Author: Lynn Sweet

The White House is rolling out its IPhone app–you can watch and hear the State of the Union Wednesday on your IPhone, at www.whitehouse.govor on cable, network tv or radio. The speech starts at 8 p.m. Chicago time and 9 p.m. eastern time. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs is the pitchman in this slick spot promoting the new application. Not all White House videos comes with music in the background–this one does.

WASHINGTON–The Obama team is sending out text messages on Tuesday urging people to attend State of the Union watch parties on Wednesday night. The text message list, accumulated during the Obama for American presidential campaign, was transferred to the Democratic National Committee, which runs a grass-roots/net-roots operation called Organizing for America.

(AP photo)

Madame Tussauds’ in New York adds First Lady Michelle Obama to the wax museum lineup.

By Abdon Pallasch
Sun-Times Political Writer
CHICAGO–In his State of the Union speech Wednesday night, President Obama will acknowledge his party’s loss of a Senate seat in Massachusetts and attribute the loss to distrust of Washington in general — not Democrats, Obama senior advisor Dave Axelrod said Monday.

“One of the things you saw expressed in Massachusetts last weekend — frankly, it’s been expressed in a series of elections including our own — is that there’s a big gulf of trust between the American people and leadership in Washington,” Axelrod said. “…A sense that perhaps people aren’t listening, that voices of everyday people are being drowned out too often by special interests. This has been a great concern of the president throughout his career. He’ll address that as well.”

Republicans have proclaimed the decisive victory of Republican Scott Brown over Democrat Martha Coakley as evidence that the American people are rejecting President Obama’s agenda in general and his health care plan in particular.

But Axelrod urged hundreds of supporters of the Misericordia Home on Chicago’s North Side not to interpret the results that way.

“They were voting to send a message to Washington generally,” Axelrod said. “One of the messages was that this bitter, withering partisanship that we’ve seen is unhealthy for the country. It would be wrong for my Republican friends in Washington — and, yes I have Republican friends in Washington…”

The crowd laughed.

“…They might not admit it.” Axelrod turned to Sen. Dick Durbin and said, “Dick does as well … maybe fewer.” The crowd again laughed.

“They need to take a hard look at these results too, because this was not a partisan vote. This was a vote for change. To ignore that and to step on the gas and suggest that this is a vote for obstructionism and partisanship at a time when we need cooperation would be a big mistake.”

Health care reform will be “part of the mix” to heal what ails the country Axelrod said, even if it not the focus of Wednesday night’s speech.

Axelrod’s 26-year-old special-needs daughter Lauren is a resident at Misericordia.

“The president knew that seven presidents have tried to deal with the issue and seven presidents have failed … but he pursued because he understood how significant it was,” Axelrod said. “The long, protracted debate process itself was distasteful to people. The propaganda wars back and fourth left people with some sense of doubt as to what was actually in this legislation. The fundamental principals behind it are that if you have a pre-existing condition — many of the people in this room appreciate what that means — you ought to be able to get coverage. If you have a small business, you ought to be able to get coverage. If you get seriously ill, you ought not be thrown off your insurance as too often happens today.”

At one point during the health care debate, Axelrod talked with Obama about whether the fight was worth it and Obama told Axelrod, ” ‘I was just in Green Bay and I met a woman who was 36 years old, who has ovarian cancer. She has insurance and she still has tens of thousands of dollars in medical expenses she can’t pay for. And she is frightened beyond words that she is going to die and leave her family with debt.’ So he patted me on the shoulder and said. ‘You know, it’s worth the fight.’ So I was right and he was right.”

Axelrod refused to be drawn into the spirited primary election fights that will culminate Feb 2.

“So many of my friends are running — sometimes against each other — so it’s handy to be out of town for a while,” he said.

As soon as the primary elections are over, Axelrod and Obama will be back to campaign for Democratic candidates, he said.

Axelrod refused to comment on the devastating advertisement State Comptroller Dan Hynes is running against Gov. Quinn quoting former Mayor Harold Washington criticizing Quinn. Axelrod was a master campaign ad maker. But with Quinn standing off to his side Monday morning, Axelrod declined to weigh in.

Kill the rumors that chief of staff Rahm Emanuel will be running for mayor, Axelrod, said: “No, I think Mayor Daley’s going to run for mayor next year. These things get a little bit of life in Washington and they take on a life. Rahm has a pretty good job now in a responsible position. He doesn’t come in every morning saying, ‘I wanna run for something.’ He comes in every morning tackling the problems that face this country, so I’d suggest everybody calm down on that.”

