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Obama leaning towards support for TARP funds to pay for jobs bill.

Washington (CNN) - President Obama is leaning towards supporting a Congressional Democratic plan to craft a jobs bill by using untapped bailout funds, according to two senior officials familiar with the deliberations.

The officials stressed that no final decision has been made by the president, but they noted he is likely to flesh out more details on the emerging economic package next Tuesday during a speech at the Brookings Institution in Washington. This new package is expected to be much smaller than the original $787 billion stimulus plan because of cost concerns at a time of deep government deficits.

Democrats on Capitol Hill and at the White House are considering a jobs package that would include funding for infrastructure projects, direct lending to small businesses and aid to cash-strapped states.

Using the untapped TARP funds has become an attractive option for Democrats, because it would not increase the budget deficit since those funds are already allocated. Republicans have been attacking the president for already sharply increasing federal spending during his first year in office.

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Citing 'separation of powers,' the White House said Obama social secretary Desiree Rogers would not be testifying at Thursday's congressional hearing.

Washington (CNN) - The White House is being accused stonewalling as Congress investigates the party-crasher security breach at President Obama's first state dinner last week.

At issue: Whether the White House is protecting Social Secretary Desiree Rogers from testifying about how Tareq and Michaele Salahi were able to crash the first White House state dinner. The couple did not have an invite but were allowed in.

Rogers' office planned the dinner.

Members of Congress put pressure on Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan Friday for the grate crashing fiasco. Sullivan said his agency will take the heat for the incident.

"This is our fault and our fault alone," he said. "There's no other people to blame here. ... Look at me and blame me," he told the House Homeland Security Committee.

Lawmakers praised his candor, but bluntly declared that Rogers should be facing tough questions too.

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Related: White House 'stonewalling' on security breach, Republican says

(CNN) – Interesting how much President Obama sounds a bit like President Bush. Immediately, the president went to 9/11 at top of speech, talking about threat from al-Qaeda.

CNN's Ed Henry is traveling with President Obama in Asia.

SHANGHAI, China (CNN) - It was the sounds of Springsteen in Shanghai that clinched it for me: This was not your ordinary town hall meeting with President Obama.

Don't get me wrong, Bruce Springsteen is usually a staple at Democratic events in America, so I'm used to hearing the strands of songs like "Born to Run" blaring out of speakers at campaign events or health care forums back home.

But when I showed up a little early for Obama's town hall meeting here on Monday with Chinese college students at the extraordinary Shanghai Science and Technology Museum, the lyrics about New Jersey guys in muscle cars sweating it out "in the streets of a runaway American dream" seemed a little out of place:

"Sprung from cages out on Highway 9/Chrome wheeled, fuel injected and steppin' out over the line!"

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Tokyo (CNN) – In the first major shakeup among President Barack Obama's senior staff, White House Counsel Greg Craig is being pushed out in favor of veteran Democratic lawyer Bob Bauer because of a dispute over plans to close the U.S. military prison in Cuba, CNN has learned.

The move will be announced by the White House in the coming days, a senior administration official and a senior Democratic source confirmed. The sources said it could be announced as early as Friday while the president will be in Japan starting a four-nation tour of Asia, which would make it likely the staff change will be overshadowed by other events.

Craig declined to comment and hung up when reached by CNN late Thursday evening.

Bauer is the husband of Anita Dunn, the outgoing White House communications director. Dunn, who recently led a so-called "war" on Fox News, announced earlier this week that she is leaving her White House post, a long-anticipated move that was not connected to the media battle.

Democratic officials said Craig was ousted because of frustration among senior White House aides over his handling of the plans to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay. As the White House's top lawyer, Craig was pivotal in advising Obama to sign an executive order during his first week in office promising to shut the prison by the end of January 2010.

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A new poll shows bad news for Dodd.

Washington (CNN) – President Barack Obama announced Thursday that he will host a White House 'jobs forum' in December.

"Millions of Americans... are desperately searching for jobs," the president said in brief remarks at the White House, before leaving for an 8-day trip to Asia. The government has "an obligation to consider" every possible idea to generate new job growth, he said.

The forum will include representatives from business, organized labor, and academia, among other sectors, Obama added.

Unemployment has continued to climb in recent months, hitting a 26-year high of 10.2 percent in October.

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WASHINGTON (CNN)– White House National Security Adviser Retired Gen. Jim Jones issued a rare public statement Monday vehemently denying media reports suggesting President Obama has privately decided to send close to 40,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan, as tensions between the White House and Pentagon appear to be flaring up over exactly what the president will announce.

"Reports that President Obama has made a decision about Afghanistan are absolutely false," Jones, who generally keeps a low public profile, said in a prepared statement Monday night. "He has not received final options for his consideration, he has not reviewed those options with his national security team, and he has not made any decisions about resources. Any reports to the contrary are completely untrue and come from uninformed sources."

