Under-fire White House releases Benghazi ‘talking points’ emails

President Barack Obama speaks at a Democratic Party fundraiser at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York, May 13, …Under heavy political pressure, the White House on Wednesday released 100 pages of internal Obama Administration emails in which senior officials debated what to tell Americans about the Sept. 11, 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya.

Republicans have charged that the White House played down the role of suspected terrorists in the attack, which left four Americans dead including U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens. GOP lawmakers have said that President Barack Obama's reelection campaign did not want to undermine its message that al-Qaida was on the run. Obama has flatly denied any attempt to deceive the public, and on Monday he called the allegations a "sideshow" that dishonors the memories of those killed.

Some of the back-and-forth has centered on the email messages among top officials looking to craft "talking points" for members of Congress just a few days after the attack. The White House has accused Republicans of pushing "fabricated" messages to damage the administration.

On Wednesday, senior administration officials briefed reporters on the messages and provided binders of 100 pages of emails. The officials said the communications would show that the CIA led the changes to the talking points, including alterations that Republicans claim show a political motive. The officials went through the emails page by page.

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White House: Obama is no Nixon

President Barack Obama at a May 13 press conference. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)The Department of Justice seizing reporters' phone records? The IRS apologizing for targeting conservatives?

The Richard Nixon comparisons seem to write themselves—much to the joy of Republicans working to cement the association between President Barack Obama and the former scandal-plagued president.

But when asked at Tuesday's press briefing about the White House's reaction to the recent Nixon comparisons, press secretary Jay Carney suggested those who made them were wrong.

"People who make those kinds of comparisons need to check their history," he said.

He then pivoted to the Benghazi "scandal," chalking it up to politics. "What we have here," Carney said, referencing controversy over the administration's handling of the 2012 attack, "is so clearly—as we're learning—more and more a political sideshow, a deliberate effort to politicize a tragedy."

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White House rebuffs Boehner on Benghazi-related emails

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney during his daily news briefing at the White House on Friday, May, 10, 2013. …President Barack Obama's standoff with congressional Republicans over Benghazi escalated Friday as the White House rebuffed House Speaker John Boehner's demand that it turn over unclassified internal emails linked to the deadly Sept. 11, 2012 attack.

Press secretary Jay Carney rejected the request and again accused Republicans of trying to milk the tragedy for political gain.

“They’re asking for emails that they’ve already seen, that they were able to review and take extensive notes on, apparently provide verbatim information to folks,” Carney told reporters.

His comments came hours after ABC News reported that talking points crafted by the Administration to explain the attack to the public underwent extensive revisions at the State Department's request and with copious White House oversight.

"The fact that the very people who’ve reviewed this and probably leaked it – generally speaking, not specifically -- are asking for something they’ve already had access to I think demonstrates that this is what it was from the beginning in terms of Republican handling of it which is a highly political matter," the spokesman said.

Carney noted that key Republicans had been given access to internal emails in which officials discussed the drafting of the talking points. Lawmakers were able "to review them, take notes, spend as much with with them as they liked," Carney said.(But lawmakers were were not allowed to make copies or take the documents out, which is known as an "in camera" review. )

"There is a long precedent here for protecting internal deliberations. This is across administrations of both parties," he said. House Republicans have hinted they may try to subpoena the emails if the Administration does not cooperate.

"From the hours after the attack, beginning with the Republican nominee’s unfortunate press release, and then his statements the day after, there has been an effort to politicize a tragedy here, the deaths of four Americans," Carney said, referring to Mitt Romney's poorly received response to the attack.

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WHITE HOUSE NOTEBOOK: Obama heckler shouted down

JERUSALEM (AP) — President Barack Obama was interrupted by a heckler while giving a speech to an audience of Israeli university students, but he didn't lose his cool.

The president was talking about the U.S. being a close ally to Israel when the heckler piped up. The crowd shouted him down.

"This is part of the lively debate that we talked about," said an unruffled Obama. "This is good."

That got him a standing ovation from many of the students.

"I have to say we actually arranged for that because it made me feel at home," Obama said, grinning. "I wouldn't feel comfortable if I didn't have at least one heckler."

Obama went on to deliver an impassioned appeal for Israel to recognize that compromise will be necessary to achieve lasting security.

___

Obama has permitted TV crews with live microphones to accompany him at virtually every stop in Israel, giving a rare and fascinating glimpse at the joking and small talk that takes place on the sidelines of official visits.

In Jerusalem on Thursday, Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the Israel Museum, where they examined the Dead Sea Scrolls. Reading a passage from Isaiah from a facsimile of a scroll, Netanyahu explained: "It says, 'Nations should not lift swords unto nations and they shall know war no more."

The phrase forms the lyrics to a popular Hebrew folk song often used as a rallying call for peace.

Obama marveled that the Hebrew language had not changed much over the centuries.

Minutes later, during a tour of a technology exhibit, the two leaders stopped by a display of a robotic snake that can burrow into rubble during rescue operations. The three-foot contraption wriggled and separated and reared up. "Let me just say, my wife would not like this," Obama said, grinning.

