MS. PERINO: Hi. The President had his normal briefings at 8:00 a.m. At 11:35 a.m. he will interview with Mike Allen for a Yahoo.com news interview in the Roosevelt Room. And then at 5:30 p.m. he and Mrs. Bush depart the White House on their way to the Middle East. We'll go to Jerusalem tonight.

An update: The President spoke with President Hu this morning. He expressed his condolences on the earthquake and reiterated his offer to assist in any way possible. On Burma, the President reiterated his desire to provide additional U.S. assistance to the Burmese people. President Hu offered to continue to assist our efforts. The President also raised Tibet. He noted the recent meeting in China between the Dalai Lama's representative and Chinese officials, and encouraged the Chinese government to continue to reach out to the Dalai Lama's representatives and engage in substantive dialogues so that longstanding issues with regard to Tibet may be resolved.

A couple of other points on the earthquake. On assistance to earthquake victims, in anticipation of an appeal by the International Red Cross, the United States will provide one-half million dollars in response to the earthquake in China. USAID's Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance -- acronym is OFDA -- is responsible for coordinating and facilitating emergency assistance overseas and will have additional information on how the funds will be dispensed.

Also, the President's Assistant for Homeland Security -- Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, Ken Wainstein, is in China, and he was there on previously scheduled meetings regarding security for the Olympics. He arrived in Beijing right when the earthquake was hitting China. He was not aware of the quake -- it was not felt where he was in Beijing. He had two meetings with Chinese officials today and expressed condolences on behalf of the United States for the tragedy, and he offered support should they request it.

And I think that's all I have. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q The President expressed a little bit of hesitation in one of the interviews yesterday over

MS. PERINO: I think the President would certainly like to meet him while he's there in Egypt, but obviously there's considerations that have to be taken into account. And so we'll keep you updated as those developments occur. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: I wouldn't put it that way, no. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q On that topic, there are reports that many of the politicians are Christian, Sunni and Druze

MS. PERINO: Well, I think that -- I don't know when those comments were made, but later last night we issued a statement by the President condemning Hezbollah's action and pledging our continued support. In addition to that, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice participated in a phone call last night with the Friends of Lebanon, and issued a media note, which is quite detailed and very strong in its support for Lebanon. So I think let's just check the time now on when those statements were made, because I think that our statements could have come after that. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: That could have been something that Secretary Rice talked about specifically with the Friends of Lebanon, and so before any final decisions are made I think I'll decline to comment. But let's check the timing on that just to make sure. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: This is the same question ABC asked me yesterday. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: And then I gave the answer and ABC didn't use it. (Laughter.) Read more Comment (0), Email this.

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

MS. PERINO: Yes. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: I've got some points here for you, but I'm going to have to take a look at them because I just came from a meeting. Well, in the past, as you know, we've had some useful discussions concerning the parameters of a program for the resumption of U.S. food assistance for the North Korean people. North Korea has been open in saying that it faces a major shortfall in food supplies. We have discussed providing additional assistance. One way to do that would be through NGOs and through the World Food Program.

If finalized, that formal announcement would be by the State Department. And I believe an experts meeting is going to be convened in the near future to talk about how to begin detailed implementation of the program. So for right here I don't have more specifics for you on that, but there are discussions that are ongoing in figuring out a way to make sure that people there are taken care of.

It's one of the things that the President talks about repeatedly, which is his concern for the humanitarian condition for the people of North Korea, many of whom are starving. The President thinks that the government is certainly diverting food to the military and not giving it to its people. But outside of politics, the President's heart hurts when he knows that people are starving, and especially because -- especially for children who are maybe trying to go to school, and it's really hard to study and work and do all the things that you need to do to live if you don't have enough nutrition. So it's something we're concerned about, and I'll refer you to the State Department for details on those discussions. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Yes. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

Q We talk a lot about what the government is trying to do with respect to lowering our energy

MS. PERINO: Well, there's no doubt that food prices have gone up, and let me refer you to -- I'll ask Scott Stanzel to attach to this* -- we'll release this gaggle transcript today since we're only doing a gaggle, and I'll ask for us to attach some points at the end, because I don't have them at my fingertips, but some statistics that talk about -- that put this in context in terms of core inflation, which has remained relatively low, but energy and food prices have gone up. And it's a concern that the President has. And most importantly, first things first, make sure Congress does no harm in terms of exacerbating problems when it comes to energy or food prices. That's number one.

