White House Morning Meeting

By Paul Brandus

White House Morning Meeting with Robert Gibbs.
Pan Am Flight 103 Bomber freed: The White House is not happy that Scottish authorities have released convicted Pan Am 103 bomber Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs says British & Scottish authorities were told “in the strongest possible terms” how the U.S. was opposed to the move. The Dec. 21, 1988 bombing killed 270 people – including 189 Americans.

Talk Show Appearance
The President will appear this afternoon on conservative talk show host Michael Smerconish’s program. Obama will take questions for 30 minutes; it’s up to the show’s producers to screen callers. Gibbs says. Smerconish is Philadelphia-based; Gibbs joked that Obama warmed up by having a cheesesteak for breakfast.

Health Care Latest
Gibbs would not confirm a report in the Wall Street Journal that the White House and Senate Democratic leaders are considering a strategy that would split health care reform into pieces – and then pass the provisions solely with Democratic votes. Such a strategy, the Journal claims, is based on the view that the overall health care plan is losing public support – and with it any GOP incentive to go long.
This as the so-called “Gang of Six” – three Democrats and three Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee – prepare for a conference call tonight to talk strategy. Gibbs maintains that the White House still prefers a bipartisan approach to health care. But there is growing talk that helth care reform could be passed through “reconciliation” – a parliamentary tactic that allows budget-related measures (as health care reform would be) to pass with 51 votes, easily doable given that 60 Democrats are in the Senate.

Afghanistan voting underway
Gibbs says the administration is pleased that Afghans are braving threats of violence to vote in that country’s election. Results won’t be known until Sept. 3; he said the U.S. is adopting a “wait-and-see” approach until then. The expectation is that Hamid Karzai, the current President will win, although the White House – given its reservations with Karzai – would generally prefer someone else.

Gitmo Progress
Gibbs generally confirmed a story in the Washington Post saying nearly a dozen European countries have agreed to take detainees. Approximately 80 have been cleared for release; the White House has set the goal of shutting down the detention facility at Guantanamo by the end of his first year in office.