last two days, or perhaps to questions. .. >> are you going to sign any

bans. and i haven't made any decisions yet. i managed overdub past month to have some conversations about what my future might look like and i am excited by some of the possibilities. i am sure you guys will be among first to know. let me -- i will -- it is not my last briefing and i will probably have a few more polished things to say at some point before i go, but off the cuff i wanted to thank the president, the vice president, first lady, joe biden, chief staff i had the privilege to work with including dennis

mcdonald and everyone here. there will be another time for more of that. found it has been an amazing experience. so fulfilling and i said as we surprise some folks in here in the minutes before i came out, that probably the best part of its is in mid flight you don't often make a whole new set of friends, not just friends but people you would fight by and for under any circumstance and that is certainly what i have been lucky enough to get over the past 5-1/2 years so it has been a privilege and continues to be a privilege and every day, it has been a privilege. more often than not, people say to me you have the hardest job or one of the hardest jobs and i am not saying it is easy

everyday but i loved it. it is an important interactions that takes place here. is not always pretty. it could certainly be better but to be a part of it is an honor and a joy for me and no matter how tough the briefing is i walk out of here having been glad to stand here so with that like i said i will take more questions and talk about me that i, also take questions on other subjects if you so desire. >> i can assure you that my family, having won me back -- >> april? >> yes, ma'am?

>> what you said -- what have you learned through your sense that here in d.c. you could look another way and over it there and over here in the administrative profession what have you learned and what could you tell us to better work with you as we continue our job? >> i don't think i want to have everybody sit here and hear me of time on this subject but i am sure we will be seeing each other over its next couple weeks and beyond and i will have a few things to say about how i view this job and the interaction that takes place in here and around this building and hopefully some of the things i say will resonate somewhere.

i don't think today is the day. i think today i want to just focus on how pleased i am that josh is going to succeed me and how honored i feel still to have this job. >> congratulations. can i ask you about something secretary shinseki said in his speech this morning? he said he was too trusting of some and accurate reports that i now know were misleading with regard to patients wait times. doesn't that suggest the president needs to do more than just accept the resignation of the secretary? perhaps there are other top-level officials in the department who need to go? people inside various facilities around the country, cleaning house might be in order? >> i think that secretary babbitt and announce today a

process he was initiating, going to be dealing with directly, specific individuals, will be held accountable specific individuals. i think what you heard the president say was pretty clear, where there is misconduct there ought to be consequences and punishment and he feels strongly about that. there is an active investigation underway by the independent ig, an independent review that is not yet complete that secretary babbitt and initiated and the broader review the rob neighbors is conducting. i know the president believes holding people accountable is important and he expects that to take place. it is taking place. he also believes the first and most important mission those that vote the a and that he has as president is to ensure that

the primary focus remains on providing benefits and services to our veterans and for the sake of that, to fix problems that have delayed the provision of those benefits to our veterans so again, what secretary shinseki said included actions he is initiating when it comes to personal. i wouldn't suggest that activity is over. i wouldn't know there are active investigations going on so the focus still has to be primarily on making sure we are getting the services we need and longer-term the reforms we need to make the system work better. >> the president believes that there needs to be a cleaning of

the house? >> it is a cliche but i am saying i think specifically that relates to specific individuals and actions they may omega have taken and his conduct the mayor may not taken place was a the terry shinseki believes action at a personal level has been warranted, he is taking it, he himself because he did not want to serve as a distraction from the important work that need to be done submitted his resignation, the president accepted is and under the acting director or acting secretary the president expects the ig investigation to continue, the review to continue and for any misconduct to be met with consequences. as the va focuses on its core mission which is providing services and benefits to our veterans. >> at the meeting at the white house this morning in the oval office was the just the

president and a secretary in that room? >> robb was in the meeting as well. >> was he in there as well? >> see if we can get a manifest. i know the president -- i am not holding back. it is not my last briefing but i confess i am not sure. robb was in the room. we will find out for you. i know the president said today to you that he met after that with the new acting director who is currently the deputy director. i keep saying director, deputy secretary and the active secretary. i don't know if it was all at the same time. >> only because i don't believe we have actually an cameras this week about what happened in

