All Blog Posts from Couric & Co.

Everyone was all smiles when 43 welcomed 44 to the White House today. President and Mrs. Bush gave Barack and Michelle Obama a walk through their new home. It had to be a bit awkward, though. If you listened to any Obama campaign speech, Mr. Bush's name was practically a four letter word.

Still, he wasn't defeated by Mr. Obama. President Bush's father had to show around the newly elected Bill Clinton after being fired by voters.

We're not being told exactly what went on in the oval office today. Historically, some first meetings have gone better than others. Dwight Eisenhower is said to have been impressed by JFK, but FDR wanted nothing to do with the outgoing Herbert Hoover.

These men are seasoned politicians who can put their differences aside. Each promises a smooth transition over the next 10 weeks. With two wars and the worst economic crisis since the depression, we deserve nothing less.

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.

Mark Knoller is a White House Correspondent for CBS News.

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NEW YORK (CBS) - Every president makes grammatical errors. We all do.

But it’s really embarrassing when you’re making a point about education in America and your audience includes school kids.

It happened to Pres. Bush here this morning during an event to trumpet the findings of yesterday’s national report card on 4th and 8th grading reading and math scores.

“In math, the scores for 4th and 8th graders were higher than they've ever been,” said Mr. Bush. “In reading, the scores for 4th graders were also the highest on record.”

And he asserts that his No Child Left Behind program, which requires annual testing in reading and math and imposes sanctions on schools that don’t meet the grade, deserves a good share of the credit.

At an event this morning with the Mayor of New York and the city’s schools Chancellor, Mr. Bush said the program is “working for all kinds of children in all kinds of schools in every part of the country.”

But the measure expires this year and President Bush is waging an aggressive effort to get Congress to extend and expand the program.

“And so my call to the Congress,” he said, “is don't water down this good law. Don't go backwards when it comes to educational excellence. Don't roll back accountability. We've come too far to turn back.”

But with kids from P.S. 76 listening carefully, the President also said:

“As yesterday’s positive report card shows, childrens do learn when standards are high and results are measured.”

Childrens do learn? We know what he meant, it just came out wrong – and during an event about reading writing and arithmetic.

But Mr. Bush likes to boast that he’s living proof that even a “C” student can grow up to be President.

Even one who makes grammatical errors.

He's decided to give grades to a few members of the president's staff, and he's not grading on a curve:

White House personnel lineups generally lose their all-star quality by the last 18 months of a two-term administration. Not so with the maverick regime of George W. Bush. He began his term with a "D+" roster and, depending on who he selects as attorney general to replace his pal, Fredo, he could end up with a gentleman's "C." Possibly a "C+."

Unfortunately, any improvement in the president's GPA is basically irrelevant to the country at this point. It's too late. President Bush should have studied his history more. It wouldn't have taken more than an hour.

The Bush White House was stocked with cronies. There's nothing wrong with cronies. Some of my best friends are cronies. A president needs cronies. But they shouldn't be working in the White House.

Check out the rest of the column for more. And let's hope things improve by the time finals roll around.

Mark Knoller is a White House Correspondent for CBS News.

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CRAWFORD, Texas (CBS) – It’s 99-degrees at two in the afternoon here today and the President revels in it.

“What the President loves to do when he's at his ranch is to spend time outdoors,” says Deputy Press Secretary Dana Perino.

Outdoors? Really? Maybe swinging in a hammock between two shady oaks, right?

Wrong, oh pale and flabby reporter.

Today, she says Mr. Bush was building a new bike trail he can ride at his 1600-acre spread.

“And I wouldn’t be surprised if the President got in some fishing as well,” said Perino at her first press briefing of this year’s annual August ranch visit...

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President Bush has been having an uphill climb in the polls -- or a downhill slide, depending on your point of view.

And according to CBS News director of surveys, Kathleen Frankovic, that picture probably won't be changing any time soon:

Presidents can rebound. There can be a “rallying point.” In his 1973 book Wars, Presidents and Public Opinion, John Mueller studied presidential approval ratings. Simply stated, he found three key factors. First is length of time in office; approval usually goes down the longer a president serves, as whatever he does alienates someone. Second is the economy, which can either help or hurt. And third is long-term war, especially American casualties, which reduces approval..

Mueller also identified what he called “rally points,” which can bump up approval ratings, at least for a while. This president’s biggest rally point occurred after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. His support also rose (less dramatically) at the start of the Iraq war in 2003. It declined (as Mueller predicted) as that war went on. Most rally points involve foreign threat or action – like George H.W. Bush and the 1991 Persian Gulf War, Ronald Reagan and the invasion of Grenada in 1983, and even Jimmy Carter and the seizure of American hostages in Iran in 1979. There are also “rally points” when the presidency, though certainly not the nation, has been in crisis. The best example of that was when Bill Clinton’s lagging approval rating rose above 60 percent after reports of his entanglement with Monica Lewinsky surfaced in 1998.

Mueller also notes that sometimes opinions are too fixed to change.

Is that the case with President Bush? Check out the latest Poll Positions column for more.

A lot of Bush Administration officials have decided not to "stay the course," and are leaving the White House.

But with the president's approval ratings so low, who will replace them?

Click the monitor to watch.

At the Hispanic Heritage ceremony this afternoon, President Bush welcomed the Crown Prince of Spain to the event.

Mr. Bush sent regards to King Juan Carlos saying:

"Please give your best to His Majesty and your mom. And I will do the same on behalf of you to my father and Her Majesty, my mother."

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Today, Katie looks back at her interview with President Bush, and offers a couple impressions of the man, and his job.

Click the picture and have a look.

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Katie is in Washington today, seeing the sights and, in her spare time, interviewing the President. (Memo to Katie: while in town, don't forget to call your parents. It's a local call, and they'll be tickled to hear from you and learn what you've been up to, especially since news about you has been, you know, so scarce.)

We're hoping to hear from one of Katie's producers later today, who should have some news to pass along. And maybe some pictures, too.

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