(CNN) – An Obama transition official says reports that the president-elect will release a stimulus plan with a trillion-dollar price tag are overblown, and that the actual figure being discussed is far smaller.

Some outside economists have pushed the trillion-dollar figure. One recent report suggested the transition team was working with an $850 billion plan. But this official describes the amount Obama advisors are currently considering as significantly lower than both.

Obama and his economic team met for four hours yesterday. They are still working on the package, which will not be announced before the president-elect returns from Hawaii later this month.

Rahm Emanuel will be Obama's White House chief of staff.

CHICAGO (CNN) — A source who has been briefed on the investigation says Rahm Emanuel, Barack Obama's chief of staff, has been notified he is not a target of the probe into Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Barack Obama gives Joe Biden cupcakes the day before the Vice President-elect’s 66th birthday.

CHICAGO (CNN) – The day before Vice President-elect Joe Biden turns 66, President-elect Barack Obama presented his running mate with 12 candlelit cupcakes after their weekly lunch on Wednesday. He also gave Biden Chicago White Sox and Chicago Bears hats as well as a bucket of Garrett's popcorn as presents.

“You’re 12 years old!” Obama told Biden according to a Democratic source.

“Maybe in dog years!” Biden responded, laughing.

Obama and the staff then sang Biden ‘Happy Birthday.’

Rarely did Biden make a stop on the campaign trail and not mention his age. “I want you to know,” he would tell supporters, “there are only four members of the Senate who are senior to me. But the very important thing to know is there are still 39 older than me.”

Fmr. Pres. Bill Clinton has agreed to several concessions in Hillary Clinton’s vetting for Secretary of State.

(CNN) –- A major obstacle in Hillary Clinton’s path to becoming President-elect Barack Obama’s secretary of state may be out of the way, as former President Bill Clinton has made several concessions to help move his wife’s vetting process along.

A source familiar with the discussions between Sen. Clinton and the president-elect confirms to CNN that the former president will release the names of several major donors to the Clinton Foundation as well as submitting future foundation activities and paid speeches to a strict ethics review.

In addition, the former president is offering to step down from his day-to-day responsibilities at the foundation and inform the State Department of his speaking schedule and any new sources of income.

President Clinton’s international and financial dealings with his foundation and presidential library have been a sticking point with an Obama camp worried that Sen. Clinton’s position in the cabinet could create a potential conflict of interest as the country’s top diplomat.

First lady Laura Bush visits with Michelle Obama on Monday during the Obamas' visit to the White House.

(CNN)—While President-elect Barack Obama met with President Bush Monday, Mrs. Obama met with head White House Usher Adm. Stephen W. Rochon to discuss how she wants things to operate when they move in in January.

Sources say they discussed everything from how to request meals, what they like to eat, and how formal a presence she wants the White House Staff to have.

An aide says the Obamas are pretty informal, but would not divulge specific requests at the time.

Emanuel, left will be Obama's chief of staff.

(CNN) — Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel, a former Clinton administration aide, has accepted the position of President-elect Obama's chief of staff, a Democratic aide tells CNN.

Watch: Jessica Yellin reports on Emanuel

House Minority Leader John Boehner criticized the choice of Emanuel — the man known for his tough-minded approach and widely credited with engineering large congressional gains for Democrats in the 2006 elections.

“This is an ironic choice for a President-elect who has promised to change Washington, make politics more civil, and govern from the center," Boehner said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Jim Manley, a senior communications advisor to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, praised the choice.

"An excellent choice. Rahm knows the Hill," he told CNN. "And he knows the White House. He is a brilliant strategic thinker and someone who knows how to get things done."

Related: Emanuel would bring 'tough minded' approach

Hillary Clinton earlier today at the polls.

(CNN) – Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have spoken, according to Clinton spokesman Philippe Reines.

Watch: Barack Obama is elected 44th president of The United States

The two spoke for a few minutes: Clinton congratulated Obama on his victory, and offered her condolences on the loss of his grandmother. Obama thanked the New York senator for all she did to help him win the election, and said he looks forward to speaking with both her and President Clinton soon.

Watch: The McCain campaigns latest ad takes aim at Obama's hometown political figures.

(CNN) – Former Commerce Secretary Bill Daley, the unwilling co-star of a Monday attack ad from John McCain's campaign, told CNN he was "shocked" by the spot: "I always had a good relationship with [McCain] — or I thought I did."

