaders of 21 member economies that make up the world's most dynamic economic region, comprising 56 percent of the world's gross domestic product and half of the world's trade. For the United States, this region is extremely important, as 66 percent of U.S. products go to that region.

The importance that the President attaches to APEC is demonstrated by the fact that he has not missed an APEC leaders meeting since taking office. And this will be the seventh that he has attended. You may remember the prior meetings during this administration have been in China, Mexico, Thailand, Chile, South Korea and Vietnam. This will also be the President's seventh trip to the Asia Pacific region, and his second trip to Australia. But it will be the first time that he will have the opportunity to enjoy the hospitality of Sidney-siders.

After refueling in Honolulu on Labor Day, the President will cross the dateline and arrive in Sidney Tuesday evening.

Wednesday will be a day of bilateral consultations and events with Prime Minister Howard. It will begin with a small meeting with Prime Minister Howard and the President and a few of their senior staff, and then be followed by an expanded meeting with wider participation by members of Mr. Howard's cabinet.

I think you can expect that key topics of that meeting are likely to be discussions of international hot spots, including Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan; and regional concerns such as the progress in the six-party talks on North Korean denuclearization, and the situation in Burma.

We also anticipate a discussion of our common approach to sustainable growth, energy security and climate issues, and the Doha Round of trade liberalization. I would note on that score that since the U.S.-Australia Free Trade Agreement came into effect in January of 2005, the U.S.-Australian trade has increased by an impressive 19 percent.

The President and the Prime Minister will host a press conference late that morning -- that is still on Wednesday morning -- and then they will travel to Garden Island Naval Installation on Sydney Harbor for a meeting and lunch with members of the Australian Defense Force.

The United States and Australia have a defense alliance that dates back to 1951, and Australians have fought side-by-side with Americans in every major combat operation since World War I. Today over 2,500 Australians are serving in peacekeeping operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the President is very much looking forward to the chance to thank them and their families for the contributions they're making to peace and security in this world.

On Wednesday evening, the President will travel across Sydney Harbor to meet with the Governor General of Australia, and then proceed to a private dinner with the Prime Minister and his wife at the official residence of the Prime Minister, which is called Kirribilli House.

Thursday morning, President Bush will have a chance to meet Kevin Rudd, the leader of the opposition Australian Labor Party, and a few members of his shadow cabinet. Later that morning, Mr. Bush will visit the Australian Maritime Museum, which holds a permanent exhibit to U.S.-Australian friendship.

In the afternoon, the President will greet the employees and families of the U.S. Mission in Australia, and have a bilateral meeting with President Hu Jintao of China. Key topics of discussion at that meeting are likely to be the U.S.-China economic dialogue, six-party talks, Darfur, Burma, Doha, and developments in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Iran.

Friday morning, the President will deliver remarks to the APEC Business Summit at the Sydney Opera House. I think you can expect that this will be a wide-ranging speech covering many topics, including a discussion of America's past and future commitment to the Asia Pacific region; and the war on terror, with a particular focus on what Southeast Asian and other nations in East Asia have done in the war on terror, the role that East Asians are playing in helping in places like Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and other regional hot spots. And he will, of course, discuss some of the economic issues of the region. And I'll let Dan speak to those issues in a bit.

After that, he'll host a working lunch with the leaders of the seven Association of Southeast Asian Nation leaders that are members of APEC. This has become a tradition at APEC, that the President meet with those ASEAN leaders, and he's looking very much forward to that.

The President will be eager to hear from them about their views on the extremely disturbing situation in Burma, and on how Southeast Asia is coping with extremists and the successes that the Southeast Asians have had.

In the afternoon, he will hold a bilateral meeting with President Roh Moo-hyun of South Korea. Key topics of discussion at that meeting are likely to be, again, the six-party talks; the upcoming inter-Korean summit; economic ties; and particularly the issue of how we move forward to get both legislatures in the United States and South Korea to pass the free trade agreement that was concluded earlier this year.

On Saturday morning, the President will host a working breakfast with Prime Minister Howard and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan. They're planning to have a wide-ranging informal discussion of regional and global issues. This will include stock taking on the trilateral security dialogue between our three nations, and the way forward on regional architecture in Asia. The APEC leaders' summit begins mid-morning with the leaders' dialogue with the APEC Business Advisory Council.

The leaders will then proceed to an informal lunch, followed by the traditional official photograph with leaders donning clothing representative of the host nation. I believe that is still a secret on the Australian side.

The APEC leaders' retreat, number one, follows and will cover climate change, energy security, and sustainable development and support for the Doha Round. That evening, the President will participate in the APEC gala dinner at the Sydney Opera House, and then depart for the United States.

The United States Trade Representative, Ambassador Susan Schwab, will represent the United States at Sunday's APEC leadership retreat number two.

Before I turn it over to Dan to speak to key themes of the APEC leaders' meeting, let me just say a word on Burma. Let me just say that we strongly condemn the ongoing actions of the Burmese regime in arresting, harassing and assaulting pro-democracy activists for organizing or participating in peaceful demonstrations. The Burmese government should release these activists immediately, and stop its intimidation of those Burmese who are promoting democracy and human rights, including Nobel Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. I am sure this will be a major topic of discussion at the APEC leaders' meeting, but we wanted to come out on the record at this point, as well.

Mr. Price will now speak about APEC themes. MR. PRICE: Thank you, Dennis. Good afternoon. My name is Dan Price. I've never done this before, so -- (laughter.) Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. PRICE: Thank you, thank you. As Dennis indicated, the U.S. is committed to APEC and to continued engagement in the region. APEC really has a powerful sense of community and purpose, particularly on the economic front, to improve the lives of its inhabitants through economic growth and continued trade and investment liberalization, and through dealing responsibly with common problems such as climate change.

I'd like to discuss two broad areas that will receive considerable attention during this summit, and they are trade and investment liberalization, both through the Doha Round and through regional economic integration, and the second topic is climate.

As Dennis indicated, the statistics are really quite staggering -- 60 percent of global GDP, 50 percent of world trade, U.S. bilateral trade with the region last year stood at $1.8 trillion. Doha -- a successful conclusion of the Doha Round is this administration's highest multilateral trade priority, and it will be the top economic priority at APEC. The President is committed to a successful conclusion of an ambitious round that creates new trade flows, and he will use this opportunity to urge his counterparts, both in bilateral meetings and in group settings, likewise to be ambitious and to bring the round to a successful close.

The President understands that this is difficult. This is a difficult negotiation. It's difficult for everyone, including the United States. But the administration is prepared to make the tough choices if others are likewise prepared to make those tough choices to create new trade flows.

The President will urge his counterparts to send their representatives to Geneva in the fall when negotiations resume prepared to negotiate on the basis of the texts in agriculture and so-called NAMA, non-agricultural market access or industrial tariffs, on the basis of the texts that were put out by the chairs of those negotiating groups, and he will urge them to come to Geneva with the requisite flexibility and political will to see these negotiations through to a successful conclusion.

Let me say a word or two about regional economic integration. As many of you know, the goal of advancing regional economic integration has really been there from the outset of APEC. After all, the E stands for economic. This is the premier regional economic organization.

The administration has called for APEC to work toward and consider a free-trade area of the Pacific, or sometimes referred to as FTAP. The goal, the concept, is a region of seamless trade and investment regimes across all of APEC. A report to leaders on progress on this initiative will be given. That the U.S. is committed to regional integration I think is evident by the fact that we already have in force five FTAs with APEC nations -- Singapore, Australia, Chile, Mexico, and Canada -- and two more have been signed with Korea and Peru and are awaiting congressional approval.

Some progress towards this regional vision has been made through agreement on model measures to be included in FTA chapters that many of the APEC countries are themselves negotiating bilaterally, with a view to ensuring at least a degree of harmonization and transparency in the provisions of those FTAs that are being negotiated with a view to an eventual free trade area of the Asia Pacific.

Dennis mentioned that the President will be addressing the business leaders' summit, and he will carry that message of trade and investment liberalization to them in this speech, highlighting its importance, the U.S. commitment to Doha, the U.S. commitment to regional economic integration, and he will also be encouraging business leaders to partner with governments in educating their employees, their communities, their governments on the benefits of trade and investment liberalization.

As the President has often remarked, the greatest economic danger we face is a descent into protectionism and isolationism. And the remedy for that is the ambitious and steadfast negotiation of liberalizing trade and investment agreements, and on broad-based education of the benefits of those agreements.

Let me turn to climate. The U.S. is working closely with Australia and other APEC countries to address broadly the challenges posed by climate change. Among the topics for discussion will be energy efficiency, forestry, technology development, alternative energy, low-carbon energy, and importantly, continuing efforts to reduce barriers to trade in environmental goods and services.

We believe that the work that we do at APEC can create some momentum for the President's major economies conference that will be held in the United States on September 27th and 28th. I think I will stop there and invite questions for Dennis or for me, or if there are particular questions on climate and energy security Chairman Jim Connaughton is here to respond to those, as well. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. WILDER: Yes. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. WILDER: I believe I noted that he will meet with the President of China on Thursday afternoon. He will meet with, of course, Prime Minister Howard separately, he will meet with Prime Minister Abe. We are in the process of arranging a meeting with Putin, but that -- the exact timing of that is not settled yet. He will probably have a private meeting with President Yudhoyono of Indonesia; again, we are still working a little bit on scheduling that.

I think those are the key bilaterals. And then, of course, he'll have a small meeting with the APEC ASEAN seven, and he'll meeting with all the other leaders in the retreat forum. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q The schedule for the President's itinerary has been in flux, and as you know, he's leaving a day

MR. WILDER: Interestingly enough, with this sort of flipping of the schedule, we're actually in Sydney longer than we originally planned to be. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. WILDER: As you know, before the President made the decision to change the schedule he did consult with Prime Minister Howard and we did consult with those other nations to let them know that there was a need -- a pressing need to be back in Washington early. They all were, I think it's fair to say, while a little disappointed that he wouldn't be able to make the side trips, understanding of how important the debate is that will occur in Washington that next week. And we have worked very hard to make sure he's able to have meetings with a lot of those leaders anyway.