UNITED STATES TRANSFERS GUANTANAMO BAY DETAINEE TO SWITZERLAND

WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice today announced that a detainee has been transferred from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to the Government of Switzerland for resettlement in Switzerland. The Swiss Government, with the support of the Canton of Geneva, accepted an Uzbek national for resettlement and his transfer was carried out according to arrangements between the governments of the United States and Switzerland.

As directed by the President’s Jan. 22, 2009, Executive Order, the interagency Guantanamo Review Task Force conducted a comprehensive review of the case. As a result of that review, which examined a number of factors, including security issues, the detainee was approved for transfer by unanimous consent among all the agencies involved in the Task Force. In accordance with congressionally-mandated reporting requirements, the Administration informed Congress of its intent to transfer the detainee at least 15 days before his transfer.

The identity of the individual is being withheld at the request of the Swiss government, in the interest of protecting the individual’s privacy and facilitating his transition to life in Switzerland. The United States is grateful to the Government of Switzerland and the Canton of Geneva for their willingness to support U.S. efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility.

Since 2002, more than 570 detainees have departed Guantanamo Bay for other destinations, including Albania, Algeria, Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Belgium, Bermuda, Chad, Denmark, Egypt, France, Hungary, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Maldives, Mauritania, Morocco, Pakistan, Palau, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Uganda, United Kingdom and Yemen.

Today, 192 detainees remain at Guantanamo Bay.

###

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

_______________________________________________________________________________________

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 25, 2010

DAILY GUIDANCE AND PRESS SCHEDULE FOR

TUESDAY, JANUARY 26, 2010

In the morning, the President and the Vice President will receive the Presidential Daily Briefing in the Oval Office. The President will then meet with senior advisors in the Oval Office. These meetings are closed press.

In the afternoon, the President will have lunch with business leaders in the Old Family Dining Room. This lunch is closed press.

Later, the President and the Vice President will meet with Secretary of Defense Gates in the Oval Office. This meeting is closed press.

In-Town Travel Pool

Wires: AP, Reuters, Bloomberg

Wire Photos: AP, Reuters, AFP

TV Corr & Crew: ABC

Print: MediaNews

Radio: NPR

Travel Photo: TIME

EST

9:30AM Pool Call Time

9:45AM THE PRESIDENT and THE VICE PRESIDENT receive the Presidential Daily Briefing

Oval Office

Closed Press

10:15AM THE PRESIDENT meets with senior advisors

Oval Office

Closed Press

12:00PM THE PRESIDENT has lunch with business leaders

Old Family Dining Room

Closed Press

4:30PM THE PRESIDENT and THE VICE PRESIDENT meet with Secretary of Defense Gates

Oval Office

Closed Press

Briefing Schedule

1:45PM Briefing by Press Secretary Robert Gibbs

##

Below, White House release….

Upcoming Guidance on “In Performance at the White House: A Celebration of Music from the Civil Rights Movement”

Event marks the continuation of White House Music Series by celebrating Black History Month

The 2010 White House Music Series begins on Wednesday, February 10th, when the President and First Lady will host “In Performance at the White House: A Celebration of Music from the Civil Rights Movement” – a concert celebrating Black History month. Participants include Natalie Cole, Bob Dylan, Jennifer Hudson, John Legend, John Mellencamp, Smokey Robinson, Seal, the Blind Boys of Alabama, the Howard University Choir and others. Morgan Freeman and Queen Latifah will serve as emcees for this concert which will feature songs from the Civil Rights Movement as well as readings from famous Civil Rights speeches and writings. The President will make opening remarks at this concert held in the East Room which will be pooled press and streamed live on www.whitehouse.gov starting at 5:15 p.m. ET.

The concert will be televised on February 11th at 8:00 p.m. ET on public broadcasting stations nationwide as part of WETA Washington, D.C.’s “In Performance at the White House” series. NPR will also produce a one-hour concert special from this event for broadcast nationwide on NPR Member stations throughout the month of February, beginning February 12th. The special will be available on www.npr.org/music.

As part of this special event, Mrs. Obama will host “Music that Inspired the Movement,” a workshop that several of the event’s performers will lead for 120 high school students from across the country on Wednesday, February 10th from 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. ET. The students will come to learn about the continuing relevance of music from the Civil Rights Movement to today’s generation and its original impact in the 1960s. This event will be streamed live on www.whitehouse.gov and students all over the country will be invited to watch and engage in the workshop. This event will be held in the State Dining Room and is open press but space is very limited so please RSVP to [email protected].

