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Press Gaggle Aboard Air Force One 04/27/06
— Thursday, April 27, 2006 — Q Well, they always seem to be tuned to Fox, and there's been requests, and these are paid for by taxpayer dollars. And my understanding is that you guys have to watch Fox on Air Force One. Is that true? MR. McCLELLAN: First time I've ever heard of it. First time you've brought it to my attention, meaning the first time the press corps has brought it to my attention. In fact, I've watched other channels on here. Q There's one -- MR. McCLELLAN: Hang on, Jim, come on. I've watched other channels on here, so I don't know where you're hearing that. But it's the first time anyone in the press has raised that question with me. Q You've watched other channels other than Fox? MR. McCLELLAN: On here, yes, sure. Q I've never seen -- they're always turned to Fox, which a lot of people consider a Republican-leaning network. Q Scott, is it one -- on the airplane, is it one for all? I mean, if it's tuned for Fox here, is it Fox everywhere? MR. McCLELLAN: I think that certain areas may be interconnected, but I'll have to double-check which. Q Is yours off, wherever you are? MR. McCLELLAN: Well, the conference room, or the senior staff office, the staff office, they're different TVs, and you can switch to different channels. I'm not sure if some of these in the back are connected to some of the others that are watching right here, right now. It doesn't look like it to me. I've never known anyone that's raised a complaint about a request from back here to watch a different channel. Q I'm officially raising it and officially complaining about it. MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I'm going to go see if we can change the channel for you. Have you called up? Q I was the Fox victim, and I was told -- the quote was, "No," when I asked for CNN. MR. McCLELLAN: I don't know who you talked to, so -- it didn't come to my attention. You don't know who you talked to either? Q Well, the magic people at the other end off the phone. MR. McCLELLAN: The magic people at the other end of the phone. Well, I'll see if this cabin is -- White House Press Corps | Press Briefing | Scott McClellan | News Media | Fox News | Air Force One
Posted by WhiteHousePressCorps.org @ 7:36 PM  Press Briefing 04/27/06 — Wednesday, April 26, 2006 — Q Nancy Pelosi says that having Tony Snow now behind the podium there is not going to make much difference. What would you say to that? MR. McCLELLAN: I think Tony Snow is going to do a great job for the President. I saw him earlier today, and looked up at him and told him, "I used to be your height before I started in this position." (Laughter.) Q We'll do that for him. MR. McCLELLAN: He's someone who brings a good outside perspective. He's got a lot of diverse experience in the media, which will be very helpful. He's spent 25 years in the media, the print side, the radio and TV broadcast side of things, as well. He's also someone that's worked in the government. And he's certainly got some strong views, and I think that's a good thing. Q But what about specifically that point that Nancy Pelosi is making, she thinks it's not going to be -- MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think that Tony Snow is going to do an outstanding job for the President. And the President looks forward to him joining the team here shortly, and I look forward to doing all I can to help him. Q Given the fact that you've been in this job now for almost three years, what advice do you have for him? MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I had a good conversation with him over the weekend, and we talked about this position. And I provided him some of that advice. And I did so in private. I look forward to continuing to provide him some of my thoughts and insights into this position. White House Press Corps | Press Briefing | Scott McClellan | News Media | Tony Snow
Posted by WhiteHousePressCorps.org @ 11:42 PM Press Briefing 04/25/06 — Tuesday, April 25, 2006 — Q Okay, just lastly, you've asked the Justice Department -- the President has asked the Justice Department again to look at possible price gouging. Is there any evidence that there actually is price gouging going on? MR. McCLELLAN: Well, that's why I think -- Terry or Jim asked that question earlier in the briefing. And you should go and look at -- the Department of Energy has a website that people can go to and report possible price gouging. And they talked about it in the aftermath of the hurricane how they found most people were acting responsibly, but there were some bad actors within that. And we're going to take action if we find it. Q What I'm asking -- you're taking action and you're -- MR. McCLELLAN: Well, it's not only -- Q -- asking the Justice Department to look at something, these are the police coming to look for something, do you have any evidence that -- MR. McCLELLAN: It's also the