santa barbara last weekend. i am sure you have seen the comments of richard martinez, one of the fathers of the victims, the comments he has made publicly he has said he does not care about members of congress calling in to offer condolences, he doesn't care for their sympathies, get to work and do something, i will tell the president this same thing, i'm getting a call from a politician doesn't impress me. does the president have a message to the families out there? does he plan on visiting with those families? >> a horrific, heartbreaking, and another in a series of horrific, are breaking incidents and thoughts and prayers of the president and first lady and everyone here are with the families of those who were

killed and wounded. obviously what happened in santa barbara work outside santa barbara is under investigation and all of the elements of it remained under investigation. as a broader matter you know the president's you. there are things we can and should do as a nation to reduce gun violence. there are things congress can and should do, fully consistent with second amendment rights the president supports that can reduce gun violence. he was explicitly disappointed in the failure of congress to take action on a measure that was entirely consistent with second amendment rights that he supports that would have simply extended background checks and made the system more comprehensive and effective.

he has acted on every item, the administration has, contained within the brief provided on measures that can be taken administratively to help address this challenge can understand the reason i pointed out we need to set aside the specifics of this incident, we all acknowledge and accept the actions we can take administratively, actions congress can take will not eliminate all violence, war all gun violence or any necessarily specific incident that occurred but they are the right thing to do and they get are fully consistent with our second amendment rights. >> congratulations. when did the white house find out he was going to -- did white house officials put any direct pressure on in?

>> and won't get into internal back-and-forth. obviously this is something we have been paying close attention to. the president asked for and received the preliminary report from the secretary this morning and that is when the secretary offered his resignation. >> did he know coming in that that was going to happen? >> i will leave it at that. it is obviously something the president feels very strongly about and that is the unique goodness of secretary shinseki, not just his resume but his quality as a person and i think it shows, the president feels the action he took today reflects that he once again, as he has for years and decades put

others ahead of himself, put the mission ahead of his personal situation end the president has accused reservoir of admiration for shinseki. >> one other topic, on monday that epa will announce new limits for existing power plants, we in this and the president will not be involved in the announcement of that. this is the biggest part of his climate action plan, why would he not be involved? >> kind of knucklehead. the president talked about this a lot. he will give a weekly address on it. he will be talking about it in a conference call that reporters will come on. this is an epa rules that the epa chief will announce that i don't think -- on monday. on monday my trusty advisers tell me. >> gene mccarthy? >> i think we on this and he is

proud to own it because he believes carbon pollution is essential for the health and welfare of our children and the future of our nation. he believes that we can make ourselves more energy independent as well as address the issue of climate change in a way that enhances economic progress and quality of the lives of all americans, so again he is giving a weekly address on it and he will be discussing it in a conference call monday. broderick. >> congratulations. nancy pelosi on the table this morning said she hoped the white house would get a replacement in a speedy fashion. can you talk about list that you got presumably? >> and won't do that now. violating all those principles. >> what kind of person i you looking for?

watch dog? investigator tight? >> as the president said it is very very important that we move quickly to identify, nominate and get confirmed a new secretary. i wouldn't want to restrict the search by laying out parameters of what the qualification for the right person might look like. there are a variety of ways to go and hopefully a number of truly qualified individuals who will be interested in being considered but beyond that i certainly don't have a list together, we just want to move expeditiously. >> you have one, don't you? >> we do not characterize the personnel process. it certainly i have to say, small pleasure that we are able

to come out here today having run a process and surprised a few people, doesn't happen all the time, chuck. >> the president in explaining the problems of the va sounded a familiar theme he did during hhs and the gao which is that it is a systemic bureaucratic issues, helping technology in one place. in another case, there wasn't enough manpower over here and another case middle management not getting the issue to the top and my question is when ig reports or stuff gets percolated out we find out that is the reason as far as the president is concerned. that essentially if there was any department that we spent 10 days scrutinizing to find out is just as mismanaged, this technology each identified at hhs that he identified to the va

