The President is closely monitoring and aggressively preparing for the storm as it continues to head toward the East Coast. On its current track, Hurricane...

As you know, yesterday Administrator Fugate provided the President with an update, and FEMA is in close contact and coordination with the governors...

Yes, ma’am.

Well, let me give you just a little bit from -- well, obviously, as you all know, the talks are ongoing. We expect that at some point, I would say...

I’m sorry --

Well, look, why don’t I defer questions about what transpired today in the talks until Senator Mitchell has an opportunity to answer some of those...

Well, let me -- I’ll be somewhat broad in my answer and a little -- let’s go back to -- well, both what the President said and what I said on Monday....

Again, I would -- I’d point you to what the President said on Monday. I don’t think that is -- I don’t think that is -- I think -- I would --...

Again, I would interpret what she said to be very much in line with what the President said on Monday.

Well, let me take the second question first, and that is those meetings and those discussions continue to take place. I’m not going to get ahead...

Well, let me just say -- here’s what I know before we came out here. This is a -- I’m told this is a production platform about 100 miles off...

I have not gotten a recent update on that. I will try to get one. Obviously we have taken some -- we took a series of steps after the BP incident,...

It’s a national security meeting -- that John had or had not had a chance to discuss that with the President.

I do not know who is on the scene, but you can -- the Coast Guard obviously -- the production facility is located in federal waters. They are the ones...

I don’t want to make any scheduling pronouncements. I’ll do this in a couple ways. Obviously Secretary Clinton has -- is conducting and is the...

Well, again, I’d say first and foremost, I think the President felt that the meetings yesterday, as he said, were productive and believed that each...

Well, again, we have always maintained that peace was in the best interest of each of these entities involved, regardless of anything else in the Middle...

Which numbers?

You sound like a radio guy when you’re doing the -- nosedive --

Yes, look, we are -- the President will continue to make a very active case for the steps that the administration has taken and why we have to continue...

I will say this, Bill, the President has been fairly active in both campaigning and in raising money. What the President is helping the Democratic...

The level of support.

Yes.

Well, look, I think -- let me give you an answer that’s not necessarily based on one unemployment claims report today because I am somewhat hesitant...

Well, again, that’s some of the discussions that the economic team is having. And I’d point you to what the President said in the Rose Garden about...

Yes, let me get a comprehensive list and we’ll send it around to you at the end of this.

I don’t know that those -- obviously they’re still doing meetings and discussions on this. I don’t have any scheduling updates.

Again, I think the final decisions would have to be made before I’d have a good understanding to be able to talk about it.

Well, look, I think you’ve heard the President -- I would point to what the President said in his speech to the nation on Iraq, that we are and always...

Well, look, I think the President would say that -- I’m not going to get into individual purchasing decisions. I think the President would say that...

The White House is not involved in and not going to discuss IPO based on regulators watching what people do and say around IPOs.

Jonathan.

No, they don’t. And I know you caveated by saying you assume small business. But I -- this is something the President has talked a lot about. I’m...

I like that you’re my Nancy Pelosi go-between, Jonathan. (Laughter.) I will reiterate what we’ve said throughout this debate, and that is the...

Please relay that back to the Speaker. (Laughter.)

I’m sorry, Jonathan, the CEA thing is not going to work out, but -- (laughter.)

Amy was supposed to tell you that before the briefing started.

No. As I said earlier in the week, I didn’t expect that CEA and Consumer would be done this week. It’s not. Obviously Dr. Romer’s tenure concludes...

A series of national security issues.

Some -- no, I would not -- I don’t want to get everybody nervous. It’s not a -- it’s something that the President does fairly regularly.

Sure. I mean, look, first, inherent in your question, Mark, is that I don’t think that if the -- I don’t -- the President is not going to question...

That’s true, too.

Well, let’s take, for instance, what the President said on Monday about the small business bill. The President asked the Republican Party to end...

I have not heard him give a review on the reviews. I don’t know --

I will tell you, Mark, that is not something -- I know you’ll be surprised that I was not consulted stylistically.

I’m trying for one more day in the summer, so don’t read anything into my suit. (Laughter.)

I think I heard Burton say that first, so I don’t know if he got some sort of a credit on that.

Julianna.

Not that I know of. And I say that largely because obviously we are still trying to gather information about the events that are happening at that...

My sense is that Brennan will likely have told him at the end of that meeting, but I don’t know that for sure yet.