The statement was issued shortly after CBS News' veteran Pentagon Correspondent David Martin reported that Obama has "tentatively decided" to send four more combat brigades to Afghanistan and several thousand more support troops starting early next year. That would bring the total number of new troops to close to the 40,000 figure originally requested by Gen. Stanley McChrystal.

Two other senior administration officials flatly told CNN that the CBS report and other similar speculation is false. The Associated Press reported Monday that Obama is "nearing a decision to add tens of thousands more forces to Afghanistan, though not quite the 40,000 sought [by] his top general there."

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Washington (CNN) - White House National Security Adviser Retired Gen. Jim Jones issued a rare public statement Monday vehemently denying media reports suggesting President Obama has privately decided to send close to 40,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan, as tensions between the White House and Pentagon appear to be flaring up over exactly what the president will announce.

"Reports that President Obama has made a decision about Afghanistan are absolutely false," Jones, who generally keeps a low public profile, said in a prepared statement Monday night. "He has not received final options for his consideration, he has not reviewed those options with his national security team, and he has not made any decisions about resources. Any reports to the contrary are completely untrue and come from uninformed sources."

The statement was issued shortly after CBS News' veteran Pentagon Correspondent David Martin reported that Obama has "tentatively decided" to send four more combat brigades to Afghanistan and several thousand more support troops starting early next year. That would bring the total number of new troops to close to the 40,000 figure originally requested by Gen. Stanley McChrystal.

Two other senior administration officials flatly told CNN that the CBS report and other similar speculation is false. The Associated Press reported Monday that Obama is "nearing a decision to add tens of thousands more forces to Afghanistan, though not quite the 40,000 sought [by] his top general there."

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Washington (CNN) - As the White House braces for new numbers coming out Friday that could show unemployment has reached double digits, senior administration officials tell CNN the president is planning to quickly sign legislationjust passed by Congress that will offer up to 20 additional weeks of unemployment insurance.

The legislation that will be signed Friday morning also aims to stabilize the housing market with a one-time extension of the $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers. The bill also provides an additional tax cut for businesses still struggling in the uncertain economy.

The bill signing will come just three days after an off-year election in which voters in several key races said the sluggish economy was a major factor in their votes.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs called Tuesday's races in New Jersey and Virginia 'local elections.'

WASHINGTON (CNN) – White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs dismissed Democratic electoral defeats in New Jersey and Virginia as "two very local elections" that say nothing about President Barack Obama's standing with the American people right now.

"It's hard to pick national trends out of local elections," Gibbs told reporters at a Wednesday briefing just hours after incumbent Gov. Jon Corzine was knocked out despite Obama's two appearances in New Jersey on Sunday. Obama also had campaigned for Creigh Deeds, the Democratic candidate for governor in Virginia, who lost as well.

Gibbs noted that exit polls showed the number two issue in New Jersey was local property taxes, and claimed that and other data shows the gubernatorial races were decided on local issues "that did not involve the president."

But Gibbs was eager to tout Democrat Bill Owens' victory in the hotly contested House special election to represent New York's 23rd Congressional District. The press secretary noted that GOP officials "purged" the Republican candidate in the race to make way for Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman.
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Aides: Obama not watching election returns.

Washington (CNN) – President Obama is not planning to watch Tuesday nights election returns, Obama aides Robert Gibbs and David Axelrod tell CNN.

Obama is more likely to watch Tuesday night's Chicago Bulls game than any political coverage, according to Axelrod.

The president's senior staff have also decided not to hold a watch party to keep an eye on election returns as they come in.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs was spotted in workout clothes leaving the White House campus at 7 p.m. ET, just as polls were closing in Virginia. Axelrod told CNN he has a dinner outside the White House to attend.

Biden says he's not too interested in what Dick Cheney has to say.

Washington (CNN) – Vice President Biden on Friday fired back at criticism from his predecessor, former Vice President Cheney, that President Obama is "dithering" over his decision about whether to send up to 40,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan.

"I like Dick Cheney personally but I really don't care what Dick Cheney thinks and I'm not sure a lot of Americans do," Biden said in an exclusive interview with CNN. "Look at the policy they left us, look at the policy of neglect they left us in Afghanistan, look at the policy we inherited in terms of their foreign policy...I think the President is doing exactly what any president should do."

October has turned out to be the deadliest month of the war so far, and Biden said the president needs the appropriate time to get the strategy right. He said the situation on the ground has changed because the Taliban is "taking advantage of a chaotic election process that took place in Afghanistan."

Biden added, "Any thoughtful president should be sitting down saying, 'Okay what is the strategy we have to employ with these changed circumstances?' And then look at the tactic that will best accomplish that. The President has great faith in the military."

