As bipartisan deficit talks dragged on for another day, President Obama called on both parties to work together to reach the largest deal possible and praised the speaker of the House for what he called "good-faith efforts" on that front in the face of "difficult" politics in the Republican caucus.

The president's remarks came ahead of a 2:00 pm ET meeting, the second in two days, that he and Vice President Biden were to have with congressional leadership in the Cabinet Room to discuss a way forward. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA), Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) and Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) were expected at the meeting.

"I continue to push congressional leaders for the largest possible deal, and there's going to be resistance," Obama said during a 40-minute press conference in the White House's Brady Press Briefing room. "But if each side takes a maximalist position, if each side wants 100 percent of what its ideological predispositions are, then we can't get anything done, and I think the American people want to see something done."

Obama said he would meet with congressional leaders "every single day until we get this thing resolved" and said he would not consider a temporary "stop gap" resolution to the problem. Lawmakers have struggled for weeks to reach a deal to raise the limit for how much the government can borrow to pay its debts. The debt limit must be raised by August 2nd to avoid a default on the government's obligations, which economists and White House officials say would have a disastrous effect on the US economy. Republicans have repeatedly insisted that tax increases be off the table, while Democrats don't want to see cuts to entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare.

The president said nobody was suggesting taxes be raised immediately, in the midst of a sluggish recovery that saw the jobless rate tick up to the 9.2 percent in June, and that the discussion was about ending loopholes and low rates for corporate jet owners, oil companies and the rich beginning in 2013.

"I have bent over backwards to work with the Republicans to try to come up with a formulation that doesn't require them to vote some time in the next month to increase taxes," he told reporters.

Saying he did not see a path to a deal if Republicans don't budge, the president stressed that Democrats would have to compromise as well.

"The leaders in the room here at a certain point have to step up and do the right thing regardless of the voices in our respective parties that are trying to undermine that effort," he said. "In fairness a big deal would require a lot of work on the part of Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi and myself to bring Democrats along, but the point is is if everybody gets in the boat at the same time, it doesn't tip over."

The White House and congressional leaders at one point appeared headed toward a deal that would reduce the deficit by $4 trillion over the next 10 years, but Boehner told the president over the weekend that his party could not support the large deal and would prefer a smaller deal, some $2 trillion to $2.5 trillion in cuts, like the one that was being negotiated in the Biden-led talks, which also failed to reach a deal.

Still, the president made a point of complimenting the speaker, saying his experience with Boehner had been good and that he was a good man who wanted to do right by the country.

"I think Speaker Boehner has been very sincere about trying to do something big; I think he'd like to do something big. His politics within his caucus are very difficult," Obama said at one point, later adding, "The politics that swept him into the speakership were good for a midterm election, they're tough for governing."

Many new House Republicans ran on promises to push for big reductions in government spending and are holding the line against any move that would resemble a tax increase.

Hailing Robert Gates for his "profound sense of duty" and integrity and his four decades of public service, President Obama used a farewell tribute at the Pentagon to surprise the outgoing defense secretary with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

The medal is the highest honor a president can bestow on a civilian and is presented to people "who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors," according to information provided by the White House.

The citation accompanying the medal called Gates a champion of servicemembers and their families and noted what it called his "unwavering patriotism." He retires after having served eight presidents.

"Bob, today you're not only one of the longest-serving secretaries of defense in American history, but it is also clear that you've been one of the best," Obama said.

Gates is the only defense secretary to have served both a Republican Commander-in-Chief, President George W. Bush, and a Democrat -- something the president made a point of highlighting.

"In his willingness to become the first secretary of defense to serve under presidents of both parties, the integrity of Bob Gates is also a reminder -- especially to folks here in Washington -- that civility and respectful discourse and citizenship over partisanship are not quaint relics of a bygone era," he said.

Gates' departure comes as the U.S. is engaged in conflicts in Afghanistan, Libya and Iraq -- even though the Obama administration has removed 100,000 combat troops from Iraq. June has been the deadliest month for American troops in the country in two years.