is systemic around government and if that is the case is it time to do something about the management of government? >> i will say a couple things. one, as you know the president does have a reorganization of management initiative that he has urged congress to work with him on and i wonder if you to talk to some folks in congress to see how eager they are to take up reforms but let's go back. mark inflating a couple things. the challenges the creation of a new enterprise around the base the a and healthcare.gov word technology and procurement issues and management issues that went around that. issues related to the va are not related to the development of a new initiative or web site, they

are more about a problem with capacity and management. the capacity problem, there isn't enough capacity to serve efficiently the veterans who are seeking benefits and certain medical facilities and a management problem and potentially management misconduct when the truce about that challenge is not being accurately reported. as it should be. so at least that is -- those of the findings of the ig and the secretary. so what is true is when these kinds of things are identified and they are as severe as we have learned they are at the va decisive action needs to be taken and that is what secretary shinseki initiated a you seen the president insisted upon. >> we had ig reports going on in this issue, specific issue going

back to 2004, something brought up in the transition in 2008, something that was brought up that wasn't working in 2011 and in 2012 so the question is this is not a new problem, this was not a surprise. the irs was a surprise, this is not a surprise. is there anyone in the white house that is able to find out what is going on at these agencies, double check particularly on veterans affairs that is sort of on top of this going we had a series of ig reports, can you give us a status update? how does that work? >> those are good questions. specifically the issue around what was known and where did that information go and that is what secretary shinseki was talking about today and this morning and what sounded particularly troubling, that individuals below him in management who he depended on to

give an accurate information with disappointing to him and that is certainly not tenable when you are trying to run a significant organization like the va that has such an important mission which is providing services and benefits to americans who have earned them, in most cases are many cases under the most difficult circumstances. fighting the lot of this remains under investigation or subject of inquiry. but the fact is we have to stay focused on taking steps to ensure those veterans who have been identified, on waiting lists for too long and not on the official waiting lists are taken care of and we have to identify similar challenges and remedys in medical centers across the country where they

exist. the process of finding out where the management problems weren't any misconduct was is on going in the review conducted by the secretary. >> you brought up the review of the technology aegis and reorganizing government, tell us where does it stand? that you did unveil way back in 2009. >> so i don't think it is a surprise you, you're a veteran here, trying to change and consolidate and change the way business is done in washington and consolidate agencies for example or reorganize structures in the executive branch is not always a popular thing in congress when congress has institutional prerogatives at stake so is the challenge, an effort we continue to engage in and look for partners who

believe -- >> when you look back at this the question is how do you know you don't have systemic technological problems before get a call on bill's side? to point it is that is the pattern i feel like you see here and the president seems to explain to the american public which is everything is a bureaucratic problem more technology problem. >> the presidents appear and he is chief executive, he is president, he takes responsibility for things that happen in the administration. and the united states government is a substantial size and things happen on your watch a newly find out about the after they happen or as they are uncovered you take responsibility for the. that is what the president did and what secretary shinseki did. i am sure, some will view problems like this as an indictment of more than just one

entity or institution. the service oriented systems at the heart of what the va does are pretty specific to that institution and are different from what other departments and agencies do and what h h s was creating and cms was reading was implementation of healthcare.gov where the challenges were, were quite unique but there are broader issues and you know them around procurement and technology and i think that is something this administration and future administrations will continue to grapple with because we need to have effective systems that provide smooth communication between systems when it comes to electronic health records and other information that needs to be effected and the efficiency of government can be more effective

and efficient. >> thanks for coming on here and congratulations on getting your life back. just one question, the resignation is effective immediately? [laughter] >> dr. oz believes the answer is yes but we will get back to you. >> on this issue of not knowing and being surprised what was going on, how do you explain the letter that the chairman of the veterans affairs committee and the house sent the president over year ago dated may 21st, 2013, and he sent this letter, did not get a response. there wasn't one of these -- and was ordered to the president of united states from the chairman of the committee with oversight