state attorneys general -- the state attorneys general that have primary authority over this. And when gas prices are spiking like this, you have a responsibility to make sure that people aren't illegally manipulating price or engaging in price gouging. And that's what we're going to do. We're going to continue to take all these steps to help address high gas prices and to make sure that American consumers are treated fairly. Q So the standard -- it sounds like the standard is, when people make a lot of money, you've got to take a look to see if they're doing something illegal -- MR. McCLELLAN: No, when you have gas prices that are spiking, you need to make sure you're acting on all fronts to do your part at the federal level to reduce those gas prices. Now, there's only so much you can do in the short run. But that's why we're taking these steps. In the long run, we need to go to the root cause. White House Press Corps | Press Briefing | Scott McClellan | News Media | Gas Prices
Posted by WhiteHousePressCorps.org @ 10:23 PM Press Gaggle 04/24/06 — Monday, April 24, 2006 — Q How can the President just solely blame Senator Reid for blocking the bill, when it also has had considerable trouble because of the dissension in the Republican ranks? MR. McCLELLAN: I don't think it's the President; I think it's a lot of people. I mean, I've seen editorials across the U.S. point to the fact that he used procedural gimmicks to stop debate from moving forward. It's important for all voices to be heard in a debate that is this emotional. And the President -- I think the President will again talk about the importance of conducting this debate in a civil way. This is a difficult issue, it's a complex issue, and the fact of the matter is that the senators came together, senators of both parties had a promising solution to move forward on comprehensive reform. And one person stood in the way of that moving forward. Q I guess my point is, in addition to singling out Reid, will he also address members of his own party, and ask them to come together and stop fighting, because that is also preventing a final -- MR. McCLELLAN: Republicans and Democrats have come together. No, it's Senator Reid's procedural gimmicks that stopped it from moving forward before the recess. There was a real opportunity to get it passed before the recess, and Senator Reid stood in the way of that. White House Press Corps | Press Briefing | Scott McClellan | News Media | Immigration | Harry Reid
Posted by WhiteHousePressCorps.org @ 9:44 PM Press Gaggle 04/23/06 Q The L.A. Times editorial has called for Vice President Cheney to resign. Any reaction to that? MR. McCLELLAN: I haven't read The L.A. Times editorial. All right, thank you. END 12:16 P.M. PDT White House Press Corps | Press Briefing | Scott McClellan | News Media | Dick Cheney
Posted by WhiteHousePressCorps.org @ 9:42 PM Press Gaggle 04/21/06 — Friday, April 21, 2006 — Q On Italy, given the nature of his relationship -- the President's relationship with Berlusconi, would it be normal, or is he considering given Berlusconi a call, too? MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, he is, in about 45 minutes. Good question. Q Thank you. MR. McCLELLAN: They've worked out a time to talk here shortly. Q What do you expect him to say? MR. McCLELLAN: I'll let him say it, then I'll tell you. Q Can you let us know -- MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, I absolutely will. That's why I told you. White House Press Corps | Press Briefing | Scott McClellan | News Media | Berlusconi
Posted by WhiteHousePressCorps.org @ 10:24 PM Press Briefing by Deputy National Security Advisor Faryar Shirzad and National Security Council Acting Senior Director Dennis Wilder 04/20/06 — Thursday, April 20, 2006 — Q What you've outlined are not major breakthroughs here, this was a lot more about kind of the choreography of the day. And a major wrench was thrown into that with this protestor. Can you explain a little bit the reaction of the Chinese, which we understand was not great? MR. WILDER: At the outset of the meeting in the Oval Office, the President expressed to the Chinese President his regret that, unfortunately, an individual made the decision that she was going to disrupt the speech given by the Chinese President. The Chinese President was gracious about that, and frankly, we moved on into the very important substantive areas and it never came up again between the two Presidents during the course of the day that I know of. Q Did the President actually apologize for that? Is that the word he used? MR. WILDER: He just said this was unfortunate, and I'm sorry this happened. Q Can you amplify a little bit on whether it's your feeling that the Chinese delegation will accept that as an answer, whether they will really believe that it was unintentional? And how serious a gaffe was this for all of you who have been working so hard on these other difficult issues? MR. WILDER: Well, first