The one event that we've had to postpone, as you may have alluded to there, is a celebration of the 30th anniversary of our relationship with ASEAN. We're working to reschedule that, and the President will talk about the ideas he has for rescheduling that event. So we're not going to forget about the fact that we owe the ASEAN members a celebration of our relationship. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Some analysts, however, do say that the administration has been so focused on the Middle East,

MR. WILDER: You know, I've heard it. I am not sure that it is very valid. If you look at the President's commitments in this region, the fact that he's gone to every APEC summit, and even to Shanghai right after 9/11, you will remember, he made the trip to Asia -- the fact that he's going this year, even though this will be a very hot political season in Washington -- this President is committed to this region and he's committed to this region for very good reasons. Our economic future is tied to this region. Our security future is tied to this region.

We have great friendships, and he has great personal friendships. I can tell you that, having watched him with the leaders of East Asia, he has very close personal friendships with many of them, and he knows them well from these meetings. So when people say that there's inattention, he spends a great deal of time on Asia. He thinks about Asia a lot. He thinks about China and its future and the future direction of China. He thinks about our alliance structure in East Asia and how we can improve it. And we've done a lot over the last few years, with force transformation in Korea and in Japan and with the Australians, and we'll be doing more to build those alliance structures so that we can meet the challenges ahead on the political security side.

So I think -- I really don't find it a very credible argument when it comes to the President of the United States. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. WILDER: No, it will come up in other discussions, as well. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. WILDER: I don't know if I can say in all the bilaterals, but certainly in many of them. Remember that nine of the APEC members are major economies who have been invited to the conference on September 27 and 28. And the President has made it very clear, both in Heilingendamm during the G8 meetings, that the problem of climate cannot be responsibly addressed unless all of the major economies are at the table, including those represented by the developing world. And nine of those are APEC members.

So working cooperatively with our APEC partners, as we've begun to do under the Asian Pacific Partnership, and carrying that plan forward through the bilateral leader meetings and through the summit discussions is very high on the agenda. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Can you tell me, during the course of your preparations for this APEC meeting -- of course, you

MR. PRICE: I think the answer to that question is, no, this is not going to figure prominently in the discussions. Of course, we're paying attention to the markets. There is some volatility out there as the markets work to reassess risk. But Secretary Paulson, Chairman Bernanke and others in the administration are keeping a watchful eye on it. The fundamentals of the U.S. and world economy are very strong. This may take some time to play itself out, but I think that policymakers are taking steps to ensure that we all stay on track.

This will not be a preoccupation of the leaders at the summit, at least as far as we can tell. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. JOHNDROE: As you all know, Dan and Dennis don't cover that beat, but we can help you all with that later on. Thanks. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. PRICE: Russia certainly is invited. It is a major economy, or one of the top 15 major economies. The letter sent by President Bush to President Putin asked President Putin to appoint a leader's representative, somebody who could speak for President Putin not only at this meeting, but for these issues moving forward. Different countries are sending different levels -- some are sending ministers, some are sending deputy ministers, some are sending special representatives. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q In the President's meeting with Hu Jintao, do you expect the issue of Taiwan to come up? Specifically

MR. WILDER: Well, I have almost never been in a meeting with Chinese officials that the subject of Taiwan didn't come up. So I think I can almost guarantee you that President Hu Jintao will certainly raise this topic with the President.

As you probably noted, earlier this week, Deputy Secretary Negroponte gave an interview in which he stated quite clearly the American position on the plans in Taiwan for a referendum, and Taiwan's interest in applying to the United Nations.

We are very supportive of Taiwan on many, many fronts. We have worked hard, for example, to make sure that they are treated appropriately in APEC as an organization, in the World Health Organization and many other international organizations. However, membership in the United Nations requires statehood. Taiwan, or the Republic of China, is not at this point a state in the international community. The position of the United States government is that the ROC -- Republic of China -- is an issue undecided, and it has been left undecided, as you know, for many, many years.

So we find the attempts by the DPP Party in Taiwan to call for a referendum of this subject a little bit perplexing as to why this would be useful, given the fact that Taiwan is not going to be able to join the United Nations under current circumstances and that it only adds a degree of tension to cross-straits relations that we deem unnecessary.

So the President will talk about this, I'm sure, with Hu Jintao. He'll explain the American position. Hu Jintao usually wants a recommitment by the United States to the three communiqu s and to our standing one China policy. I'm sure the President will be willing to give him that. But we also, I should stress, want the Chinese to do things to lower the tensions on the straits. There has been a large-scale, for example, Chinese military buildup opposite Taiwan, and that is worrisome. And we certainly do not want to see any situation in which Beijing would consider the use of force or the threat of force against Taiwan.

We also think that Beijing could do more to reach out to the duly elected leaders in Taiwan. We're hopeful, for example, that once elections take place in Taiwan that Beijing will do more to reach out to those leaders. So there are things that Beijing could be doing to ease the tensions as well, and I'm sure the President will be talking to President Hu about that. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. WILDER: There are likely to be two meetings. Again, I don't have an exact schedule for when President Bush and Prime Minister Abe will speak one on one. We do have the trilateral breakfast set, and that's on Saturday morning. But there will also be probably another event with Prime Minister Abe. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. WILDER: Sure. Ambassador Hill gave a rather detailed briefing at the State Department yesterday, so I would say that what he had to say is probably more authoritative than what I'm going to say, but I'll give you the brief version.

This weekend Ambassador Hill will travel to Geneva for the bilateral working group talks with the North Koreans. As you may know, there are a number of working groups in this process that was set up in September of 2005 as we try and move the North Koreans toward denuclearization of the peninsula. The hope is once all these bilateral -- all of these working groups have met -- and I understand the Japanese working group will meet soon after our bilateral working group with the North Koreans -- then we hope to hold the plenary meeting of the six-party talks. I think mid-September is probably the time frame that we are shooting for.

And at this meeting, the various working groups will report on the progress we've made, be it in the economic assistance area to North Korea, the denuclearization process, the various bilateral efforts to normalize relations with North Korea, and we'll try and produce a new document on sort of the way ahead.

We've made initial first steps of importance. Yongbyon is shut down, and Yongbyon will move toward disablement in the not too distant future. The next steps that the North Koreans have promised are a full declaration of their nuclear programs, be they the plutonium program, be they whatever they have done on the uranium side. And we are looking forward to the North coming forward with that declaration.

In addition, we have to work out now the next steps in disabling the Yongbyon facility and associated facilities, and look forward then to dismantlement at some stage in the future. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. WILDER: The goal is to continue to keep a solid, firm position on denuclearization with all of these leaders. What we need to do, and the President feels very strongly about this, is the progress we have made is because the five members of the six parties other than North Korea have had a firm position on denuclearization. They have pushed on the North Koreans to move forward. We want to continue to have that kind of united effort with the North Koreans, and it's very useful then for the President to talk to each of these leaders on how we continue to push this process forward. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

CHAIRMAN CONNAUGHTON: As you know, we had the big breakthrough in Heilingendamm this year, right after the President's speech on May 31st, and that's with sort of the G8 grouping. At that time we had the plus-5, but they were not part of the leaders declaration on this. This is our chance in the APEC region, which represents these 21 nations, and a good combination of developing and highly-developed nations, to really set the foundation in that region for a shared understanding on a way forward on the energy security and climate issues.

So we'll take what occurred in Europe and now try to advance that in terms of toward common consensus in Asia. We've been very encouraged because a lot of the thinking behind the President's proposal in May was a result -- you asked about Asia and how much time we're spending there. Well, I've spent a ton of time in Asia, talking with the leadership in China, Japan, South Korea. I was just in Indonesia. So there's a lot of interest in the Asia Pacific region taking on more of a proactive role in this area.

And I think you'll see that with Prime Minister Howard. He put this on the agenda for the first time in APEC since it was formed. So that's a big shift. And we're hearing from Indonesia, China, South Korea, these countries that didn't have obligations before -- you're hearing some very positive statements from their leadership on the importance of this integrated agenda on energy and clean air and climate. And that's because the region is growing so fast, too. They're struggling with these environmental challenges in a more consequential way now. And that, I think, paves the way for more constructive conversation. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Could I ask about the meeting with Kevin Rudd? Is that simply a courtesy, or a recognition of

MR. WILDER: First of all, we often meet with opposition leaders in democratic countries. This is not an unusual event -- either here in Washington or abroad. I met with Mr. Rudd when he came to Washington not too long ago. The President didn't get a chance then, but he wants to have the chance now.

I think the President does want the opportunity with Mr. Rudd to explain why he believes that all coalition partners must stay the course in Iraq. You've heard from the President on many occasions on this issue; I won't try and go through his process. But I think he would be asking the question, why, at a point when there is progress being made, would a major partner of the United States, a partner who has believed in the struggle and who has sent their young men and women to join in this struggle, why we would make a decision without looking at the facts on the ground.

In other words, if there are going to be decisions to pull back forces by any of our coalition partners, the President hopes that they would really consider the situation and consider the progress that we have made in the surge, and how this may affect the calculations of nations as far as their troop deployments.

So I think they're going to have a lively discussion. I think the President is going to be up front about his views, and I would expect Mr. Rudd will be equally open with his views. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Hello, everyone. A quick announcement before I take your questions. President Bush will welcome Portuguese Prime Minister Jos S crates to the White House on September 17, 2007, in the Prime Minister's dual role as Prime Minister and head of the European Union presidency. President Bush looks forward to discussing a broad range of issues of shared interest, including Afghanistan, the Middle East, transatlantic relations, advancing peace and security in Afghanistan and the Middle East, ending genocide in Darfur, enhancing cooperation on international trade, counterterrorism, energy security and climate change. The President welcomes the opportunity to discuss with the Prime Minister ways to build on our strong relations with the European Union under Portuguese leadership.

Questions. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: No, at this point, I don't think -- you talk about revising assessments and you've got a draft report that's been making its way around -- the Pentagon has suggested that there are some factual -- it believes it has some compelling facts that may bear on some of the conclusions that have been drawn. But it's my understanding that, typically -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: I'll refer you back to the Pentagon on that. But the fact is that these are reports that get circulated around for comment and apparently there were some comments. I talked to Geoff Morrell about it -- I know he made some comments to the Pentagon press corps today. But they'll have to -- obviously they're going to be people providing some factual input and some input into the report. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: No, I don't -- no. I think what we've suggested is, number one, that the standard that is set by the legislation is to assess whether a benchmark has been met. Well, look, it's no secret that many of the benchmarks have not been met. What is significant is that there's progress toward a great number of them.