First Lady Michelle Obama kicked off the White House Music Series last year with a Jazz Studio, and since then has hosted a celebration of Country Music, a Fiesta Latina and a celebration of Classical Music. Many of these events included evening performances as well as daytime educational workshops designed to educate and inspire talented young people to use their gifts to develop a future for themselves in the arts community whether as a hobby or as a profession.

WASHINGTON–President Obama finally admitted on Monday that he broke his pledge to open up negotiations over health care–even have them televised on C-SPAN. This comes after administration spokesmen and top advisors for months now have been pretending that Obama was not breaking an oft repeated campaign promise.

The admission came during an interview with ABC’s Diane Sawyer in advance of Wednesday’s State of the Union address. Obama said he would “own up” to what he called a “legitimate mistake” during his speech before a joint session of Congress. Obama’s promise of opening up the backroom deals–using C-SPAN–was a standard line on the 2008 campaign trail, a crowd pleaser that always, always won him applause.

Once he got to Washington, the promise was soon abandoned. The Obama White House only once invited C-SPAN in–and that was not a real negotiation session, but a day of several workshops with health care stakeholders, in an invitation list the White House controlled. Inviting cameras into dealmaking with members of Congress–never happened.

“You know, I think your question points out to a legitimate mistake that I made during the course of the year, and that is that we had to make so many decisions quickly in a very difficult set of circumstances that after awhile, we started worrying more about getting the policy right than getting the process right,” Obama said.

“But I had campaigned on process. Part of what I had campaigned on was changing how Washington works, opening up transparency and I think it is — I think the health care debate as it unfolded legitimately raised concerns not just among my opponents, but also amongst supporters that we just don’t know what’s going on. And it’s an ugly process and it looks like there are a bunch of back room deals.

“Now I think it’s my responsibility and I’ll be speaking to this at the State of the Union, to own up to the fact that the process didn’t run the way I ideally would like it to and that we have to move forward in a way that recaptures that sense of opening things up more,” he said.

Below, release….

UNITED STATES TRANSFERS THREE GUANTANAMO BAY DETAINEES TO SLOVAKIA

WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice today announced that three detainees have been transferred from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to the Government of Slovakia.

As directed by the President’s Jan. 22, 2009, Executive Order, the interagency Guantanamo Review Task Force conducted a comprehensive review of each of these cases. As a result of that review, which examined a number of factors, including security issues, the detainees were approved for transfer by unanimous consent among all the agencies involved in the Task Force. In accordance with Congressionally-mandated reporting requirements, the Administration informed Congress of its intent to transfer the detainees at least 15 days before their transfer.

Yesterday, the three detainees were transferred to the Government of Slovakia. The identities of these three individuals are being withheld at the request of the Government of Slovakia for security and privacy reasons. The United States is grateful to the Government of Slovakia for its willingness to support U.S. efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility.

These transfers were carried out under individual arrangements between the United States and the Government of Slovakia. The United States coordinated with the government of Slovakia to ensure the transfers took place under appropriate security measures and consultations regarding these individuals will continue.

Since 2002, more than 570 detainees have departed Guantanamo Bay for other destinations, including Albania, Algeria, Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Belgium, Bermuda, Chad, Denmark, Egypt, France, Hungary, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Maldives, Mauritania, Morocco, Pakistan, Palau, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Spain, Sweden, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Uganda, United Kingdom and Yemen.

WASHINGTON–The Obama White House will propose in its fiscal 2011 budget–unveiled next Monday–a freeze in non-security discretionary spending in 2011, 2012 and 2013.

The White House calculates that “the savings from the three year freeze will amount to $250 billion over the next decade,” a senior administration official said on Monday.

Congress would have to approve a freeze. The freeze is on the overall discretionary bottom line, not across-the-board.

“This is not a blunt approach, we have actually gone through very carefully and some agencies will be up, some agencies will be down, investments made in key areas balanced by reductions in others. So while there’s an overall freeze it doesn’t mean that every single program or every single agency is frozen. It’s a more sophisticated and nuanced approach than that,” the official said.

The proposed freeze covers discretionary spending outside security agencies, which are defined as the Defense Department, Veterans Administration, the Department of Homeland Security and some international affairs funding programs.