Number two, make sure that we have policies in place to have a strong and growing economy, so that we can have -- more jobs are being created, and also deal with lots of different issues when it comes to food. A lot of our food costs come down to the issues of packaging and a lot of transportation costs, which goes back to energy. So these things are interrelated. It's something the President is concerned about and he knows that it hits people hard, especially -- this is the ultimate kitchen table issue. And the President is concerned about it. And we'll get you those points in this gaggle transcript.

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

MS. PERINO: It's an initial contribution in response to the event. As other NGOs move toward the area and needs become evident we'll consider what, if any, additional funding is needed to help the people of China through our embassy in Beijing. I think they're still -- given the assessments that are ongoing right now, the half-a-million dollars is our initial offer. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: He did not. But he thanked the President for his offers. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: He offered to assist in any way possible. I can't tell you exactly -- I wasn't there. I don't know if he specifically said there would be this half-a-million dollars. I don't know when -- that information could have come right afterwards. But obviously, our State Department and our embassy have been working with the Chinese government to try to assess the damage, make sure all of our American citizens are accounted for. I refer you to State Department for that. I haven't heard of anything saying that they aren't, but I would refer you to them.

Also the Peace Corps Headquarters for the United States is right there in that province. So -- but I understand last night that Josie Duckett, their press secretary, said everybody was accounted for.

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

Q Just one back to Myanmar. I wanted to see how strongly the President backs a move by some

MS. PERINO: I know that that's something that's been talked about at the State Department and Defense Department. There's lots of interagency discussion about it, especially because people are so concerned about the human condition there in Burma. So I don't have anything specific for you on what the President specifically thinks.

We are pleased that we were able to land a flight yesterday. Two more are going to be landing today, and I understand we have -- we're going to have access to getting four or five more by the end of the week. Additional aid is being allowed in, in trickles. So it's certainly not enough. Again, when I say "trickle," that's what I mean in terms of a drop in the bucket.

So I'll see if I can get you more on the specific U.N. Security Council resolution. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Drop it in. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: We'll check. And Pete or I will get back to you.

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

MS. PERINO: I would refer you to all the interviews that the President did yesterday, because he talked a lot about this, but I will reiterate here in brief for you, which is that the President believes that these two governments, the Israelis and the Palestinians, have been doing a lot of good work behind the scenes, out of the glare of the spotlight and away from the microphones, which has helped them make some halting progress. It's sluggish, that's true. They have very complex issues to deal with, with decades of conflict that have built up. And if this was easy it would have been solved a long time ago.

But they have an opportunity in front of them right now, because of the people they have in place on both sides of their governments, who are working together, who have good conversations, to go back and forth. But the issues of the right of return and of Jerusalem and settlements and a map that would define the borders are all issues that are very difficult. And the President is going to be able to go there, first and foremost, celebrate the 60th anniversary of Israel -- that's one of the main purposes of his trip -- and at the same time, be able to continue to try to push them along.

As he said before, this is not something that the President of the United States is going to solve; there's not going to be a headline that says, "Bush defines state." It is going to be that the Israelis and the Palestinians come together to define their state. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: I would put it this way, that it's -- while it's exceedingly difficult, it's not impossible. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Well, this trip certainly -- we don't anticipate any major breakthroughs I don't think to be announced. But the President believes that his one-on-one meetings are very important and one of the best ways to make progress. And he'll have meetings with the Israelis while we're there in Jerusalem, and then when he goes to Sharm el Sheikh, he'll have lots of other additional meetings.

And every time he's there in the region he talks to all the leaders about the issues of the Middle East, the importance of having a free and fair society right there in the heart of the Middle East when it comes to Iraq. And then he also talks to them about the Palestinians and the Israelis, and how they have a chance right now, and that they need to be supported by their neighbors.

One of the most important things that we can do is work with the Palestinian Territories to build up the economy, to make sure that there are schools and jobs and vocational training, so that people have a hopeful vision, rather than one of despair, which is the one that certainly the people living in Gaza are feeling right now.

Did you have one more? Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Well, the P5 plus one, which is our crew, is finalizing the details of the incentives package, and it will be delivered as soon as it's ready. And we continue to reiterate our call to Iran to suspend enrichment and come to the table, as called for in the U.N. Security Council resolutions. And our incentives package is the one that is the one with merit.

Last one, Andre. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Yes. Read more Comment (0), Email this.

MS. PERINO: Let me check on the specific details on the timing. I don't know if it's been sent up yet, but we'll check on it for you.

Last one. Okay. Read more Comment (0), Email this.