since this recession officially began, 7 million jobs have been lost. i honestly doubt jeff had a report showed 20,000 jobs created. i cannot imagine what the president would say. -- that the president say what i thought we did in december should be wiped away because of the jobs report. we have a long way to go. we talked about this last month. we knew this was going to be a long road. we knew along that road there would be ups and downs and bombs along the way. -- bumps along the way. there are some bright spots which i think are at least encouraging, understanding that there are millions of people that have lost their jobs and are hurting. if you take the average of what we were losing in the first quarter of 2009, in january, february, march, we were losing our average -- six and 91,000 jobs a month. -- 691,000 jobs a month. if the take the last three months of the year, that number is 69,000, 1/10 of that job loss but it is moving in the right direction. if that was above the ledger on the positive side, i doubt you'd find anyone in this country that believes it is an advantage. >> is the president worried about gasoline getting close to $3 a gallon? >> obviously, anything that is perceived or believed that will do damage to our economy or to the positive trends would be concerning to the president. >> they are worried it will contract in the second half. how worried is second -- is president obama? >> i would say the president is worried about today in the future. >> is a likely? >> i would say the president works akes up concern that mills are hurting, whether they are in last month's job losses are the job losses stretching past those two years since the recession officially began. understand that people were hurting long before the board says there was recession in this country. >> what do you plan differently -- do you expect another contraction coming up? >> i refer you back to what the president talks about in december. he is not satisfied with where we were and wanting to change the direction of that line. >> he is preparing that there will be a contraction? >> he is not an economic prognosticator. he is concerned about the economy, concerned about the stories of people hurting that he has heard for many years and is working to do all that he can to create an environment for businesses to hire more people. >> the administration announced it will temporarily suspend the transfer of detainees from guantanamo bay to it yemen. he did transfer six in december. do you know where those six are? >> i've not one to get into -- i think kristi asked these questions the other day. i will not get into discussing transfers. >> given the need to talk to congress and get them on board with the transfer of the prisoners, we need to convert that from a maximum prison to a super maximum. do you have any realistic timetable as to anything guantanamo can actually be closed? >> i think kristi also ask that question. we will work with congress in the upcoming sessions on many of the things that you talked about, not just retrofited, but purchasing. there are other issues relating to the movement of prisoners >> one last question. in recent days, a member of the league of the righteous in iraq was arrested in two sessions -- was arrested in 2007. he was responsible for an attack in kabul that killed five u.s. soldiers. the u.s. military turn them over to the rockies. the rockies have read them. -- the i iraqis. again iraqis have released him. >> let me get some information on the case. >> is inappropriate for the u.s. military to turn -- >> other than what you told me, i'm not overly familiar with the details. >> it is a principle. >> i didn't want to generalize about something of which have just asked me with great specificity. >> i want to ask about timothy geithner. republicans say there is evidence sang under his -- are saying that under his leadership is as to conceal millions of dollars of counterparty payments that were made with taxpayer money. they are suggesting that he was hiding information from regulators. does the white house believe the secretary geithner should testify or test -- or turn over any documents he has? >> i'm sure you are a talked to the treasury department. secretary timothy geithner was not involved with these e-mails. these decisions to not raise to his level at the fed. these are e-mails and decisions made by officials by independent regulatory agencies. >> he was the leader of the new york fed. >> right. he was not on the evils of have been talked about. he was not part of the decision being made. >> there were doubts of more e- mails. in the interest of transparency, does the white house want more? >> i will point to the department of treasury. i just -- >> you gave me the treasury department. >> i do not know what the story is about the e-mails. i would tell you depth there -- tell you that there are not e- mails @ deval secretary geithner -- e-mails that involve secretary geithner. they did not rise to his level. >> various liberals have jumped on this. some say he is not fit to serve as secretary-treasurer. do you still have full confidence? >> of course. i will hilly -- will will he be dealing only with the jobs issue? >> the last time i saw the remarks it was just on jobs and energy. >> do you think he might entertain some questions on the media? is it unusual that he would not open himself up to questions? >> and do not want to speculate. he is not taking questions today. >> he has not had a press conference since july. why cannot get him to answer the questions? >> we have done this before. the last time we did -- which cost of the media schedule, you reminded me of the dramatic overexposure. >> that was then. >> i appreciate that we have acknowledged the flip-flop. >he added that he was not going to change. >> that was a procedural question which is also important bu. admiral mullin said we looked with regard to iraq. we have a to sing all we can do with -- we have looked to see all we can do with this. is this preparation of forces with regard to iran per presidential order or something the pentagon does? are there forces with regard to yemen? >> i believe the pentagon plans for many different types of outcomes based on different scenarios. the tract that the president has aggressively pursued deals with engagement and hopes they will live up to the obligations international in -- internationally that that they have agreed to be responsible for. we are asking them about the research reactors to make a proposal. they have proved that their intentions are peaceful. they declined that offer. we are working