White House party crashers just like a good party

Michaele and Tareq Salahi like a good party, an attorney who knows them said today, and maybe that's why the couple from Virginia's horse country didn't look out of place at the White House state dinner for the Indian prime minister.

They were all smiles as they rubbed shoulders with Vice President Joe Biden, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty and CBS News anchor Katie Couric.

No one suspected the Salahis were a couple of brazen party crashers — and wannabe reality TV stars.

Read the full story here.

Obama telephones thanks to 10 U.S. service members

On his first Thanksgiving in the White House, President Obama telephoned 10 U.S. servicemen and women stationed in war zones to thank them for their service.

The White House said Obama called two service members each in the Army, Navy, Air Force, the Marines and the Coast Guard. The service members are stationed in Afghanistan, Iraq and the Arabian Gulf.

Obama was enjoying a quiet holiday at the White House with family and friends. The president is expected to announce on Tuesday a new battle plan for Afghanistan, including an increase in U.S. forces.

-- Associated Press

White House gate crashers

Crashing a state dinner at the White House apparently takes a security breakdown as well as some kind of nerve.

The Secret Service is looking into its own security procedures after determining that a Virginia couple, Michaele and Tareq Salahi, managed to slip into Tuesday night’s event even though they were not on the guest list, agency spokesman Ed Donovan said.

President Obama was never in any danger because the party crashers went through the same security screening for weapons as the 300-plus people actually invited to the dinner honoring Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Donovan said.

Donovan confirmed the identities of the couple. The Washington Post, which first reported on their evening out, said the Salahis were well known in the Virginia horse-country set and were being considered for the Bravo reality TV show "Real Housewives of D.C."

In an interview with the "CBS Early Show" in September, Michaele Salahi said, "President Obama has made it very accessible for anyone to visit the White House, so that’s like a big thing right now."

The CBS interview was part of a segment on potential candidates for "Real Housewives of D.C." but never  aired.

The Secret Service learned about the security breach Wednesday after a media inquiry prompted by the Salahis’ online boasts about having attended the private event, Donovan said.

One of the many photos from the dinner posted on Michaele Salahi’s Facebook page shows the couple with a smiling Vice President Joe Biden. In other photos, they appear alone or together with White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty, CBS News anchor Katie Couric, Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) and three Marines in their dress blues.

Donovan would not comment on whether the couple had been contacted by the Secret Service, how long they were on the White House grounds or other details of the investigation.

The Post said uninvited guests who got in could face a potential trespassing charge unless someone from inside the White House staff slipped them in.

Donovan would not comment on possible legal violations.

The agency’s Office of Professional Responsibility was reviewing what occurred. An initial finding indicated that a checkpoint did not follow proper procedures to ensure the two were on the guest list, Donovan said.

"It’s important to note that they went through all the security screenings — the magnetometer screening — just like all the other guests did," Donovan said. And, he added, Obama and others under Secret Service protection had their usual security details with them at the dinner.

-- Associated Press

 

Couple slips though security to crash state dinner

The Secret Service said it's looking into its own security procedures after determining that two people crashed Tuesday night's state dinner at the White House.

Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan said that President Obama was never in any danger. Donovan said the party crashers went through the same security screening as the 300-plus people invited to the dinner honoring Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Donovan said the Secret Service first learned about the security breach Wednesday morning after media inquiries prompted by the crashers' online boasts about having attended the private event.

The Washington Post reported that photos from the state dinner appear on the Facebook page of one of the dinner crashers.

-- Associated Press

Obama family distributes Thanksgiving treats

The Obama family is passing out turkeys, stuffing and other Thanksgiving favorites to people at a food pantry organization.

President Obama tucked pumpkin pies into people's bags at Martha's Table in downtown Washington on Wednesday evening and wished them a happy holiday.

Obama's two daughters, First Lady Michelle Obama and her mother, Marian Robinson, worked alongside the president, putting canned food, stuffing and fresh vegetables into bags. The president's mother-in-law also handed out bags with frozen turkeys.

Children who attend educational services at the organization designed some of the bags, which were printed with the words “Every bag counts.”

-- Associated Press

U.S. revises statement on land mine policy

The Obama administration is backtracking on an announcement that it had reviewed its policy allowing military use of land mines and decided to leave it in place.

On Tuesday, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said the administration had completed a review and decided not to sign a treaty banning land mines.

But in a statement Wednesday, Kelly said that there had been only a partial review concerning who would represent the United States at a conference on the international Mine Ban Treaty next week in Cartegena, Colombia.