The McCain spot attacks Barack Obama for his connection to "Chicago politics," pointing to his relationships with convicted developer Tony Rezko, embattled Governor Rod Blagojevich — and Daley.

Daley accused McCain of hypocrisy for attacking Obama on lobbyists: "When I was at [telecom company] SBC, I had to hire [McCain campaign manager] Rick Davis to see John McCain," he said. "He wouldn't see anyone unless you hired one of his lobbyist friends. Telecom was his and Rick Davis was his telecom lobbyist. That was in '02, '03, '04."

He said that McCain voted for his confirmation as Commerce Secretary, and pointed to the Arizona senator's public praise of his work in the Clinton cabinet.

(For instance, during a May 1998 confirmation hearing for another Commerce official, McCain said that since Daley's arrival, "relations for the department have been improving. Mr. Daley's frank, honest style and hard work have been reaping rewards." And in 2000, he pointed to Daley's "valiant effort to clean up the Commerce Department's reputation as a dumping ground for the politically connected.")

Said Daley Monday: "I think [McCain] has totally sold his soul to get elected. The things he found important in 2000 he isn't doing now."

DENVER (CNN) — Hillary Clinton's speech was a work-in-progress until the last minute, a Clinton aide tells CNN: speech-writers pulled an all-nighter and rushed it into the teleprompter. The video tribute to the New York senator was also a last-minute affair, and barely got done in time.

Tonight's speech was written by Lissa Muscatine, Jim Kennedy and chief speechwriter Jon Lovett, working closely with long-time Clinton advisors Maggie Williams and Cheryl Mills.

Clinton will make a 'compelling case' for Obama, her spokesman said.

(CNN) — In one of the most anticipated speeches of the week, Hillary Clinton will urge her backers — some of which remain wary of supporting Barack Obama — to unify behind the party's presumptive nominee.

Clinton spokesman Philippe Reines tells CNN the onetime rival of Obama will make a compelling case the Illinois senator must be the next President of the United States.

She will also express her appreciation for those who supported her primary bid and focus on the differences between Obama and McCain, not those between herself and the Illinois senator.

DENVER, Colorado (CNN) – Hillary Clinton will meet with her primary delegates Wednesday – and will likely release them to Barack Obama at the event, CNN confirms.

Two Democratic sources say the Clinton reception will take place at 1:15 p.m. MT, before that evening’s roll call vote.

"It’s an opportunity for Senator Clinton to see her delegates — many for the first time since the primaries ended, thank them for their hard work and support, and most importantly to encourage them to support and work for Senator Obama as strongly as she has in order to elect him in November," said Clinton spokesman Philippe Reines.

The timing of Clinton’s official call had been one of the final unresolved questions surrounding the Democratic convention, following the announcement earlier this month that the New York senator’s name would be placed in nomination, and the Sunday morning decision of the Credentials Committee to seat the Florida and Michigan delegations at full voting strength.

Clinton had long pressed for both states to have their full voting privileges restored; a few weeks ago, at a fundraiser, she seemed to suggest that placing her name in nomination at the convention in Denver might provide a “catharsis” for some of her supporters.

Clinton has been informed she will not be Obama's VP.

(CNN) – Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama has ruled out Senator Hillary Clinton as his vice presidential running mate, a senior Democratic official told CNN on Friday night.

Clinton — Obama's main rival during the primary season — has been informed by Obama's campaign that she is not his choice to be his vice presidential candidate, the source said.

Obama has already made his decision, say sources.

(CNN) – Sen. Barack Obama called some people on his short-list for the vice presidential slot Thursday night to tell them he had not selected them as running mate, a highly placed Democratic party source told CNN.

The source did not say which people got the call.

Obama has told some other potential running mates over the last few weeks that he would not be choosing them.

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(CNN) — Fred Baron, the finance chairman for the John Edwards presidential campaign, said in a Friday statement that he paid to help the woman Edwards had an extramarital affair with, and the former aide who was the alleged father of her child, move out of the former North Carolina senator’s home state.

“I decided independently to help two friends and former colleagues rebuild their lives when harassment by supermarket tabloids made it impossible for them to move forward on their own,” he said of his efforts to aid Rielle Hunter and Andrew Young.

“I did this of my own volition without the instruction or suggestion of anyone, and made a conscious decision not to tell anyone, including John Edwards, that assistance was provided,” he added. “The assistance was offered and accepted without condition. This is now and shall always remain a private matter between these individuals and me.”