Below, release from Durbin….

Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) today met with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to discuss Federal Reserve policy and Bernanke’s upcoming confirmation vote, which is expected to take place this week. He then discussed the meeting with assembled press.

Over the weekend, Durbin announced that he will support Bernanke’s nomination to a second term as Chairman of the Federal Reserve, but expressed concern about a lack of transparency and accountability in current Fed policies. Durbin also announced that if the Fed refuses to exercise its authority to demand meaningful bank reforms, he would join with other Members of Congress to push for new laws to achieve those goals.

WASHINGTON– President Obama and First Lady Michelle will be voting in the Feb. 2 Illinois primary, the White House said Monday night. The First Couple have requested absentee ballots and “they will be arriving at the White House shortly,” the White House said.

While the Obamas obviously are living in the White House, their voting residence remains in Chicago. Their ballots would be issued by the Chicago Board of Elections.

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release January 25, 2010

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
IN WELCOMING NBA CHAMPION LOS ANGELES LAKERS

East Room

2:19 P.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT: Hello, hello! How are you? Thank you, everybody. Thank you very much. (Applause.) Thank you so much, everybody. Please have a seat. Welcome to the White House. And congratulations, a little belatedly, to the Los Angeles Lakers for winning your 15th — 15th — NBA title, and fourth in the past 10 years.

Before I say a few things about the Lakers, I just want to acknowledge some wonderful members of Congress and big Lakers fans who are here: Congresswoman Jane Harman, Congresswoman Laura Richardson, Congressman Adam Schiff, Congressman Brad Sherman, and Lucille Roybal-Allard. Please, everybody, give them a big round of applause. (Applause.)

Now, as folks here will tell you, the only thing that is better than playing basketball — the only thing that’s better than watching basketball is playing basketball — but I’m 48, and soon to be 49, and it’s a little harder these days to move around on the court, especially when you’re playing against kids who are half your age. But I still get enormous, enormous pleasure from watching great athletes on the court. And nobody exemplifies excellence in basketball better than the Los Angeles Lakers last year. (Applause.)

I want to congratulate everybody who helped make this team what it is — from the assistants to the front office staff, to the trainers and the ticket-takers, all the fans back in L.A. who bleed purple and gold. You all should be very proud. That’s you. (Laughter.)

I want to congratulate Jeanie Buss and the rest of the Buss family for guiding this team so well for the last 30 years. (Applause.)

I’m especially excited to meet Coach Phil Jackson, the Zen Master. (Laughter.) I’ve been a fan of Coach Jackson’s ever since his days running the triangle offense in Chicago. I want to congratulate him on his tenth NBA championship — the most in history. I do want to point out that six of them came with the Bulls. (Laughter.) I just want to point that out.

THE PRESIDENT: You remember that, Magic?

MAGIC JOHNSON: Yes, sir. (Laughter.)

THE PRESIDENT: — ’90-’91? Remember when — (applause.) You know, they won the first game and they were feeling cocky. (Laughter.) And Paxson was hitting all those shots. Anyway, we’re not — that’s not why we’re here. (Laughter.)

I was hoping that, Coach, you were going to bring some books for Republicans and Democrats in Congress maybe to get them to start playing like a team together. (Laughter.) Coach is famous for passing out books and helping people get the job done.

We are obviously honored to have one of the all-time greats in NBA history, Magic Johnson. (Applause.) Magic did pretty well during his time with the Lakers. He wasn’t bad. (Laughter.) And now a new generation is continuing his legacy. But obviously part of what makes Magic special wasn’t just how he played on the court, but also just the infectious enthusiasm about life and what he’s now doing with businesses and minority communities. He’s just been an outstanding leader in our country for a long time.

Of course, I’ve got to recognize Kobe Bryant — one of the most competitive players I’ve ever seen — (applause) — for being named Finals MVP last year, obviously already MVPs under his belt, the youngest player ever to reach 25,000 points in his career. And he’s playing with a broken finger. Now, if I was — if I had a broken finger I would have trouble getting out of bed. (Laughter.) And he’s still leading the team day in and day out.
This is a team that never lost its focus last season — from the first tip-off to the final buzzer. I know that the Lakers have a tradition of ending each team gathering — whether it’s a practice, or a game, or a team meeting — by with the chant, “1,2,3, Rings.” As Lamar Odom said, “We kind of always saw that light.” Everyone was willing to do what it took to get a little stronger, to play a little harder, and to bring home that title.
But I think it’s important to note that this team also knows that being a champ is about more than trophies and rings. It’s about being a winner off the court as well as on it — and giving back to those who are less fortunate. The Lakers and the NBA have always been about serving others — at home and around the world. And that tradition continued last week, when the NBA and the Players Association, led by Derek Fisher, pledged to donate $1 million to support relief efforts in Haiti. (Applause.) Jordan Farmar and Pau Gasol are also donating their money to the Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund. Pau pledged $1,000 for every point he scored against the Knicks — and I’m glad he dropped 20 — (laughter) — helping the Lakers to beat New York and changing the lives of Haitians thousands of miles away.

