We’re about to get President Obama’s reaction to today’s talks in Geneva between Iran and the so-called P5+1; the president will speak in the Diplomatic Reception room at 3:05 Eastern.

As for the talks themselves, there has been no indication that Iran is willing to back down on its nuclear program. But Tehran has agreed to allow international nuclear inspectors into its uranium-enrichment facility near Qum – no word on when – it also claims that last week’s disclosure of the facility means that Iran has now disclosed all of its nuclear facilities to the West.

At the talks, which included the highest-level bilateral discussions between the U.S. and Iran in years, Tehran also agreed to an additional meeting later this month.

Asked whether the additional talks are merely an attempt by Tehran to stall the West, presidential press secretary Robert Gibbs said: “The Iranians need to understand that we mean business.” If talks do not yield fruitful results soon – and by soon, the White House means Dec. 31 – then tougher sanctions will be on the table, Gibbs said.

What kind of sanctions is Obama considering? The President is said to be weighing the cutoff of gasoline supplies to Iran, the thought being that this would further weaken the wobbly Iranian economy. Why does Iran – the world’s 4th biggest oil producer – have to import gasoline in the first place? Because existing sanctions have choked its refineries of spare parts needed to process enough crude to meet its needs – it is estimated that Tehran imports about 25% of its gas.
These sanctions have, in fact, appeared to have an impact. The CIA has reported that fuel shortages forced the regime to ration fuel in July 2007 and impose a stiff fuel tax in October of last year. Both moves, intelligence analysts say, “were met with stiff resistance and violent protests.”

– TRNS Staff

By Marianna Levyash-Talk Radio News Service

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced Thursday the allocation of $1 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds for the preservation of the National Park System.

“We have invested $750 million in projects and an additional $350 million in roads…that’s over a $1 billion investment in our national parks.”

Salazar went on to stress the importance of his role as Interior Secretary in improving the 391 national parks in the U.S.

“As Secretary of the Interior, I have a very important … responsibility to serve as steward of our nation’s treasured landscapes.”

White House Gaggle with Robert Gibbs

Coast Guard Exercise
Gibbs said that to his knowledge they had no advance warning, and that there were exercises going on all over the country. We are all safer because of them. Before people report things like this, he said, checking would be good. He did not question law enforcement in trying to keep the nation’s capital safe. As best he could tell, there was reporting based on listening to a police scanner that was not verified. A lot of this might have been avoided. He saw no analogy to the Air Force One fly over in New York.

Asked whether the President has an opinion about whether the public should have been informed that there was a training exercise on September 11th, Gibbs said he did not think the President knew about every training exercise federal, state or local law enforcement do in preparation for something happening again. It was hard to divorce the media coverage from the question. He suggested people should call the White House. If anybody is unnecessarily alarmed based on erroneous reporting that claimed that shots had been fired, everybody is apologetic. It is a Coast Guard decision. Neither the Commander in Chief nor his spokesperson are going to micromanage the training exercises.

Gibbs said there are a lot of responsibilities. People owe it to everybody, not just in the memory of what happened eight years ago, but in the memory of whatever could happen again, that we may not get this story first, but we may be the first ones to get it right.

Senator Carl Levin on Afghanistan
Asked about Senator Levin’s statement on not sending more troops to Afghanistan until the Afghan army and police have been built up, Gibbs said he has not seen Levin’s statement. The administration continues to assess the situation as it has done since the transition. Reorienting the strategy and getting it right is of the utmost importance to the President. There is no imminent decision on increased resources to Afghanistan.

Gibbs said there never was a timetable for an imminent decision. He did not expect anything to happen for many, many weeks. The President made some decisions early on. All of the resources encompassed in those decisions have not gotten to Afghanistan.

Asked if the President was concerned that he is losing members of his own party on Afghanistan, Gibbs said there is not an imminent decision. They would work to get the policy right. For a long time there was not a sufficient focus on getting Afghanistan right. That is what the President would do working in the administration and with members of Congress.

Previewing Monday’s Speech on Wall Street
Gibbs said that it will be on Wall Street because the financial instability started there and it caused it to be felt everywhere else on Main Street. It is the collapse of Lehman Brothers one year later and the financial instability that that signified and its dramatic impact on the economy. The President, even before that, but certainly on that day and the days that followed, has focused on ensuring that the U.S. gets its stability right, and there has been great progress on that. The speech will focus on the need to take the next series of steps on financial regulatory reform to ensure that after what happened a year ago, there are sufficient safeguards to ensure that does not happen again.

Asked if there was a new time frame for legislation, Gibbs said both chairs would say it is a big focus of their fall. The administration has outlined a financial plan and is working with Congress to implement it. It wants to demonstrate why it needs to move forward and why this can’t wait.