Again, you're asking us -- you're asking me at this point to make detailed comment on a draft report. I'm not going to do it. Let's wait and see what GAO has to report. It clearly has been leaked by some people who want to get some of the early thinking out, but we'll get a report next Tuesday, I think, and we'll be able to -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: No, I think the administration's interest is making sure that we get a full picture of what's going on in Iraq. And frankly, the people who are going to be best able to do that are the folks who live and work there every day, and that would be General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker.

There are a number of reports coming out. We have the NIE, obviously. There's the Jones Commission report. So there are a lot of reports. It's a season of reports. But we are certainly looking forward to hearing from the General who is in charge of overall operations and the Ambassador who works there every day, the folks who have a real grasp of ground truth. All these reports obviously are interesting. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Well, number one, they ought to talk to the Democrats who have just come back from Iraq who said just the opposite. So, I mean, you've had Senator Durbin, Senator Levin. You had a number of key Democrats who have come back and talked about -- Senator Biden, even -- suggesting that there have been, in fact, significant changes under the surge and there have been significant progress.

Again, I would -- if you take a look at what Congress has mandated for this report, it says, have you met these? Have you met them in full? Well, the answer is, you're going to find in a lot of cases, of course they haven't met them. Now, the real question is, do you have progress in the right direction?

The other thing I would suggest is that it would be a mistake to limit one's view of what goes on in Iraq to the benchmarks. For instance, among the benchmarks are not the fact that Sunni Iraqis have, in fact, turned against al Qaeda and have really opened up a front against al Qaeda that is of enormous significance, and also creates a possibility of greater political reconciliation in the long run, as well.

So what you're going to see from Ambassador Crocker and from General Petraeus is a view of what's going on in Iraq that's broader simply than the benchmarks. And I think if you take a look even at the original report on the benchmarks, some of those that were laid out originally -- and I don't have them all in my head right now, but you go back and read the July report -- some of them are not even appropriate right now. There's a critique of some of the benchmarks themselves.

The real question that people have is, what's going on Iraq? Are we making progress? Militarily, is the surge having an impact? The answer is yes. There's no question about it. What you've had is the number of ethnic and religious sectarian killings down by 75 percent. You have a doubling of weapons cache seizures. You have a reduction in bombing violence, in bombing killings of U.S. and coalition forces. There have been a number of -- you have kills and captures way up when it comes to those who have been fighting against the government.

Obviously there's a whole lot that still needs to be done. But on the other hand, again, there's been significant progress on a number of fronts. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: I believe that was -- General Petraeus is -- 75 percent reduction in religious and ethnic killings since last year. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Well, again, I'm going to wait to see the report. Everybody is speaking knowledgeably of a draft report. The other thing is, how one measures overall violence, it would be interesting to see what that metric is. General Petraeus clearly has a different view of that. I would defer to him on that. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Tony, a couple days ago, The Washington Post reported that -- you mentioned the NIE -- they reported

MR. SNOW: No. Number one, you are saying that it's tinkering with the report when the man who's on the ground, who has the most direct experience, is, in fact, having factual input? No, this is -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Sixteen spy agencies? You're talking about intelligence agencies. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Are you saying that General Petraeus was trying to doctor the report? Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Well, I think that's -- yes, but that is somebody having factual input into a report, Ed. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: No. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Well, he's going to wait until you get a report from the generals about what you think you need. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: No, we're not -- look, it is premature to be talking figures at this juncture. Last year we came up with an emergency supplemental, which we thought was going to be our best estimate. You continually revise those estimates based on the realities on the ground and the requirements of the forces. And we'll wait to hear what the generals on the ground have to say about it.

At this juncture, I think -- you may recall last year, for instance, there was a whole lot of speculation within a wide range of possible figures that might be put forward in a supplemental. Let's just wait until the President has had an opportunity to hear from the people responsible. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: I don't know. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: It has always been a concern. And the generals have made that clear for a long time, and it certainly is a concern. We hope it doesn't happen, but certainly people are aware that there is going to be an attempt to try to influence the domestic debate here in the United States, and using acts of violence is one of the means. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: I'm not the person to ask about that. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: I don't think the President is drawing any global judgment on Republicans. What we've said is that the story is certainly a disappointment, and it's something that the Senate Ethics Committee is going to be handling. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: We're not commenting beyond what I've said. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: I think the President takes a look at all the reports that come across. But obviously, if you're going to take a look at who is the most credible to speak about it, the people who are there full time are the ones whose judgment you are going to take very seriously. But on the other hand, he's going to take a look at all the inputs. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: No, I really can't. I'll try to put together the process tick-tock, but I don't know. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: I'm just saying -- look, if you're trying to do an overall judgment on what's going on in Iraq, the idea that somehow your standard is everything completed, or nothing completed seems to me to be a pretty high standard to meet. On the other hand, if you're trying to figure out, are you making progress toward the goals that you have set out, that's probably the proper way to look at it. This appears to be the metric -- and by the way, the GAO didn't set forth this, members of Congress did -- said, have you met the benchmarks? There are going to be a number of areas where they have not met the benchmarks, but, in fact, there is significant progress and that deserves to be noted, as well, not only in terms of the context of the public debate, but in terms of responsibly assessing what has gone on with the surge, and furthermore, what needs to go on to have success in Iraq. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q You talked about Iran meddling inside Iraq. The President has mentioned it many times. Iraq's

MR. SNOW: No, no -- other than we have made it clear all along that Iran is going to -- that the Iranians have said that they want to play a constructive role; well, the way you do that is to be serious about trying to guarantee security within Iraq. And that means certainly not transporting weapons in, not bringing people in who are going to be fighting against the government, not committing acts of violence against that government, but instead, trying to support the safety and security of those who work in the government and not to be supporting those who, in fact, are trying to bring it down. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Again, I'm not going to try to -- that is something, Bret, that you can bring back to your old pals over at the Pentagon. They're going to be a lot -- they're going to give you a much more sage analysis of that than I am. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Tony, two questions. First, we are again celebrating India -- of India. Question I have is as

MR. SNOW: Well, number one, there are a lot of stories coming out of Pakistan. We will let the Pakistanis break their own news on this. Secondly, what we have said all along is what Pakistan needs is a transparent election. We have a free and fair election conducted under transparent circumstances. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Oh, a change in topic. I'm sorry -- bin Laden -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q -- on WTOP said that -- he was quoting a newspaper in Pakistan -- that Osama bin Laden was dead

MR. SNOW: Look, I'm not going to tell you what we know or don't know about bin Laden, but I thank you for passing on what occurred on WTOP yesterday. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: I don't know. (Laughter.) For the record, I am not. (Laughter.) Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: What? (Laughter.) Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: But what are you -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: No. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Number one, I am not going to make any further comment -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Number one, I'm not going to make any further comment beyond what I have about Senator Craig's predicament. Number two, I'm not letting you get away with "accepting" Karl Rove because he's controversial. Karl is somebody who has spent 14 years working for the President, and I think it is somebody who will continue to work for the President, speak out.

Alberto Gonzales is somebody who was the object of a concerted series of personal attacks from Capitol Hill that yielded nothing in terms of, in fact, evidence of any wrongdoing on his behalf. And therefore, what I would suggest is rather than treating them as "controversial figures," these guys have mud slung at them. What they ended up doing is that they have tendered their resignations, but these are people who have served very long and very well and spent a lot of time in public service and deserve thanks for it. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: I'm not going -- nice try. I'm not going beyond where -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Senator Warner is somebody whose views, obviously, we take seriously. I'm not going to get into characterizing whether they're breaks or not breaks. I think Senator Warner has made it clear that he'd like to see success in Iraq, and so would we. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: I understand. Our position on this is that let's hear what the generals have to say. What we do have is a situation in which you have real -- I think two things. Number one, it is clear that the surge is producing significant results. And that does not seem to be an object of controversy -- really a significant controversy anymore. Number one, Senator Warner believes that somehow withdrawing troops or withdrawing a brigade might have some impact on the political situation. It's pretty clear that the Iraqis have been working the political situation themselves. We had the meeting with the Prime Minister and members of the presidency council, and we're going to have to see what happens. The President certainly welcomed that meeting and welcomed their determination to work on a lot of the key issues. And we're going to have to see what happens when the parliament reconvenes in a couple of weeks. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Well, again, I'll let you draw whatever conclusions you may on that. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Thank you for the question. I've already given my answer. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Yes, I did. Okay, I gave the answer I'm going to give. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: It's -- really? Am I getting cranky like you? (Laughter.) Wow. (Laughter.) Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: No, I'm suggesting that we've said that this is disappointing and it needs to be handled by the Senate Ethics Committee. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Okay. Reuters reports from Harvard that Fidel Castro has just described Senators Hillary Clinton

MR. SNOW: I think it is safe to say that Fidel Castro is not an expert on the workings of an active democracy. (Laughter.) Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Not according to Plante, I'm not. (Laughter.) Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q -- you could give me a serious answer on official motorcades, which I've spoken to you about earlier

MR. SNOW: Connie, I would refer all those comments to the people that do protective details. But I think in this day and age, a protective motorcade is, in fact, a necessity. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Connie, I'm just not competent to comment on that. Again, I would refer you to talk to the protective services. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: I don't know about the President's notification. Here's what we do know. Apparently, last Friday, UNMOVIC staff members discovered in metal and glass containers within a plastic package what turned out to be chemical agents that were brought over as a result of U.N. weapons inspections during the UNMOVIC era. These items should not have ended up, obviously, at the New York offices. Normally they would be transported to an appropriately equipped laboratory for analysis. I'm sure that there are going to be a lot red-faced people over at the U.N. trying to just figure out how they got there.

In any event, they've done some testing of the air. There is no danger to the folks involved. The agents had been at the UNMOVIC facility for more than a decade. For other analysis of this and more detail, I'd refer you to the FBI. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Again, I'd refer you to the FBI, because I don't know.

I pointed to Paula; Paula gets the last question. Sorry. In fairness.

