White House Saying Little About Clinton Meeting
Former President Bill Clinton arrived at the White House just before 4 pm today for his meeting with President Obama, and left less than a half hour ago. The White House issued this readout to describe the conversation the two leaders had, first in the Situation Room and later in the Oval Office.
President Obama today met in the Situation Room with former President Clinton for nearly forty minutes to thank him in person for undertaking the humanitarian mission to secure the release of two American citizens who had been detained by North Korea for over four months. Former President Clinton described the process, including a meeting with Kim Jong-il, that culminated in the North Korean leadership granting "special amnesty" to the two journalists and permitting them to return to the United States. President Obama said he was gratified that the Americans had been safely reunited with their families. After the meeting, President Obama invited President Clinton to the Oval Office to continue their conversation for another half hour.
As you can see, the readout lists only North Korea as a topic of more than an hour of discussion. Earlier, Robert Gibbs could not say whether health care has come up between the two in the past, or might today.
UPDATE: Vice President Biden's office says he sat in on the Sit Room meeting.