9/12ers Rally
When told about the “9/12ers” rallying on Washington on Saturday against the President’s health care reforms, Gibbs said he did not know what they were. “Have fun”, he said.

President’s Minnesota Speech on Saturday
Gibbs said the President will talk about the perils of not acting, and what happens if we delay again, health insurance reform. Ticket distribution will be open to the public, first come, first served. There will be other rallies like this. Asked whether the event is a political event or a Presidential event, Gibbs replied that it is a Presidential event.

Health Care Mandates For Low Income People
Nancy Ann DeParle was on a Yahoo Chat yesterday and spoke about low income people and health care and fines. A question was asked in some detail about this. Gibbs said there are hardship waivers for individual mandates to avoid penalties.

Health Care For Illegal Immigrants
Asked about a back and forth yesterday about whether illegal immigrants could buy insurance on the health exchange, Gibbs said illegal immigrants would not be allowed to access the exchange that is being set up. Asked if people would have to show proof of legal residence or citizenship, Gibbs said that is something they would work out with Congress, but yes.

Paying For Health Care
Asked about criticism from moderate Democrats that there was not enough specificity in the speech Wednesday about how the President was going to pay for health care reform, Gibbs said there was a very constructive meeting with moderate Senate Democrats on Thursday. Some people are surprised that the President is actually going to pay for a proposal, Gibbs said.

Visitor Logs

Press Secretary Robert Gibbs called the White House decision to release visitor logs “as important a transparency mechanism as has been instituted in decades” and said that for future administrations it would be “difficult if not impossible to walk away from.” He said that visits will not be included in the release if they fall into one of three categories: family visits, such as friends of Malia and Sasha; national security exceptions, such as covert operatives; and meetings with people like potential Supreme Court nominees. Gibbs said that all decisions to withhold records under the national security exception will be reviewed by the White House Counsel’s office each month. He also said that visit logs “held back” for people such as nominees will be later released, and the White House will disclose how many records are being held back.

Gibbs cited the number of records—70–100 thousand per month—as a reason for not releasing the visit logs for the entire administration. Gibbs said that he would check with the Counsel’s office about whether the same disclosure policies would apply to Camp David and Air Force One. The records will include the visitor’s full name, whom he or she met with, and the time of entry and departure.

School Address

Gibbs said the upset over President Obama’s address to school kids is “a little bit of the silly season,” and that if telling kids to study hard and stay in school is a political message, someone should tell the NBA. Gibbs noted that Presidents Reagan (in 1988) and H. W. Bush (in 1991) also addressed school children. Responding to schools that are not going to be showing the address, Gibbs said that “there are school districts that won’t let you read Huckleberry Finn,” but he also said there could be logistical reasons for some schools refusals.

Jobs Report

On the new jobless numbers out this morning, Gibbs said that the country is “continuing to see a slowing of the pace of job loss,” pointing out that new jobless claims are about one-third what they were in January. He attributed the slowing to manufacturing numbers being up, new home sales being up, and consumer confidence being up.

Van Jones

Gibbs refused to discuss the Van Jones allegations, saying only that the “Truther” statements are not something the president agrees with and confirming that Van Jones continues to work in the administration.

Leah Valencia, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service

The United States Committee for Camp Ashraf Residents called Thursday for the U.S. government to respond to the alleged mistreatment of Iranian political exiles in an Ashraf, Iraq based refugee camp by transferring control of the camp from Iraqi security forces.

“We have a contractual signed agreements with each of these refugees, we need to honor that,” U.S. Army Col. Gary Morsch M.D. during a press conference in Washington, D.C. with the Committee. “We have a responsibility and an opportunity to do something.”

The refugees of Camp Ashraf were recognized by the United States as “protected persons” during the Fourth Geneva Convention and were under U.S. military protection until January 2009 when the Iraqi government assumed responsibility for their safety. In July, 2009, a raid by Iraqi security forces wounded over 500 refugees with an additional 36 taken hostage. The hostages remain in critical condition and Iraqi forces are limiting medical resources, food and water supplies.

In response, many Iranian-Americans have begun a hunger strike to urge U.S. government officials to push for the immediate release of the 36 refugee hostages and have U.S. forces temporarily take over Camp Ashraf security until a United Nations monitoring post can be established. Hunger stiker Hamid Godarzi said they have been on strike for 37 days and will not quit until their demands are met.

“This is not simple for us to do. I am a senior research scientist in San Antonio, Texas and I left my ordinary life to be here,” Godarzi said. “It is our responsibility to give a voice to the residents of Ashraf.”

According to Godarzi, the White House has not issued a response to the hunger strikers.

