ROBERT GIBBS PRESS BRIEFING
April 28th
Transcript from the WH website. Just the relevant questions included. He doesn’t know anything, barry was furious, it’s Caldera’s fault, going to conduct a review while they watch the fall out. The press let him off easy. Surprise. He says every briefing he doesn’t know and that he will get back to them - does he?
Q Thank you. Two unrelated things. On the plane flyover yesterday, does the President think that it’s an appropriate use of government funds –
MR. GIBBS: No.
Q — at this sort of belt-tightening times to update those promotional photos?
MR. GIBBS: No.
Q Do you know how much was spent on that?
MR. GIBBS: I don’t have an exact amount. Obviously I think there have been — Congress has looked into the cost of operating Air Force One, and GAO reports that I would point you to.
The President has directed Jim Messina, the Deputy Chief of Staff here, to conduct a review as to how the decision was made to conduct the flight, to understand — to understand, as I said, why that decision was made, and to ensure that it never happens again. And the President will look at that review and take any appropriate steps after that.
Read: barry’s gonna wait to see what the press does and the public outcry before he decides to let Caldera “resign”.
Q I want to follow up on two of Jennifer’s questions. One, when it comes to the Director of the White House Military Office, Mr. Caldera, does the President have any concerns that this decision he made, that he took responsibility for, indicates a lack of judgment that might make him improper to keep holding that post?
MR. GIBBS: Well, as you mentioned, Mr. Caldera took responsibility for this. I think it’s been characterized that the President was furious upon learning of this decision. And that’s why he’s asked the Deputy Chief of Staff to undertake a review in order to understand how the decision was made and to ensure that it doesn’t happen again, and based on that, will take steps from there.
I think…it has been characterized…doesn’t he talk directly to barry? Wouldn’t he know exactly how he felt about?
Q And in terms of the cost of the plane incident yesterday, can you — actually, you pointed to the GAO reports, but can the White House provide, you know, A, how much it did cost, since the President has been making government spending such an important priority; and secondly, a manifest of who else was on that plane? Were there any non-military people on the plane?
MR. GIBBS: I’m told that — keep in mind this was a — this was two training missions that, in the end, became a picture mission, which the President having quite clearly called today a mistake and one that he will ensure doesn’t happen again. Because this was a training mission, the only people on that plane were Air Force personnel.
So he knows enough to know who was on the plane but nothing else. And here comes typical Gibbs sarcasm when he gets pressed on something he doesn’t want to answer. He’s like a 6th grader.
Q So in terms of the cost, will you provide what the cost was?
MR. GIBBS: I would point to your reports — I haven’t been in a cabin — there’s not like a taxi meter, so I don’t know how much –
Q You can presumably figure out how much gasoline is used and –
MR. GIBBS: I would point you to those reports to give you a sense of how much the plane — how much people have said it costs an hour to operate.
Yes, sir.
MR. GIBBS: Can you get the crossword puzzle now?
Q Back to the Air Force One flyover. Mr. Caldera said he takes full responsibility, and I just wonder what that means as a practical matter. The President has said, we hear, that he was furious. Apparently this guy was chewed out by the Chief of Staff. But what does it mean as a -
MR. GIBBS: I have firsthand knowledge that the President was furious.
Q Okay, fair enough. So he’s furious, this was a mistake –
MR. GIBBS: I wasn’t at the meeting, but I think we can all rest assured that we weren’t at that meeting with the Chief of Staff.
Q Right. So in any event, what’s the practical result of his taking responsibility? Some have suggested he should lose his job.
MR. GIBBS: Well, I think that’s why — I think the President has rightly asked that a review of the situation and the decision-making be undertaken so that we can have a better understanding of why that decision might have been made.
Q Is firing a potential outcome of that review?
MR. GIBBS: Well, I don’t — I think our course would be to conduct the review before something like that is determined.
Q Yes, back to the flyover. What was the — who made the –
MR. GIBBS: I’m going down to a B-plus, just FYI.
Go ahead.
Q Who made the decision, and what was the rationale for not informing the public?
MR. GIBBS: Well, I think the statement that was put out yesterday denotes that Mr. Caldera made the decision.
Q Including not informing the public?
MR. GIBBS: I will — I honestly don’t know the answer to that. I can look into it. I know some, as I think some of the stories mention, there were people in the area that were notified of the existence of the flight.
He knows barry was furious and he knows who was on the plane but he doesn’t know anything else. Why was barry furious?
Q But those are the authorities, not the general public.
MR. GIBBS: Some of them — right, right. No, I understand, I understand.
Q Did it come out of the White House budget then, if Caldera made the decision?
MR. GIBBS: I think — I don’t know where the operating budget for Air Force One is. I presume it’s out of the Air Force.
[...]
MR. GIBBS: Well, look, I think — not surprisingly, I doubt I’m going to enumerate them. But I think anybody is hard-pressed to look back over a significant period of time like 99 or a hundred days and think you wouldn’t have done some things differently. I’ve mentioned a decision today that the President would have made quite differently than was made in this White House. I think it is safe to say that the President spends some time each day reflecting on what’s been done here in the course of any given day, and has asked us and asks himself to figure out how he can do what he does better.
Why does barry think he is separate from the White House? And why is the press letting him get away with it? What are the chances it will be brought up tonite?
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POTUS doesn’t know about low-flying planes in NYC??
White House Dir Military Office, Louis Caldera re: Air Force 1 flyover
Sen Schumer re: Air Force 1 flyover (video)
barry’s 24 words re: Air Force 1 flyover
Videos: Air Force 1 footage + fleeing observers
(4-27) Robert Gibbs re: Air Force 1 flyover
(4-28) Robert Gibbs re: Air Force 1 flyover
(4-29) Rudy Guiliani re: Air Force 1 flyover