Go ahead. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. SNOW: Okay. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q While Congress was out, the administration put out new requirements for states. And one of those

MR. SNOW: Well, it's a very good question for which -- when you want to ask a really detailed question like that, give me some advance warning and I'll get you an answer. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. STANZEL: I'll go through the President's schedule a little bit, and then -- for today and tomorrow. And then we're lucky to be joined here by Don Powell, and he can go through some of the efforts to help rebuild the Gulf Coast. And he'll take your questions, and then if you have any other extraneous questions at the end, I can take those, as well.

Just before we took off, you should all have received -- just want to draw to your attention a statement by the President on new Census figures that show that incomes are rising, more Americans are pulling themselves out of poverty, but more work remains to help Americans get better access to health care.

As you all know, as well, the President had a foreign leader call earlier today that occurred just before 1:00 p.m. Eastern time. The President called Abdullah Gul this morning to congratulate him -- this morning Pacific time -- to congratulate him on his election as President of Turkey. The President reiterated the United States' commitment to a strong relationship with our partner and ally, Turkey.

On the Gulf Coast trip, we are obviously now en route to New Orleans. Don Powell, the Federal Coordinator for Gulf Coast rebuilding efforts, is on board and will be with us throughout the visit.

Tonight and tomorrow the President and Mrs. Bush will visit New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast. This will be the President's 15th visit to the region since Hurricane Katrina. The President continues to follow through on his commitment to help local citizens rebuild their lives and communities on the Gulf Coast. The federal government has provided more than $114 billion for relief, recovery and rebuilding efforts, and over $96 billion of which has been disbursed or is available for the states to draw from.

A little bit on his schedule. Tonight at 7:00 p.m., if we make up some time in the air, the President will attend dinner with Louisiana cultural and community leaders. That location is to be announced, and we'll have a list of participants for you on that. That is in New Orleans.

Then tomorrow morning at 8:45 a.m., the President and Mrs. Bush will participate in a meeting with Louisiana education officials. That will be at Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Charter School. That is closed press. We'll also have a list of participants for you on that meeting. At 9:20 a.m. tomorrow morning, President and Mrs. Bush will remain at the school and highlight the importance of education and rebuilding the city after Hurricane Katrina. That's pool coverage. At 9:38 a.m., the President and Mrs. Bush will observe a moment of silence to mourn the lives lost during Hurricane Katrina. That's also at the school. At 9:45 a.m., the President will make a statement at the school on New Orleans rebuilding efforts.

Then we will travel to Mississippi, to Bay St. Louis. The President and Mrs. Bush will participate in a briefing on Mississippi rebuilding efforts. That's at 12:25 p.m., and that is closed press. And at 1:00 p.m., the President makes a statement on Mississippi rebuilding efforts. And that will be at Our Lady of the Gulf Parish Community Center in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, and that will be pool coverage. And we return to Washington and will arrive in Washington at about 5:45 p.m. tomorrow evening.

So that's the President's schedule for the next day or so. And with that, I'll turn it over to Chairman Powell to give you a sense of our rebuilding efforts. CHAIRMAN POWELL: Thanks, Scott.

Anybody want to start with the questions, or do you want me to say a couple of things to begin with? Let me make a couple of comments, and then I'll take your questions.

I think it's important -- I always do this when -- I think it's important to, once again, remember how large and catastrophic event this was. I don't have to tell you that New Orleans was under water about 60 days, the city the size of nine Manhattans, displaced 1,500,000 people. So the devastation you can -- and in Mississippi, there was more debris in the three counties of Mississippi than the World Trade Center and all of Hurricane Andrew combined. So it's a large, large, catastrophic event.

When the federal government thinks about -- we divide our efforts into three areas as it relates to long-term rebuilding. One is, what are we directly responsible for? And this past week an example of that is rebuilding the levee system. The levee systems are better and stronger than they've ever been in the history of New Orleans. In order for New Orleans to be a viable city going forward, the most important thing in the long-term rebuilding is the levee system. People want to feel that they're safe.

When I first went down there, there were three issues, I came back and told the President, specifically as it relates to New Orleans. One was levees, two was levees, and three was levees. Levees on the mind of everybody down there. And there was -- in my view, I tended in the top three, perhaps the most important announcement this past week as it relates to this President's commitment to rebuilding the levee system, and that simply was that we were announcing that the Corps and we would seek funds to rebuild the levee system to the 100 level hurricane protection. And what was more important, we showed maps for the entire New Orleans area -- how it would relate to your specific area once that is completed. And you can see dramatic differences between before Katrina, the way they are now, and after that work is done. That's targeted to be done in 2011.

Also this President spoke to a need that's been occurring for some time in New Orleans -- that relates to the internal drainage system. New Orleans floods for lots of reasons, just normal rainfall. And so the President will ask the Congress to spend $1 billion 300 million to enhance that internal drainage system. So it's a hurricane protection, $7.5 billion, and I think that is terribly important, because if you're -- everything else falls off of that. If you're going to move back to New Orleans, you're going to rebuild your life in New Orleans, you want to be able to know I'm safe behind the levee system.

What was more dramatic, if you live at 101 North Rosemont Street, you can home in on your home via the technology we have, and see what your home would look like if, in fact, the one in 100 years flood occurred. So it's dramatic about what kind of protection this will give to the people in New Orleans.

That's an example of what the federal government is directly responsible for. The second area is, we're partners with the state and the locals in certain things, and partners such as the project work sheets that you hear a lot about, the money coming down to rebuild the infrastructure. That's terribly important. We want to be good partners in that area. Again I'm homing in on New Orleans because that's where we're going. I could talk about Mississippi, would be happy to answer a question about Mississippi, but New Orleans -- it's estimated that the infrastructure rebuilding will cost $6.3 billion -- $6.3 billion. Of that amount, the federal government has obligated to states 80 percent. That's in their bank account. They have the money. And the state has obligated only about 50 percent of that back to the locals.

Let me give you specifics on the city of New Orleans. It's estimated the infrastructure for the city of New Orleans is $1.8 billion. And the federal government has obligated toward that end about $1.3 billion. Now, there has been a certain amount of frustration as relates to that. Our office works with FEMA very directly about making sure that the federal government is not an impediment to that. And we're going to -- we have announced this past week that we're going to have a website directed and committed to transparency, where, if you're a stakeholder, if you're a mom, you're a father, and you want to know when your school, your fire station is going to be rebuilt and where is it in this process, you're going to be able to access the web and see where the holdup is. That's, again, transparency. And it's very powerful. It's like those maps -- you're going to be able to -- you don't have to guess, you're going to be able to see that. And that will be enhanced as we go forward.

That's an example of the partnership. Then there's another area that is the exclusive authority and responsibility of the state. And example of that is the Road Home Program. As you know, the Road Home Program uses CDBG money that the taxpayers, under the leadership of this President, committed to the people to rebuild their homes. It's an exclusive program of the state. They design the program, they administer the program. Are we interested in the program? Absolutely. Do we have weekly conversations about where are we on this thing? We make sure that the federal government is not an impediment in that. But that program is an exclusive -- ran by the state.

Okay, so those are kind of three things that I talk about as we talk about rebuilding. And I'll be happy to answer specific questions about other areas of the quality of life, of education to health care, to criminal justice. And I focus more on New Orleans because that's where we're going, but Mississippi obviously is critical to the rebuilding of this whole area, too. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q -- question which is -- the President promised in Jackson Square that New Orleans would not only

CHAIRMAN POWELL: Well, I think it's -- we've got direct responsibility over the levees. No one shares that with us. So I think it's important that we focus on that. And I think he has spoken to some of those issues, it's going to be better. The levee system, which is the fundamental -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q I'm not asking about specifics. I'm asking about over all. I mean, certainly the levee system

CHAIRMAN POWELL: We're involved in all components. We're involved to make sure that the federal government -- whatever the federal government resources or needs may be, or may not -- that doesn't mean that we don't focus in on these other issues. We do a lot.

For instance, the Attorney General is down there today setting up a domestic violence center. That -- criminal justice is a local issue, but we have -- the federal government has spent more than $60 million in shoring up the criminal system -- additional U.S. marshals, additional FBI agents, crime labs. So we don't ignore those issues that are just -- relates to the state.

Obviously education is a local issue. The federal government has been tremendously responsible in shoring that up. As relates to the PWs, we've been directly engaged -- and I think it would be the testimony of Paul Pastorek, the State Superintendent, that without the federal government's -- without FEMA's help, the schools would not be up and going today. That was -- I attended meetings where there was obviously some -- (inaudible) -- going on as it relates to how are we going to get these temporary quarters for the schools. And so, yes, we're involved in all those fronts. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

CHAIRMAN POWELL: You know, that's an issue that -- the rebuilding of New Orleans as -- and the whole city as it relates to the planning for the future is an issue that the locals control, and they should plan their own destiny. Those people that say New Orleans should not be rebuilt -- it's important to focus on, New Orleans has been there for 300-some odd years. I think it's important for us to focus on that we should be smarter, and we should be more responsible as we go forward in the rebuilding of New Orleans. That's wise use of the taxpayers' money.

And I'm confident that the people in New Orleans understand and recognize that they want to be more responsible and be smart in how they rebuild. But I don't have to tell you about the economic importance of New Orleans and the port is to the entire nation. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

CHAIRMAN POWELL: I have a sense of urgency about everything. I'm a businessperson, and that's where I've spent 38 years of my life. I'm not very tolerant of, well, we've got to wait on this, we've got to wait on that. I want to be sure that we lay aside duplication efforts, we lay aside any bureaucracy that, in fact, may not be important, and get the job done. I'm from West Texas -- "get her done" type of -- so I have certain frustrations about the pace of things. Having said that, I also see a tremendous amount of progress -- I see a tremendous amount of progress. I see economic vitality in the area. I was down there this past week. It took me about 28 minutes to get from the airport to downtown. That's called a traffic jam. You don't have a traffic jam unless there's activity. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

CHAIRMAN POWELL: Orleans Parish, the population of Orleans Parish is 66 percent back. In the greater New Orleans, it's 80 percent-plus. I think that's rather remarkable for a two-year period. And the other parishes surrounding New Orleans, except St. Bernard Parish, they're at -- back to pre-Katrina within two or three percent. And sales tax revenues, all -- except St. Bernard Parish and Orleans Parish -- in Orleans Parish they're within 80 percent of what they were. So I think there's lots of economic activity. Building permits, restaurants, the port, energy, all those things are -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q The Lower 9th Ward is one of the most impoverished areas of the region. Many residents who lived

CHAIRMAN POWELL: I say to those people -- and I have a sense of responsibility -- but one of the things I remember looking at is St. Bernard Parish and the 9th Ward and New Orleans East was some of the most devastated areas as it relates to the storm. If you look at those flood maps, it is dramatic in those areas how much they're improved.

