White House Gaggle

By Ellen Ratner
Schedule:

The President had his usual briefings and then met with his economic team.
The President will make a statement in the Oval office on the economy this
morning.
Two Presidents will be coming to meet with President Bush. The President

of Liberia on October 18th and the President of the Congo on October 26th.

The "Torture Memos"

Tony said that the December 2004 memo was binding. Tony would not say if
they are redefining torture. He said they would not comment on classified
memos in the future. Tony then said the memos are classified for a reason
and he realizes that it "causes some degree of frustration for those
members of Congress. Asked about the possible motivations for releasing
the memos to the New York Times, Tony said that every time I have dealt
with these stories "we have chipped away at the safety and security of
America". He also said he did not want to try and explained why the
released what they did and that it was up to the Justice Department to
follow up on leaks.

The Economy:

Tony said that the President was making as statement today on the economy
and that it showed the resilience of the US economy. That the economy has
held up through corporate scandals, the housing problems and the equity
bubble. He said that the US economy is by far the most dynamic and
flexible in the world and that this administration had helped keep
marginal tax rates low.

People in Trouble:

Tony said it is up to Senator Craig and his constituents as to if he
should resign. He also said on the White House’s earlier statement that
resigning was the right decision that "that hasn’t changed".

HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson was defended by the White House saying that
the probe has shown that he did nothing wrong.

Myanmar/Burma:

Tony said that they hope that the leadership will not put conditions on
meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi and that they want more freedom and
democracy in Burma.

Week Ahead:

The President leaves for Camp David tomorrow morning and goes to a Fallen
Fire Fighters event on Sunday. On Tuesday he will have a "No Child Left
Behind’ event in the Roosevelt room. Wednesday he will be doing a Hispanic
Heritage event at the White House. There is nothing scheduled for Thursday
and on Friday he is traveling.