of all, we have worked very hard with the Chinese on making sure that the delegation is secure, protected. They've seen our efforts in this regard. You, of course, know of the barriers placed up to make sure that Blair House is protected. And we certainly make every effort to treat our guests well. I think the Chinese understand that. Obviously, there is a tension in the Chinese system that goes well beyond today over the issue of the Falun Gong. And so I'm not going to stand here and tell you that they were at ease with this situation. But I would be extremely surprised if the Chinese blame us for this. This is an individual who abused the rights of being in the press corps. Reporters in this situation aren't supposed to be making news, they're supposed to be reporting the news. And this particular individual made another decision. I think it's a momentary blip. I'm not too worried about it. White House Press Corps | Press Briefing | News Media | Falun Gong | Protest
Posted by WhiteHousePressCorps.org @ 11:50 PM Press Gaggle 04/19/06 — Wednesday, April 19, 2006 — Q Can you talk a little bit more about how your resignation came about today? Was this something that you wanted to do, or did you feel pressured? MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I started thinking about this over -- more seriously over the last few weeks. And with the new Chief of Staff coming on board, it was a good time to make this decision. Three years would have been an awfully long time in this position. I've been at this for a long time. I didn't need much encouragement to make this decision, even though you all kept tempting me. White House Press Corps | Press Briefing | Scott McClellan | News Media
Posted by WhiteHousePressCorps.org @ 9:39 PM Press Briefing 04/18/06 Q Scott, you talk about the views of these retired generals being well-known, and yet it seemed like the President immediately discounted those views by coming out with his statement, even though these are commanders on the ground. And every time we bring up those retired generals and the views they had about Secretary Rumsfeld, you talk about the generals who didn't have those views. Does the President just simply discount these views? It appeared he did. MR. McCLELLAN: No, in fact, I think he expressed otherwise in his comments. I don't know how you're drawing that conclusion. Q Because he immediately came out and said he supported Donald Rumsfeld, even though these generals had questions about Donald Rumsfeld and, in fact, had called for his -- MR. McCLELLAN: Well, but I think I would go back and look at what he said in the Rose Garden a short time ago because I did not read anything into that that you are. Q And you can't read into the fact that on Friday, immediately he came out, after there were six generals who came forward? MR. McCLELLAN: He felt it was important to make a strong statement reiterating his full support for the Secretary of Defense. And that's why he issued the statement. Q But he had no interest, as Victoria said -- MR. McCLELLAN: And the President called the Secretary of Defense that morning, around 10:00 a.m., to let him know. Q And you don't think that's immediately saying, you guys are wrong? MR. McCLELLAN: I think you're drawing too broad of an interpretation from the comments that he made, and I think that the comments he made actually said otherwise. He said, people are expressing their views, he hears those views, he listens to those views, but he made very clear -- Q -- an immediate statement saying -- MR. McCLELLAN: -- but he made very clear where he stood. Well, he thought it was important to do so, Martha, for the reasons that we stated in that statement, as well as the ones that I mentioned prior to that statement going out last week. Q I guess -- how are we to look at that and say that he's not listening to the advice he wants to hear, or the people, the voices he wants to hear that back up his position, and not commanders on the ground who seem to have a different one? MR. McCLELLAN: Again, there you go, over-interpreting things and drawing the wrong conclusions from what he has said. That's not at all what he was saying. White House Press Corps | Press Briefing | Scott McClellan | News Media
