>> i am with the japanese news agency. the air force f-22's -- how will the pentagon respond to that idea? >> i do not know what the precise response will be. when this question has come up

in the past and it came up in the secretary's sidebar with the defense ministry when we were in singapore, the answer was the same. there is a law which prevents us from exporting back technology to anybody. as good an allied as japan is and as much as we may like to provide the capability to allies such as japan, the fact is that it -- we are prevented from doing so according to the amendment. unless there is a legislative remedy, unless that were repealed, our hands are tied. that is why the secretary made a further point to his japanese counterpart that the f-35 is the plane which we are pursuing and the one we would recommend the japanese focus their efforts in

terms of procuring in the future. >> the estimate was $250 million -- is this correct? >> i did not hear you. i am sorry. >> the u.s. air force already estimated each plane, $250 million. >> to buy an f-22? i am sorry. >> there was an export version. >> that would cost $250 million? that does not surprise me. it is a very expensive aircraft. >> do you have a date on the

process of shutting down the detentions? how far are we away from closing the facilities there? any plan to transfer the detainees to some european countries? >> any update -- as far as i know, i do not think there was in the update in the time i have been away. the changes made to the military commission's were made prior. you would have to look at this. with regard to how much longer, the president's and executive order states we have a year, so we have about six more months in which to figure out a solution. i can assure you that our folks here are at hard at work with the justice department, the white house, with others who are involved, and finally, whether or not detainee's may be sent to europe -- where try to figure out what now what countries to

send which detainees, and so we are in talks with countries in europe, the middle east. if we can come to an agreement with yemen and to our satisfaction provide for a security bases for these -- the 100 or so yemenis we have, that would go toward alleviating this problem. >> anything regarding the future of guantanamo of the next few months? >> i hope it is within the next time. . i do not mean to be fresh with you, joe, but this is a work in progress, and the longer it takes, the more complicated it becomes, the more pressure there becomes on this organization to figure out the final disposition

of these individuals. we above all are encouraging of a fast, but responsible process. we are in the midst of it, and i do not have anything to report to you in terms of any breakthroughs in terms of where these guys would go and when they will go there. yes. let me go to this gentleman. >> is defense interested in sending a delegation to a conference in germany this month? >> i do not know if we are sending a delegation. we are a military that police in the utility of cluster bombs. they have a specific military purpose that we still think there is a -- has a valid reason and can be very effective in dealing with certain situations. i do not know of any plans for us to send a deckle -- a delegation.

arbor, you have been very patient. >> i was interested reading the column over the weekend where secretary gates reached out to the communists there because he wanted to talk about general jones' foreign policy process in the obama administration. i wanted ask you about it because the article says that the secretary himself reached out and proposed the interview to talk about general jones and the gossip going on in the administration about general trends. this seems pretty extraordinary. is the writer and actor that the secretary reached out? >> he is correct in that i reached out to david ignatius, because as the secretary believe, general jones is doing a terrific job and the fact is he characterized it to ignatius,

jones he believes is the glue that is holding this team together. he is the one who he thinks is most possible for the fact that it has jelled and come together as quickly as it has, that this is not a team of rivals as it was originally billed, but thanks to jones' leadership, it is a national security team. there is, as you are aware, a lot of chatter in washington about the job that he is doing, and a secretary felt strongly enough that he wanted to be on the record as a guy who knows a lot about how the nsc works, and says that in his estimation at this point jones is up there with the best he has worked with. >> does this not seem unusual for secretary to engage in addressing what you call the chatter around washington about how another senior official

maybe fairing? it seems extraordinary that the secretary would engage in even address and that kind of chatter. >> he felt strongly enough about the job that jones is doing and felt it was important enough that this team continue to work successfully together, given all the crises on our plate, that he wanted to be loud and clear in his support of general jones and to try to dispel all this nonsense chattered that exist out there. is it unusual? sure, but he felt it was warranted based on how general jones was being treated. >> for those of us who -- >> you can read the stories as well as i can read them. i have addressed this a few different ways, barbara. there is a lot of chatter that

he finds unhelpful the sniping and undercutting general jones, and he wanted to make clear in his estimation, at least, with the experience of were thinking -- of working with the nsc, that general jones is doing a great job. >> how was the meeting and to you think both secretary gates and the administrator or on the same page with regard to the nuclear program in iran? >> the meet with great frequency. there was another in a string of good meetings between those old associates, and i think that, yes, they had a very open and honest dialogue about the threat posed by iran. each is unafraid to express his

concerns, his views, to the other. as a result, they had a good understanding of where each of them stands, and that is the foundation for a good working relationship. you will see them to continue to meet with regularity and work together to address the problem. that is not what i said. what i said was they know where each other stands and they're committed to working together to address the problem. nancy -- some how this keeps getting momentum here. >> after the administration announced its new afghanistan strategy, and the white paper came out, an undersecretary promised benchmarks. why have not as come out yet? are they waiting for general mcchrystal to craft them?