In remarks before introducing the president, Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen praised Gates for his honesty, pragmatism and grit, for his "staunch commitment to truth telling" no matter how uncomfortable that truth might be or how high or low on the chain of command it needed to travel and for his leadership during the transition to a new mission in Iraq, the transition "we now strive for in Afghanistan" and his efforts to save taxpayer dollars by tackling inefficiencies in the Pentagon budget.

Obama echoed many of those sentiments and spoke of Gates having made it his mission to make sure his department was doing all it could to protect U.S. troops, including providing mine-resistant vehicles and reducing the time it takes to evacuate injured troops from the battlefields of Afghanistan.

Upon receiving the Medal of Freedom, Gates thanked Obama for his confidence in taking "the historic step" of asking him -- "someone he did not know at all" -- to serve as his defense secretary. He also sparked laughs by making a joke that referenced the May raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

"I'm deeply honored and moved by your presentation of this award," Gates told the president. "It is a big surprise, but we should have known a couple of months ago you're getting pretty good at this covert-ops stuff."

Outgoing CIA Director Leon Panetta was confirmed unanimously by the Senate earlier this month to take over as Pentagon chief.

With demand for gasoline expected to rise during the summer months, the Obama administration announced the country and its partners in the International Energy Agency would release 60 million barrels of oil onto the world market over the next month.

As part of the effort, the United States will release 30 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve -- which the White House says is currently at a historically high level of 727 million barrels, a number the Department of Energy says means it is "filled to capacity." Releasing oil from the reserve is extremely rare.

The administration cited the situation in Libya, which "has caused a loss of roughly 1.5 million barrels of oil per day -- particularly of light, sweet crude -- from global markets" to explain their decision. Since the disruption in Libyan oil exports due to the NATO operation there, some 140 million barrels of oil has been removed from the global market, said one senior administration official.

Officials said President Obama's decision was about addressing supply disruptions and that gas prices "will be what they are". Still, they said the move was intended help address a drag on economic growth and high gas prices are one of the "headwinds" the president has said are hampering the recovery and job creation, top concerns on voters' minds.

"The president has been deeply concerned about the impact that the disruption in the oil production and exports from Libya and other countries in the Middle East has had on energy supplies globally, the tightness that that's created in the market and the effect of that tightness on global economic growth at home and abroad," said a senior administration official in a conference call with reporters.

While retail gas prices nationwide have fallen since late April and early May, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration gas averaged $3.652 a gallon as of June 20th -- about 91 cents higher than a year ago and about 10 cents higher than in mid-March, before the conflict in Libya began.

The United States has been in close contact with oil producing and consuming countries about disruptions to the international oil market that could affect the global economy and the administration will continue to consult closely with them, according to the White House release. Today's decision is intended to complement the production increases recently announced by a number of major oil producing countries, like Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf countries who have said they will increase oil production by up to 1.5 million barrels/day for the remainder of the year to meet market need.

The oil reserve was set in motion in 1975 when President Ford signed the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA), after the 1973-74 oil embargo cut off oil flowing into the United States from many Arab nations and "sent economic shockwaves throughout the nation," according to the Department of Energy. That legislation declared it to be U.S. policy to establish a reserve of up to one billion barrels of petroleum.

Decisions to withdraw crude oil from the reserve, which the department calls "a key tool of foreign policy," are made by the president in the event of an "energy emergency." Prior to today's announcement, the reserve has been used under these circumstances just twice -- during Operation Desert Storm in 1991 and after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

A notice regarding sales will go out in the next 24 hours, said an official, and the law does not allow purchasers to export the oil from the US without an export license. It also says that export of SPR crude is only permitted if an equal volume of refined product is returned to the United States.

"At end of first 30 days of action by IEA members, we will review the results," he went on to say. "The U.S. stands ready to do more as and if necessary."

Music and applause greeted President Barack Obama when he touched down in Puerto Rico on Tuesday for the first official visit to the commonwealth since President John F. Kennedy traveled there in 1961.