So, again, that's the federal government's commitment, to making sure that it crosses the entire section of those areas. There is some activity going on in the 9th Ward. I go to the 9th Ward often. I see some people going -- that area was devastated, as was St. Bernard Parish. They're a little slower than others coming back, but it's a result of -- I mean, the devastation there was just extraordinary. MR. STANZEL: Any other questions? Read more Comment (0), Email this.

CHAIRMAN POWELL: I think we continue to work on specific issues, as we talked about. There's always going to be issues as it relates to quality of life issues. We need to make sure that we're homing in on those things. You can't rest, you can't -- you've got to be attacking the rebuilding on every front. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

CHAIRMAN POWELL: Well, I think -- for instance, one of the things that we were keyed in on within the last six months -- we had, obviously, school coming up and there were 6,000 students coming back. Are we going to be ready? I mean, think about if you had had 6,000 kids, and you didn't have classrooms, or you didn't have teachers, or you didn't have administrators. Well, today -- and this was not without a lot of people working -- I get cold chills -- working very hard toward this effort. There is now -- those students are going to be in classrooms, and they will have as many as 7,000 excess seats ready for students coming in. Teachers are there; they have enough teachers, saving except some specialty areas like disabled kids. But they've got enough teachers and administrators. Schools are open -- going to be open.

Will there be some glitches after schools open? Sure, from buses to normal things -- cafeterias to whatever. But the school system is ready to accept those kids. I think that's a combination of a lot of people working toward that area. And incidentally, I think education is a bright spot, one of the bright spots in New Orleans. Half the schools are charters. MR. STANZEL: All right, thank you all very much. Appreciate it. Any other questions? Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. STANZEL: I think that you'll hear the President talk about the federal commitment to helping the people of the Gulf Coast rebuild. He'll talk about areas where we've had success. He'll talk about, as Chairman Powell just noted, efforts that are underway in terms of education. As you know, the President, at the beginning of March, visited a charter school. He'll be back at one tomorrow. Charter schools are providing an opportunity for increased flexibility, while having greater accountability and delivering real results for the children of the Gulf Coast, and New Orleans, in particular.

So I think you'll hear him talk about those efforts and how we can continue to focus on getting results and helping the people of the Gulf Coast rebuild their lives after such a devastating storm. The area impacted by this storm was the area the size of the United Kingdom. So it was a rather large area that was impacted and it's taking time to rebuild. But we need to continue to work with state and local partners and make sure that happens. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. STANZEL: I think the President will continue to work with leaders in Congress to make sure that the funding and the resources are there. As I noted earlier, there are over $114 billion has been committed from the federal government. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. STANZEL: Correct. And 84 percent of that has been disbursed or is available to the states for use. As Chairman Powell talked about the levees, in the President's 2009 budget he will request $7.5 billion for the levees.* That will take the total levee funding to $15 billion. So that's an area that we'll continue to work with Congress on. That's very important. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. STANZEL: That would have been a great question to ask Chairman Powell. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. STANZEL: You know, a lot of times, in the way programs work, some things -- there are triggers put in place; they have to reach certain benchmarks. I don't know. I can check with Chairman Powell. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. STANZEL: Yes, yes. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. STANZEL: He announced it last week. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. STANZEL: B, with a b, as in boy. Any other questions? Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. STANZEL: P-o-w-e-l-l. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. STANZEL: His title is -- let me get the specific --Federal Coordinator for Gulf Coast Rebuilding. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. STANZEL: No. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. STANZEL: Good morning, everyone. I'll go through the President's schedule and then I have a bit of an announcement. The President had his normal briefings this morning. Obviously, you saw upon departure his comments about the Attorney General. You should have that transcript now. We're on our way to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where the President will participate in a Domenici Victory Fund reception. That's closed press. Then the President will travel on to Bellevue, Washington, and make remarks at a Friends of Dave Reichert and Washington State Republican Party reception. That's at 4:35 p.m. Pacific Time, and that's expanded pool coverage. And the President then will travel on to Reno, Nevada, this evening, where he will reside overnight.

On the plane today, the President made some phone calls to Iraqi leaders. He made five phone calls to President Jalal Talabani, Prime Minister al-Maliki, Vice President Hashimi, Vice President Abd al-Mahdi, and President Barzani -- and he talked with them, he congratulated them on the progress that they announced yesterday. He reiterated his strong support for their work, congratulated them for the good things that they were doing for the Iraqi people, and talked about the announcement yesterday was a step in the right direction and there's more work to do. Those calls took place over approximately a 45-minute period. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. STANZEL: All separate calls, five different phone calls in the order that I announced them.

The President, on that note, will make a statement upon arrival in New Mexico, and talk about the agreement that was reached yesterday and announced yesterday. So you'll have another statement from the President. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. STANZEL: I believe so, yes.

And with that, I will take your questions. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. STANZEL: No, the Attorney General has spent some time this month talking with his wife, Becky. They came to Texas and they've had conversations over a period of months -- the Attorney General and his wife -- about his tenure at the Department of Justice. The Attorney General came to the conclusion that it was in the best interests of the department that he resign. He called the President on Friday evening and offered his resignation, and the President very reluctantly accepted it and, at that time, invited he and his wife to the ranch so they could talk as friends over lunch yesterday.

So it was a process that the Attorney General was going through over a period of time, and he had come to that conclusion that it was in -- he put the interests of the department over his own. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. STANZEL: No, this is a decision that the Attorney General came to on his own. And it was -- the President, in their conversation yesterday over lunch, he indicated that -- he has known the Attorney General for a long time, they're close friends, and it was a hard thing for the President to accept. He appreciates the Attorney General's service, but respects his judgment. And it was the judgment of the Attorney General that it was in the best interest of the department to put this period behind us and move on. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. STANZEL: I said the Attorney General has had conversations with his wife over a period of time about his tenure there. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. STANZEL: Friday was the first time that he had called the President about it. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. STANZEL: I'm not going to talk about internal discussions that occur, but this was a decision that the Attorney General came to. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. STANZEL: Not that I'm aware of. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. STANZEL: I'm not going to put a time frame on it, but the President is considering potential nominees. He will certainly select someone who is high caliber, a talented official who will serve the department well. And we hope that that person would move forward -- the Senate Judiciary Committee would move forward with their -- that nomination expeditiously. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. STANZEL: He did not. He respects the Attorney General's judgments and he knew that the Attorney General had given this thoughtful consideration and had come to the conclusion that it was in the best interest of the Department of Justice for him to step down. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. STANZEL: Well, like I said, he does respect the Attorney General's judgment. And unfortunately, because of the very much political show trials that we've seen, it had an impact, an unfortunate impact on the Department of Justice, and it had an impact on the morale of officials there. And the Attorney General came to the conclusion that it was in the department's best interests that he step down -- and the President accepted that. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. STANZEL: No, I think this is a recognition by the Attorney General that it was in the department's best interest for him to move on. But I would say that, as the President indicated today, it's very unfortunate that we live in a time where talented, honorable people like Alberto Gonzales are impeded from doing their work, or refuse to take on assignments like this because of the risk of having their name dragged through the political mud, and public service has gotten to the point where it's not just a sacrifice, but you're punished for that public service. And that's an unfortunate thing. And I think it's safe to say that a lot of people throughout the country are tired of the political infighting in Washington and it's time to put this unfortunate -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. STANZEL: Well, we -- like I said, the President will look for a very high caliber candidate that he believes will serve the best interest of the country in this position. He -- certainly we hope that the Senate Judiciary Committee would put the interests of the nation, and the law enforcement and security of our country before partisan politics. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. STANZEL: I'm not going to talk about -- as you know, when there are personnel matters to announce we'll go ahead and announce them. But it's our longstanding practice to not discuss who may or may not be under consideration. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. STANZEL: I think you'll hear from the President here in just a few minutes when we land, but it's important that all of the groups are working together on behalf of the Iraqi people. We have seen progress from the bottom up, and we hope that we can -- that the Iraqi government can solidify that progress that's occurring at the local level, albeit security or politics progress.

And so we think it's a step in the right direction, but it is a step, and much more work needs to be done. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. STANZEL: The President assured all of the leaders that he supports them and he supports the work that they're doing. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. STANZEL: I don't know. I didn't get that information so I can't say, yes or no. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. STANZEL: I'll try to get some more for you on that, but it is a speech, obviously, continuing on the speech that he gave last week about the challenges we face in Iraq. It will take a broader look at the Middle East and the impact of what we are doing in Iraq and how that can shape the future of the Middle East. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. JOHNDROE: Good morning. The President had his normal briefings this morning. He also taped the weekly radio address, which is on the war in Iraq and contains examples of Iraqis stepping forward to defend their democracy.

I'd like to give the President's schedule for next week now. The President will depart from Crawford on Monday morning, August 27th. He will travel to Albuquerque, New Mexico and attend a People for Pete Domenici reception at a private residence. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. JOHNDROE: Closed. The President will then travel to Bellevue, Washington, to make remarks at a Friends of Dave Reichert and the Washington State Republican Party. That reception is pool for cameras, open for correspondents. The President then goes on to Reno, Nevada, where he will remain overnight on Monday.

On Tuesday morning, August 28th, the President will make remarks at the 89th Annual American Legion Convention in Reno, Nevada. The President will focus on the Middle East and why the rise of a free and democratic Iraq is critical to the future of this vital region and to our own nation's security. The President will also provide an update on the developments we are seeing on the ground in Iraq. That afternoon the President will then travel to New Orleans, Louisiana, where he will remain overnight.

On Wednesday, August 29th, the President and Mrs. Bush will visit New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast. This will be the President's 15th visit to the region since Hurricane Katrina. The President continues to follow through on his commitment to help local citizens rebuild their lives and communities on the Gulf Coast. The federal government has provided more than $114 billion for relief, recovery and rebuilding efforts, over $96 billion of which has been disbursed or is available for states to draw from. The President and Mrs. Bush return to Washington on Wednesday evening.