over veterans affairs saying of pattern of heartbreaking veteran death, suicide and other patient safety issues have happened cast and a dark shadow of medical centers across the country. for months we have tried to to get leaders to make meaningful steps to prevent future adverse incidents by holding accountable va employees and goes on to note that a lot of the people with oversight, with responsibility of this stuff for getting bonuses. now the action has been taken but did this letter never get to the president? >> i will get you an answer specifically to respond to that matter. i'm not familiar with the specifics of the letter. some of the charges made in that letter i am not familiar with or do not know yet whether they have been borne out if true. i am sure they are under investigation. if they relate to issues we are looking at he is investigating them so i wouldn't want to prejudge the outcome of that

investigation. there is no question that what we are seeing to have happened in some of our facilities is unacceptable and the va needs to and the leadership through the va needs to do the best job possible on behalf of our veterans to ensure that these kinds of things are not happening because they harm the service and the effectiveness of the benefits that are provided to our veterans and that is intolerable in the president's view. i can't respond to broad allegations about what may or may not have happened. we know from the ig what he has identified and what the secretary has identified. i am sure there will be more

that will be reported as those inquiries come to a conclusion and there will be more things that need to be handled and responded to and more people will need to be held accountable, but i can't know that until we see the end of the investigation. >> this is an issue he was passionate about as a senator, as a presidential candidate. is he concerned about the breakdown in communication at the white house, to have something of this magnitude going on for so long, not to be aware of it until five years in there seems to be a failure not just in a veterans administration, but here at the white house. >> the president stood before u.s. chief executive should, to chris sponge ability for everything that happens in his

administration. and hold accountable those who were directly responsible for any misconduct. that is the way you should be. the fact is the president has been, as you said, since he was a senator and a candidate for this office focused upon and committed to providing better service to our veterans and he has done that and i think that the record in attacking veterans homelessness, expanded educational opportunities for veterans, the record in vastly expanding access to disability benefits for veterans who are exposed to agent orange or suffered posttraumatic stress disorder coming out of iraq or afghanistan demonstrates that commitment, decker said -- demonstrate shinseki's commitment. doesn't mean there isn't a ton of work to do. doesn't mean any of what we found out about the issue of waiting lists and misleading

reports about the time veterans were waiting to get service is remotely acceptable. it is not. .. who are in need of it because of their experiences in the war and after the war.

so that's why it's so important to strengthen the va to ensure that we are rooting out the misconduct, making it more efficient, providing more resources where necessary because these americans deserve the best and where they have not been getting the best, that has to be fixed. >> the secretary in private conversations yesterday including conversations with members of congress made it clear that he did not intend to re-sign so my question is you are not denying that somebody at the white house told him to do what he did or strongly

encouraged him. >> i'm not going to get into the communications between the white house and the cabinet secretaries or agencies. i will just pause that maybe the reporting is inaccurate. that happens sometimes. i am not going to comment. but the fact that you're saying thirdhand other people haven't heard him -- >> i think that he can speak for himself. i am not going to comment about the communications that they place between the white house and other agencies. the president came and spoke to you on those questions today. >> this is at some point going to require the rational involvement. already there is disagreement about what forms the bill should take on the legislative action,

not just oversight. does the president anticipate this going easily or is he expecting this to be problematic? >> you mean trying to get legislation passed? >> the doctors were the standards legislation which is in conflict with the house legislation. is there a sense that getting what thwith the va needs to do o victimize them would be easy or not easy? >> there is genuine bipartisan sentiment behind the need to do wifi for the veterans. there certainly has been. the president certainly hopes and expects that sentiment would prevail going forward. whether it is taking action along the lines of what the senator was proposing as does secretary shi shineski spoke abt

once the needs are identified to make sure that we are able to serve the resources where they are the most needed. this is the kind of thing that could bring us together here in washington, democrats and republicans together in support of our veterans. we will obviously have to see what the needs are and what the requests are. >> i'm sure that it's way too early but of the dollar figure that would be needed? >> i don't have that. we are -- let's go back to what the president said. we have increased funding for the va every year the president has been in office at his request as well as increased the services and benefits provided to the veterans.