It was Obama's second trip to the island. On his first visit, during his long primary battle against then-rival Hillary Clinton in 2008, he promised to return as president.

Gov. Luis Fortuno and San Juan Mayor Jorge Santini joined singer Marc Anthony and others to greet the president on the tarmac and walk with him to a hangar where he delivered brief remarks thanking Puerto Rican veterans, artists and entrepreneurs for their contributions to America. He highlighted steps his administration has taken to improve life on an island hit hard by the recession --  like increasing access to broadband, investing in education and working to help grow the tourism, health care and clean energy industries.

"When I ran for president, I promised to include Puerto Rico, not just on my itinerary, but also in my vision for where our country needs to go," the president said, eliciting cheers from the crowd when he went on to use a local term for those who hail from the island. "We're giving Puerto Ricans the tools they need to build their own economic futures and this is how it should be, because every day Boricuas help write the American story," he said.

With changing demographics likely to play a key role in the next presidential election, many political observers saw the president's trip as a way to appeal to Puerto Rican voters on the mainland. Obama won strong support from Hispanic voters in 2008 and according to the 2010 Census, Puerto Ricans are the second largest Hispanic group in the U.S. The Puerto Rican population grew by 36 percent to 4.6 million over the last decade. Puerto Ricans were the largest Hispanic group in six of the nine states in the Northeast and in one western state - Hawaii.

In an interview on MSNBC's Daily Rundown, Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) made note of the 850,000 Puerto Ricans living in Florida -- a state the White House is hoping to keep in the Democratic column in 2012. In that same interview, Gutierrez, who described Puerto Rico as a "colony" of the United States, said he supported independence for the island. Obama drew applause when he addressed the divisive issue of the island's status during his speech.

"We've addressed the question of political status," he said. "In March, a report from our presidential task force on Puerto Rican status provided a meaningful way forward on this question so the residents of the island can determine their own future. And when the people of Puerto Rico make a clear decision, my administration will stand by you."

That task force recommended that residents of Puerto Rico vote in two plebiscites - first on the question of whether they want to be part of the United States or be independent, and then to vote again on the avail­able status options, in accordance with the outcome of the first vote. The report listed those status options as Statehood, Independence, Free Association, and Commonwealth. The task force said all relevant parties—the President, Congress, and the leadership and people of Puerto Rico— should work to ensure that Puerto Ricans were able to express their will about status options and have that will acted upon by the end of 2012 or soon after.

President Gerald Ford traveled to Puerto Rico in June of 1976 for an economic summit, but this is the first official visit there by a president since Kennedy who, upon arriving at the airport in San Juan, called Puerto Rico "an admirable bridge between Latin America and North America" and said it was "a great experience" to come to an island with a different tradition and history and be greeted in Spanish and "still be able to feel that I am in my country." 

Obama flew to San Juan with Puerto Rico's Resident Commissioner Pedro R. Pierluisi, who endorsed the then-senator during his 2008 run for president and served as co-chair of his primary campaign on the island, according to the congressman's website. Pierluisi, who attended the president's DNC fundraiser last night at Miami's Adrienne Arsht Center, supports statehood for the island territory. As the island's representative in Congress, he's able to vote in committees but not on the House floor.

The president planned to spend about 5 hours on the island. After making brief remarks at the welcome ceremony, he toured Fortaleza, the historic governor’s mansion, then was scheduled to sit down for local interviews with El Nuevo Día and Univision of Puerto Rico and make a stop to raise money at a Democratic National Committee event, before heading home. 

From NBC's Athena Jones
Jobs, jobs jobs. That was the focus of President Barack Obama's trip to the battleground state of North Carolina today.

At a stop at Cree, Inc., a manufacturer of energy-efficient LED lighting, the president toured the factory and met with his Jobs and Competitiveness Council to talk about ways to spur economic growth and jump-start hiring. 