Hunter and Young lived separately at an upscale development in Chapel Hill, and later in Santa Barbara, California.

Michelle Obama will be surrounded by a team of veteran aides.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Barack Obama’s presidential campaign is planning to beef up the team surrounding his wife Michelle Obama, to give her the kind of professional campaign veterans experienced in rapid response to negative attacks – the kind of staff that is usually only seen around an actual candidate, according to a senior aide.

The move is meant to address concerns within the campaign that Michelle Obama will be the target of significant attacks from conservatives this year. Their pre-emptive response is a team that one aide says is unprecedented in presidential politics. According to multiple aides, this team will work with Mrs. Obama to modify her stump speech — in part to include more stories from the voters she met during the primary season — in a bid to counter criticism by some conservatives that she is out of touch.

Former Kerry campaign Communications Director Stephanie Cutter has already been tapped as Mrs. Obama’s chief of staff, and additional staff will be hired in the coming weeks.

Aides say they expect Mrs. Obama to make occasional campaign stops over the next several weeks — including roundtables with military wives, and a womens’ event next week – before hitting the trail full time around July 4.

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Clinton and Obama are set to make their first post-primary season appearance next week.

(CNN) — Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama will make a joint public appearance next week for the first time since she ended her White House bid.

Clinton's national finance director, Jonathan Mantz, sent top donors an invitation Tuesday for a June 26 meeting in Washington, D.C. featuring both former rivals. Mantz also asked Clinton donors to show unity by giving Obama $2,300, the maximum donation allowable under federal campaign finance laws.

He added that Clinton "will do everything she can to unify the party and to elect Barack Obama the next President of the United States."

(CNN) — Ellen Malcom, founder of Emily's List and a major Clinton supporter, met with Obama campaign manager David Plouffe at campaign headquarters in Chicago Tuesday.

Malcom, who has warned Obama publicly that he has to do more work to attract blue-collar women, told CNN the meeting included Emily's List Executive Director Ellen Moran and Obama's deputy campaign manager Steve Hildebrand. She also said it lasted more than an hour, and was "great."

Several weeks ago, Malcolm released an angry statement terming NARAL's decision to endorse Obama over Hillary Clinton "tremendously disrespectful." Less than two weeks ago, she sent an e-mail to supporters in which she spoke positively of Obama, but said she was not quite over her "anger and grief" at Clinton's loss.

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WASHINGTON (CNN) — The news of Patti Solis Doyle’s hire by Barack Obama is not being well-received by many of those close to the New York senator and by former members of her campaign team, according to a longtime adviser, a top campaign staffer and several major donors.

Doyle, long rumored to be in talks with the Obama team about a position on the Illinois senator’s presidential campaign, was officially named the chief of staff for Obama’s future vice presidential pick on Monday.

According to one longtime adviser, the move is being seen by many of those close to Clinton as a message she will not be Obama’s vice presidential pick.

An aide to Obama insists the hire should not be read as indication of who their choice will be.

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Obama celebrated with Clinton supporters Wednesday night.

(CNN) — In what may be a sign the Democratic Party is already unifying behind Barack Obama, the Illinois senator celebrated his presidential primary victory Tuesday night with several of Hillary Clinton's supporters.

According to one participant, Minnesota City Council member Gary Schiff, Obama spent approximately 30 minutes with some of the New York senator’s most prominent backers in Minnesota, including elected officials, local activists, and fundraisers. A second source confirms the event was organized by St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, who is a co-chairman of Clinton's campaign.

Obama posed for pictures and promised to visit the state early and often as he now turns his attention to the general election and John McCain.

Sen. Clinton speaks at a Cuban social club, in Carolina, Puerto Rico, May 25.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (CNN) — Sen. Hillary Clinton is spending her second straight weekend campaigning in Puerto Rico before the island territory's June 1 primary. It could be one of her last chances to boost her popular vote total.

For Clinton, it's a family affair — with both husband Bill and daughter Chelsea making the rounds.

"Chelsea and I and Hillary have now been to 42 of Puerto Rico's municipalities campaigning for the votes of the people of Puerto Rico," Bill Clinton said Thursday.

"She represents more Puerto Ricans than anyone in the world except someone who is elected here. Send the message back to the mainland on Sunday that Puerto Rico deserves to be considered and its potential is unlimited if only you had a genuine partner in the White House," he added.

She's counting on a strong showing on Sunday. With 55 delegates up for grabs Tuesday, it's the last big prize before the primaries end.

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