At a brain imaging display, a scientist explained that the first step in studying brain function is taking accurate measurements of the brain. "That presupposes there is something to measure, right?" Netanyahu joked.

Developers of a driver assistance device that detects road obstacles described how their Mobileye protected passengers by sensing a car's proximity to other cars.

"Pedestrians, too?" Obama asked. "Pedestrians, cars...," one of the developers replied.

"Dogs?" Obama wondered. "Not dogs," came the reply.

___

For Obama, this was personal. The president reflected repeatedly on his experience as a father and an African American as he contemplated the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.

Standing alongside Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, Obama contrasted the experience of children growing up amid the conflict to that of his two daughters, who in an earlier period in American history would have been denied the opportunities granted to others.

"Those of us in the United States understand that change takes time, but it is also possible," he said.

Later, in Jerusalem, Obama cited Martin Luther King Jr. and likened the story of the upcoming Jewish holiday of Passover to the experience of blacks in the U.S. who were freed from slavery and persecution.

Of the Passover story, Obama added: "For me personally, growing up in far-flung parts of the world and without firm roots, it spoke to a yearning within every human being for a home."

And the president veered briefly off of his prepared remarks to scores of Israeli students to convey a lesson he took away from meeting earlier in the day with Palestinian students in the occupied West Bank.

"They weren't that different from my daughters. They weren't that different from your daughters or sons," he said. "I honestly believe that if any Israeli parent sat down with those kids, they'd say, 'I want these kids to succeed. I want them to prosper. I want them to have opportunities just like my kids do.'"

___

At the White House, Obama is used to bestowing medals on combat veterans, both living and deceased, as well as famous Americans, scientists, inventors and others.

But on Thursday, it was his turn to bow his head and accept one for himself.

During a state dinner at Israeli President Shimon Peres' official residence, Peres presented his American counterpart with the Medal of Distinction, the highest honor the Jewish state bestows on civilians. An announcer said it was for Obama's "unique and significant" contributions to Israel's security.

"This award speaks to your tireless work to make Israel strong," Peres said during his toast. Then he put the large, round medal dangling from a wide, dark-blue ribbon with a white stripe down the middle around Obama's neck.

The medal features the North Star to symbolize the right path. Also on the medal is a menorah — the emblem of Israel and a symbol of the link between past and present. It is inscribed with the words from Samuel 9:2, "from his shoulders and upward."

Obama wore the medal as he delivered his reciprocal toast.

"This is an extraordinary honor for me and I could not be more deeply moved," he said.

___

During portions of the dinner that were open to media coverage, Obama and Netanyahu continued the newfound chumminess they displayed a day earlier.

Seated next to each other at a rectangular head table draped in white cloth and adorned with white tulips and orchids, the two leaders were seen leaning in and whispering to one another, laughing and smiling as they awaited Peres' remarks. At one point, they hid their mouths behind their hands strategically to thwart lip readers and microphones in the room.

Obama and Netanyahu have had a prickly relationship, but they have put on a happier face during Obama's first visit to Israel as president.

Among the 120 dinner guests seated at similarly decorated round banquet tables were Justice minister Tzipi Livni; Avigdor Lieberman, a Netanyahu ally; and U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz of Florida, the chair of the Democratic Party.

The invite list led to some interesting pairings.

Seated together at one table were a rabbi from the Western Wall and a Muslim cleric. At another table sat Michael Oren, Israel's ambassador to Washington; Yair Lapid, the new star of Israeli politics and a leader of the centrist Yesh Atid party; Yuli Eidelstein, a hard-line Likud lawmaker who is a former Soviet political prisoner and the new speaker of Israel's parliament; U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Livni.

What were they served? A fish appetizer, a duet of beef and lamb on a potato tart, salad, and a plate of fruit, éclairs, dates and other pastries and sweets.

___

In the most emotional moment of the tech tour, Obama and Netanyahu encountered a Druze Israeli war veteran and a U.S. army veteran, both paralyzed from the waist down. Both demonstrated how they were able to walk with the help of crutches and a computerized exoskeleton that supported their legs as they moved.

Obama gave both presidential "challenge coins," used to recognize veterans for their service.

The army veteran, Theresa Hannigan, a 60-year-old from Long Island, N.Y., was learning how to use the motorized aides, called the ReWalk, at the Bronx VA hospital. She implored Obama to help the device obtain FDA approval. Her voice breaking, Hannigan stood straight and hugged Obama.

The system is made by an Israeli company called Argo Medical Technologies. Its exoskeleton suit uses computers and motion sensors to allow paraplegics to walk with motorized legs that power knee and hip movement.

Obama offered a personal reflection. "Michelle's father had MS, so he used crutches until he was probably 45, 50, then got a wheelchair."

Netanyahu replied: "This would have given him a different life."

___

Peres is making sure that controversy over a tree brought to Israel by Obama does not upset the deep-rooted ties between the countries.

Obama brought the magnolia tree as a gift, and planted it at Peres' official residence during a welcoming ceremony Wednesday. Israeli media later reported that the tree would have to be uprooted and tested to make sure it complied with agricultural import regulations.