"Today the single most serious economic problem we face is getting people back to work," Obama said. "I will not be satisfied 'til everyone who wants a good job that offers some security has a good job that offers some security."

Jobs top the list of Americans' concerns as a slew of recent economic data suggest the recovery could be slowing down and polls show the public is not impressed with the president's handling of the economy.

In light of the disappointing May jobs numbers -- when unemployment ticked up to 9.1 percent and the economy added a lower-than-expected 54,000 jobs -- the White House has been especially eager to show Obama is doing everything he can to promote job creation even in the face of what he has called strong "headwinds" like high gas prices, concerns about the debt crisis in Europe and instability in the Middle East.

With the two parties struggling over a deal to reduce the deficit and raise the limit for how much the county can borrow, there's no appetite for new stimulus from the GOP-controlled House.

To drive any significant job growth, private companies must invest and hire, which explains today's focus on the Jobs Council headed by General Electric Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt. Immelt and American Express CEO Ken Chenault -- another council member -- wrote an op-ed that appeared in the Wall Street Journal this morning  in which they laid out what they called "fast-action" steps -- like training workers, cutting red tape and getting more loans to small businesses -- that they say could help create a million new jobs in two years.

At today's meeting, Jobs Council participants gave brief presentations to the president on topics ranging from the need to boost agricultural exports and update the air traffic control system, to changing immigration laws to help high-tech companies and training the manufacturing workforce. Immelt said the council was working on about 30 ideas and their focus over the next few months would be on infrastructure, small business financing and creation and encouraging more foreign direct investment in America.

While promising to act on some of these recommendations, Obama said it was wise of the group to focus on steps the private sector and the administration could take without legislation, but added that it "sends a message to Congress."

"We shouldn't have to work around Congress; they should be part of this process," Obama told the group at the end of the discussion, which lasted over an hour.

In the speech to Cree employees, Obama announced "an all hands on deck strategy to train 10,000 new American engineers every year" -- an idea that came up at the afternoon meeting.

North Carolina important to Obama's electoral prospects

It's no accident that Obama made this stop in North Carolina, where the unemployment rate in April was 9.7 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. It's a state he was able to swing to the Democratic category in the last election and one his party hopes to hold onto in 2012, when the Democratic convention will be held a couple hours away from Cree in Charlotte.

Then-candidate Obama visited Cree during the primary campaign in May of 2008 and Vice President Joe Biden returned to the firm last year to talk about how to help the middle class. With its focus on energy efficiency, the company fits in well with one of the president's top agenda items.

Today's trip is also an attempt to get ahead of the president's Republican critics who are using the May jobs data to criticize him. Sunday on "Meet the Press", Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus accused him of not doing enough to address the economy's most pressing issue.

"We've got crushing unemployment in this country," Priebus said. "We've got a president that's whistling past the graveyard, we've got families that are struggling."

The RNC also sent out a release criticizing Cree for shipping jobs to China. The company received a $39 million Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit (48C) from the stimulus bill and a spokesman from House Speaker John Boehner's office said the event highlighted Obama's failure on the jobs issue.

"Each of these events is a fresh reminder of the President's failure to deliver the job creation he promised," Brendan Buck wrote in an email. "Photo-ops with business leaders only reinforce that no one in this administration has ideas to create the private sector jobs our economy desperately needs. Republicans have a Plan for American Job Creators, and we hope the President will work with us to implement it."

The two-day trip was not all policy. The president was headed to Miami to attend three DNC fundraisers on Monday night, before traveling to Puerto Rico on Tuesday in what will be the first presidential visit to the commonwealth since John F. Kennedy was in office.

In addition to Immelt and Chenault, among the other Jobs Council members at today's meeting were Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly, DuPont CEO Ellen Kullman, former Proctor and Gamble CEO A.G. Lafley, Intel CEO Paul Otellini, UBS President Robert Wolf, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts, Eastman Kodak CEO Antonio Perez, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and Pritzker Realty Group's Penny Pritzker -- who was also a fundraiser for Obama in 2008.