Let me do this. Let me get -- I will go back and get as much of an update as we can throughout the day and see if any of that changes. I don’t --...

No -- look, obviously there are -- we have a pretty full and robust team that will meet with the President in about 15 minutes. Obviously as soon as...

There could be. But again, I don’t -- none of those, that I know of, none of those final decisions have been made.

Let me -- I think we’re going to put out some stuff on that in a little bit, so let me wait for that.

What’s that?

I understand what you’ve chosen there, Bill. I don’t take it personally.

Well, again, that’s -- let me, first of all, in that first part, when I say -- inherent in the first part of your question is, as I said and as the...

Let me speak broadly. There’s been a sense of urgency about the economy since the moment we walked in here. Look, I think we have had to and we’ve...

No, not for very long, but obviously I anticipate that some of those decisions will get made -- will be made before that happens.

Look, I’m just going to say, Mara, that obviously the team is looking at a whole host of issues. I don’t think it makes sense for me to get into...

I believe that’s the case, yes.

Like who?

Look, again, I don’t know who exactly you talked to but, again, this President has been focused on dealing with the economic problems that we faced...

I think the President continues to ask the economic team for what ideas they believe can help the economy now. Look, we have seen -- look, I mean,...

Well, again, I do not anticipate something that rivals the extraordinary measures that the President has already taken.

Yes, ma’am.

Are you talking about for the upper end, or are you talking about --

All of them. Again, let’s take -- I think if you break out one year of -- I think if you were to extend the upper-end tax cuts for next year, I think...

I wouldn’t get into a hypothetical like that. The President does not support extending the tax cuts for those that make, on average, about a million...

Again, the team is looking at a range of ideas. I, for a lot of reasons, don’t want to get into each individual one.

Peter.

Again, I don’t -- having been here since the beginning, there isn’t an issue that the President has spent more time on than the economy, than on...

That’s an interesting way of phrasing it.

Careful, careful. Getting into row warfare. (Laughter.)

Well, look, again -- I’m trying to think of an example that would help illuminate -- I mean, let’s take for instance -- I think everybody would...

I do not have -- I have not looked at the block ahead. Let me go do that. I honestly don’t know the answer to that.

Let me go look at the block so I don’t -- so I have some information on that.

April.

Look, I think, again, creating -- what you have seen happen in this economy is productivity has increased; what -- temporary work has increased, meaning...

Why Justice is involved?

April, I don’t have any information on that. The information I got was from the Coast Guard. So I will go back and see if there are -- if there’s...

Again, I don’t want to make any broad statements on today’s -- on what I know about today’s incident when I came out here. Let me go back --...

I believe he has talked with King Abdullah recently. I don’t know the -- I can get the exact date of that and --

Let me -- what’s today? It would have happened earlier in the week, so let me --

I think that -- if I’m not mistaken, on -- Monday was the 31st, right? They all sort of blur together. I believe that they spoke on Air Force One...

Let me do this. Let me get a better answer to that based on discussing with him after he’s had a chance to talk with Senator Mitchell. Look, obviously...

Yes, again, I believe they spoke Monday or Tuesday. I’m going to go -- let me go back and find -- and we will try to find a --

Let me get a better readout on exactly what was said and what might have transpired.

I don’t know directly the answer to that but let me find out.

Yes, ma’am.

There was -- I don’t know how to describe it. I’ll go back and -- it was in the Oval, in the outer Oval last night, so I can go back and look at...

Well, again, I think it’s just safe to characterize -- I’ll characterize it today the way I characterized it on Monday, and I think the way the...

I have not been in a meeting where that’s been discussed.

Look, I will say this. I think the President -- I’d go back to one of the answers I gave Bill, which is the unprecedented amount of effort and support...

I don’t know the answer to that. I will say this, Bill, a crude paraphrasing of an old quote, and that is people are entitled to their own opinion,...

Again, I can only imagine where Mr. Beck conjured that from.

Kirk.

I think that’s one of the measures that people will generally use. I think that -- this may not be true for every person, obviously, but there are...

I can’t tell you. I think I used this statistic earlier in the briefing, that we’ve created 600,000 private sector jobs in this year alone. To...

Well, look, I obviously was involved in part of that decision. I think there are very few issues that if you look back to the spring of 2003 that have...

Let me double-check on the schedule.

Thanks, guys.