Peres' office quickly denied the report. It said agriculture officials would conduct "all the necessary tests" required by law but stressed the checkup would be done "without removing the tree from the place where it was planted, as agreed."

___

Associated Press writer Daniel Estrin contributed to this report.

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WHITE HOUSE NOTEBOOK: Up close, Obama the tourist

JERUSALEM (AP) — President Barack Obama has permitted TV crews with live microphones to accompany him at virtually every stop in Israel, giving a rare and fascinating glimpse at the joking and small talk that takes place on the sidelines of official visits.

In Jerusalem on Thursday, Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the Israel Museum, where they examined the Dead Sea Scrolls. Reading a passage from Isaiah from a facsimile of a scroll, Netanyahu explained: "It says, 'Nations should not lift swords unto nations and they shall know war no more."

The phrase forms the lyrics to a popular Hebrew folk song often used as a rallying call for peace.

Obama marveled that the Hebrew language had not changed much over the centuries.

Minutes later, during a tour of a technology exhibit, the two leaders stopped by a display of a robotic snake that can burrow into rubble during rescue operations. The three-foot contraption wriggled and separated and reared up. "Let me just say, my wife would not like this," Obama said, grinning.

At a brain imaging display, a scientist explained that the first step in studying brain function is taking accurate measurements of the brain. "That presupposes there is something to measure, right?" Netanyahu joked.

Developers of a driver assistance device that detects road obstacles described how their Mobileye protected passengers by sensing a car's proximity to other cars.

"Pedestrians, too?" Obama asked. "Pedestrians, cars...," one of the developers replied.

"Dogs?" Obama wondered. "Not dogs," came the reply.

___

For Obama, this was personal. The president reflected repeatedly on his experience as a father and an African American as he contemplated the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.

Standing alongside Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, Obama contrasted the experience of children growing up amid the conflict to that of his two daughters, who in an earlier period in American history would have been denied the opportunities granted to others.

"Those of us in the United States understand that change takes time, but it is also possible," he said.

Later, in Jerusalem, Obama cited Martin Luther King Jr. and likened the story of the upcoming Jewish holiday of Passover to the experience of blacks in the U.S. who were freed from slavery and persecution.

Of the Passover story, Obama added: "For me personally, growing up in far-flung parts of the world and without firm roots, it spoke to a yearning within every human being for a home."

And the president veered briefly off of his prepared remarks to scores of Israeli students to convey a lesson he took away from meeting earlier in the day with Palestinian students in the occupied West Bank.

"They weren't that different from my daughters. They weren't that different from your daughters or sons," he said. "I honestly believe that if any Israeli parent sat down with those kids, they'd say, 'I want these kids to succeed. I want them to prosper. I want them to have opportunities just like my kids do.'"

___

At the White House, Obama is used to bestowing medals on combat veterans, both living and deceased, as well as famous Americans, scientists, inventors and others.

But on Thursday, it was his turn to bow his head and accept one for himself.

During a state dinner at Israeli President Shimon Peres' official residence, Peres presented his American counterpart with the Medal of Distinction, the highest honor the Jewish state bestows on civilians. An announcer said it was for Obama's "unique and significant" contributions to Israel's security.

"This award speaks to your tireless work to make Israel strong," Peres said during his toast. Then he put the large, round medal dangling from a wide, dark-blue ribbon with a white stripe down the middle around Obama's neck.

The medal features the North Star to symbolize the right path. Also on the medal is a menorah — the emblem of Israel and a symbol of the link between past and present, according to Peres' office. It is inscribed with the words from Samuel 9:2, "from his shoulders and upward."

Obama wore the medal as he delivered his reciprocal toast.

"This is an extraordinary honor for me and I could not be more deeply moved," he said.

___

During portions of the dinner that were open to media coverage, Obama and Netanyahu continued the newfound chumminess they displayed a day earlier.

Seated next to each other at a rectangular head table draped in white cloth and adorned with white tulips and orchids, the two leaders were seen leaning in and whispering to one another, laughing and smiling as they awaited Peres' remarks. At one point, they hid their mouths behind their hands strategically to thwart lip readers and microphones in the room.

Obama and Netanyahu have had a prickly relationship, but they have put on a happier face during Obama's first visit to Israel as president.

Among the 120 dinner guests seated at similarly decorated round banquet tables were Justice minister Tzipi Livni; Avigdor Lieberman, a Netanyahu ally; and U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz of Florida, the chair of the Democratic Party.

The invite list led to some interesting pairings.

Seated together at one table were a rabbi from the Western Wall and a Muslim cleric. At another table sat Michael Oren, Israel's ambassador to Washington; Yair Lapid, the new star of Israeli politics and a leader of the centrist Yesh Atid party; Yuli Eidelstein, a hard-line Likud lawmaker who is a former Soviet political prisoner and the new speaker of Israel's parliament; U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Livni.

What were they served? A fish appetizer, a duet of beef and lamb on a potato tart, salad, and a plate of fruit, éclairs, dates and other pastries and sweets.

