Press Briefing by Dana Perino

Business Wire, April 14, 2008

And the President and Mrs. Bush will take the unprecedented step of going next -- tomorrow, leaving here in the motorcade and driving to Andrews Air Force in order to greet the Pope. And it's a very exciting day for the White House. And then there's a slate of meetings that will take place the next day.

Q It was actually Rick Santorum, I think, who gets credit for that. But has the President heard that suggestion before?

MS. PERINO: Yes.

Q What does he think of it? Does he have a special bond with --

MS. PERINO: I think that he shares a lot of common values with Catholics across America, across the world, from freedom and human rights and a culture of life. And he's excited to have the Pope here.

Q Dana, on that?

MS. PERINO: Okay.

Q What is the President's reaction to the announcement that Wednesday in Lafayette Square American atheists have scheduled a speak-out concerning the papal visit? And while HBO on April the 11th telecasts Bill Maher's defamations of the Holy Father, including the claim that he used to be a Nazi?

MS. PERINO: I don't watch Bill Maher's show, so I couldn't tell you -- couldn't comment on that. But we are in America and if people want to peacefully protest and speak their minds, then they're welcome to do so; and if they want to do that in Lafayette Square, they're welcome to do so.

Q One other. WorldNetDaily reports from Jerusalem that Israel's cabinet member Binyamin Ben-Eliezer has said, "Iran continues to aggravate the situation by supplying arms to Syria and Hezbollah. We must deal with this. An Iranian attack will prompt a severe reaction from Israel, which will destroy the Iranian nation." What's the White House reaction?

MS. PERINO: I would just refer you to the things that the President has said. I'll refer you to his speech from last week when he talked about the concerns that we have about Iran, and that Iran has a choice to make: whether to be a good neighbor to Iraq or, if they continue to send weapons in that are killing our soldiers, that we are going to take them on.

Q Thank you.

MS. PERINO: Go ahead.

Q Thank you, Dana. At last meeting in Singapore between U.S. and North Korea, a tentative agreement has been made for North Korea to report complete nuclear declaration. Under what condition United States is to give North Korea some economic incentive, plus the removal of North Korea from the terrorist list? How was the President's response on that?

MS. PERINO: Well, as I have said before, there's a -- there is a package that was agreed upon in the six-party talks in regards to North Korea. What we are waiting on right now is a complete and accurate declaration. We don't have one yet, but Ambassador Chris Hill had good meetings last week. An issue regarding the state sponsor of terrorism list is a part of that package, but things happen in sequence, and so it is way premature to suggest that that's going to happen anytime soon.

Q Did he -- had made agreement with North Korean Kim Kye-gwan. The President agreed to that agreement in Singapore.