Morning Bulletin – Monday, April 20, 2009
A roundup of news, schedules, and key stories from CBS News:
4955648CABINET MEETING: President Obama will meet with his full cabinet for the first time in his administration at 11:30 a.m. ET. He is expected to ask the secretaries to cut a total of $100 million in the next 90 days.
"President Obama plans to convene his Cabinet for the first time today, and he will order its members to identify a combined $100 million in budget cuts over the next 90 days, according to a senior administration official," the Washington Post's Michael Fletcher writes.
"Although the budget cuts would amount to a minuscule portion of federal spending, they are intended to signal the president's determination to cut spending and reform government, the official said."
VISIT TO LANGLEY: At 2:35 p.m. ET President Obama will visit the CIA Headquarters in Langley, Va., to speak to workers there about the "CIA's mission to our national security," according to the White House press office.
The meeting comes days after the administration released controversial memos about harsh interrogation tactics used during the Bush administration.
"C.I.A. interrogators used waterboarding, the near-drowning technique that top Obama administration officials have described as illegal torture, 266 times on two key prisoners from Al Qaeda, far more than had been previously reported," the New York Times' Scott Shane writes.
"The C.I.A. officers used waterboarding at least 83 times in August 2002 against Abu Zubaydah, according to a 2005 Justice Department legal memorandum. Abu Zubaydah has been described as a Qaeda operative.
White House officials defended the decision to release the memos over the weekend.
"White House Senior Advisor David Axelrod said that many details in the memos had already been revealed, and that there was no credence to the argument that their release would help terrorist by letting them know what was is in store for them if captured."
Rahm Emanuel on "This Week": "It's not a time to use our energy and our time in looking back" out of "any sense of anger and retribution."
LA Times' Sarah Gantz and Ben Meyerson, "Mental Damage From CIA Tactics Is Disputed"
SUMMIT OF THE AMERICAS RECAP:
In a press conference yesterday, President Obama addressed his gift from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, the Iranian-American journalist on trial in Iran and Cuban-U.S. relations.
AP, "Obama says Cuba should release prisoners, cut fees on money sent from US"
AP, "Obama says he's working to ensure US journalist jailed in Iran is properly treated"
Time's Tim Padgett, "Signs of Spring: U.S.-Latin America Relations Thaw"
Washington Post's Jackson Diehl, "A World Of Trouble For Obama"
ECONOMY/BAILOUTS:
Wall Street Journal's Damian Paletta, "U.S. Considers Bank Equity Options"
"White House and Treasury Department officials now say they can stretch what is left of the $700 billion financial bailout fund further than they had expected a few months ago, simply by converting the government's existing loans to the nation's 19 biggest banks into common stock."
Washington Post's Anthony Faiola, "A Bigger, Bolder Role Is Imagined For the IMF"
ALSO TODAY: Vice President Biden will attend daily briefings with the president today before a 3:45 p.m. ET meeting with Cypriot Foreign Minister, Markos Kyprianou. Afterwards, the Vice President will join President Obama in a meeting with Secretary of Defense Gates.
The White Sox website says that the team will visit the First Fan's digs today. It is not on the official White House schedule and it is unknown whether the president will meet with the team.
CONGRESS BACK IN SESSION At 2 p.m. ET after Spring Break recess.
Boston Globe's James Vaznis, "US Senate Panel to Look at Future of Newspapers"
Wall Street Journal's Greg Hitt, "Congress Inclined To Act First On Health"
OBAMA ADMINISTRATION
LA Times' Peter Wallsten and Faye Fiore, "Getting to Know the Obamas, On Their Terms"
Washington Times' Editorial, "Obama's Gun Lies"
Boston Globe's Sasha Issenberg, "Gregg Uplifted after Yes-no On Cabinet"
HEALTH CARE
Politico.com's Carrie Budoff Brown, "GOP Stumbling In Health Care Fight"
MINNESOTA SENATE RECOUNT
New York Times' Janie Lorber, "$1 a Day Campaign Against Coleman"
FUTURE RACES
2009 VA Governor: Richmond Times-Dispatch's Olympia Meola, "Gubernatorial Candidates Trade Jabs On Donations"
2010 NY Governor: NY Post's Frederic U. Dicker, "Rudy Rips Gov's Bid For Gay Nups"
ETC.
Today is the tenth anniversary of the Columbine High School shootings.