___

In the most emotional moment of the tech tour, Obama and Netanyahu encountered a Druze Israeli war veteran and a U.S. army veteran, both paralyzed from the waist down. Both demonstrated how they were able to walk with the help of crutches and a computerized exoskeleton that supported their legs as they moved.

Obama gave both presidential "challenge coins," used to recognize veterans for their service.

The army veteran, Theresa Hannigan, a 60-year-old from Long Island, N.Y., was learning how to use the motorized aides, called the ReWalk, at the Bronx VA hospital. She implored Obama to help the device obtain FDA approval. Her voice breaking, Hannigan stood straight and hugged Obama.

The system is made by an Israeli company called Argo Medical Technologies. Its exoskeleton suit uses computers and motion sensors to allow paraplegics to walk with motorized legs that power knee and hip movement.

Obama offered a personal reflection. "Michelle's father had MS, so he used crutches until he was probably 45, 50, then got a wheelchair."

Netanyahu replied: "This would have given him a different life."

___

Associated Press writer Daniel Estrin contributed to this report.

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WHITE HOUSE NOTEBOOK: 'Red lines' and entourages

JERUSALEM (AP) — Red lines. When it comes to the Middle East, President Barack Obama is encountering them everywhere. They are painted on the ground as directional markers for visiting dignitaries, and they are in Obama's and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's foreign policy rhetoric as not-to-be-crossed warnings to Syria and Iran.

As Obama prepared to tour a missile battery that is part of Israel's Iron Dome defenses, an aide at the Tel Aviv airport directed the president to follow the red line on the tarmac.

"Bibi's always talking to me about red lines," Obama quipped, referring to Netanyahu by his familiar name.

Netanyahu has set "red lines" on Iran's nuclear development capabilities. Israel repeatedly has threatened to take military action should Iran appear to be on the verge of obtaining a bomb. The U.S. has pushed for more time to allow diplomacy and economic penalties to run their course, though Obama insists military action is an option. The issue has become a point of tension between the two allies.

Obama himself has used the phrase to describe limits that could prompt action against Syria's Assad regime. Any use of chemical weapons by Syria's regime, Obama has said, would constitute a "red line" that if breached could prompt direct U.S. intervention. It's a threat that could be tested amid new accusations that the regime used chemicals in an attack in a village in the north of Syria.

Referring to the painted red lines at the airport, Obama joked that it was "a psychological ploy."

Netanyahu replied: "It was minutely planned."

___

President Barack Obama's traveling retinue is no small matter. The combination of aides and press who follow the president makes for a massive grouping of followers that are simply part of the job of being president. But if Obama doesn't take notice, someone else in his family certainly does.

"Michelle teases me mercilessly," Obama confessed to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, referring to his entourage during arrival ceremonies in Tel Aviv. "She says whenever she travels with me, it's embarrassing."

___

During a receiving line on the airport tarmac, Obama and Netanyahu stopped briefly to chat with Obama's deputy national security, Ben Rhodes.

Obama noted that Rhodes' brother, David, is president of CBS News.

"Sounds like a very incestuous relationship," Netanyahu observed, chuckling at the idea of siblings in power roles with the administration and the news media.

"Not if you watch CBS News," Obama replied.

___

Israeli President Shimon Peres presented Obama with gifts during their meeting. Obama received a friendship clock, which has the time in Washington on one side and the time in Jerusalem on the other. The clock has a gold inscription of the U.S. presidential seal. The clock was made at Adi Watches in Kibbutz Yavne, the only watch factory in the Mideast.

Peres also gave the president a friendship bracelet for the first lady. It is designed as two circles, representing the two nations, with a small freedom bird on each. Obama's daughters also are being sent bracelets with freedom birds.

___

Israelis and others awaiting President Barack Obama's arrival in Israel on Wednesday were surprised to see his signature black limousine sitting on the back of a flatbed truck.

The U.S. Secret Service said the vehicle suffered mechanical problems before Obama arrived but wouldn't say just what the problem was. Mechanics were examining the vehicle to figure out what happened.

The disabled limo was swapped out for a back-up, and Obama's busy itinerary in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem on Wednesday was unaffected. The Secret Service says its advance teams plan ahead for these types of glitches.

"This is why we bring multiple vehicles and a mechanic on all trips," said Secret Service spokesman Brian Leary.

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White House Fountain Dyed Green for St. Patrick's Day

WASHINGTON - In honor of St. Patrick's Day today, the White House has dyed the fountain on the South Lawn green to celebrate.

President Obama spent most of St. Patrick's Day at the White House, but went out Saturday afternoon to play basketball with his 11-year-old daughter Sasha at the Department of Interior.

While his weekend was quiet, the president will continue his St. Patrick's Day celebration on Tuesday, first attending the traditional St. Patrick's Day lunch at the Capitol. In the evening, the president and first lady will host Ireland's Prime Minister Enda Kenny for a St. Patrick's Day reception at the White House. The president and Kenny will participate in the annual Shamrock ceremony, a tradition that dates back to the presidency of Harry Truman.