With jobs and the economy topping Americans' concerns, President Obama headed to a community college in Northern Virginia to highlight the need to train workers for the manufacturing jobs he believes are key to strengthening the economy.

The president returned to North Virginia Community College to announce several new initiatives that are part of the "Skills for America's Future" program launched last year to focus on workforce training, including plans to help half-a-million community college students get industry-recognized credentials that will helped them get skilled jobs, provide more opportunities for at-risk youth and provide new online tools to connect workers with employers.

The president toured labs at the college's Alexandria campus where students are trained to work on advanced vehicles, before delivering brief remarks.

"Right now there are people across America with talents just waiting to be tapped, sparks waiting to be lit," he said. "Our job is to light them and there's no time to lose when we've got folks looking for work, when we've got companies that need to stay competitive in this 21st Century economy and when we know that we've gotta rebuild the middle class and a lot of that's going to have to do how well we do in manufacturing and how well we do in jobs that are related to making products here in the United States of America."

Obama also pushed Congress to pass -- or reauthorize -- the Workforce Investment Act, a federal job training program.

The U.S. economy added just 54,000 jobs in May, growing at much-slower pace than expected and not nearly quickly enough to put a dent in the unemployment rate, which ticked up to 9.1 percent. The economy is almost certainly going to take center stage in next year's presidential election.

Today's speech was aimed at showing the president is concerned about the issue at the top of voters' minds and is doing everything possible to tackle it. Still, there is not much appetite in Congress for more stimulus and while the president argued manufacturing training programs were necessary to provide companies with the skilled workers they need, employment in that sector actually fell slightly -- by 5,000 jobs -- in May.

Obama held a town hall on the debt and deficit at the community college's Annandale Campus in April.

It's only a matter of time before Libyan leader Muammar Khaddafy steps down and there will be strong German support for the country at that time, President Obama said Tuesday during a press conference with Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Germany abstained from the United Nations Security Council vote to authorize force to establish a no-fly zone and protect Libyan civilians, but both leaders played down their differences on the issue today. Obama said the NATO operation in Libya was fully integrated and that German personnel were actively involved in their NATO role. He also said the country was doing more in Afghanistan.

"Germany has stepped up and taken additional responsibilities in Afghanistan that have freed up resources for us to be able to conduct our operations in Libya," Obama told journalists assembled in the East Room. "We did discuss last night Germany's role and there is going be a lot more work to do when Khaddafy does step down in terms of getting the Libyan people back on their feet -- economic, political work that's gonna have to be done and my expectation is gonna be that there will be full and robust German support."

At the welcome ceremony on the South Lawn this morning, the two leaders spoke of the strong partnership between the United States and Germany and about working together on the mission in Afghanistan, in the fight against terrorism and nuclear proliferation -- especially in countries like Iran -- and about their support for struggle for freedom in North Africa and peace in the Middle East. The pair discussed these issues during their Oval Office meeting this morning.

"I believe this is our 10th meeting together -- that doesn't include the many phone calls, videoconferences we seem to have at all hours of the day," Obama told reporters at the press conference. "There's hardly any global issue where we don't consult one another."

On the Middle East, Obama said the two countries agreed that unilateral actions, like Palestinians seeking a vote on statehood at the UN General Assembly "should be avoided."

Last night, Obama and the chancellor dined privately in Georgetown and, tonight, the president and first lady will host a State Dinner for Merkel -- their first for a European leader.

President Obama traveled to Toledo, Ohio, on Friday, amid a disappointing jobs report, to highlight what his administration sees as one area of success: the rescue of the American auto industry.

Obama's visit to a Chrysler factory in this important battleground state comes on a day the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics announced the nation's unemployment rate ticked up to 9.1 percent in May, with the economy adding a lower-than-expected 54,000 jobs. The president made no mention of the job figures in his 20-minute speech, even as he acknowledged that despite having made great strides, the economy still faced "strong headwinds" from high gas prices to economic disruptions following tragedy in japan to instability in the Middle East that creates uncertainty.