Another update from this morning: The President called the Reverend Billy Graham to check on him after his recent surgery. They had a very good conversation and we can report that the Reverend Graham is resting comfortably.

And with that, I will take your questions. Olivier. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Gordon, The Los Angeles Times reports that General Peter Pace is set to advise the President privately

MR. JOHNDROE: The President has received no recommendations regarding our future force posture in Iraq, and I would caution everyone that between now and the next approximately 19 days we're going to see a lot of reporting about what different people are recommending, what they're not recommending -- more troops, less troops, stay the same. I think we're going to see a lot of that over the next two-and-a-half weeks. The most important thing is to wait for General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker to return from Baghdad and make their report to Congress, the President and the American people. And after that, the President will then make his own report to Congress.

Jeremy. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. JOHNDROE: Well, you know, I disagree with the notion of "waning support." I don't think that Senator Warner's position on Iraq has substantially changed. I'm not aware of any sort of announcements of anyone changing their votes; of Senator Warner saying he's going to change his vote regarding support for the mission in Iraq. He made a recommendation. He made a suggestion following his trip there that perhaps troop position or posture could change.

But right now, as I just said, regarding the news reports about other people's recommendations, the President will listen to generals on the ground, Ambassador Crocker, Secretaries Rice and Gates, and also members of Congress, take in everything that they have to say, and then make recommendations on the way ahead. But that's not coming until next month. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Gordon, one of those members of Congress, Republican Pete Hoekstra was saying today that the White

MR. JOHNDROE: Well, I would refer you and members of Congress to the President's remarks on Tuesday to the -- or Wednesday, to the VFW, where many people decades ago were saying the same thing about Japan, South Korea. And now those two countries are incredible success stories in Asia -- thriving democracies, allies of the United States.

So the immediate goal in Iraq is to bring security and stability, and for the Iraqi political leaders to come together and forge some agreements so this national unity government can work together for the better of all Iraqis.

So I think that -- I think to suggest that we need to change our goal away from democracy, they have a democracy. They have an elected government in a sovereign country. And that's what the Iraqi people want. They showed it when they went to the polls. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q The Republican lobbying firm that's working to help Allawi against Maliki, it's now come out that

MR. JOHNDROE: Far be it for me to judge why people sign contracts for whatever reason. I'm sure they have a desire to help out their client. But they're former administration officials; administration policy remains unchanged. There is a sovereign, elected government with Prime Minister Maliki and the presidency council. They are working to come up with some sort of political accommodation in Baghdad and that's where things stand in reality on the ground.

Mark. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. JOHNDROE: I think the President has made it clear that he eventually would like to see the United States in a different configuration in Iraq; there is no doubt about that. The surge was designed, as we have said repeatedly, to help bring security to Iraq. We've seen that there are signs of success on that front -- the NIE even talked about that yesterday.

But obviously, as the President has said, we'd like to be in a different position at some point, but that's going to be driven by conditions on the ground.

Olivier. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. JOHNDROE: Sure. I think over the last couple of years we've seen a number of Iraqis trying to enter the country from the southwest border in two ways: one, seeking asylum; and, two, potentially illegal entry. The number of asylum-seekers, according to Homeland Security, is somewhere over a hundred; the number of Iraqis trying to enter the country illegally is just about a dozen or so. But I think for any other specifics I'd refer you to the Department of Homeland Security. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. JOHNDROE: I think we've made it very clear that Iranian activity inside Iraq has not been helpful. The Iranians state publicly every time they meet with Ambassador Crocker that they want to play a constructive role inside Iraq. Yet, according to our commanders on the ground, we see an increased flow of very deadly explosively formed projectiles. That is not playing a constructive role in Iraq. It is -- those weapons supplied by Iranians to militias are responsible for the deaths of American soldiers. The support of those militias is responsible for the deaths of innocent Iraqis. It is an understatement to say that that kind of activity is not useful, nor helpful. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q But then why not stop it at the source? If these flows are, in fact, leading to the deaths of

MR. JOHNDROE: The Americans are being killed inside Iraq and U.S. forces are taking appropriate force protection measures to deal with it.

Ben. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q A couple questions on New Orleans. In a lot of very basic way, the city is still in shambles.

MR. JOHNDROE: Well, I certainly disagree with the premise of the question. As I said at the beginning of the briefing, the federal government has provided $114 billion to the region, of which $96 billion has been disbursed or is available to the states.

I think that this was a catastrophic natural disaster that we all know is going to take some time to -- for the Gulf Coast to recover. And there are a lot of good people in the Gulf Coast Office led by Don Powell, working with the states and the local governments. You know, this is a combined effort, combined effort with the private sector involved as well to rebuild New Orleans and the whole Gulf Coast region.

But these sort of things are going to take -- they're going to take some time. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. JOHNDROE: You know, I think I'm going to wait until the President makes remarks on the Gulf Coast next week, and leave it at that.

John. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. JOHNDROE: This is a proposed rule that would address environmental concerns about the disposal of excess mine spoil and coal preparation waste outside the mine area. It would clarify existing requirements for mining in and around streams, requirements that are currently not being interpreted consistently across the country. This rule is designed to achieve long-term stability, so, important to maintaining effective environmental protections in this area.

The Office of Surface Mining's environmental impact statement indicated that there would be no significant increase nor decrease in mountaintop mining as a result of this proposed rule. And as before, all mining operations would have to comply with relevant federal and state statutes and regulations as well as the Clean Water Act.

Okay. Mark? Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Does the President have any regret that $80,000 in taxpayer funds is being paid to a couple that

MR. JOHNDROE: I've not discussed it with the President, so I'm not familiar. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. JOHNDROE: Good afternoon. I'd like to open with a statement about the National Intelligence Estimate that was released by the DNI's office today. The President was briefed on the classified version on Monday morning.

The National Intelligence Estimate's updated judgments show that our strategy has improved the security environment in Iraq, but that we still face very tough challenges ahead. While the February NIE concluded that conditions in Iraq were worsening, today's key judgments clearly show that the military's counterinsurgency strategy, fully operational since mid-summer, has begun to slow the rapidly increasing violence and patterns of that violence we have been seeing in Iraq. This change is a necessary precondition to the stability and increased political reconciliation that we all seek.

The administration continues to support the efforts of Prime Minister Maliki, the presidency council, and Iraqi political leaders representing Sunni, Shia, and Kurds as they meet in Baghdad now to reach agreement on how they will work together for a more stable and secure Iraq.

The judgments in the NIE confirm that Iraq's security forces are improving their performance and that bottom-up political engagement and security initiatives have made a difference and offer the best prospect for improved security over the next six to 12 months. The NIE does conclude that the Iraqi security forces have not improved enough to conduct major operations independent of the coalition on a sustained basis in multiple locations, and that the ISF remain reliant on the coalition for important aspects of logistics and combat support.

This is all accurate and not unexpected, given where ISF is in its development. This suggests, of course, that there's more work to be done, but that this effort is headed in the right direction.

The intelligence community also concluded that al Qaeda in Iraq remains resilient. The NIE states that, "coalition forces, working with Iraqi forces, tribal elements and some Sunni insurgents have reduced al Qaeda in Iraq's capabilities, restricted its freedom of movement, and denied its grassroots support in some areas. However, AQI retains the ability to conduct high-profile attacks." We have changed al Qaeda's trajectory in a short period of time, and we must now sustain the momentum we have already achieved against them.

Today's key judgments also confirm that Iran and Syria are still supporting and arming militant groups inside Iraq. The NIE states, and I quote, "Iran has been intensifying aspects of its lethal support for select groups of Iraqi Shia militants, particular the JAM." Most troublesome, the use of EFPs supplied by Iran has risen dramatically, and it is taking an increasing toll on our troops. While Syria has taken some action, it has done so because of the threat to its own stability, and has begun to support non-al Qaeda in Iraq groups to increase its influence inside Iraq. One element of the administration's strategy is to support Iraqi efforts to convince its neighbors to be more helpful, and also to mobilize the international community to better support security in Iraq and the region.

The full National Intelligence Estimate will inform the recommendations to be made by President Bush, as well as the recommendations to be made by General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker when they return to Washington in September to testify before Congress and make the report to the American people. And we look forward to hearing from them.

With that, I'm happy to take your questions. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. JOHNDROE: Yes. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Gordon, can you react to -- despite the improvements you mentioned in the NIE about security, Republican

MR. JOHNDROE: Well, I think that we appreciate Senator Warner's comments. He's a distinguished senator who has just recently returned from Iraq. But there is a clear process that has been laid out -- President Bush has talked about it numerous times -- and that is, we are to hear from the commanders on the ground and the Ambassador -- we'll hear from Ambassador Crocker, we will hear from General Petraeus. They will make their recommendations; they will testify in front of Congress. And then the President will make a report to Congress. That is laid out in the legislation. It also is the appropriate course of action to see where things stand by hearing from our U.S. representatives on the ground, where things stand on the security front and where things stand on the political front.

So I appreciate the Senator's comments. But we will wait until Ambassador Crocker and General Petraeus return from Baghdad and make their report. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Senator Warner just came back from Iraq, as you know, with Senator Levin, met with a lot of these

MR. JOHNDROE: You know, I think it's inappropriate for me to say from here right now what the President will or will not consider. I know the President has stated many times that he wants to hear from General Petraeus and he wants to hear from Ambassador Crocker, hear what they have to say about the conditions on the ground, and make decisions based on their recommendations, input from the intelligence community like the NIE. We'll hear from Secretary Gates and Secretary Rice, Admiral Fallon, the Joint Chiefs of Staff. So the best thing to do now is wait for all of these people to report in, listen to what members of Congress like Senator Warner say, and then -- that will be the time, in September, to hear these reports and then make decisions about the way ahead. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. JOHNDROE: Yes, and I don't think that the President feels any differently about setting a specific timetable for withdrawal. I just think it's important that we wait right now to hear from the commanders on the ground about the way ahead. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Gordon, you talked a good bit about security elements of the report, but it also says that political

MR. JOHNDROE: No, I want to be very clear, we know that there are significant challenges ahead, especially in the political area. I would say that the strategy laid out by the President on January 10th was a strategy that provided for security first, so that there would be space for political reconciliation. The surge did not get fully operational until mid-summer. It is not surprising -- it is frustrating, but it's not surprising that the political reconciliation is lagging behind the security improvements. I think that is the way the strategy was laid out.