Last year, Obama popped into the Dubliner, a pub on Capitol Hill, for a Guinness and a toast with the crowd.

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Students Still Hope to Visit White House After Capitol Visit 'Wow'

Disappointed, but still determined, 15 Iowa sixth-graders woke up before dawn today and boarded a plane for the nation's capital, still hopeful that they would get to visit the White House.

It's been 10 days since the students of St. Paul's Lutheran School, just outside Cedar Falls, Iowa, learned their White House tour was in jeopardy, a casualty of those across-the-board spending cuts.

"We have not gotten an answer, but our tour is not scheduled until 11:30 a.m. tomorrow [Saturday], so we are hoping for late-breaking news," Karen Thalacker, chaperone and mother of 12-year-old Malcolm Newell, told ABC News' Jonathan Karl shortly after their arrival in Washington.

The White House cancelled all public tours indefinitely as a result of the sequester cuts, saying they had to choose between nixing the tours or possibly furloughing Secret Service officers.

President Obama told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos earlier this week that the administration is trying to find a way to accommodate school groups, but it seems unlikely a solution will be reached in time for the students from St. Paul's.

"The Secret Service and the White House are talking about what is possible. I would not anticipate that opening tours that soon would be possible," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said earlier this week, when asked about the students.

One boy today told ABC News he'll miss seeing inside the White House but understands the president had a tough decision to make.

Another classmate said, "We're upset, but there's nothing that we can really do about it. We've done our best to try. And that's only really we can do."

Turning their disappointment into a real-life civics lessons, the students launched a social media blitz to spread their message: "The White House is our house! Please let us visit!"

"We can make a difference. Maybe we're just 12 and 11 years old, but that doesn't matter," one of the students told ABC today.

"These kids aren't Democrats, they're not Republicans, they're American kids who want to see the White House, and everybody should be let in regardless of who's living there," Thalacker said.

While they wait for news from the White House, the students kicked off their Washington weekend with a visit to the Capitol, which remains open for business.

One boy's first reaction: "Wow. It's overwhelming. I never would have thought we could have gotten this far."

House Speaker John Boehner's office learned of their story and offered some special treatment, including a stop by the speaker's balcony to take in the view of the Mall and the opportunity to go inside the chamber.

On Saturday, they're still hoping to visit the White House - or at least get a look at it from outside the gates.

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SEC nominee White promises "unrelenting" enforcement

By Sarah N. Lynch

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mary Jo White, the nominee to head the Securities and Exchange Commission, plans to tell lawmakers on Tuesday that she will bring a "bold and unrelenting" enforcement program to the agency if she is confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

"Investors and all market participants need to know that the playing field of our markets is level and that all wrongdoers -individual and institutional ... will be aggressively pursued by the SEC," said White in prepared testimony released ahead of her confirmation hearing before the Senate Banking Committee.

"Proceeding aggressively against wrongdoers is not only the right thing to do, but it also will serve to deter the sharp and unlawful practices of others," White added.

White built a reputation as a hard-nosed Manhattan federal prosecutor before moving into private practice for the past 10 years, defending major Wall Street figures, including JPMorgan and former Bank of America Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis.

In pledging to aggressively go after individuals who violate the law, White appeared to be getting out in front of critical questions she will likely face on Tuesday, both on the SEC's record and her recent defense work.

Although the SEC has filed numerous cases in connection with the 2007-2009 financial crisis, the agency has faced criticism from the public and some lawmakers who say it has failed to hold high-level executives accountable and settles too frequently instead of taking banks to trial.

One liberal non-profit, Better Markets, announced Monday it has launched a new webpage called "SEC Watch" that will direct a spotlight on how the SEC handles enforcement cases.

"Unfortunately, the SEC failed miserably in the years before the financial crisis," said Better Markets CEO Dennis Kelleher. "While doing better, it has regrettably too often failed since then as well."

White's prepared testimony marks the first time the public has gotten a glimpse into her priorities for the SEC.

Little is known about her views on regulatory policy and how she may vote on crucial areas facing the SEC, such as rules for over-the-counter derivatives, credit-ratings and money market funds.

White's five pages of prepared testimony give little insight into how she might vote on these matters.

She did, however, highlight market-structure issues such as high-frequency trading, algorithms, order types and dark pools as areas the SEC should continue exploring.

Market structure became a big policy area under former SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro, who presided as head of the agency during the May 6, 2010 "flash crash" incident.

While White did not take a position on whether high-speed trading and certain order types may be harming retail investors, she said it is critical for the SEC to better understand its impact.

"There must be a sense of urgency brought to addressing these issues to understand their impact on investors and the quality of our markets so that the appropriate regulatory responses can be made," she said.

Separately, White also stressed the need for the SEC to complete rules required by the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law and the 2012 Jumpstart our Business Startups (JOBS) Act.

She also pointed to the importance of vigorously studying the economic impact of any new regulations. Problems with proper cost-benefit analysis have plagued the SEC in the past, leading industry and business groups to successfully wage legal challenges that overturned several key rules.