Schedule:

This afternoon President Obama will meet with members of the cabinet to give him an update on preparedness and response efforts surrounding the 2009 H1N1 flu virus in the Oval Office. Participants will include White House Homeland Security Advisor John Brennan, Secretaries Sebelius, Napolitano, Duncan and Locke, and Center for Disease Control Director Tom Frieden. In the evening, the President will host a dinner celebrating Ramadan and highlight the contributions of American Muslims in the State Dining Room of the White House.
At the beginning of the meeting this afternoon, the President will be making remarks about reports showing growth in manufacturing, for first time in 18 months. 

H1N1

When asked if the President has successfully managed to change the name from swineflu to H1N1, Gibbs said that the administration is more concerned about how to respond to it, rather than what you call it. There have been special PSAs using Elmo from Sesame Street, to help get the message out to school children about effectively combating H1N1. 

Iran

The White House has heard reports of Iran’s updated nuclear proposal but not seen anything conclusive. Gibbs said that they still have not responded to the offer from P5+1 from back in April. Political leaders of P5+1 meet this week in Frankfurt to discuss the Iranian nuclear weapons program. The hope and goal is that the Iranians will live up to their international obligations, Gibbs said. 
 
Health Care: 

President continues to work to make progress in September and throughout the fall, but there is no specific announcements to be made.
 
Wild Fires in California: 

The White House is carefully monitoring the situation and regularly updates the President on what is happening. The President and First Lady have sent their condolences to the families of the two firefighters that have died in the line of duty.    

Camp David: 

When asked it this will be more vacation time for the President or if he will have meetings, Gibbs responded that he will bring some form of the McCrystal report with him, which concluded that he should receive parts of it by tomorrow. So far the report is still classified and there is no plan of de-classifying parts of it for public release. When asked if the President plans to respond to the report, Gibbs said that the President is getting daily updates from Afghanistan. President Obama has regular contact with Ambassadors Holbrook and Eikenberry, and General Petreus something that started already during the transition.
When asked about the sense that there is a lack of urgency, Gibbs said that this is an ongoing conversation and that the President is dealing with this every day, seven days a week.
“The notion that there is no urgency from this Administration couldn’t be further from the truth.”

THE PRESIDENT:  Good afternoon, everybody.  I want to say a few words about this week’s election in Afghanistan.  This was an important step forward in the Afghan people’s effort to take control of their future, even as violent extremists are trying to stand in their way. (more…)

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.

Morning meeting with White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs

Health Care:
Helen Thomas opened up with saying that “no one knows where you stand”. Mr. Gibbs answered that he was “standing right here”. Then he said he “would do this one more time.” Gibbs was then asked who had written about what the President said in the weekend town hall meeting about the public option. He said they were not giving up on the public plan and that the President will work with anyone in any party who wants to work constructively on health care reform. He said that they continued to be helpful that they can get bi-partisan support. He also said that the bi-partisan route was up to Republicans and that the President had spoken to the Senate Finance Committee. He said they had an 80% agreement on what is going on. He disputed today’s New York Time’s “go it alone” story.

Gibbs also said that they wanted to see as many people on both sides of the aisle who want to deal with a problem that can’t be ignored. He said that what comes out of the House is not where the Senate may or may not start when crafting their bill and the differences would be decided in conference. He said they have several more weeks to go until they have a vote on this. Gibbs asked why on August 19th is there a declaration that there will be only 51 votes? When asked why the President doesn’t put his foot down, Gibbs said “I can’t see it but I bet his foot is down.” Asked about why he isn’t having a summit, Gibbs answered that if it makes us all better to call it that…. we’ll call it the pre-fishing summit. Gibbs said the President would orbit the Moon if he thought it would help.

President’s Vacation:
The President has nothing scheduled in terms of speeches etc during his vacation and they would rely on surrogates.

Michael Smerconish:
Will be doing part of his show tomorrow at the White House and will take calls with the President. Gibbs said that “he was someone who the President had communicated with during the campaign and that they had an invitation to do the show. No other hosts had been considered.

The prospect of democratic reform in Egypt was reportedly raised during Tuesday’s meeting between U.S. President Barack Obama and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

“We have no inhibitions. We don’t have any reason to shy away from discussing such issues relating to the democratization process in Egypt,” said Mubarak spokesperson Ambassador Soliman Awaad during a press briefing following the talks.

While the Egyptian Ambassador stated that the country was committed to pursuing reform, he argued the validity of the popular interpretation of the shaky state of democracy in Egypt.

“Many people talk about reform as if it is something that can take place over night. Some others … get their information from biased sources,” Awaad stated.

The spokesperson pointed to international criticism raised over the detainment of three bloggers, stating that their arrests were justified for reasons including their use of violence and establishing websites attacking Islam and Christianity, a move that would allegedly fan sectarian flames.

The two presidents also discussed the need for a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“President Mubarak made it very clear to President Obama today that the peace process cannot afford another failure. The suffering and the plight of the Palestinians can not afford further delay,” Awaad said.

The ambassador characterized the relationship between the two leaders as “friendly” and “very positive”.