"Even though the economy is growing, even though it's created more than two million jobs over the past 15 months, we still face some tough times; we still face some challenges," the president said. "There are always going to be bumps on the road to recovery."

The state of the economy, a topic at the top of voters' minds, is sure to play a key role in the next election and Obama has been eager to show Americans that growing jobs is at the top of his agenda.

The White House has hailed the unpopular government bailout of the auto industry as a resounding success and sough to shine a spotlight on news that Chrysler has repaid $10.6 billion in government loans six years ahead of schedule and that Italian carmaker Fiat has agreed the Treasury Department's stake in the company.

Noting the auto industry overall had added 113,000 jobs over the last two years -- after losing some 400,000 jobs in the year before he took office -- the president listed other signs of strength among American automakers.

"I placed my bet on you. I put my faith in the American worker," he said. "Today all three automakers are turning a profit -- that hasn't happened since 2004. Today all three American automakers are gaining market share - that hasn't happened since 1995."

Republicans wasted no time in blaming the president and his policies on the unemployment numbers, with Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) telling reporters this morning that "the overtaxing, overregulating and overspending that is going on in Washington is creating uncertainty" and keeping job creators on the sidelines.

President Obama began a series of events focused on the Middle East with an Oval Office meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah on Tuesday, during which he announced economic aid to the country.

Obama called Jordan an important U.S. partner in the region on the security and counterterrorism front. The aid is meant to help stabilize the cost of living in Jordan and was part of the administration's effort to support some of the economic reforms the king has embarked on, he explained.

"I'm pleased to announce that we have mobilized several hundreds of millions of dollars through OPEC and that will leverage ultimately about a billion dollars for economic development inside of Jordan," Obama said. "In addition, because of the huge spike in commodity prices throughout the world, we are going [to] be providing 50,000 metric tons of wheat to Jordan."

On Thursday, the president will deliver a speech on the Middle East and North Africa and U.S. policy in the region, and, on Friday, he is scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House.

Today's discussion also touched on the stalled peace Israeli-Palestinian peace process and the many changes sweeping through places like Libya, Egypt, Tunisia and other countries in the region.

"We both share the view that despite the many changes -- or perhaps because of the many changes -- that are taking place in the region it's more vital than ever that both Israelis and Palestinians find a way to get back to the table and begin negotiating a process whereby they can create two states that are living side by side in peace and security," Obama said.

Jordan, which has its own peace with Israel, has an enormous stake in an "equitable and solution to a problem that has been nagging the region" for many many years, the president said. He also expressed hope that the country would serve as a model of a prosperous modern and successful Arab state during this "remarkable time of transition" in the region.

The president has decided not to release photographs of Osama bin Laden's body, according to a senior White House official.

*** UPDATE *** Here is what President Obama told Steve Kroft of "60 Minutes" about his decision. The interview will air on Sunday.

"The risks of release outweigh the benefits," he said. "Conspiracy theorists around the world will just claim the photos are doctored anyway, and there is a real risk that releasing the photos will only serve to inflame public opinion in the Middle East."

"Imagine how the American people would react if Al Qaeda killed one of our troops or military leaders, and put photos of the body on the internet," he continued. "Osama bin Laden is not a trophy - he is dead and let's now focus on continuing the fight until Al Qaeda has been eliminated."

*** CORRECTION *** Those quotes above are from House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, not President Obama. (It's unclear why CBS decided not to release quotes from the president in its story about the news.)

Here is what Obama told "60 Minutes," per White House Press Secretary Jay Carney: "We've done DNA sampling and testing. There is no doubt we killed Osama bin Laden." Obama went on to say that releasing the photos could incite violence and run contray to America's values. "We don't trot out this stuff as trophies... We don't need to spike the football." 

*** UPDATE 2 *** NBC's Athena Jones reports:

At the top of the briefing this afternoon, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney shared the exchange President Obama had with 60 Minutes' Steve Kroft in his interview today during which he explained his rationale for not releasing photos of bin Laden's body.