(Reporting By Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick and Richard Chang)

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Obama to nominate Walmart's Burwell as White House budget chief

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will nominate Walmart's philanthropic head Sylvia Mathews Burwell on Monday to become director of the White House budget office, a White House official said on Sunday.

Burwell, 47, is a veteran of Bill Clinton's White House and for the past year has been president of the Walmart Foundation at the corporation's Bentonville, Arkansas, headquarters. The charity organization in 2011 gave out nearly $1 billion in corporate contributions to projects around the world such as fighting hunger and empowering women.

Burwell, who is originally from West Virginia, will replace Jeffrey Zients, who has been serving as acting director at the White House Office of Management and Budget, known by the acronym OMB.

Obama is set to announce Burwell's nomination at 10:15 a.m. EST/1515 GMT on Monday, the White House official said, adding that Burwell had a proven record as a problem solver and consensus builder. The job requires Senate confirmation.

"Burwell's deep knowledge of budget and economic issues along with her record of fighting for working Americans make her the perfect choice to lead the OMB at this important time," the White House official said.

Mike Duke, president and chief executive of Wal-Mart, congratulated Burwell on her nomination, describing her as "a strong leader who both masters the details and has a clear vision for making big thing happen."

The move will reunite her with another Clinton White House veteran, Jack Lew, who was Clinton's OMB director for a time and was recently confirmed as Obama's treasury secretary.

Burwell will take the office that carries out the administration's spending policies and prepares an annual budget. That office will inevitably be caught up in the ongoing budget battle between Democrats and Republicans as lawmakers seek ways to reduce annual $1 trillion federal budgets.

She brings a certain outsider status to Obama's inner circle and may offer a fresh perspective from the business world far away from Washington.

Burwell would also bring gender diversity to the top echelons of the Obama White House after the president drew fire from critics for picking men for many top jobs.

Burwell served as deputy OMB director during part of Clinton's 1990s presidency. She was also deputy White House chief of staff and served as chief of staff for Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin.

After her work in the Clinton administration, Burwell was president of the Global Development Program at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. She led the foundation's grantmaking and advocacy efforts aimed at lifting the world's poorest people out of hunger and extreme poverty.

(Additional reporting by Lesley Wroughton. Editing by Eric Beech and Christopher Wilson)

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Benedict to be called 'emeritus pope,' wear white

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Two pontiffs, each wearing white and each called "pope" living a few yards (meters) apart, with the same archbishop serving both.

The Vatican's announcement Tuesday that Pope Benedict XVI will be known as "emeritus pope" in his retirement, called "Your Holiness" as an honorific and continue to wear the white cassock associated with the papacy fueled renewed questions about potential conflicts arising from the peculiar reality soon to face the Catholic Church: having one reigning and one retired pope.

Benedict's title and what he would wear have been a major source of speculation ever since the 85-year-old pontiff stunned the world by announcing he would resign, the first pope to do so in 600 years.

There has been good reason why popes haven't stepped down over past centuries, given the possibility for divided allegiances and even schism. But the Vatican insists that while the situation created by Benedict's retirement is certainly unique, no major conflicts should result.

"Knowing Benedict XVI, it won't be a problem," Giovanni Maria Vian, the editor of the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano said in an interview. "According to the evolution of Catholic doctrine and mentality, there is only one pope. Clearly it's a new situation, but I don't think there will be problems."

Critics aren't so sure. Some Vatican-based cardinals have privately grumbled about the decision, saying it will make it more difficult for the next pope with Benedict still around.

Swiss theologian Hans Kueng, Benedict's onetime colleague-turned-critic, went even further: "With Benedict XVI, there is a risk of a shadow pope who has abdicated but can still indirectly exert influence," he told Germany's Der Spiegel magazine last week.

The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said Tuesday that Benedict himself decided on his name and wardrobe choice in consultation with others, settling on "Your Holiness Benedict XVI" and either "emeritus pope" or "emeritus Roman pontiff."

Lombardi said he didn't know why Benedict had decided to drop his other main title: bishop of Rome.

In the two weeks since Benedict's resignation announcement, Vatican officials had suggested that Benedict would likely resume wearing the traditional black garb of a cleric and would use the title "emeritus bishop of Rome" to avoid creating confusion with the future pope.

Adding to the concern is that Benedict's trusted secretary, Monsignor Georg Gaenswein, will be serving both pontiffs — living with Benedict at the monastery being converted for him inside the Vatican while keeping his day job as prefect of the new pope's household.

Asked about the potential for conflicts given the existing divisions within the Vatican bureaucracy, Lombardi was defensive, saying the decisions had been clearly reasoned and were likely chosen for the sake of simplicity.

"I believe it was well thought out," he said.

Benedict himself has made clear he is retiring to a lifetime of prayer and meditation "hidden from the world." However, he still will be very present in the tiny Vatican city-state, where his new home is right next door to the Vatican Radio transmitter and has a lovely view of the dome of St. Peter's Basilica.

Kueng said it was a mistake for Gaenswein to serve both men and for Benedict to remain so close to the center of action.

