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HOT OFF THE RENTED COPY MACHINE

   
For the president's traveling press corps, the story Monday was supposed to be the complex U.S.-Russia relations with the visit of President Vladimir Putin to the Bush family compound.

But a news jolt snapped me back to the Libby case.

When the president learned that a court refused to let former
Cheney advisor, Lewis "Scooter" Libby remain free during his appeal, Mr. Bush was with Putin. 

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WHAT DO YOU BUY A PRESIDENT?

Tuesday two stacks of dense, hard-to-read documents were passed out here at the White House and they contain some interesting bits of information about the president and vice president.

Like many other government officials, President Bush and Vice President Cheney are required to make a "public financial disclosure report." It's an outline of where their money is in all the various investment and bank accounts and in broad, ballpark terms how much they have.

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A presidential groove

The White House is home to history of course, but sometimes those unexpected "firsts" are the stuff to make your head turn and your feet tap.

Today was one of those days. The president and Mrs. Bush hosted the first-ever Malaria Awareness Day. While there was serious conversation about fighting a deadly disease, the event in the sun-filled Rose Garden was capped with jubilant entertainment.

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"DO YOU WANT TO LIVE IN CHAINS?"

Today, our fifth day of waiting for a Libby verdict, provided an unexpected opportunity to see Judge Reggie Walton, who has presided over this high profile trial with poise, show a far more passionate side. 

While the jury is down the hall working, the judge caught up on other cases. 

A series of young men came before him for repeat appearances and various criminal offenses. The judge was quite proper as he reviewed each man's new reason for being in court. But when that business was done, he addressed them personally with a fire that resonated deep belief and personal experience. Judge Walton is African-American and so were the young men in trouble.

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The big day that wasn't

Just short of history. This would have been the day Vice President Dick Cheney walked into courtroom #16 and sat in the witness chair. But that won't happen. The vice president repeatedly said he was ready to raise his hand, take the oath, and testify on behalf of a loyal former adviser, Scooter Libby, who had been Cheney's chief of staff. But that won't happen. Mr. Cheney would have made history as the first sitting vice president to testify at a criminal trial, at least first in the modern day. But that won't happen. However, you can make the case that Cheney's shadow helped shape the jury that will soon sit in judgment of Libby on perjury and obstruction charges in the CIA leak case.

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"I don't recall"

Two voices boom and fill the courtroom. Louder than what normally flows from a witness on the stand. These voices feel bigger than life. And what hangs in the air is the repeated sound of "I don't recall."

One voice belongs to the man on trial, Lewis "Scooter" Libby. The other to Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald who is prosecuting this case. Yet simultaneously, both men are sitting quietly at their opposing tables, sometimes taking notes or glancing to the big screen that displays their words scrolling line by line from a transcript. 

What we are listening to are tapes of Libby's grand jury testimony from March 2004. We haven't heard it all as of this writing, but I can share some impressions. Libby sounds calm and polite. What is most striking is that he uses the phrase "I don't recall" again and again. I would guess hundreds of times. It has been so frequent it almost feels like a reflexive response to question after question. The repetition makes use of every form of the phrase, ranging from "I don't know" to "I don't recollect" to "I don't remember."

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The jury has a few questions

Weeks before the Libby jury of nine women and three men gets the case and starts deliberations, the group is actively involved and being heard.

Judge Reggie Walton has given jurors notebooks so they can track the evidence and testimony. The notebooks are kept by the court's clerk.

But beyond the note taking to help prompt their memories later, the judge gives the Libby jurors a chance to pose questions in real time at the end of each witness's testimony. We've seen the flash of white note cards pop up in the jury box as they pass them down to the clerk. Sometimes four or five questions appear. Judge Walton reviews the written questions privately with the attorneys in what's called a "sidebar."

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State of the Union preview

Advisors say the president's speech is running about 40 minutes, not counting applause. Brian anchors NBC News coverage beginning at 9 p.m. ET and expected to last at least an hour.

The president is rehearsing in the family theater at the White House. The speech has been revised more than 30 times and every word change generates a new draft. Advisors say the president has been personally involved in editing since the very early drafts. About a half dozen speech writers have been working the text. We'll have fact sheets about the speech in the early afternoon, excerpts at about 5:30 p.m. ET and full text as prepared for delivery by 8 p.m.

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Bush's big speech

NBC News has confirmed the following about the president's address from various senior administration officials:

Where: The White House Library, not the Map Room as previously printed on a White House schedule.

Length: Aides say the run-throughs clock the speech at about 23 minutes. Advisors say they know they have to be "reasonable" and keep it under a half hour. They say there will be some poetic language, but mostly complex explanation of the plan and the circumstances that led to this point.

Key points: Advisors say the big news of the speech has largely all been reported now. The president will ask for roughly 20,000 additional troops. Most to Baghdad. About 4,000 to the west in Anbar Province. The president will speak about goals for Iraqis to take over operational security control by November. Advisors say "that's something Maliki wants."

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"Enormous news?"

Editor's note: Kelly posted the following in our sister blog, First Read, but since Nightly News will cover the story extensively tonight, I'm posting it here as well.

More White House build-up to President Bush's third speech on the war on terror at 1:30 p.m.: Senior Bush advisors say the speech and the accompanying proposal to correct the military tribunals for Guantanamo detainees, which the U.S. Supreme Court deemed unconstitutional back in June, will generate an "enormous amount of news."  When asked by the press corps if they're raising expectations, White House spokesperson Tony Snow responded, "We're gonna deliver today," and, "Trust me, it's better than you think."  However, he would not provide any further guidance on the "enormous amount of news" of the speech.  Hill lawmakers will be briefed before the speech today.

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