what some of the early reporting in the investigations reveals, some of the reporting from the media reveals that some of the issues are exacerbated or initiated because of the capacity issues to promise the insufficient resources, and that needs to be further studied and we will hope to work together with congress to address those problems. >> they are in paris next week [inaudible] >> no. he speaks to president putin and hazmat with president putin. they candidly discuss their disagreements and i think that

our european partners have been clear about the fact that they share our view when it comes to russia's actions in ukraine. it is a legal attempt to annex crimea and at the support that it's given to the sufferers in ukraine and its importance to the russian leaders understand. >> the secretary-general and the security council couldn't meet the deadline for moving the last seven to 8% of its chemical weapons stockpiles assuming that it is too dangerous to do that

through certain roots of transport does the administration accept that as a legitimate excuse for not meeting the june 30 deadline and what does he do to make sure it's complied with and what has he scheduled for that? >> you have notated the secretary-general said the deadline for destroying the weapons will not be met. june 30 was a target date for the total to structuring of the dangerous chemicals. the international community will continue to press the regime to abide by its obligations under the united nations security council resolution 2118 into the decision on the executive council to complete the removal operations. from the beginning we pressed the regime and we will continue to press the regime to complete expeditiously the removal operations as a result of its own inaction and the regime didn't empty the final site when the environment was more secure

than it is today. the u.s. and our international partners remain ready as we have for months to assist with the elimination. we also call on the regime to destroy the facilities that remain in tact. so we are continuing to press on this and to fully expect the regime and its sponsor in russia to ensure that the removal of the remaining 8% of chemical weapons and precursors are finished and that those chemicals are destroyed. >> you said this could have been done earlier so this is kind of an excuse? >> yes. >> we didn't get a chance to ask you yesterday that the economy contracted in its first quarter and they haven't looked at whether it was a huge part and i figure how can the administration be certain about the fragility of the economy that can fall into th negative

growth scenario just because of a couple of months of bad weather? >> i will probably bore you to death by referring to the meeting from the chairman of the council of economic advisers. he noted as t being just did tht of the notable and the unique influences on the growth in the first quarter including the historically severe not just a couple months of bad weather of the winter weather, the report also showed the positive impact of the implementation of the affordable care act which i sure will be reported aggressively to help strengthen the economy. the president will do everything he can either by executive action or working with congress to push and accelerate job creation. we are obviously as we said every month or quarter when the key economic stat come out

whether they are better than expected or worse than expected, we are focused on the long term and we are focused on sustained growth and sustained job creation and accelerated growth and job creation, and that's why the president continues to focus on what we can do to take the economy grow faster and create more jobs. we were just about the new new york bridge at the site with the governor in new york and that's an indication of the kind of infrastructure investment that goes a long way towards providing good jobs today and enhancing our economic productivity in the future. so you will continue to hear the president call for action and take action that he can do on his own towards expanding growth, rewarding hard work and continuing the many months now of the private-sector job

creation. >> piecing together the comments to question this administration whatever reason did not prioritize as they did the veterans and the backlog and as they did on the g.i. bill. wrestling with this issue of the wait times and the deceptive way to times because there were 14 reports from 2009 to the president so it's not as if no one was aware it is just a word not given the priority others were. is that a fair assessment and does the president regrets that? >> the president is committed to taking all the action that we can to ensure that the veterans we have in the country are getting the services and benefits that they have earned. as your question notes we have made progress in some key areas as the statement by the

presidenpresident and the questt he answered reflect some of the things that have happened in the past days and weeks, more needs to be done. and if that's what he is committed to doing. you know, i -- >> [inaudible] will he ask on a monthly basis? he did so when healthcare.gov needed his most important decision. will he apply that metric going forward to this important issue? >> when using particular issue, there are also pull matters under review and there are two tracks. there is evidence of the need to hold people accountable in action thaandaction that needs s a consequence. secretary shineski has initiated

the process and the investigations into review continue. there are actions we can take even prior to the combination of and submission of the final report from the ig and the review from the secretary to address the wait list issue and the veterans who have been poorly served because of it right away. and he absolutely will be expecting immediate action on matt and regular progress on that. we also have to find a new secretary for the department and he will be actively engaged in that effort. there are some practical suggestions that have been hanging out and one is that