Obama said he had seen the photos and they proved, along with facial analysis and DNA evidence, that the US team had killed bin Laden.

KEY OBAMA QUOTE TO KROFT:

"It is important for us to make sure that very graphic photos of somebody who was shot in the head are not floating around as an incitement to additional violence or as a propaganda tool. That's not who we are. We don't trot out this stuff as trophies. The fact of the matter is this was somebody who was deserving of the justice that he received and I think Americans and people around the world are glad he is gone, but we don't need to spike the football. And I think that given the graphic natures of these photos, it would create some national security risk and I've discussed this with Bob Gates and Hillary Clinton and my intelligence teams and they all agree."

In the interview scheduled to air on Sunday, the president said officials were monitoring worldwide reaction to news of the mission and that there was no doubt bin Laden was dead.

Obama told Kroft:

"Certainly there is doubt- no doubt among Al Qaeda members that he is dead. And so we don't think that a photograph in and of itself is going to make any difference. There are going to be some folks who deny it. The fact of the matter is, you will not see bin Laden waling on this earth again."

From NBC's Athena Jones
In announcing changes to his national security team on Thursday, President Obama said he could not think of a group of individuals better suited to lead his team at this time of war and increasing budget challenges as he urged the Senate to confirm them "as swiftly as possible."

Obama has asked CIA Director Leon Panetta replace outgoing Defense Secretary Robert Gates, will nominate Gen. David Petraeus  to replace Petraeus as CIA director, nominate Gen. John Allen -- currently the deputy commander of U.S. Central Command -- to replace Petraeus in Afghanistan and call on Ryan Crocker to serve as ambassador to Afghanistan.

A senior administration official who briefed reporters on the changes said the men were a "deeply experienced group of people" who would make up the "strongest possible team" to carry out the administration's policies and the president echoed that sentiment during the East Room announcement.

"I've worked closely with most of the individuals on this stage and all of them have my complete confidence," Obama said. "Given the pivotal period that we're entering, I felt it was absolutely critical that we had this team in place so that we can stay focused on our mission, maintain our momentum and keep our nation secure."

Joining the four men on stage for the announcement were National Security Adviser Tom Donilon, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Vice President Biden and Gates.

The president said Panetta -- a former congressman, White House chief of staff, budget director and CIA director -- "knows how to lead." Among the challenges facing Panetta in his new role will be completing the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq and managing the drawdown of U.S. troops from Afghanistan -- set to begin this summer -- and the eventual transition to Afghan lead on security matters in 2014, while continuing to look for savings to meet the president's goal of cutting an additional $400 billion from the Pentagon budget over the next 12 years.

Obama thanked Gates and said he was confident he would be remembered as one of the finest defense secretaries in history. He said that as a lifelong consumer of intelligence Petraeus knows that it must be timely, accurate and acted on quickly. He called Allen a "battle tested combat leader" who was deeply involved in executing US strategy in Afghanistan. Of Crocker, who in 2002 re-opened the US embassy in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban, the president said that few Americans know the region and its challenges better than him.

"These are the leaders that I've chosen to help guide us through the difficult days ahead," Obama said. "I will look to them an my entire national security team for their counsel, continuity and unity of effort that this moment in history demands."

The administration aims to manage a "seamless transition" into these positions. Gates' plan is to leave his position on June 30 and Panetta -- who accepted the president's offer on Monday despite earlier resistance to the idea -- would assume position of secretary of defense on July 1, 2011. Mike Morell, the current deputy director of CIA would serve as acting director between July 1 and the beginning of September, when Petraeus would be expected to take over.

Petraeus will retire from the military in order to serve in the new post. Allen would take up his position at the beginning of September and administration officials could not say when Crocker would head to Kabul, but said they would seek speedy confirmation by the Senate. Petraeus was set to head back to Afghanistan tomorrow morning.

AP

President Barack Obama gestures while speaking about his plan for America's energy security today at Georgetown University in Washington.

