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 Wipe Away All The Dark Clouds - White House Press Briefing by Robert Gibbs 7/13/09 — Monday, July 13, 2009 —  MR. GIBBS: Lester.Q Thank you very much. Just two questions. MR. GIBBS: It was probably only one when I passed over you the first time. (Laughter.) Q Six or seven. MR. GIBBS: All right, all right, easy on the first two rows. Les, you can't sit in the second row and complain about all the questions in the second row. You got to go like way back and -- I'm kidding, go ahead. Q I appreciate it. While you and the President were overseas on July the 7th, there was on the Internet a copy of a letter on White House letterhead dated January the 24th, 2009, with the signature "Barack Obama," which stated "The place of my birth was Honolulu's Kapi'olani Medical Center." And my question is, can you verify this letter? Or if not, would you tell us which Hawaiian hospital he was born in, since Kapi'olani, which used to publicize this, now refuses to confirm? MR. GIBBS: Goodness gracious. I'm going to be, like, in year four describing where it is the President was born. I don't have the letter at my fingertips, obviously, and I don't know the name of the exact hospital. Q Can you check on this? MR. GIBBS: I will seek to interview whoever brought the President into this world. But can we just -- I want to do this once and for all, Lester. Let's just do this once and for all. You can go on this -- I hope you'll take the time not just to Google "President, January 24, Hawaii hospital, birth" and come up with this letter, but go on the Internet and get the birth certificate, Lester, and put -- Q It's not a birth certificate. MR. GIBBS: I know. (Laughter.) Just a document from the state of Hawaii denoting the fact that the President was indeed born in the state of Hawaii. Q But it doesn't say where he was born or who the doctor was. MR. GIBBS: You know, Lester, I -- I want to stay on this for a second, Lester, I want to stay on this for a second, because you're a smart man, right? Q Hypothetical. (Laughter.) MR. GIBBS: All right, all right, settle down in here. Only I get to make jokes like that. No, Lester, let's finish this one. Do all of your listeners and the listeners throughout this country the service to which any journalist owes those listeners, and that is the pursuit of the noble truth. And the noble truth is that the President was born in Hawaii, a state of the United States of America. And all of this incredible back-and-forth -- I get e-mails today from people who inexplicably can figure out very easily the White House e-mail address, and want proof of where the President was born. Lester, the next time you ask me a question I'm going to ask you what reporting you've done to demonstrate to your listeners the truth, the certificate, the state, so that they can look to you for that momentous search for the truth, and you can wipe away all the dark clouds and provide them with the knowing clarity that comes with that certainty. Q Another question. (Laughter.) The Washington Times and gawker.com report that of the 60 or more reporters who regularly cover these briefings, only 30 were invited to the White House to watch the July 4th fireworks, and they were ordered not to report this. And my question, why does the President believe it is fair to exclude so many, including even Helen Thomas, who was invited -- (laughter) -- by so many previous Presidents to this event? MR. GIBBS: Please note for the official record that Helen almost fell out of her chair laughing. I just wanted to note -- that's all -- Q This information was confirmed to me, she was not invited, Bob. Why? MR. GIBBS: You know, I -- ohhh. Les, we were -- I haven't the slightest idea what the invitation system is for the July 4th fireworks. I'll do this. I'll figure that out. You figure out the Hawaii birth certificate. We'll meet here sometime next week and we can discuss it all over again. How about that, Lester? Les | Obama Administration | Open Government | Press Briefing | Robert Gibbs | White House Press Corps Labels: Les, Open Government, President Obama, Press Briefing, Robert Gibbs, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 8:40:00 PM  Oh, Les! - White House Press Briefing by Dana Perino 11/14/08 — Friday, November 14, 2008 —  MS. PERINO: Les. Q Thank you Dana. Two questions. A commission appointed by the governor of Maryland has just recommended, by a vote of 13-7, that capital punishment be abolished in Maryland. My question: Since the President is a devout follower of world history's best-known victim of the death penalty, could you explain how he can support the punishment of killings in cold blood by doing just that in executions? MS. PERINO: I think the President's position on death penalty is well known. I'm going to move on. Go ahead, Sam. I'm going to move on. Q Wait a minute. MS. PERINO: Les, no. Sam, go ahead. Q I said two questions. MS. PERINO: Sam, please go ahead. Capital Punishement | Dana Perino | Les | President Bush | Press Briefing | White House Press Corps Labels: Capital Punishment, Dana Perino, Les, President Bush, Press Briefing, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 4:29:00 PM Domestic Energy Production Act - White House Press Briefing by Dana Perino 5/23/08 — Friday, May 23, 2008 —  Q Okay. Senate Minority Leader McConnell and 28 other Republican senators introduced the Domestic Energy Production Act to allow oil production in only 8 percent of the entire ANWR area. And my question: Does the White House believe that the nation needs to know that among those senators who voted to defeat this bill, which could have cut the now huge cost of gasoline, were certain United States senators from Illinois and New York?MS. PERINO: No; it's very interesting, though. Thanks for pointing it out. Q The President realizes this, doesn't he? MS. PERINO: I