But no question about it, we want the Iraqi government to come together and make some decisions about how they're going to work together for a more prosperous and secure Iraq. And right now Prime Minister Maliki, the presidency council and leaders representing all the different factions -- they've been meeting in Baghdad; I expect they will continue to meet in Baghdad. And we urge them to work together on the way ahead. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. JOHNDROE: One follow-up, yes. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q On Maliki, the President said yesterday that he supports him. But I'm wondering what that support

MR. JOHNDROE: I think that the Iraqi parliament and the government of Prime Minister Maliki has taken some action over the last few months. We've talked about nearly 60 laws. We've talked about oil revenues being distributed to certain provinces, even though there isn't an oil-sharing law done yet. And the NIE even states today that there has been progress on economics, as well as governance, but that it is certainly lagging behind.

So, look, I think this is a government that is learning -- frankly, learning how to govern. And, no, it is not moving nearly as fast as everyone in Washington, D.C. would like it to move, and therefore we encourage them to continue making efforts to expand the ability of the central government to function around the country.

John. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q How can the Maliki government survive if, as the NIE suggests, he faces increasing vulnerability

MR. JOHNDROE: Well, I think that Prime Minister Maliki and leaders of a variety of political parties and factions in Iraq have been working together to reach some agreements. And we need to continue to urge them to work together. The Iraqis have a process for dealing with their government, because it's a democracy. This government was voted in by the people of Iraq, and if the people of Iraq have concerns about what their government is doing, the people of Iraq will take care of it.

But right now we've seen some steps by Prime Minister Maliki and that government to do a better job and expand the role of the central government, do a better -- do a little bit better job in getting services out to its people. But they clearly have a lot more work to do. But we currently -- I don't want to say we currently -- but we're standing behind the Prime Minister and the presidency council because they are trying right now in Baghdad to move forward. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. JOHNDROE: Sure. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. JOHNDROE: You know what, I think the best thing for me to do is not ever answer a hypothetical question, like what if somebody else -- what is somebody X becomes prime minister? I think the Iraqis -- many Iraqis have made clear that they do not want a divided country. They have, I think, indicated that they want the federalist structure that is what they have basically now, where you have a central government, but you also have provinces with various responsibilities. And so -- but those decisions are ultimately up to the Iraqis. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. JOHNDROE: I think that the President looked at the report as one that wasn't entirely surprising in the judgments that it made. These are many things that he has been talking about that General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker, Secretary Gates and Rice have been talking about over the last few months. There are encouraging signs of security gains, primarily as a result of U.S. forces being on the ground, and improved capabilities of Iraqi security forces. There are many challenges. So I think that's how the President look at the report. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Gordon, can I ask -- a Republican lobbying firm, Barbour, Griffith & Rogers, has now signed on

MR. JOHNDROE: To your second part, no. Decisions about the Iraqi government are going to be made by the Iraqis in Iraq. This is an elected government right now. If former Prime Minister Allawi is interested in become Prime Minister again, that would be an issue that he would need to take up with the Iraqi people, probably best taken up in Baghdad rather than Washington, D.C. So I just -- Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. JOHNDROE: Maybe it's a really good contract.

Olivier. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q I've got two for you, one on Iraq, one not. The one on Iraq is that Director of National Intelligence

MR. JOHNDROE: I'm not familiar with that, so I would have to check on that and get back to you. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. JOHNDROE: I have not seen specifically why the Sudanese government has expelled the envoys, deemed them persona non grata, so I can't comment specifically on that. The Sudanese have a history of doing this sort of thing to try and thwart the will of the international community. And I hope that that would not be the case today with these expulsions, and hope that they are still planning on complying with their obligations to the U.N. Security Council. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. JOHNDROE: Thwart, thwart. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Any reaction on the -- the Pakistan supreme court has allowed former Prime Minister Sharif to come

MR. JOHNDROE: That is an internal matter for the Pakistanis to deal with as far as the way ahead. The United States would like to see free and fair elections in Pakistan. So we would urge all of the various parties and political figures to work together. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q The President, yesterday, drew that Vietnam analogy, that a bloodbath had occurred after the U

MR. JOHNDROE: Historical interpretations abound today, don't they? The President clearly stated it was not his intention to relitigate the debate surrounding the Vietnam War. I think the purpose of his comments were to make clear that discussions today about the work that we are doing in Iraq echo the criticisms of past times, echo the criticisms of the situation with Japan, Korea and Vietnam. And the point the President was making is that our success in Asia provides an historical context that should give us confidence in our ability to succeed in today's struggle in Iraq -- as well as the struggle against violent extremism, against terrorists around the world. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. JOHNDROE: No. It's my understanding that's a newly created, independent organization and there is no connection. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. FISK: Good afternoon; good to see a number of faces again. Some of you I guess got your wish today -- you get to see me again. (Laughter.)

Anyway, let me give you a brief overview of both bilateral meetings; I'll do them in chronological order. First, the President's meeting with Prime Minister Harper, that was the first meeting.

A quick overview. They discussed Afghanistan; the border relationship, the U.S.-Canada border relationship; issues like the Western Hemisphere Initiative, land pre-clearance. Third, a bit on trade, focused specifically on Doha and WTO. And then went off on just kind of a basket of general bilateral issues, things like Devil's Lake, LNG and the arctic.

On Afghanistan, the two leaders shared their respective assessments of the situation in that country. Both leaders agreed upon the importance of continuing in sustaining the current conditions in Afghanistan and the continuing support for the Afghan people. The Prime Minister affirmed that Canada would continue with its current mission through February of 2009; explained to the President the dynamic that Afghanistan is considered within Canada.

The President expressed his appreciation for the contribution and the sacrifices that Canadians have made and are making in Afghanistan, support the Afghan people. And the President now has also a better understanding in terms of not only, again, the dynamics here, but the need that at some point the Prime Minister will need to go back to Parliament to have a decision on what the mission will be beyond February 2009.

On the border issues -- and I know this is a set of issues of particular concern to Canadians -- again, things like the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative and land pre-clearance. Both leaders agreed that we need to continue to work together to implement a system that facilitates the strong relationship that currently exists between our two countries, while also ensuring the security of both countries.

There was a bit of a discussion, got into some of the details on some of the issues of documents and expectations on our part. The President -- President Bush reaffirmed that we will be going ahead and implementing the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative as required by our legislation, but they were also sensitive to the need to facilitate the travel -- the exchange and the movement between legitimate travelers and commerce. So we will continue to focus on how we can work together to make sure that whatever system -- the system that is put in place again works to the benefits of both countries and continues to build upon the strong relationship we have.

The Prime Minister and the President also briefly discussed Doha, as I mentioned. Both countries strongly support an ambitious outcome of the WTO talks that are currently underway. This I think also will be a discussion that they will pick up tomorrow in the trilateral lunch, when they talk about a broader -- or a global basket of issues.

And then as I mentioned, there were some discussion on general bilateral issue. An issue called Devil's -- an issue involving Devil's Lake, the name of a lake in North Dakota that is of concern, especially, again, here in Canada, on certain environmental issues and what is underway on that.

And then also the Prime Minister talked to the President a little bit about the Arctic and Canadian concerns of what's happening there. I think it's fair to say the President came away with a far better understanding of Canada's position; however, I will note that from the U.S. position we continue to believe that the Northwest Passage is an international waterway, that there is international navigational rights through the Northwest Passage.

Let me move briefly to the bilateral with President Calder n. Let me put this into, if I can, three I think overall, or large issues.

The first one was the hurricane, Hurricane Dean, that appears now to be headed towards the Yucatan and possibly Northern and Central America region. Second is the issue of security cooperation. And the third issue was the situation on immigration.

First, again on the hurricane, the President reiterated our willingness to help Mexico should Mexico need assistance -- and again, clearly responding to what the Mexicans see as their needs. We want to be in a position to help them as appropriate and as best we can should Dean hit any part of Mexico.

On security cooperation, an issue that I know that a number of you have already reported on, on this -- I mean, first, I need to reiterate the very positive feelings that exist toward President Calder n and a great deal of respect for the courageous acts he's already taken and the steps he's made already to take on the drug violence in that country.

I think the key point out of the meeting as I would describe it is, both leaders reaffirmed their strong interest in building a common strategy in order to deal with a common threat, recognizing that this is an issue of illegal drug trade and associated violence that impacts both countries equally, and is something that we should be working together to address -- but also recognizing that in working together that each country has its own unique and specific contribution it needs to make, so that this is not a matter of this being a United States -- this is not a United States strategy that somehow is being given to Mexico. This is a case of us trying to support -- of us supporting a Mexican strategy, and one that the Mexicans themselves define, but also realizing that we have a shard responsibility.

As many of you also know, there's been a series of ongoing discussions on this question of security cooperation. I think the talks today will give those other discussions that have been ongoing at a more technical or expert level more momentum and move this process along.

And then just finally on immigration itself, President Calder n touched on that. They talked a little bit about the executive order that the President issued -- President Bush issued on October 10th, which was a combination of measures in terms of enforcement, especially on the employer verification side, but also in terms of dealing with H2 visas for agricultural workers and then also expanding what's called the TN visa, which is the NAFTA visa for professionals.

So with that, I'll be happy to take some questions from you all, and to the extent I can talk a little bit more I'll be pleased to do so. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Dan, can you just clarify a little bit more about this discussion on security cooperation? I know

MR. FISK: Well, the conversation really does go to how do we, the United States and Mexico, build a common strategy to address a common problem -- recognizing that we have -- we feel the effects of the illegal drug trade in certain ways; in fact, some of those ways are similar in terms of the drug violence that has occurred in both American and Mexican communities. And how can we move that conversation from a very general level to specifics, in terms of what that means.

And the two leaders did not get into the details or get into the widgets, as I put it, but clearly reaffirmed their commitment that we do have a shared responsibility. We have to recognize that each country is going to have a unique contribution and role to play. We understand that the Mexicans are developing their own strategy. There are things we need to be doing on our side that are good for our country, but they also will be good for Mexico.