>> the secretary has asked the general when he and general rodriguez, should it senate concerned -- and from the two of them, go to afghanistan to undertake a 60-day review of the situation on the ground there. this would be to try to get their feet on the ground, get at few of what is going on the ground, to get a situation of what should be the changes in the strategy should be made, and particularly from a personnel standpoint, try to determine the needs and what can be done to try to consolidate and get the most we can from the resources we have on the ground. the president has authorized 68,000 personnel. we are up to 55,000 on the ground right now. it is a rapidly growing

operation, and the secretary wants to make sure that everybody is being utilized effectively. he does not want -- he does not want bloated headquarters. he wants to make sure that there are as many people operational, outside the wire, working, and gauging as possible, and by sending in the general rodriguez, the deputy commander for u.s. forces in afghanistan, he does not want to see necessarily huge additional headquarters staffs being developed, and wants to make sure our resources are being used to their optimal efficiency and effected. >> should we expect another white paper? >> that was primarily focused on the civilian side. with that, the secretary has talked about how there needs to be, once we get a new commander on the ground, they are the ones

who will put the meat on the bone and determine what if any changes should be made to the military strategy. fundamentally, this is a coin operation. a coin operation with 22,000 nearly additional forces. how exactly he is going to use those forces, where and when and to what end are things that the secretary is leading to general mcchrystal, and he has given him 60 days to take a look at the situation, once the two of them hit the ground, should the senate confirm them, and then report back on what they found and what they think they can do with what they have and if they need anything else, what is it. >> should we expect civilian and military benchmarks approve >> benchmarks are different and those are being worked through. we are a player in that process. that is a separate undertaking

that i will certainly find out where it stands, but last i checked it was still a work in progress. >> that notion of the review. does that mean there could be some delay in terms of a surgical operation, with more forces going in there, and we are expecting to see at some point a step change in terms of the operation. >> you are seeing this step change already. nobody is sitting around waiting to get all the forces on the ground and get a review undertaken before we put them to good use. as forces are right and their equipment arrives with them, they are being pushed out and engaging. they are engaging with the enemy. the are protecting the population. they are clearing and holding it and building. that is what they are doing and they are not waiting for this review to undertake it. >> in the meantime they are reviewing the plan?

>> the secretary has said they will look at the strategy once they hit the ground. he has asked -- they have both been out of the theater for a year now. general rodriguez, more than a year. they both have been out for a year, although they have been engaged in the issue from afar, there is no substitute for being on the ground and seeing it from that perspective. they will get on the ground, says that for themselves, report it back, and if there have to be modifications in strategy made, they will make them. in the meantime, it is all the forces being utilized at maximum defect according to the game plan we have now. -- at maximum effect according to the game plan we have now. the general is within his power to do so, but the secretary

wants a review of the situation from their perspective within 60 days. >> this is the last couple. last week the secretary of the air force said the air force would be presenting to the secretary their plan going forward with regard to the tanker. >> i would walk you away from the notion that there is one briefing or one meeting that is going to determine the course of the tanker replacement bidding process. the secretary is engaging, has been, and will be engaging in a number of meetings about this, and i do not know when the next one is scheduled for. i think the idea was always that he wants to push out and rfp as soon as possible, and we hope that will take place in the coming weeks. that is what we hope to be the case.

>> not the meetings -- >> i will check and see what where we are in terms of the meetings. his desire has been spring. he was here we are in the summer. we want this to commence as soon as possible. >> we will kill you on it tomorrow, so you might as well grill is it today -- we will grill you on that tomorrow, so you might as well in choir today. -- inquire today. i am sure that in our operations meeting in brussels, it will,. kuntsevo will be a subject of discussion when we are in brussels later this week. >> do you have a recommendation?

>> i wonder how paring down the force in packs that and whether u.s. forces will be part of that. i have not heard about us gaining forces in terms of nato drawdown in kosovo. it would speak to the success of the operation, but free up additional forces to use elsewhere, and hopefully they will increase 12 time. ok? thanks so much. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2009] >> in the u.s. house, a plan to offer cash rebates to americans who trade in older cars for newark models. state department programs including the united nations peacekeeping and a measure to

increase military and nonmilitary aid to pakistan. negotiators are trying to agree on a bill allocating almost $100 billion for additional iraq and afghanistan war spending. 6:30 p.m. eastern here on c- span. the senate continues work on the tobacco regulations with a procedural vote today at 53:30. live senate coverage on c-span2. >> there is time to get your copy of the congressional directorate. with information on house and senate members, cabinet, supreme court justices, and the governors. plus, district maps and how to contact committees and caucuses. $16.95. call --