don't know if he did a whip count. Q All right, thank you. ANWR | Congress | Dana Perino | Democratic Candidates | Les | Oil | Press Briefing | White House Press Corps Labels: ANWR, Congress, Dana Perino, Democratic Candidates, Les, Oil, Press Briefing, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 4:31:00 PM Oil Exploration in ANWR - White House Press Briefing by Dana Perino 5/21/08 — Wednesday, May 21, 2008 —  MS. PERINO: Les.Q Thank you, Dana. MS. PERINO: Just one question, since you already had one. Q Scott Stanzel, during Monday's briefing, spoke of the need to expand oil exploration in ANWR, the Outer Continental Shelf, which columnist Cal Thomas notes has an estimated 86 billion barrels of oil and 420 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. But President Clinton vetoed exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. And my question: Does the President believe that this veto compares to those claims of environmentalists that the Alaska pipeline would destroy the caribou? MS. PERINO: I don't know -- I'd have to consult Scott Stanzel on that. Q Beg your pardon? MS. PERINO: I was kidding. There's no room for humor. (Laughter.) Q There is room for humor. I'd be delighted to have humor. MS. PERINO: Not in this room. (Laughter.) Look, our position on why we need to increase domestic exploration and production here in our own country is well known. It is critical if we are going to send a signal to the world market that we are serious about becoming more self-sufficient in our own country. And concerns about the caribou I believe have been taken into consideration, and that we have demonstrated that we have the technologies to be able to drill in a way that would protect the environment -- not only the natural resources there, but also the caribou. Q Listen, I didn't know that asking that nice gentleman -- I just have one other, just this one time. Just this one time. MS. PERINO: All right, last one, please. Last one. Q I appreciate it. Reuters reports the House of Representatives voted 324-84 to have the Justice Department sue OPEC -- MS. PERINO: That's seems like a really large Congress. (Laughter.) Q -- for limiting oil supplies and colluding on prices. And my question: Does the President believe the Senate will not follow the House in a similar veto-proof vote? And if not, why not? MS. PERINO: I don't know. Q He wrote the right numbers, he just said it wrong. MS. PERINO: Did he? Okay. (Laughter.) Q Thanks. ANWR | Dana Perino | Les | Oil | Press Briefing | White House Press Corps Labels: ANWR, Dana Perino, Les, Oil, Press Briefing, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 5:29:00 PM White House Press Briefing by Tony Fratto (Gas Prices) — Saturday, April 19, 2008 —  MR. FRATTO: Les.Q Tony, thank you very much. Two questions. First, could you briefly summarize the White House reaction and proposed solution to reports from California of gasoline now selling at $4.00 a gallon or more? MR. FRATTO: Briefly summarize? No, I don't think that's possible, and you're not going to have immediate short-term solutions on things like gasoline prices. It took us a long time to get to a place where the price of gasoline is where it is. It's going to take us a long time to get off of oil as much as possible. We've already taken steps through the energy act in terms of conservation and increasing CAFE standards, and also replacing oil with alternative fuels. And so that will continue and we hope it does bring down the price of gasoline. We'd also like to see increased production from oil producers. Q That's a good answer. How -- MR. FRATTO: Thank you. Q Yeah. (Laughter.) Q Congratulations. Q Yeah, nice job. MR. FRATTO: Do I get a star for that? (Laughter.) Les | Oil | Press Briefing | Tony Fratto | White House Press Corps Labels: Les, Oil, Press Briefing, Tony Fratto, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 12:29:00 AM White House Press Briefing by Dana Perino 4/8/08 (China's Olympic Games) — Tuesday, April 08, 2008 —  MS. PERINO: Les. Q Thank you, Dana. MS. PERINO: Sorry, then I'll come over here. Q Two questions. First, since we presume the President is as devoted to human rights as any world leader, why has he failed to join the President of France, the Chancellor of Germany, and now the Prime Minister of Canada in their announced refusal to appear at China's Olympic Games? MS. PERINO: I actually don't think that they have announced that they are going to do that. I think they announced that they are considering it. Q It's been reported that they have. MS. PERINO: That's not exactly true, Les. The President's position on this has been very clear. But the key part of what the President can do as the President of the United States is before, during and after the Olympics, push very hard for increased human rights, press freedoms, and political freedom in China. Q A follow-up: In New York, attorney Bill Donohoe, who is the President of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, said yesterday, "China can't pretend to be religion-friendly while routinely censoring religious liberty. Senator Clinton gets it just right when she urges President Bush to boycott the Opening Ceremony, saying 'Americans will stand strong in support of freedom of religion and" -- MS. PERINO: What's your question? Q -- "political expression and human rights.'" And my question -- MS. PERINO: Question? Q -- does the President believe that both the Catholic League and Senator Clinton are wrong to make such a request? MS. PERINO: No, they can make any request that they want. But I just told you what the President's position is. China | Dana Perino | Les | Olympics | Press Briefing | Tibet | White House Press Corps Labels: China, Dana Perino, Les, Olympics, Press Briefing, Tibet, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 11:11:00 PM
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