Kelly said the administration is still looking at its overall policy. The new statement follows criticism by Democratic Sen. Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont.

More than 150 countries have agreed to the treaty's provisions to end the production, use, stockpiling and trade of mines.

-- Associated Press

Free to good home: carrier John F. Kennedy

The U.S. Navy plans to give away the retired aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy for a museum or memorial.

The ship is docked in Philadelphia with other retired warships.

The Navy says the deadline for submitting initial applications is Jan. 22. Bidders have to be a government or nonprofit group that pledges to use the ship as a museum or memorial. The winner gets the ship for free, but will be responsible for moving the 1,050-foot vessel from Philadelphia to its new home.

Known as “Big John,” the ship was the last conventionally powered aircraft carrier built by the Navy. It once carried a crew of about 4,600 and 70 combat aircraft. It entered Navy service in September 1968 and was decommissioned in 2007.

-- Associated Press

Pro-immigration reform PACs growing in influence

For the first time, pro-immigration forces are raising more political donations than their immigration-control counterparts.

Two new political action committees that support allowing some illegal immigrants to become citizens have raised more money this election cycle than established groups that back enforcement-only policies. Experts say it could signal a larger shift in the flow of contributions.

And it's happening just as the immigration debate starts to heat up again ahead of next year's congressional elections.

Advocates of immigration control say their fund-raising has slowed to a trickle as donors have been discouraged by the fact that Democrats control Congress and the White House.

-- Associated Press

BLM delays Nevada horse roundup to allow appeals

The Bureau of Land Management has postponed a planned roundup of thousands of wild horses in Nevada because of a lawsuit and to allow time for appeals of its decision.

BLM spokeswoman JoLynn Worley in Reno confirmed today that the roundup set to begin Dec. 7 has been delayed until Dec. 28.

Worley says the agency still plans to issue a formal decision Tuesday on its plan to round up 2,700 horses from the range 100 miles north of Reno. It's part of a plan to remove more than 30,000 horses from federal lands in the West to deal with soaring numbers of the animals and the growing costs to manage them.

The group In Defense of Animals filed a lawsuit Monday seeking to block the action and challenging the use of helicopters in roundups.

-- Associated Press

Obama finds 'Courage' and pardons the turkey

Following a tradition that dates from the first Bush administration, President Obama today pardoned a turkey, giving a bird named Courage a new lease on life and a chance to go to Disneyland.

Flanked by his daughters, Malia and Sasha, Obama issued the official pardon for the bird donated by the National Turkey Federation, a tradition that goes back to the Truman administration.

“There are certain days that remind me of why I ran for this office and then there are moments like this when I pardon a turkey and send it to Disneyland,” Obama said.

“But every single day I am thankful for the extraordinary responsibility that the American people have placed in me. I am humbled by the privilege that it is to serve them,” the president said.

Obama related how turkeys have been coming to the White House since Truman, though Presidents Eisenhower and Johnson reportedly ate theirs. It was the first President Bush who issued the first formal pardon of a turkey.

It was initially a jocular scene as Obama recounted how with the pardon and other donations, jobs had been created for four turkeys by his administration, which has made job creation a key focus and whose accounting practices have come under increasing scrutiny.

“Today all told, I think it is fair to say we have saved or created four turkeys,” Obama said to chuckles.

-- Michael Muskal

Twitter.com/LATimesmuskal

Photo: A turkey named Courage spends the night at a Washington hotel before going to the White House this morning, where President Obama pardoned him. Credit: Jason Horowitz / Washington Post

Poll: Americans now say they favor troop increase in Afghanistan

Americans in recent weeks have shifted their view about what to do in Afghanistan, with more saying they favor an increase in U.S. troops, Gallup reported today.

Despite the change, however, Americans remain deeply split, with less than half saying they would support President’s Obama’s decision to increase the U.S. presence in the war, now in its ninth year.

Obama will announce his decision on how many more troops he will order to Afghanistan next week. The speech to the nation on Tuesday will also lay out his priorities for the mission in Afghanistan.

According to Gallup, 47% of Americans said they would advise Obama to increase the number of U.S. troops, while 39% said they would advise Obama to reduce U.S. involvement. Another 9% would opt to leave troop levels as they are, while 5% said they have no opinion.

The same questions asked earlier this month found Americans leaning to the troop reduction option 44% to 42%.

In a rare public display, the military has made it known that the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, has asked for 40,000 troops to supplement the 68,000 already committed. NATO has more than 40,000 troops in Afghanistan.