And earlier today, the team joined with our United We Serve initiative to hold a fitness clinic for kids from Stanton Elementary School right here in Washington, D.C. — teaching them about a few moves, but also how to live healthy and active lives.

So I just want to again thank the entire Lakers organization for your service, for the great joy that you have given the city of Los Angeles, but also the incredible competition you’re your organization has graced the basketball court with for decades now. If this season is anything like the last one — I know that you guys have your sights on the NBA finals — so we might see you here before long. But we are very grateful for your presence here today.

Give them a big round of applause. (Applause.)

Now, one last thing. I was also told that Mr. Brown here intends to win the dunk contest — (laughter) — so we’ll see how that goes.

END 2:25 P.M. EST

WASHINGTON–President Obama delivers his State of the Union address on Wednesday, at 8 p.m. Chicago time, 9 p.m. eastern. A new poll by the Pew Research Center for the People & The Pressasks people how important they view the speech.

From Pew: “The survey finds that 39% of the public thinks that Obama’s Jan. 27 State of the Union address will be more important than previous addresses, 45% say it will be about as important, and 9% say it will be less important. Obama’s upcoming State of the Union is viewed as more important than former President Bush’s last three State of the Union speeches. In January 2002, however, a higher percentage (54%) said Bush’s State of the Union would be more important than say that about Obama’s address today.”

As Barack Obama begins his second year in office, the public’s priorities for the president and Congress remain much as they were one year ago. Strengthening the nation’s economy and improving the job situation continue to top the list. And, in the wake of the failed Christmas Day terrorist attack on a Detroit-bound airliner, defending the country from future terrorist attacks also remains a top priority.

At the same time, the public has shifted the emphasis it assigns to two major policy issues: dealing with the nation’s energy problem and reducing the budget deficit. About half (49%) say that dealing with the nation’s energy problem should be a top priority, down from 60% a year ago. At the same time, there has been a modest rise in the percentage saying that reducing the budget deficit should be a top priority, from 53% to 60%.

The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted Jan. 6-10 among 1,504 adults reached on cell phones and landlines, finds that 49% rate providing health insurance to the uninsured as a top priority. That is little changed from a year ago and off its high of 61% in January 2001. Notably, there is now a wider partisan gap in opinion about this issue than for any of the 21 issues included in the survey: 75% of Democrats rate providing health insurance to the uninsured as a top priority compared with just 26% of Republicans.

Just 28% say that dealing with global warming should be a top policy priority. While that is largely unchanged from 2009 (30%), it is the lowest measure for any issue tested in the survey. Since 2007, when the item was first included on the priorities list, dealing with global warming has consistently ranked at or near the bottom. About four-in-ten Democrats (43%) rate dealing with global warming as a top priority, compared with 25% of independents and just 11% of Republicans.

The survey finds that 39% of the public thinks that Obama’s Jan. 27 State of the Union address will be more important than previous addresses, 45% say it will be about as important, and 9% say it will be less important. Obama’s upcoming State of the Union is viewed as more important than former President Bush’s last three State of the Union speeches. In January 2002, however, a higher percentage (54%) said Bush’s State of the Union would be more important than say that about Obama’s address today.

For a direct link to the full report, go to http://people-press.org/report/584/policy-priorities-2010. The survey is for immediate release and is available on our website, http://people-press.org/.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn and Comptroller Dan Hynes, rivals for the Democratic governor nomination, face-off in their final debate Monday night on WTTW-channel 11 at 7 p.m. Chicago time.

Not sure about all the down-ballot candidates in the Feb. 2 primary? Check out the eVoter feature on the widget on the right side of this blog. Just type in your address–anywhere in Illinois–and get a list of all your options whether you pull a Democratic, Republican or Green Party primary ballot.