And so it's a matter of how to move that process forward. And I think the important point out of today's conversation is the reaffirmation of that and also, as I said, to give it further momentum, I think there's been a lot of progress made at the technical level. And it's always useful when the two leaders talk to -- it adds to everyone's interest in moving forward even faster. So I think that's what comes out of today's meeting in a lot of ways, is that this is going to give more momentum to this process and these set of discussions. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. FISK: On your first question, it's clear that President Calder n is watching the weather with a great deal of interest. He will need to make his own decision in terms of what his schedule is. I think that everyone on our side is completely understanding if the President of Mexico decides he needs to return early. And so again, we'll just -- we'll be flexible and if President Calder n makes a decision that he needs to cut this short, he'll make it based on what he thinks the right calculation is for Mexico. And again, we will be very understanding of that.

In terms of any announcement of specifics of the package, there will not be -- there are no plans to have any -- give it any more specificity from this location. The two leaders, again, talked about kind of what are the areas we need to think about, what are some of the areas we've covered. In one part it was a review of kind of what are some of the specific discussions that have occurred at a level that's almost a desk officer level, if you will, but actually at an implementation agency level. But there will be no announcement out of this meeting, in terms of specifics on the package. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. FISK: The President strongly believes that President Calder n has the political will to address criminal activity associated with the drug trade across a range of activities. I mean, we've tended to focus, and you all in the media have tended to focus a bit on the violence -- understandably so. But we also know that there are institutional issues involved. We know that drug corruption has affected both countries at various times, to various degrees.

And there is a recognition that you can't just deal with one part of the problem, you have to deal with the whole range of the challenges that the drug trade confronts, including on our side that we have to do more in terms of dealing with demand; but also realizing that there is on the Mexican side, there is a leader who has already taken concrete steps to show that he will deal with this problem in all of its manifestations. We are satisfied by that. I don't want to appear to be up here giving him a grade or judging him.

But in terms of a belief in his sincere commitment, there's no doubt about that. The President conveyed that. Again, when we use the word "courage," we mean that sincerely and genuinely. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. FISK: Secretary Chertoff was only in the meeting with the Prime Minister, specifically because of the border issues. He was not -- "he," Secretary Chertoff, was not in the meeting with President Calder n.

In terms of the discussion on the border issues with Canada, things like the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, we are committed to implementing WHTI, but we are committed to implementing it in a reasonable way. Again, our focus is on how do we facilitate this peaceful, prosperous, dynamic relationship that exists between the United States and Canada. So we are going to do that in a way that we think also meets our security interests. And that was the basis for the discussion.

It was an opportunity for both sides to have a very full discussion of the issue. I think that everyone on our side has a far better understanding of Canadian concerns. We're going to take those into account. I think we've taken the Canadian concerns into account consistently, in terms of our implementation. I think that it's always helpful to have the two leaders have that discussion with their two relevant ministers -- by the way, Minister MacKay was there, on the Canadian side today in the bilateral. So you had each side, you had its cabinet minister there who is responsible for this relationship on border security.

So again, the key point is, is that we understand the importance of the relationship to both countries. This is $1.4 billion of commerce a day. We want to build on that and make sure it's successful. And we also want to make sure that it's safe. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. FISK: This goes to the larger security and prosperity partnership agenda. And there has been -- for at least last year and again this year as part of that agenda a discussion of emergency preparedness. The focus over the last year has been on developing a plan on how the three countries could deal with the circumstance of avian or pandemic influenza. I don't want to pre-empt an announcement, but that is something there will be more on I think tomorrow.

But building on that, we hope to have a larger discussion amongst the three countries. And this will be, again, on a continental basis how are we prepared to deal generally with an emergency circumstance, whether it's natural disaster -- say, a hurricane -- or frankly, a man-made or man-created or person-created incident. So that is something that will be a topic of discussion tomorrow. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. JOHNDROE: The President is on his way to Canada now for meetings with the President of Mexico and the Prime Minister of Canada. First of all, he had his normal intelligence briefing this morning. He's also been briefed on the latest with Hurricane Dean. As far as that is concerned, our Ambassador in Jamaica has taken action there to free $100,000 in initial funds for Jamaica. Southern Command has also moved some assets into the area, some ships, in case they are needed in Jamaica.

When it comes to Mexico, USAID, the Agency for International Development, and specifically its Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, has sent additional personnel to Mexico and will be there to help them as they assess their potential needs as Hurricane Dean strikes.

It's also -- we know that FEMA continues to work with Texas, although it's less likely at the moment that Texas is in the direct path, but it's something that we don't take lightly and will continue to monitor.

Also, with regards to the remnants of Tropical Storm Erin and the flooding that that has caused, the President was also briefed on that this morning. Secretary Chertoff is on board for the trip to -- for the meetings in Canada. He will update the President on FEMA activities, both in preparation in Texas, as well as on the remnants of Tropical Storm Erin in Oklahoma and the Midwest.

Also on board is Secretary of Commerce Gutierrez, traveling to Canada for the meetings with the Mexicans and the Canadians.

One update to the schedule: On Air Force One, prior to takeoff, the President awarded a Department of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service to Harry McKillop, age 85, of Dallas, Texas. For nearly four decades, Mr. McKillop has undertaken missions to find Americans either captured or lost as POWs and MIAs, or men, women and children kidnapped and imprisoned in foreign lands. Mr. McKillop served as a naval officer aboard the USS Phoenix in the Pacific during World War II.

This afternoon, when the President lands at 1:15 p.m., he'll be greeted by the Governor General of Canada. We will then head to the meeting location and the President will meet with Prime Minister Harper, then have a bilateral with President Calder n. And then the three leaders will participate in a dinner about 7:00 p.m. tonight, where they will focus on Western Hemisphere affairs issues.

And with that, I'm happy to take your questions. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. JOHNDROE: Well, I think, one, we want the Iraqis to have good relations with their neighbors. That's important. But I also think that the Prime Minister will be delivering a message to the Syrians, which is, please stop allowing foreign fighters, extremists, to enter Iraq through your country.

I think that the Prime Minister feels strongly about that. He knows it's a problem of foreign fighters coming over the Syrian border into Iraq and then killing innocent Iraqis, killing American and coalition forces. And so I think it's important that they have good relations with Syria, but I also know that he'll deliver -- likely deliver a strong message that a stable Iraq is in the interests of Syria. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. JOHNDROE: Yes. General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker will testify in open hearings on the Hill. Administration officials are reaching out to Hill leadership today to discuss with them the potential dates for that testimony. Given the tight schedule leading up to September 15th and the congressional recess with Rosh Hashanah coming up, the likely dates for testimony are September 11th and 12th. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. JOHNDROE: That's right. Congress is not -- as of right now, based on the last we checked, Congress is not in session because of the Rosh Hashanah holiday, very much the week leading up to that Saturday, September 15th. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. JOHNDROE: As of right now, the schedule -- the scheduled bilateral meetings with President Calder n are going forward. We have been in touch with the Mexicans. I know that the Mexicans are monitoring the situation as Hurricane Dean approaches. No change in the schedule as of noon Eastern right now, but obviously we're staying in touch with them and would understand, certainly, if he needed to cut his visit to Canada short to return to Mexico to deal with problems there. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. JOHNDROE: Well, I think this meeting is a reaffirmation of the commitment that all three of these countries have to creating a secure and prosperous continent. I think they're going to go over a number of issues on both the security and the prosperity front, from trade to border security to a host of issues. And I think that we've got very close relationships -- relations with these two countries, and this meeting reaffirms that. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. JOHNDROE: I don't expect any major announcements to come from the meeting. I think it's a continuance of discussions that we have regularly with our two closest neighbors. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. JOHNDROE: We look at the Northwest Passage as an international waterway, and want the international transit rights to be respected there. But certainly President Bush will listen to what Prime Minister Harper has to say. But I know that the Canadians and the Russians have had some discussions and some little back-and-forth on the issue. So that's separate and apart, I think, from the Northwest Passage. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. JOHNDROE: Mr. Fielding sent a letter to, I believe, Senator Leahy last week outlining why additional time was necessary, I think in part because we didn't -- an August 20th deadline was not in the original request. But I think Mr. Fielding's letter lays out specifically how we're going to work with them and hopefully come to some sort of accommodation. So we'll get you a copy of that. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q The Canadian press is reporting that the three leaders are going to be announcing some sort of

MR. JOHNDROE: I think -- two of the topics on the agenda are emergency preparedness, as well as border security. So I'm sure they'll discuss the issue. But I don't have any specific announcements to make right now.

Okay? Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. JOHNDROE: Yes. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. JOHNDROE: Good morning, everyone. This morning the President had his normal briefings. Then he taped the radio address; the topic will be Iraq, and how the provincial reconstruction teams are working to help facilitate political and economic reforms, as well as assist with bottom up reconciliation.

The President was also briefed this morning on the mine situation in Utah. Our heart goes out to the mine rescuer from the Mine Safety and Health Administration office who was lost. Assistant Secretary of Labor Richard Stickler is out in Utah, and will be briefing on that later today.

At 12:20 p.m. today, the President and Mrs. Bush will attend the annual Republican National Committee reception at the Broken Spoke Ranch. The President has attended this event every year since 2002.

And with that, I'm happy to take any questions. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. JOHNDROE: We have full confidence in the Federal Reserve and respect their independence, but we don't comment on their specific policy announcements. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. JOHNDROE: The President's economic advisors, led by Secretary Paulson, keep him updated. They are in regular communication with him. I can't speak specifically to the Federal Reserve action. I do know that Secretary Paulson called the President yesterday evening to give him an update on the economy and the markets. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. JOHNDROE: We have very good working relations with the Russians, with the Russian military. Militaries around the world engage in a variety of different activities. It's not entirely surprising that the Russian air force, the Russian military might engage in this kind of activity or exercise. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. JOHNDROE: Well, I think it's an internal decision made by the Russians. And as I said, various militaries around the world can choose to exercise their forces in different ways. I'd just leave it at that. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. JOHNDROE: Sure, Suzanne. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MR. JOHNDROE: Oh, I don't think our military has those concerns about it. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q Gordon, how does the White House square the rather dramatic difference between FBI Chief Muller

MR. JOHNDROE: I think this issue and this time period and this event have been gone over many, many times, and I just don't have anything to add to it. I think if you need additional comments -- not that he may have much to add, either -- but Tony Fratto back in Washington follows this issue and comments on it for the White House. But I just -- it's been gone over many, many times, and there's just nothing to add to it.

Olivier. Read more Comment (0), Email this.