Obama is weighing several options, but all include increasing the number of U.S troops and trainers. NATO is also expected to increase its commitment, though the Afghanistan war is increasingly unpopular.

Republicans have criticized Obama for taking months to decide the next step in his policy on Afghanistan and have strongly backed the military’s request for a large surge. The Gallup poll found that the majority of Republicans favor a buildup while the majority of Democrats say they favor a reduction of troops. Political independents tilt more toward the Republican position.

--Michael Muskal

Twitter.com/LATimesmuskal

Poll shows Obama losing white approval

Fewer than 40% of non-Hispanic whites approve of the job that President Obama is doing, according to the latest data reported today by Gallup.

With Obama’s approval rating slipping below 50%, Gallup reported that support had fallen sharply among non-Hispanic whites, to 39% from 61% during the president’s first full week in office that ended Feb. 1.

Obama’s support among non-whites also fell during that period, from 80% to 73%.

Overall, Obama’s approval among adults fell from 66% during his first week to the current 49%.

African Americans continue to strongly support Obama. Their support for the first African American president has averaged 93% during Obama’s time in office and has regularly been above 90%, Gallup reported.

-- Michael Muskal

Twitter.com/LATimesmuskal

Sarah Palin says something smells fishy

Only dead fish go with the flow, Sarah Palin has said, explaining her surprise resignation as governor of  Alaska -- and some Trump perfume can go a long way in masking the odor.

In an interview for Fox's "On the Record," the second part of which will air tonight, Palin talks about the two times she's stood in line to see a celebrity. Once was for football star Herschel Walker, and the other time was when Ivana Trump came to a J.C. Penney in Anchorage to pitch a perfume.

"I happened to be in the store, stood in line, had her sign whatever she was signing and then turned around and there was a reporter asking me, why are you standing in line to see her? And I said, 'Because up here in Alaska, well, one, we -- a lot of us, you know, we smell like salmon' -- we'd just got off the salmon season -- salmon year round," Palin says.

Read more in The Swamp: Palin: 'A lot of us... smell like salmon'  

-- Mark Silva

Interior: Oil and gas lease plans include Alaska

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says the government has scheduled 38 oil and natural gas lease sales for public lands next year, including one in Alaska's National Petroleum Reserve.

The proposed Alaska sale would be the first in two years in the Alaska reserve, where environmentalists are seeking permanent protection from oil and gas drilling.

Salazar called the planned Alaska sale evidence that the Obama administration is pursuing a balanced approach to energy production, despite criticism from Republicans and some oil and gas companies that officials have not done enough to open up public lands for energy use.

Salazar said oil, gas and coal will continue to play an important role in the nation's energy mix, along with wind, solar, geothermal and other renewable sources.

-- Associated Press

Obama, Singh agree to make greater effort to fight terrorism

Praising India’s prime minister as a man of peace, President Obama today called for greater efforts from all nations in the region, including Pakistan, to fight terrorism.

At a joint news conference after about two hours of private talks, Obama and  Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said they had agreed that their security officials would share information in the fight against terrorism.

Obama announced he would soon address the United States on Afghanistan and was confident that, after he explained the rationale for his new policy, the American people would back a decision to ensure that enough resources were available to deal with the war.

He refused to give any further details on how many more troops he would authorize for Afghanistan.

“It is my intention to finish the job," Obama said of Afghanistan.

Terrorism is a complicated issue in the region, given India’s longstanding problems with terrorists based in Pakistan. It was just a year ago that India’s commercial capital of Mumbai was the target of a series of bombing and shooting attacks.

“We both recognize that our core goal is to achieve peace and security for all peoples in the region," Obama said, referring to himself and Singh, "not just one country or the other.”

Singh is on a state visit to Washington, the first for the Obama administration. Obama said he would visit India next year.

The pair also discussed a joint effort to improve science education and a range of other issues, economic and political, such as global warming and curbing the spread of nuclear weapons.

--M ichael Muskal

Twitter.com/LATimesmuskal

Photo: President Obama walks with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to a joint press conference in the East Room of the White House. Credit: Olivier Douliery /Abaca Press/MCT

Three airlines fined in Minnesota tarmac stranding

Federal officials are fining three airlines a total of $175,000 for their role in the stranding of passengers overnight on an airport tarmac in Rochester, Minn., this summer.

The Department of Transportation said it fined Continental Airlines and its regional airline partner ExpressJet a combined $100,000 for their part in the stranding of Continental Express Flight 2816 on Aug. 8.

The DOT also said in a statement it had fined Mesaba Airlines, a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines.