Posted by WhiteHousePressCorps.org @ 12:42 AM Press Briefing 04/17/06 — Tuesday, April 18, 2006 — Q Scott, I want to ask you about the National Intelligence Council report that came to the White House in January of 2003, that essentially said the Niger uranium claims were baseless. In view of that report, how did the uranium claim make its way to the State of the Union Address, subsequently? MR. McCLELLAN: I don't know how many times we've been over that. I think we went over that back in July of 2003 and we talked about that. So I would encourage you to look back at the briefing that was provided to you all in this room. In terms of the intelligence, we have said multiple times that the intelligence was wrong. That's why the President asked the Robb-Silberman Commission, an independent bipartisan commission, to take a look at all the intelligence in the lead up to the decision to go into Iraq. It was intelligence that was shared with members of Congress, it was intelligence that was very similar to what nations across the world believed, and it's intelligence that the United Nations -- Q Well, who got the intelligence here? MR. McCLELLAN: What's important now is that we make sure we move forward in implementing the reforms that were recommended by the Robb-Silberman Commission. We have done that. Q But can I ask how you got the intelligence here? MR. McCLELLAN: Hang on. We put in place a Director of National Intelligence. We have restructured the intelligence community under his leadership -- Ambassador Negroponte. And so there are a number of steps we continue to move forward on to make sure that the President has the best possible intelligence, and to make sure that Congress has the best possible intelligence, because there are many threats we face in this day and age and we need to make sure that those threats are being met in the best possible way. Q I just want, for the record, who received the intelligence report here? MR. McCLELLAN: Who received which intelligence report? Q The January, 2003 National Intelligence Council report. MR. McCLELLAN: I'll have to go back and look and get you that information. I assume it went to the National Security Council. White House Press Corps | Press Briefing | Scott McClellan | News Media
Posted by WhiteHousePressCorps.org @ 12:51 AM Press Briefing 04/13/06 — Thursday, April 13, 2006 — Q And can I just ask you to explain a little bit, why do you feel it's so necessary -- if you could explain why it's necessary to distinguish between a retired member of the military and an active in talking about evaluating their opinion? MR. McCLELLAN: I didn't think I said that. I just said that -- Q Well, with Jessica -- MR. McCLELLAN: I'm sorry? Q But with Jessica, you made it a point to clarify that right away. MR. McCLELLAN: That was General Pace. Or, was that Kelly, I think, was bringing up former -- you said military officials, and I was just saying these are some former members of the military. Q And why is that? MR. McCLELLAN: It's just a fact. Q But are you somehow suggesting that -- MR. McCLELLAN: No, I think you are. White House Press Corps | Press Briefing | Scott McClellan | News Media
Posted by WhiteHousePressCorps.org @ 10:00 PM Press Briefing 04/12/06 — Wednesday, April 12, 2006 — Q Can I ask just a follow-up? The President said earlier -- just in talking about the rest of his presidency, that he intends to charge hard in his final two-and-a-half years -- MR. McCLELLAN: Absolutely. He's a hard charger. Q -- and sprint to the end. But when you have to come up here and acknowledge and discuss front-page reports that -- MR. McCLELLAN: Acknowledge and discuss something that has been stated for quite some time, Elaine? No, no, this is a media issue that you're getting into. Go ahead, though. Q Well, this is exactly what I'm trying to get at. When you're having to discuss stories which focus attention once again on how the President took this country to war, does that make it more difficult for the President to -- MR. McCLELLAN: First of all, the President is focused on victory in Iraq, because a free Iraq will be an example for the rest of the Middle East and it will help lay the foundations of peace for generations to come. You know, I saw some reporting talking about how this latest revelation -- which is not something that is new, this is all old information that's being rehashed -- was an embarrassment for the White House. No, it's an embarrassment for the media that is out there reporting this. I brought up with some of you earlier today some of the reporting that was based off this Washington Post report, and I talked to one network about it and they have publicly -- well, they've expressed their apologies to the White House. I hope they will go and publicly apologize on the air about the statements that were made, because I think it's important, given that they had made those statements in front of all their viewers. And so we look forward to that happening, as well. White House Press Corps | Press Briefing | Scott McClellan | News Media
Posted by WhiteHousePressCorps.org @ 11:49 PM Press Gaggle 04/11/06 Q Can I ask you about -- the President gave his speech yesterday about the war on terror and Iraq. I wonder -- I know the President doesn't look at polls, but is the President concerned that his leadership in this area, that people aren't -- that with his popularity as low as Richard Nixon's, or close to Richard Nixon's now, that people aren't following his leadership, and that part of being a leader in the war on terrorism and Iraq is having people agree with you and follow you, but public opinion seems to be going the opposite direction, despite all of this effort he's putting in this area? MR. McCLELLAN: I think the American people recognize that the President is a strong leader who is committed to doing everything in his power to protect them. His number one priority is the safety and security of the American people. And that's why we are waging a comprehensive war on terrorism. That's why we are staying on the offensive and taking the fight to the enemy. The President recognizes that this is a long-term ideological struggle that we're engaged in, and he's going to continue leading to make America safer. White House Press Corps | Press Gaggle | Scott McClellan