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Three White House officials say the President will come out to the Rose Garden at about 5:10 pm tonight to tout passage of Sen. Max Baucus' (D-Montana) health reform bill and try and inject some more urgency to the situation by urging supporting to keep pushing Congress to get the legislation through the final hurdles. The officials are marking it as a turning point for the President to get more personally involved in the final push.

The president and first lady made the pitch for Chicago 2016 Friday.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (CNN) – After flying through the night for seven hours aboard Air Force One, nobody would blame President Obama for a being at least slightly groggy when he arrived here in Copenhagen for a quick four hours to make the final pitch for Chicago to host the 2016 Olympics.

Maybe that explains why the president seemed to snag the silver medal - while First Lady Michelle Obama, who's been here a couple of days, cleary took the gold with an emotional speech focused on her family's roots in the the South Side of Chicago and her late father's battle with multiple sclerosis.

"Sports were a gift I shared with my dad - especially the Olympic Games," Mrs. Obama said in her portion of the U.S. delegation's final presentation to the International Olympic Committee here. "Some of my best memories are sitting on my dad's lap, cheering on Olga and Nadia, Carl Lewis, and others for their brilliance and perfection."

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Chicago-Rio Olympic battle 'close as hell'.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (CNN) - As First Lady Michelle Obama and talk show host Oprah Winfrey wrapped up a day of furious behind-the-scenes lobbying of International Olympic Committee members here, two sources close to the process tell CNN that the battle between Chicago and Rio is heating up, as the two cities battle to host the 2016 Summer Games.

Madrid and Tokyo are also in the running, but sources close the process said that Chicago and Rio have emerged as the clear frontrunners, and are neck and-neck ahead of President Obama's arrival early Friday for a presentation to the IOC's 105 members, who will be voting later that day.

After a flurry of private conversations among IOC officials here, one of the sources close to the process said bluntly that it's "close as hell" between Chicago and Rio, as both Obama and Brazilian President Lula da Silva plan to make personal appeals to the voters on behalf of their cities on Friday morning.

In a sign of just how ferocious the lobbying is, King Juan Carlos of Spain and new Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama are also making personal pitches to the IOC members.
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The president and first lady recently hosted a White House event to highlight Chicago's 2016 Olympic bid. They will be heading to Copenhagen the end of this week to lobby Olympic officials in person.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - First Lady Michelle Obama vowed Monday to "take no prisoners" as she and her husband launch an unprecedented bid for Chicago's 2016 Olympic bid.

"It's a battle - we're going to win - take no prisoners," Mrs. Obama said with a smile at a roundtable discussion with reporters in the White House State Dining Room.

Mrs. Obama compared the intense lobbying effort to the 2008 presidential campaign, noting that in the election campaign, a lot of voters made their decision in the final days. She said members of the International Olympic Committee may do the same.

"And our view is, we're not taking a chance," she said. "We're just not going to assume that the bids - that the decisions are made, and so that no matter what the outcome is, we'll feel as a country, as a team, that we've done everything that we can to bring it home."

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WASHINGTON (CNN) - As a health care reform bill sponsored by Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus got a cool reception from Republicans and some Democrats on Capitol Hill Wednesday, President Obama quietly held a White House meeting with two Senate sponsors of a rival health care proposal.

The meeting late Wednesday afternoon with Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden and GOP Sen. Bob Bennett was not on the President's public schedule, but senior administration officials confirmed it took place and characterized it as being part of Obama's ongoing effort to reach out to lawmakers in both parties. Wyden and Bennett have long pushed a bipartisan reform bill that would create state-run insurance exchanges through which consumers could select various plans, including their existing employer-sponsored plan.

Republicans officials privately contend the meeting, which came on the same day Baucus rolled out his plan, suggests the president is looking for alternative legislative vehicles that could attract GOP support as the clock continues to tick on the reform effort.

But senior administration officials sharply disputed that characterization, saying Wyden has been trying to get an audience for the legislation for some time, and the president has always intended to meet with the lawmakers. The officials said the timing of the meeting was coincidental to the Baucus unveiling, and that the president simply wants to continue reaching out to lawmakers in both parties who are serious about reform.
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Card, the former chief of staff to President Bush, said Friday he will not run for the vacant Massachusetts Senate seat.

(CNN) – Andy Card confirmed in a telephone interview with CNN late Friday he has decided not to run for the seat of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, and is encouraging state Sen. Scott Brown to run instead.

"I had done my due diligence and decided it was probably not in my best interest to run," said Card, former chief of staff in the Bush White House. "I'm disappointed but not unhappy."

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WASHINGTON (CNN) – President Barack Obama will travel to Minnesota on Saturday and attend a health care reform rally in Minneapolis. White House officials say that the trip will be part of a push to build momentum out of Obama's prime time address to a joint session of Congress tonight on health care refor