Flight 2816 was en route from Houston to Minneapolis carrying 47 passengers when thunderstorms forced it to divert to Rochester. The airport closed, and a Mesaba employee refused to open the terminal for the stranded passengers.

-- Associated Press

Ensign's affair is said to have been revealed in text message

A Nevada man whose wife had an affair with Sen. John Ensign said he discovered the relationship after intercepting a text message around Christmas in 2007.

“How wonderful it is. ... Scared, but excited,” it read.

Doug Hampton recounted the text message during an interview taped for broadcast Monday night on ABC's “Nightline.” The interview covered a lot of ground already made public since Ensign, R-Nev., admitted to the extramarital affair in June, but provided new details about how the affair was discovered as well as the senator's reaction when Hampton confronted him.

Obama to address nation on Afghanistan

Ending months of review, President Obama is expected to address the nation next week to explain his policy on Afghanistan.

The president is expected to announce how many more troops will be sent to Afghanistan, now in its ninth year of war. The United States has authorized 68,000 troops for fighting and training, while NATO has committed 40,000.

Obama will decide whether to send as many as 40,000 more troops, as requested by the military, or to pick one of several options with fewer personnel.

NATO is also expected to send more people, with between 3,000 to 10,000 trainers and troops expected.

But perhaps more than the number of troops, it is the shape of the U.S. role in Afghanistan that is at stake in Obama’s policy re-evaluation, which began in September.

The issue is whether the United States should concentrate on counterinsurgency, fighting the resurgent Taliban to stop it from using the nation as a safe haven for Al Qaeda,  or whether the United States should concentrate on training Afghan forces to deal with the Taliban, coupled with more aid to help bring the country into the 21st century.

Obama has signaled that he believes that it is important to do both.

In speeches, Obama has made it clear that he considers the fight against terrorism to be crucial but that the battle against Al Qaeda is in Pakistan, where the terror group fled after the Taliban was deposed.

But Obama has also argued that the United States and its allies must improve the situation within Afghanistan, meaning more aid and training personnel for the current  government of Hamid Karzai, just re-elected president amid widespread reports of fraud and corruption.

Some American officials have raised questions about Karzai’s ability to govern and to fight the Taliban. Most notable has been U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry.

Another issue is the cost of sending more troops and what that would mean for the federal deficit. In the latest full discussion among national security advisers, Peter Orszag, director of the Office of Management and Budget, participated for the first time.

There are also political issues. Republicans have argued that Obama should grant the military all that it wants while liberal Democrats have raised questions about how much longer Obama intends to stay in Afghanistan.

-- Michael Muskal

Twitter.com/LATimesmuskal

Related:

Obama's Afghanistan decision: Tune in next week

Obama announcement on Afghan plan could come as early as next Tuesday

Indian prime minister arrives for state visit

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was formally welcomed to the White House this morning, kicking off a state visit that will be long on ceremony, though key issues such as terrorism and global warming are to be discussed.

In greeting the prime minister, President Obama said it was fitting that India would be the first nation honored with a formal state visit, a gesture designed to heighten the close ties between the country.

Obama also cited the close relationship between the countries going back to the founding of India after World War II. It is Singh’s second state visit; he also visited with President George Bush.

Obama and Singh are scheduled to meet this morning to discuss issues including Afghanistan and Pakistan, the fight against terrorism, global warming, economic development and nuclear proliferation.

Singh will be the guest of honor tonight at a state dinner.

The televised welcoming ceremony had been scheduled for outdoors but was moved inside the White House because of foul weather. Singh and Obama stood before photographers and television cameras in the East Room as a Marine band played the national anthem of each country.

Obama called the ties between the U.S. and India “one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century.”

“Your visit at this pivotal moment in history speaks to the opportunity before us to build the relationship between our nations,” Obama said.

Singh said India and the U.S. are bound by democracy, “rule of law and respect for fundamental human freedoms.”

He said he was optimistic about the future of the U.S.-Indian relationship and is looking for a “strategic partnership of global dimensions.”

-- Michael Muskal

Twitter.com/LATimesmuskal  

Photo:  President Obama and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during the first state visit during the  Obama presidency. Credit: Olivier Douliery /Abaca Press/MCT

U.S. to present emissions target in Copenhagen

The United States, under pressure from other nations as one of the world’s largest greenhouse gas polluters, will present a target for reducing carbon dioxide emissions at next month’s climate conference in Copenhagen, Obama administration officials said today.

The development came as the European Union urged the United States and China to deliver greenhouse gas emissions targets at the long-anticipated summit, saying their delays were hindering global efforts to curb climate change.