Obama Presses Pakistan On Bin Laden
AFP reports: “US President Barack Obama has pressed Pakistan to probe how Osama bin Laden managed to live for years under the nose of its military, saying he must have been supported by locals. Obama stopped short of saying the Pakistani government was involved, but the White House called on Islamabad to help counter growing mistrust by granting US investigators access to three of bin Laden’s widows who are in Pakistani custody and could have vital information on Al-Qaeda.”
Obama’s Day Ahead
President Obama will receive the presidential daily briefing at 9:45 a.m. ET, and meet with senior advisers at 10:15 a.m. ET. He will meet at 3:20 p.m. ET with the crew of Discovery Space Shuttle. He will meet at 4:35 p.m. ET with Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano. At 6 p.m. ET, the President and Vice President will met with the co-chairs of the U.S. and China Strategic and Economic Dialogue.
Biden’s Day Ahead
At 9:30 a.m. ET, Vice President Biden will deliver remarks at the opening session of the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue at the Department of the Interior. At 2p.m. ET, he will swear in newly appointed Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV), at the U.S. Capitol. At 6 p.m. ET, the President and Vice President will met with the co-chairs of the U.S. and China Strategic and Economic Dialogue.
Talks Between U.S. And China Aim To Keep Irritants In Check
Reuters reports: “The United States and China launch two days of talks on Monday which will give the world’s two biggest economies a chance to manage their often tense policy differences. Washington’s demands for currency reform by Beijing are likely to be countered by expressions of concern by China, the biggest creditor of the United States, about soaring U.S. debt levels. This year’s Strategic and Economic Dialogue meeting, covering economic and diplomatic issues, takes place barely a week before the U.S. hits a legally set debt limit on May 16.”
Playing Partisan From Her Hill Perch
Roll Call profiles Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the new chair of the Democratic National Committee: “This Florida Democrat may be a 44-year-old mother of three young children, but she will also serve as President Barack Obama’s leading attack dog for the next 18 months. She has an uncanny knack for being both disarming and aggressive in the same conversation. She is a breast cancer survivor and longtime politician who knows that her ability to connect with women is one of her greatest political assets in the fight to help re-elect Obama.”
President Obama Dashes ‘Jimmy Carter’ Label
Politico reports: “So much for campaigning against Jimmy Carter. In the aftermath of Osama bin Laden’s death, Republicans are adjusting to a new political reality: with the bin Laden trump card now in President Barack Obama’s possession, it’s looking increasingly likely the 2012 campaign will ride on a single number–the national unemployment rate…The same hail of bullets that tore through the terrorist leader’s compound appears to have cut through the GOP’s desired narrative for the presidential election, at least temporarily dispelling the image of Obama as a weak-kneed pushover. And that leaves the economy as the president’s single major point of vulnerability.”