Posted by WhiteHousePressCorps.org @ 4:29 AM Press Briefing 04/10/2006 — Monday, April 10, 2006 — Q But that's not quite my question. The President has been outspoken about how dangerous it is for the country to mishandle, to leak classified information. Yet, in this case, nobody challenges his legal authority to do it, but you could make the charge that this was a rather political move on the part of the President to pick and choose what he'd like to -- MR. McCLELLAN: The declassification of the National Intelligence Estimate? Q Yes. MR. McCLELLAN: No, actually because -- go ahead. Q -- for the purpose of, frankly, defending his own judgment. So somebody who has been so clear about the fact that you should not leak classified information made a kind of cherry-picking decision to let this stuff out. White House Press Corps | Press Briefing | Scott McClellan
Posted by WhiteHousePressCorps.org @ 10:17 PM Press Briefing 04/07/06 — Friday, April 07, 2006 — Q Scott, what was the President's reaction to this story? MR. McCLELLAN: I'm sorry? Q What was the President's reaction to this story? What has he said? MR. McCLELLAN: "This story"? Q The story, as it's published. MR. McCLELLAN: "The story as it's published"? Which story as it's published? Q You sound like Donald Rumsfeld. (Laughter.) MR. McCLELLAN: "This story" -- I'm just asking you to specify what the story is. Q I'm talking about the filing -- MR. McCLELLAN: The filing by Mr. Fitzgerald, okay. Q -- I'm talking about what we found out -- MR. McCLELLAN: The filing by Mr. Fitzgerald. I can't get into talking with you relating to an ongoing legal proceeding. Q I'm not asking you to. I'm asking, did the President say anything about it? MR. McCLELLAN: Again, I can't get into talking about an ongoing legal proceeding. That relates to an ongoing legal proceeding. I just can't do that. White House Press Corps | Press Briefing | Scott McClellan
Posted by WhiteHousePressCorps.org @ 10:54 PM Press Gaggle 04/06/06 — Thursday, April 06, 2006 — Q Back to the war on terror, how frustrated is the President that there has not been more movement toward getting that coalition government all formed? MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I don't know if I agree with "there has been no movement." There are a lot of discussions going on, and those discussions continue. The Iraqi leaders are continuing to talk about how to move forward on a government of national unity, that represents -- Q Bogged down -- MR. McCLELLAN: Well, that's the nature of democracy, the compromise. The President is continuing to emphasize that we want to see it get done as soon as possible, and that we're continuing to urge Iraqi leaders to move forward as quickly as possible. And this may be something the President touches on in his remarks. I wouldn't be surprised if he does. The President sent Secretary Rice to Baghdad to emphasize the importance of coming together and getting a unity government in place as quickly as possible. There is a political vacuum that needs to be filled, and particularly in this time when they had some sectarian violence taking place it's important to move forward on a unity government quickly to really disable those who are seeking to create that sectarian violence. So that's what we're continuing to urge Iraqi leaders to do. White House Press Corps | Press Gaggle | Scott McClellan
Posted by WhiteHousePressCorps.org @ 9:42 PM Press Briefing 04/04/06 Q I know you don't discuss personnel matters, but there are growing reports/rumors by my brethren that Scott McClellan is going to ride off into the sunset, specifically a story in The Washington Post this morning saying that Scott McClellan is going to leave and be replaced by Dan Senor. As though you were under oath -- MR. McCLELLAN: Must have missed that story. Q -- as though you were under oath, can you give us a simple "yes" or "no" answer? Is the story correct? Q Was that in the The Washington Post? Q No. (Laughter.) MR. McCLELLAN: I missed that story. I didn't see that one in The Washington Post. Q But what's your comment? MR. McCLELLAN: I appreciate the question, and as I've said, I never speculate on personnel matters. Period. White House Press Corps | Press Briefing | Scott McClellan
Posted by WhiteHousePressCorps.org @ 3:22 AM
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