From NBC's Athena Jones
In laying out his administration's plans for increasing U.S. energy independence, President Obama set a big goal: to reduce oil imports by about one-third in a little over a decade.

The president set out that goal in a wide-ranging nearly 50-minute speech during which he spoke about a series of steps his administration would take to increase domestic oil and natural gas production and promote research into and production of biofuels and raise automobile efficiency standards.

He argued the best opportunities to improve America's energy security "can be found in our own backyard," and he set a goal of breaking ground on at least four commercial-scale cellulosic or advanced biorefineries over the next two years. He made the remarks at Georgetown University, the same place he laid out his sweeping economic agenda two years ago.

Today's speech is part of a White House public communications effort to focus America's attention on energy security during a time of unrest in the Middle East and rising gas prices at home.

"Obviously the situation in the Middle East affects our energy security," Obama said. "In an economy that relies on oil, rising prices at the pump affect everybody -- workers and farmers, truck drivers and restaurant owners; businesses see it hurt their bottom line; families feel the pinch when they fill up their tank. For Americans already struggling to get by, it makes life that much harder."

He went on to say there were no quick fixes to America's energy challenges and that addressing them would require a long-term strategy.

"We cannot keep going from shock to trance on the issue of energy security, rushing to propose action when gas prices rise, then hitting the snooze button when they fall again," he said. "It is time to do what we can to secure our energy future."

As part of the administration's new push on energy, Cabinet officials will hold a series of energy events in Washington and around the country. In an afternoon briefing with reporters, Energy Secretary Steven Chu talked about the "great strides" made in areas like fuel economy, electric vehicles, development of advanced batteries and biofuels and the president himself plans to highlight green vehicles on Friday by visiting a UPS shipping facility in Landover, MD, where he will view vehicles from AT&T, FedEx, PepsiCo, UPS and Verizon's clean fleets.

Despite Japan's nuclear crisis, Obama said nuclear energy would remain part of the U.S. mix of energy sources and said he had called for comprehensive safety review by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to make sure that all existing U.S. nuclear energy facilities are safe.

But he also spoke about his administration's work to expedite new oil and gas drilling permits. The administration also wants to provide incentives to encourage energy companies to develop the millions of acres in available oil and gas leases.

In a conference call with reporters to preview today's speech, one senior administration official cited a Department of the Interior report showing that last year the oil and gas industry leased only 2.4 million out of 37 million acres offered. The official said in the Gulf of Mexico, companies were sitting on an estimated 11.6 billion barrels of oil and tens of trillions of cubic feet of natural gas.

"These are massive supplies of American energy just waiting to be tapped," the official said.

Republicans have argued the Obama administration has made it harder for companies to drill, dragging its feet on issuing new permits. And soon after the president's speech, congressman Doc Hastings (R-WA), chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, released a statement in which he said he agreed with the president's goal, but noted, "[W]e have very different ways of getting there. The President wants to decrease imports by telling Americans to use less and to pay more. Republicans want to decrease imports by increasing U.S. production -- while simultaneously creating American jobs, raising revenue to help pay down the national debt, lowering energy costs and increasing our energy independence. I hope the President would be willing to work with Congress in achieving his goal to cut imports by unlocking our American energy resources.”

White House officials believe they can get bipartisan support for several of their energy initiatives and pointed to the Natural Gas Act, a bill introduced by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), as an example of legislation with the support of members from both sides of the aisle. The bill -- which was co-sponsored by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Sen. Orrin Hatch  (R-UT) and has the support of billionaire energy executive T. Boone Pickens -- aims to spur the development of natural gas vehicles and decrease America's dependence on foreign energy.

Still, officials have suggested that not all of the incentives and other proposals the administration is putting forth will have to be passed by Congress. They noted the Obama White House has used its administrative authorities aggressively -- whether regarding auto efficiency standards or efforts to green the federal fleet -- since the president took office, and that it would continue "thinking creatively" about what can be accomplished using existing authorities.