>> robert gibbs was joined by vice president biden's chief economic adviser. we get details on the administration + and -- plans for the stimulus package this summer. this is just over an hour. >> good afternoon. i have an announcement. before we get started, chaired bernstein, the vice president's chief economist, will walk us to the road back to recovery that the president and vice-president spoke about today. he will take you of your questions. >> thank you.

this is different. i usually face you one at that time. the president and vice-president today outlined the road map to recovery, which spotlights some of the ways we are going to accelerate implementation of the american recovery and reinvestment act during its second 100 days. while there are hopeful signs that the pace of the downturn has diminished, the nation's economy has remained in the midst of a deep recession. most important, from the perspective of working families, employers are still shedding jobs. when the private sector economy is underperforming, there is a role for the government to play in temporarily picking up the slack. the recovery act does that to a uniquely broad set of

provisions designed to create or save millions of jobs over the life of the bill. we talked about that extensively over the first 100 days and thus far over that. we have created or saved over $150,000 -- 150,000 jobs, provided fiscal stabilization relief and that is particularly important given the state fiscal conditions to states, made funds available to over 4000 transportation projects, projects that the people back to work. we have obligated an average of over $1 billion per day. we have done so with a level of oversight i cannot believe any of us have ever seen before at any level of government. in the second 100 days we plan to accelerate these activities in ways i will describe in a

moment. our goal is to create or save 600,000 jobs over this next period, and now we have laid the groundwork over the first 100 days, we can accelerate the implementation over the second. it is important to remember a while that act is an integral part of our plan, one that's burr's new demand and put people back to work during these hard -- hardest hit times, it is one pillar of our plan. the housing plan, financial regulatory reform, a budget that makes investments in energy, health care, and education, while cutting the deficit by half over our first term, remain other pillars. i would like to briefly run through 10 new major projects that will define the next three months of the recovery act under way across the united states. this reveals how we address the

economic downturns throughout all regions of the countries in every state, turquoise, and it is a pervasive recession geographically. the recovery act is equally pervasive geographically. now it is a test of whether the system is truly idiot proof. we have not used this before, so we're making history. >> we cut newspapers. >> ooh. >> is there not one behind their that we could -- >> you want to move over here so we can see that one? >> the first light combines all of it -- the first allied combines all the activity from

the next 10 slides i will articulate. you get a sense from all the dots across the nation how geographically extensive this is. that act -- we will go one by one to these 10 different pieces of parts of the plan. that act enables over 1100 health centers in 50 states and eight territories to provide expanded service to approximately 300,000 patients of these health centers. the health and human services program will create jobs and support health center efforts to improve access to quality, comprehensive, and affordable care. this particularly important in a climate where job loss means the loss of health insurance coverage to the jobs -- for

hundreds of thousands of workers. we will begin work with rehabilitation and improvement projects at 98 airports and over 5000 highway locations throughout the country. these projects include runway construction at selected airports to concede -- to increase capacity, repaving projects, and this aspect is important because the plan ramps up as we are discussing over the summer, and then towards the end of next year, the plan ramps' down. it is a two-year plan, and in order to maintain their fiscal responsibility that is so important to this president and our budget, the plan needs to get into and out of the system. investments like these will continue to boost the quality of the nation's infrastructure and promote productive activity to

out our economy. -- after the plan is over. over the second hundred days, fund 135,000 education jobs, including principals, teachers, and support staff. the funds will help keep outstanding teachers in america's schools and help with your forced to ensure that every child receives a complete education. this is one dimension -- we talk about jobs created or saved. this is an area where you seek jobs saved, in many cases because of very tight and constrained state fiscal budgets. this plan enables states and municipalities to avoid layoffs of workers, be they teachers, firefighters, police, and saving those jobs is critical to the provision to these essentials services. i kind of like this thing.

the plant over the next 100 days begins improvements at 90 veterans' centers. it will upgrade medical centers to increase the quality of the facilities to deliver the kind of care our soldiers deserve. this is one at that is particularly dear to my boss, the vice president. the plan will hire or keep over the next 100 job -- days, approximately 5000 law enforcement officers. these funds will hire new officers while retaining our veteran force. start 200 new waste water systems in rural america. another dimension of the plan is to go beyond simply urban and suburban localities and reach into rural america. if these projects were replace outdated water mains and build facilities for small communities.

this one was particularly germane given summer vacation season, if begin work on 107 national parks. to these projects we will preserve the national parks system, a true american treasure, and launched long overdue projects. begin or accelerate clean up projects at superfund sites. they will create and maintain jobs while protecting human health and the environment. a critical piece, to create one of the 25,000 summer youth jobs, very much a part of the summer agenda here. and paring and our young people through employment to get them off the streets and provide them with viable work experience. many of these plants had a very good track record.