All Blog Posts from Couric & Co.

Peter Maer is a White House correspondent for CBS News.

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The old Frank Sinatra song "My Way", especially the refrain "Regrets I had a few...." comes to mind following President Bush's final news conference.

It was a defiant, wistful and sometimes unusually introspective performance.

Mr. Bush elaborated on his intention to let history be the final judge of his White House years. He told reporters, "I've had my time in the klieg lights." But as he heads into his last full week in office, the president clearly hopes to control the focus of those lights on his legacy.

Reflecting on the sour economy, Mr. Bush said, "I readily concede I chucked aside some of my free-market principles when I was told by chief economic advisers that the situation we were facing could be worse than the Great Depression."

He said, "I inherited a recession. I'm ending on a recession." But Mr. Bush also inherited a balanced budget. There was no mention of the massive budget deficits that have piled up over the past eight years as he defended the tax cuts that some critics blame for much of the red ink. Mr. Bush insisted the cuts were "the right course of action." In something of an understatement, he said his successor "would have his hands full with the economy."

He was surprisingly frank ...

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Peter Maer is a White House correspondent for CBS News.

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The latest release of Richard Nixon's secretly recorded White House tapes shows that as his campaign buttons proclaimed, "Nixon's the One," he's still the one who keeps providing stunning surprises nearly 14 years after his death and 34 years after he resigned in disgrace. For reporters, historians and presidential scholars, the extensive Nixon tapes are the gifts that keep on giving.

The latest Nixon Library tape release amounts to an audio version of his famous "enemies list." Most politicians would relish the kind of landslide victory that Nixon enjoyed in 1972. Yet a month after defeating George McGovern, Nixon had other enemies on his mind. On one of the tapes he told his national security adviser Henry Kissinger, "Never forget. The press is the enemy. The establishment is the enemy. The professors are the enemy." Almost shouting he repeated, "professors are the enemy!" He told former Harvard professor Kissinger, "Write that on a blackboard 100 times and never forget it....

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Peter Maer is a White House correspondent for CBS News.

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It was a first in my more than 22 years on the White House beat: coverage of a presidential latrine inspection.

It happened yesterday at Fort Bragg, N.C., where President Bush checked out military "facilities" at the home of the famed 82nd Airborne Division. The unusual visit was provoked after an Army paratrooper's dad shot a video that revealed shoddy conditions at a Fort Bragg barracks. The images posted on You Tube showed peeling paint, mold and sewage on a bathroom floor.

An Army statement said all repairs were completed within 72 hours of the posting of the April 24 video. But once on the Web, the disgusting images triggered a broad inspection of conditions at Army barracks. A Fort Bragg spokesman called the incident "embarrassing and shocking." He admitted it was "awful and never should have happened." The White House obviously couldn't agree more. The army made sure the latrine was squeaky clean when the president arrived for what obviously was NOT a surprise inspection as he visited the base to salute troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Pool reporter Steven Lee Myers of the New York Times described a restroom that was "as shiny as a new dime" when the commander-in-chief stepped on to the tile floor. Referring to the Army's plan to renovate and replace old barracks, Mr. Bush said, "these old buildings are coming down."

The administration clearly wants to avoid a repeat of the outrage that followed last year's revelations of dilapidated buildings at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. The Fort Bragg and Walter Reed stories are vivid contradictions of President Bush's frequent promises that the government will do everything possible for the nation's veterans and active duty forces.

Peter Maer is a CBS News White House correspondent.

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The former oil man in the Oval Office refuses to predict the future course of gasoline prices. In a radio interview with CBS News in the White House Roosevelt Room, President Bush declined to offer his own price at the pump forecast. He recalled the hit he took earlier this year when, at a news conference, he told me that he had not heard about analysts' predictions of four buck a gallon gas. At the time he described the forecast as "interesting."

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Peter Maer is a White House correspondent for CBS News.

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Comments by President Bush today raised questions about his level of awareness of what Americans are paying for gasoline and where prices could be headed. During a photo opportunity with his economic advisors, Mr. Bush mentioned gasoline costs as he made the case for permanent tax cuts.

He told reporters, "If you're worried about $3 gasoline and you think your taxes may be going up in two years, then the uncertain price of gasoline creates more uncertainty as you plan for your future."

It was unclear whether Mr. Bush was referring to concerns about current or future prices. Press Secretary Dana Perino insisted the president is "fully aware of $3 and up gas."

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Peter Maer is a White House correspondent for CBS News.

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Traveling almost directly from coverage of the Iowa caucuses in the Midwest to President Bush's challenging odyssey to the Mideast offers some unique perspectives.

The presidential candidates, who are focused on the next primary, would be wise to pay a bit of attention to what happens on the Bush trip to this volatile region. One of them will inherit what the president accomplishes or fails to accomplish on his mission to re-boot the peace process.

Wrapping up separate talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Mr. Bush optimistically said he believed the two sides would sign a peace treaty before he leaves office. One senior official hinted that the president overstated peace prospects because he was enthusiastic about his conversations with the key players. He sounded much more realistic as he read a prepared statement later in the day. He pointed to "painful political concessions" for each side. He bluntly used a word that's a hot button term for the Israelis, "occupation" to describe their current control of land that the Palestinians want for a future state. He sympathizes with Israel's security concerns. He warned that no agreement or Palestinian state would be based on terror.

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Peter Maer is a White House correspondent for CBS News.