vouchers. i just wonder how are those being -- >> the broad policy reforms i think we are eager to hear ideas and leadership in the va and legislative teams will look at those policy teams rather. i think i would refer to the enthusiasm some folks have for privatizing for example. the folks that know this issue the best i will refer you to whether that's the right approach to take. i've notated that veterans, despite what we have learned, and despite the other challenges that the va has faced,

overwhelmingly say that they are satisfied with the care that they have received. and in some cases that is because of the unique care that they can provide at the medical center's which is very specific to the needs that the veterans have especially returning from combat. and that is an important thing to remember when we talk about how to best serve our veterans. but, you know, i haven't -- i'm not in a position to evaluate the specific changes or he forms. the president did support for the secretary initiated earlier which was when we were looking at the veterans that have been on the waiting list for too long, getting them appointments and getting them filled quickly and where there is a capacity issue directing them to private or nonprofit hospitals for their care but i think that that is a technical solution to the immediate challenge while broad issues are being evaluated

>> one other topic yesterday the president met with hillary clinton secretary of state and presidential nominee and there are people that would have preferred to see that on the schedule. so will he be able to do things his way, thank god? [laughter] what is your thought about the president leading that way and not that kind of high-level -- i think that is a valid question and this was a lunch that honestly between friends arose pretty late in the process. it wasn't something planned very far in advance and that explains partly why it wasn't on the

public schedule. but as a broad matter, i get the interest, but isn't that can't be the case that a president can't have lunch or anything that isn't on his public schedule just because the fact might be in interest. i had an e-mail exchange with a reporter on this and the reason why this one should have been reported is that secretary clinton according to you guys is potentially or currently the leading contender to be the next president. is that the criteria or newsworthy? how do you set that standard? i think that standard has to be i would compare our public schedule to our predecessors. we put as much as we can come as much as we feel is appropriate publicly but not every meeting and not everyone she's going to be on that schedule. and again this is a specific circumstance and how it came together and it reflects the

fact this is somebody the presidenpresident worked closelh and he was very close to it. it was an informal lunch. it wasn't an official thing. it was just lunch. so there's that but i am not dismissive of the idea that it would be of interest to you but it's also the case you can reduce this all the way to infinity and simply say that everything the president does everything should be transparent and public and i think that sounds great as an idea but it also would render a president and capable of functioning. the transparency of the white house -- >> is no question they are more transparent with information provided, more about the visitors who come to the white house and more on the public

schedule than any of his predecessors. what he didn't say he is every meeting he has and every phone call he made would be publicly previewed because a president couldn't effectively function that way. we are having this discussion around something that was just a friendly and a and an informal h at the interest is driven in part by washington's not just quadrennial but the constant focus on the one thing that matters most just the next presidential election. >> you are suggesting his meeting interest mockers? >> we put out the schedule, so -- are you saying it was with his interest in mind? >> i'm not going to get into the discussions. >> data doesn't really square with the idea and then yo you sy

the fallback i is you leave stuf off the schedule all the time. like a lunch with with a former secretary of state off the schedule. >> not every meeting the president has or every phone call that he has is on the it oe public schedule. it has never been the case and i promise that there will never be a president that is able to do that because it just wouldn't be what allowed him or her to be effective in his or her job. and so, again, -- >> she didn't say why she put off the schedule. >> and i am saying that this was something that arose like being a president is hard, but they can have a last-minute decision to have lunch with somebody just like you and me and that was part of the reason behind it.