"No priest likes it if his predecessor sits next to the rectory and watches everything he does," Kueng was quoted as saying by Der Spiegel. "And even for the bishop of Rome, it is not pleasant if his predecessor constantly has an eye on him."

However, others reasoned that Benedict's retirement plans and title were in keeping with those of other retired heads of state.

"I was somewhat surprised that Benedict would still be called 'His Holiness' and would wear white, but it's akin to the former U.S. presidents being addressed as 'Mr. President,'" said the Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit writer and editor. "It's a mark of respect for the former office he once held."

"Overall, I don't think that after the conclave there will be any doubt about who the pope is, or who is in charge," he said.

While Benedict will no longer wear his trademark red shoes, he has taken a liking to a pair of hand-crafted brown loafers made for him by artisans in Leon, Mexico, and given to him during his 2012 visit. He will wear those in retirement, Lombardi said.

Lombardi also elaborated on the College of Cardinals meetings that will take place after the papacy becomes vacant — crucial gatherings in which cardinals will discuss the problems facing the church and set a date for the start of the conclave to elect Benedict's successor.

The first meeting isn't now expected until Monday, Lombardi said, since the official convocation to cardinals to come to Rome will only go out on Friday — the first day of what's known as the "sede vacante," or the vacancy between papacies.

In all, 115 cardinals under the age of 80 are expected in Rome for the conclave to vote on who should become the next pope; two other eligible cardinals have already said they are not coming, one from Britain and another from Indonesia. Cardinals who are 80 and older can join the College meetings but won't participate in the conclave or vote.

Benedict on Monday gave the cardinals the go-ahead to move up the start date of the conclave — tossing out the traditional 15-day waiting period. But the cardinals won't actually be able to set a date for the conclave until they begin meeting officially Monday.

Lombardi also further described Benedict's final 48 hours as pope: On Tuesday, he was packing, arranging for documents to be sent to the various archives at the Vatican and separating out the personal papers he will take with him into retirement.

On Wednesday, Benedict holds his final public general audience in St. Peter's Square — an event that has already seen 50,000 ticket requests. He won't greet visiting prelates or VIPs as he normally does at the end but will greet some visiting leaders — from Slovakia, San Marino, Andorra and his native Bavaria — privately afterwards.

On Thursday, the pope meets with his cardinals in the morning and then flies by helicopter at 5 p.m. to Castel Gandolfo, the papal residence south of Rome. He will greet parishioners there from the palazzo's balcony — his final public act as pope.

And at 8 p.m., the exact time at which his retirement becomes official, the Swiss Guards standing outside the doors of the palazzo at Castel Gandolfo will go off duty, their service protecting the head of the Catholic Church finished.

Benedict's personal security will be assured by Vatican police, Lombardi said.

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Follow Nicole Winfield at www.twitter.com/nwinfield

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White House, Republicans dig in ahead of budget talks

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Positions hardened on Wednesday between President Barack Obama and Republican congressional leaders over the budget crisis even as they arranged to hold last-ditch talks to prevent harsh automatic spending cuts beginning this week.

Looking resigned to the $85 billion in "sequestration" cuts starting on Friday, government agencies began reducing costs and spelling out to employees how furloughs will work.

Expectations were low that a White House meeting on Friday between Obama and congressional leaders, including Republican foes, would produce any deal to avoid the cuts.

Public services across the country - from air traffic control to food safety inspections and education - might be disrupted if the cuts go ahead.

Put into law in 2011 as part of an earlier fiscal crisis, sequestration is unloved by both parties because of the economic pain it will cause, but the politicians cannot agree how to stop it.

A deal in Congress on less drastic spending cuts, perhaps with tax increases too, is needed by Friday to halt the sequestration reductions, which are split between social programs cherished by Democrats and defense spending championed by Republicans.

Obama stuck by his demand that Republicans accept tax increases in the form of eliminating tax loopholes enjoyed mostly by the wealthy as part of a balanced approach to avoiding sequestration.

"There is no alternative in the president's mind to balance," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters.

Obama wants to end tax breaks for oil and gas companies and the lower "carried interest" tax rate enjoyed by hedge funds.

But Republicans who reluctantly agreed to raise income tax rates on the rich to avert the "fiscal cliff" crisis in December are in no mood for that.

"One thing Americans simply will not accept is another tax increase to replace spending reductions we already agreed to," said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell.

In one of the first concrete effects of the cuts, the administration took the unusual step of freeing several hundred detained illegal immigrants because of the cost of holding them.

Republicans described that move by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as a political stunt aimed at scaring them into agreeing to end the sequestration on Obama's terms.

The issue looked like it might become more controversial on Wednesday when The Associated Press reported that the Homeland Security Department official in charge of immigration enforcement and removal had announced his resignation on Tuesday just after news of the immigrants' releases came out.

But ICE said the report was "misleading." The official, Gary Mead, told ICE weeks ago of his retirement in April after 40 years of federal service, a spokeswoman said. Earlier, Carney denied the White House had ordered the immigrants' release.