with our partners on the next steps and living up to the responsibility. >> [inaudible] >> elem not into discussing that. -- i will not give in to discuss in that. >> they expect positive net job growth in the first quarter of next year. does the white house still believe that? >> i believe if you look at numbers in terms of weekly unemployment claims, the project tree, you will -- deeper directory, you will see the economic job growth positive. >> on senateunday, some [unintelligible] 6 are in the custody of the united system. they are in jail in yemen. one of the reasons that the president has stated he wants to close guantanamo is a non humane treatment that the initiation that take place. are there any reasons to believe the yemen prisons are treating them better? >> elem not fit into talks of transfers. >> what is being the point of transfer into yemen if we do not know how they will treat them? >> i am just not going to discuss this. >> you said there in the custody of the yemen government. >> i'm just not going to get into that. >> the president and a lot of democrats are talking almost exclusively about jobs in the economy. do you believe that the focus on terrorism has somehow clouded or derail that effort? could you give us a little peek at what might be coming up next week for the next few weeks to try to focus washington's attention? >> i think washington's attention is focused on jobs. i think washington's attention is focused on our security situation. jonathan, each day, washington has to be focused on many different things. i think you for the president say if there was just one problem to focus on maybe that would be nice, but that is not what he ever assumed would have been given the type of environment that we had coming into office. i doubt there will ever be a day we are only focusing on one issue. i think the president, each day that he is into this year, has worked on a multitude of issues ranging from getting our economy back in order, finishing of health care, working on the security situation and investigation that he spoke about yesterday's, afghanistan, i iriraq. i think there is no end to the issues he has been working on. >> [inaudible] >> i walked out of it without having read that. we will get so animation -- get some information. >> the matter involving the advertising billboards that have been resolved? >> it is my understanding they spoke with the company and that the company is supposed to take that ad down. >> did any of you a billboard to endorse any product? >> uno. i better not make any jacket jokes. the boss might be watching. >> does the president feel he was let down? >> i think john was speaking not just for himself. i think he was speaking for all of those that have been represented in that situation. the president heard from each of them. i think the president has talked about this. there iswas a systemic failure come a failure that went across agencies and departments that no one person or no one agency was totally to blame. i think the president is focused on identifying and what went wrong and how to fix it. that will certainly be his charge moving forward. we will hear back in 30 days about our progress on filling those gaps. >> the president said yesterday we are in a war with al qaeda. does he regard the flight 253 be an act of war? >> i think the president and the white house said quickly after the incident that it was a terrorist incident. i would point back to what the president said in the fourth paragraph of his inaugural address. it was about our nation being at war with al qaeda. >> it raises the question of whether he is prosecuted as an enemy combatant or a criminal. >> he has been indicted in our criminal justice system after being interrogated in sensibly -- and extensively by the f five fbi. he gave the fbi useful information. >> one more on mr. geithner. barney frank says he thinks there should be something to clear the air. would be useful for mr. geithner to tell what he knew? >> when the financial services committee generally has hearings with the treasury secretary, he goes to the hearings. >> the state of the union -- this month or next month? >> soon. >> one is still in the running. >> soon. >> is it the white house as hope to hold up the state to the union until there is a healthcare bill? >> not necessarily. >> [inaudible] >> are you a big fan? we will announce something soon. >> the labor leaders are going to be to the president on monday to talk about healthcare. will he tried to make them understand that the taxing mechanism is a better idea than they think it is? >> i would be surprised if the topic did not come up. >> what is the purpose of the meeting? what does he hope to gain out of it? >> i think the president will take the opportunity to discuss that issue with them. i know that it is an issue that is a difference in the legislation that the house and the senate passed. i think the president will talk through it with them, what he believes can be gotten out of the provision. but did he ask the city not to advocate against it? some labor unions are actively considering it. but i think the president looks forward to having a discussion with them on the merits of that proposal. >> on the yemen, what is the u.s. position on what role al- awlaki plays in the peninsula? is he someone want to arrest or capture or kill? >> i'm going to get some intelligence guidance. i have an answer and i do not know i can discuss it publicly i would be happy to discuss it afterward. the type of heate that you have seen, the motivation and perversion of al qaeda -- this man is somebody who has sought on the internet to spread that provision and to do harm in spreading that hate. he is somebody of great concern. >> what degree is your evaluation of the pressure building of the fact that he is an american citizen? >> it is complicated by intelligence matters. >> given the disappointing jobs report, is the is ministration doing anything -- is the administration doing anything in terms of a public jobs program? >> i've not heard a discussion on that. i think the president and the administration will tell you that what we believe we can do for both the recovery act and through additional targeted investments is to create an environment where the private sector is hiring again. i do not particularly believe there is a solution that only includes one sector. i do not think there is just one way or one positive that will solve the entire problem. over the course of the two years, 24 months, of jobs numbers that have been released since the official beginning of the recession, we are in