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The government appears poised to approve a Christmas-to-New Year's air traffic plan similar to the effort designed to ease congestion over the busy Thanksgiving rush.

A Transportation Department official tells CBS News, there is "a lot of optimism" that the end of year travel period will see a repeat of the plan that allowed more commercial flights to use East Coast airspace normally reserved for military aircraft. Officials believe it helped prevent some airport traffic jams during Thanksgiving although weater still delayed thousands of flights.

Since the late December travel period involves a much broader time frame than Thanksgiving, air traffic experts are consulting on the peak times and days that military airspace would be opened to commerical airliners. A final decision is expected next week.

The Transportation Department official says airline executives used a conference call with the government two days ago to promote a re-authorization of the Thanksgiving plan. The department estimates 100 commercial flights used the military space on each of the peak flying days in late November. It wasn't the first time the government opened the military air lanes to commercial flights. The FAA can ask the military for use of the airspace on a daily or even hourly basis.

When the Thanksgiving strategy was announced, President Bush described it as an effort to "bring order to America's skies."

But the president and aviation experts agreed that the holiday quick-fix would not end the problems that have caused major hassles for air travelers. In something of an understatement, he said, "In certain parts of our country, the demand for air service exceeds the available supply." The administration is considering efforts to pressure airlines to schedule more flights in off-peak times. Among the ideas is "congestion pricing," charging airlines and other aircraft owners more for take-offs and landings in the busy dayparts that are so popular with many travelers.

Peter Maer is a White House correspondent for CBS News.

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There's no way for the administration to mask red faces of outrage and embarrassment over a top Homeland Security official's role in an offensive Halloween incident.

Julie Myers, assistant secretary in charge of Immigration and Customs enforcement has apologized for awarding "most original costume" to a federal employee who dressed in prison stripes, dreadlocks and dark make-up for a Halloween celebration at the agency.

Myers was one of the judges who praised the costume. She even posed for a photo with the costumed worker, a picture snapped by a government photographer. In the apology e-mailed to employees, Myers said, "I and other the senior management of ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) deeply regret that this happened." The Associated Press obtained a copy of the message.

The incident occurred last Wedesday but Homeland Security waited until today to tell the White House. Press Secretary Dana Perino said, "We do not tolerate inappropriate behavior." She declined to answer questions about potential discipline of Myers as the Homeland Security Department reviews the matter.

Peter Maer is a White House correspondent for CBS News.

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A published report has opened a window on the world as Donald Rumsfeld saw it during his tenure as Defense Secretary. At the Pentagon, Rumsfeld's memos were known as snowflakes. There was a blizzard of messages from his office. The Washington Post obtained some of the wartime defense secretary's 20,000 memos including one that drew sharp responses today from the White House and a leading Arab American group.

According to the Post, Rumsfeld contended that Muslims avoid "physical labor." He expressed the belief that oil wealth removed Muslims "from the reality of work, effort and investment that leads to wealth for the rest of the world." His memo said, "Too often Muslims are against physical labor, so they bring in Koreans and Pakistanis while their young people remain unemployed." Rumsfeld also warned, "An unemployed population is easy to recruit to radicalism."

White House press secretary Dana Perino said Rumsfeld's observations were "not in line with the president's views." She said she could understand why Arab Americans would be offended by the comments attributed to Rumsfeld.

The report brought a terse reaction from the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. Spokesman Kareem Shora told CBS News Radio, "It seems very clear from the quotes that Mr. Rumsfeld had a very stereotypical, negative pessimistic view of Muslims. He's labeling 2.2 billion people in the world as lazy and against physical labor. It's going to be very harmful to our efforts in the Middle East and to winning the hearts and minds of the Muslim world." The White House Press Secretary said the White House is already aware "that we have a lot of work to do to win hearts and minds across the Arab world and the Muslim world.

The Post said the Rumsfeld memos were marked "for official use only." They were not classified. The paper quoted a Rumsfeld spokesman who complained that the story was "based off of selective quotations and gross mischaracterizations from a handful of memos."

Peter Maer is a White House correspondent for CBS News.

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Following a week that has seen the administration boast that "lessons learned," from the Hurricane Katrina debacle, were being applied to the California fire response, The Federal Emergency Management Agency--FEMA finds its credibility at issue.

The nation's disaster response office has been caught in something of a public relations disaster that raises questions about its integrity. FEMA is once again on the defensive for staging what turned out to be a phony news conference.

On Tuesday, with just 15 minutes notice, the agency notified Washington reporters about a news conference on the California fire disaster. Reporters unable to make it that quickly were instructed to call a listen-only phone line to hear the session with Deputy Administrator Vice Admiral Harvey Johnson. Reporters who called the number were unaware that top FEMA staffers played the role of journalists asking Johnson about their own agency's performance. Among the "hard-hitting" questions:"Are you happy with FEMA'S response so far?" Showing that he was up to the challenge, Johnson replied, "I'm very happy with FEMA's response so far." The "news conference" was carried live on cable news networks. CBS News reported on it.

After the Washington Post revealed the faux event, FEMA issued a statement noting, "We can and must do better, and apologize for this error in judgement." The written statement said that in working to support California's response to the devastating fires, the agency "did not put enough focus on how we communicate with the public." FEMA promised to review "press procedures" and to "make necessary changes."

The White House communications team said it was unaware of the bogus news conference until the published report surfaced. Press Secretary Dana Perino said she did not know of or condone the pretend news conference.

Credibility is the coin for reporters and government officials.

Heckuva job, FEMA.