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
_______________________________________________________________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 24, 2010

DAILY GUIDANCE AND PRESS SCHEDULE FOR
MONDAY, JANUARY 25, 2010

In the morning, the President will receive the Presidential Daily Briefing, the Economic Daily Briefing, and meet with Senior Advisors in the Oval Office. These meetings are closed press.

The President and the Vice President, the Chair of the White House Task Force on Middle Class Families, will hold a meeting of the Middle Class Task Force at the White House, where they will discuss the administration’s commitment to investing in our middle class families who have been struggling in this economy. Since its creation one year ago this week, the Middle Class Task Force has held 11 meetings around the country and at the White House. There will be a pool spray at the bottom of the meeting.

In the afternoon, the President and the Vice President will have lunch. This lunch is closed press.

The President will welcome the NBA Champion Los Angeles Lakers to the White House to honor their 2008-2009 season. Appearing at this event with the team will be Lakers coaches and staff, former Laker greats, and officials from the NBA. This event is open press.

Later in the afternoon, the President and the Vice President will meet with Kurdistan Regional Government President Barzani. This meeting is closed press.

In-Town Travel Pool
Wires: AP, Reuters, Bloomberg
Wire Photos: AP, Reuters, AFP
TV Corr & Crew: NBC
Print: McClatchy
Radio: FOX
Travel Photo: New York Times

EST

9:00AM Pool Call Time

9:30AM THE PRESIDENT receives the Presidential Daily Briefing
Oval Office
Closed Press

10:00AM THE PRESIDENT receives the Economic Daily Briefing
Oval Office
Closed Press

10:30AM THE PRESIDENT meets with Senior Advisors
Oval Office
Closed Press

11:25AM THE PRESIDENT and THE VICE PRESIDENT attend the Middle Class Task Force Meeting
Eisenhower Executive Office Building
Pool Spray at the Bottom (Pre-set 10:15AM – Final Gather 11:10AM -Stakeout Location)

12:00PM THE PRESIDENT and THE VICE PRESIDENT have lunch
Private Dining Room
Closed Press

2:20PM THE PRESIDENT welcomes the Los Angeles Lakers to the White House
East Room
Open Press (Pre-set 1:20PM – Final Gather 1:50PM – North Doors of the Palm Room)

4:50PM THE PRESIDENT and THE VICE PRESIDENT meet with Kurdistan Regional Government President Barzani
Oval Office
Closed Press

Briefing Schedule

1:00PM Briefing by Press Secretary Robert Gibbs

##

WASHINGTON–President Obama–a basketball player and fan since his boyhood days in Hawaii–on Sunday took daughters Malia and Sasha to a gym to shoot some hoops.

Ths morning visit to the Department of Interior gym came a day after the president attended Sasha’s basketball game Saturday at the Jane Lawton Community Center in Chevy Chase. Md., just outside of Washington.

On Sunday Obama left the White House with his daughters at 10:31 a.m. for the three minute drive to the gym. With them were Reggie Love, Obama’s personal assistant and a frequent hoops companion and trip director Marvin Nicholson, also part of the inner circle of staffers who golf and shoot hoops with the president.

According to the pool report, First Lady Michelle Obama was not with them.

The group left the gym to return to the White House at noon.

David Plouffe, (l) and David Axelrod (r) at the 2008 Democratic convention at a breakfast for reporters sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor (photo by Lynn Sweet)

WASHINGTON–David Plouffe, the soft-spoken Obama presidential campaign manager, is stepping up his White House role, advising on the 2010 races as Democrats are reeling in the wake of the loss of the Massachusetts Senate seat last Tuesday.

Plouffe is a senior advisor at the Chicago based political firm AKPD Message and Media, the company founded by David Axelrod, now a White House Senior Advisor. Plouffe took on advisor status at the firm after the 2008 presidential election. During the past year, he wrote a book, The Audacity to Win and has been out on the lecture circuit.

“David is value added, we love him and he has been off writing a book for a year. We are happy to have his talents back with us on a more regular basis,” Axelrod told CNN’s John King on “State of the Union.” Over at NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett told host David Gregory used the same phrase, saying Plouffe is “value added” to the White House political operation.

“David Plouffe has been a regular adviser to the president throughout the course of the year. He ran a magnificent campaign. He’s been off writing a book and on a book tour, and now that that’s running to a close the president asked him to come back. The president has full support of his team, and that team will work closely with David Plouffe. He’s value added, and we’re delighted to have him back,” Jarrett said.