i am sure that you will read more into it. >> i'm just saying i don't have, short of going back in time and putting it on the schedule so you get super excited about it, i can't rectify. whawhat icann addresses the brod question of public schedule and the need for any president that was certainly true in the past and will submit being true in the future. this had to be or have needed to be a late item in the process. but i'm just making the broader

point. can you make it up to us by telling us what was said in the meeting? >> did they discuss the politics? >> i don't have a readout of the meeting for you and i wouldn't have that even on the public schedule. yes sir. >> congratulations. and at the risk of wasting the moment with you -- [laughter] i'm wondering if we could have josh come up and say a few things? >> sure. [laughter] it's an interesting time to be speechless, isn't it? like me just say i've had the honor on a dozen or so occasions to speak at the podium before,

and on each of those occasions it has never been lost of what an honor it is to stand before you. some of that is driven in the fact that it is an opportunity to represent the president of the united states and not just any president, that this president idv feels strongly in and one who is pressing an agenda for the country that i think is important and beneficial for this country. the other thing that is on my mind this morning is how grateful i am for the opportunity to work with my colleagues at the white house for whom i have respect and affection. a lot of that has to do with a gentle man to my left who i have learned so much for him and i

respect for the way that he does his job and also for the way that he lives his life and carries himself. and there is a lot that i aspire to. the last thing i will say is something that you have heard me say before those here and in a private conversations i've had with each of you, which is that each of you has a critically important job to describe to the american public what it is the president is doing and why he is doing it. and that job in this aggregated media world has never been more difficult. but i would argue that it has never been more important. and i am grateful and excited and relish the opportunity to spend the next couple of years working with you. >> [inaudible] >> i would welcome any questions from the podium at any time.

>> at you expect us to believe that? [laughter] two things. you talked about working on the president's agenda. how difficult will it be for the final two and a half years in office taking on this task of fixing the va system that is broken on top of immigration reform and everything else that he wants to get done? >> since the very first day that the president put his hand on the link in the -- bible on the link in the steps, this country has challenges. when he took office we were on the precipice of an economic cataclysm. that is the worst economic downturn since the great depression. because of the president's political courage and because of many of the policies he put in place, we have made tremendous progress to come back from those economic times. that's just one example of the

many challenges the president has faced. the challenges that are posed by the reforms that need to be put in place are also very significant. you heard as somebody pointed out earlier that preserving our covenant with american veterans of the something the president has talked about for a long time, since before he was president, and that continues to be a clear ready for him and despite the difficulty, i am confident that he will address it head on. it's important and difficult work ahead, but the president isn't fazed by it and he is in no way intimidated by it. he is facedown. other similarly difficult challenges and we are winning to fix the progress on this one, too mac. >> asking about the government and problems filtering out, the president this morning said that secretary shineski was deeply

disappointed that they didn't get to him. what about the president, was he deeply disappointed in the news of the hhs into different agencies that didn't get to him why was he out of the loop and is that something that you're going to have to fix? back needless to say, the president -- there is no doubt the president wished that he had a better sense of exactly what the depth of the problems at the veterans administration. i think somebody said that it goes without saying. because if he had, we would have had a better chance to fix them sooner. but suffice it to say that this is a problem that the president will tackle head-on. among the number of challenges that the president had to face, certainly the rollout of healthcare.gov was among them, too. that is effectiveness of the president's leadership when it

comes to confronting the crisis like this. he will use those skills at the va as well. >> [inaudible] we will let christie do one more. >> three years as a longtime -- has he been looking to move on for a while? [laughter] >> dot as far as i can tell. >> will they speak to the timing of today's announcement? >> while it's our announcement, but the president i think mentioned that i went to him in april and i said that if the

time had come for me and my family and my service here and, you know, i deeply appreciated his reaction. but, you know, i started this adventure through a bit of serendipity in what i figured would be a couple of years of service to the vice president as communications director to him. then i was surprised and incredibly honored to be asked by the president to be his second press secretary and that was nearly three and a half years ago. so i know some of you in this room have kids probably my children's age and what you realize is that even though i

have been aggressive about spending as much time as i can with them, it's not enough and they are never the age they are today. so that's not to say that i'm going to be not working, that these jobs that a certain amount of strain on the everybody's family. and mine has been -- my kids and my wife ha have been extraordinarily patient, and i just feel blessed to have been able to do this for as long as i have. so the timing of this announcement i think was driven by the timetable that i started in april and then by what i told the president which is what i was hoping to spend the summer with my kids and then i really wanted to get out of the trend. [laughter]