Friday's White House meeting will include McConnell and the other key congressional leaders: Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, House of Representatives Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, and House Speaker John Boehner, the top U.S. Republican.

'BELATED FARCE'?

The chances of success were not high.

One congressional Republican aide criticized the White House for calling the meeting for the day the cuts were coming into effect. "Either someone needs to buy the White House a calendar, or this is just a - belated - farce. They ought to at least pretend to try."

Unlike during other fiscal fights in Congress, the stock market is taking the sequestration impasse calmly.

U.S. stocks rose, with major indexes posting their best daily gains since early January, as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke remained steadfast in supporting the Fed's stimulus policy and data pointed to economic improvement.

On Thursday, the Senate is expected to vote on competing Democratic and Republican ideas for replacing the sequestration. Both measures are expected to be defeated.

The Republican plan unveiled late on Wednesday would let the sequestration go into effect on Friday, but require Obama to submit an alternative $85 billion spending reduction plan to Congress by March 15, thus allowing more flexibility on how the cuts would be carried out.

Congress would have until March 22 to reject the proposal, in which case the original sequestration would remain in place. Democrats were still studying it. But on Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said new revenues needed to be part of any substitute plan.

The Democratic proposal would replace the across-the-board cuts mainly with tax increases on the rich coupled with spending cuts. Some of those would be achieved by eliminating crop subsidies for large agricultural companies. More savings would be through minor defense cuts in later years.

Republicans have vowed to block any tax increases for deficit reduction.

Bernanke said sequestration was too drastic an approach for reducing the budget deficit.

"What I am advising is a more gradual approach. I'm not saying we should ignore the deficit. I am not saying we shouldn't deal with long-term fiscal issues, but I think that from the perspective of our recovery, a more gradual approach would be constructive," he told a House Financial Services Committee hearing.

Among many warnings from the Obama administration of possible damage to public services, the Air Force said its Thunderbirds exhibition flying team is expected to be grounded if sequestration happens.

The Pentagon will put most of its 800,000 civilian employees on unpaid leave for 22 days, slash ship and aircraft maintenance and curtail training.

But the full weight of sequestration will take place over seven months, allowing Obama and the Republicans time to work out a deal after the cuts begin this week.

White House spokesman Carney said sequestration would officially start just before midnight on Friday night if no deal were reached.

Government agencies began to tell employees how sequestration will force them to take furloughs. The Environmental Protection Agency acting head, Bob Perciasepe, told employees in an email that the agency did not know how much of its budget will be cut but it was working on an estimate of 5 percent.

"What might that mean for our employees? If the sequester order requires a 5.0% cut, the impact could be up to 13 furlough days," he said. That would likely mean four furlough days by June 1, he said.

(Additional reporting by Mark Felsenthal, Rick Cowan and Valerie Volcovici; Writing by Alistair Bell; Editing by Tim Dobbyn and Lisa Shumaker)

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White House, Congress face cuts; details lacking

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House and Congress won't be immune to the automatic cuts in federal spending scheduled to kick in Friday. But for all the grim warnings the Obama administration has been detailing about the effect on everything from meat packing plants to airports, the consequences of the cuts on the politicians who concocted the idea are much sketchier.

To be sure, the legislative branch and the executive office of the president will take a hit if, as expected, $85 billion in across-the-board reductions begin to take effect in three days. As with other agencies, the impact won't necessarily be immediate.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said this week that White House personnel, like other non-exempt agencies of government, will experience reductions in pay and "there will be furloughs." But he said he had no breakdown of those numbers. Other government agencies have said they will spread out their furloughs so that workers will have to take one or two days off without pay per pay period.

President Barack Obama himself won't be among those affected. Included in the law's long list of exemptions to the cuts, in there along with Social Security benefits and food stamps, is the compensation of the president. Also exempt are the pensions of former presidents and payments to the widows and heirs of deceased members of Congress.

Still, there will be pain at both ends of Washington's Pennsylvania Avenue. According to a document prepared last September and modified in December by the White House Office of Management and Budget, most of the White House accounts, including the $113 million in salaries and expenses in the office of administration, would take an 8.2 percent trim. Likewise, the $396 million budgeted for senators' personnel and office expense accounts and the $1.226 billion budgeted for House salaries and expenses would take the same cut.

Those figures and percentages, however, were calculated before Congress took steps to delay the effective date of the reductions from Jan. 1 to March 1. As a result, the cuts might be slightly smaller.

Each congressional office operates independently and will determine how to find the reductions. The offices are not required to make public their plans to implement the reductions.

Other administration departments, acting to pressure Congress to change the cuts, have been eager to spell out the details.

Last week, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood appeared in the White House briefing room to say that more than $600 million of Transportation Department cuts would come from the Federal Aviation Administration and that the agency's nearly 47,000 employees would have to be furloughed for about a day per pay period until the end of September. On Monday, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told the White House press corps that the cuts would be equal to 5,000 fewer Border Patrol agents.

White House officials said the budget office is still working on how the cuts might specifically affect White House operations and personnel.

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