the excess of 7 million jobs having been lost. we have got a long road to make up for that. i will point you to not what the president doing but asking that it be expanded. there is a tremendous demand for these type of tax credits as we have seen in a program that is dramatically oversubscribed. they are seeking that assistance and help. we have got to lay a new foundation for creating jobs going forward. you are not going to be able to depend on -- simply on consumer spending or simply on the housing bubble to fuel economic growth going forward. you have got to find and invest in new ideas and new industries. i think it would be safe to say that for quite some time when it came to building the solar panels and the wind turbines and a lot of the manufactured equipment for clean energy, we had a number of foreign countries that were doing much better in addressing that demand and we wear. as the president has often said, and the type of demand for these components and manufacturing is only going to increase as we seek solutions to our energy problems. we have to ask ourselves, are we going to create those jobs and create those components or are we going to import those components from overseas? the president believes that we have an opportunity to lead the world in this type of manufacturing. >> many say even if they are successful, it will not address the most distressed regions of the country. does the president agree? >> he has been addressed this exact question. he gave the answer that i just gave. if we do not seek to fill these jobs and fill this demand, someone else will. it will be someone in another country. we have to make sure that this investment is a priority for us to agree to this job is now. >> we have heard people saying that they have let the president down. what has the president himself learned from this? how does he plan to operate differently given the newest threats? >> i think that first and foremost i will go back to john and the intelligence community. i think the president wanted to ensure that first and foremost what we have identified through our review is addressed. the president is very serious about ensuring that it is addressed quickly and done fully and fairly. he did not want this review to be something that weighs around on someone's desk. i think you have heard him say that the level of our failure was unacceptable. where it not for -- were it not for braved citizens of the world on that plane it might have been a catastrophic disaster. it was not the system the prevented that. it was the brave citizens. i think the president will ensure that john and others are the filling what interviews have shown are the gaps in our system that have to be fixed. >> and how will he do that? will he have more meetings with mr. brennan? will he change how he is briefed every day? >> i do not think there is any change in his briefing schedule. i think everybody else understands the tasks they have been undertaking for the last almost two weeks. the president is serious. >> following up on john saying he let the president down. did anyone offer to resign? >> not that i know of anywhere else, certainly not in this situation. >> are there any legislative issue considerations on when he wanted to do it this year? is he aware of the ofstorhe intt storm of those who are begging him not to give the state of the union address on the three hour premiere of [inaudible] >> i do not foresee a scenario in which the millions of people who hope to finally get to the conclusion of "lost" are pre- empted by the president. you can quote us. >> is there going to be economic events to communicate that concern? l>> i do not have it in front of me. over the course of the next several weeks, we have announced a visit to a high is this agreed to build of what he did in allentown in december that he will do again. there will be several events over the next few weeks on that topic. >> do all of the transfer ease -- >> i have now realized the code in color of your sweater are of some important significance. >> you brought it up. >> congratulations to your crimson tide. i got e-mails from a friend wondering if i would mention my excitement. consider that having checked that the box. >> [inaudible] >> i think sometime before the end of our first term. >> we are talking alabama football. . . he was in town for a funeral and had a chance to come by and see the president and the chief of staff. i do not have a readout on what they spoke about. >> adjusted two questions. -- just two questions. considering the continuing reports of a record worldwide cold as the president believes that there is a justification for the millions spent on the conference in trying to promote acceptance of global warming? >> i think one only has to step outside to understand climate change and the temperatures high exchange are causing are with us. >> to the president's visit the hospital where he was reportedly born which is which one? >> i do not believe i saw you pull reports of hospital visits. i do not know what specific causes today's snowfall. i would say there are, even in places used to getting very cold weather, record cold. scientists will tell you whether it is in and around this country or throughout the world weather patterns have been affected by are changing climate. >> "the new york times" has talked about you've gone a warning to execute for homosexuality. some other countries have already done this. if the walls -- if this passes in you gone up, will we continue to send aid to uganda? -- if this passes in uganda? >> in the event that someone like that passes, -- that something like that passes, that type of legislation would certainly not live up to any record of universal values that i think anyone would see in this country. >> first, the president spoke about yesterday the road to citizenship. this morning america guiliani -- mayor guiliani talked about partisanship. >> if one looks at what mayor guiliani says after testifying in the u.s. criminal trial calling it, i forget the exact phrase, but holding up the stellar record and value system involved in our criminal justice system, i do not think mr. giuliani has the record straight in his comments. i think if you watch that interview there were a number of things that did not quite seem to drop to jog to the better part of reality. he mentioned that there were not any domestic air attacks in the previous administration. that was interesting that the mayor of new york had forgotten that. >> you have now renominated johnson, not don johnson. >> u.s. that like we nominated crockett's partner. -- you as