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The Israelis are here! The Israelis are here!

Security around the White House is always ramped up a notch or two or three whenever the prime minister of Israel comes to town, and such was the case today at the White House. At 2:50 this afternoon a secret service uniformed officer came to our temporary office at 12 Jackson Place and told us we had to evacuate. And, is often the case, they didn't tell us why, except they were examining a suspicious vehicle. So we put everything down, quickly strode down two flights of stairs and out in the 90 degree plus heat. Downtown traffic around the White house ground to a halt, and muttering members of the White House press corps tried to get some information to no avail for more than an hour and 25 minutes. Only then did we got a call back from the Secret Service with an explanation. The suspicious vehicle was a mini-van belonging to none other than the Israeli delegation. As it turned to enter the White House complex a bomb sniffing dog "hit" on it. Nobody is saying why, but the probable explanation is that at one point the van carried something that probably that contained chemical used in explosives. The "incident" was over at 4:15. Traffic returned to normal and we trudged back to our workspace.

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The Queen & the President

Today was one of those rare Washington, D.C. days. This is a city that doesn't usually have a cloudless sky -- it's often either too hot or too cold -- but that was the backdrop as the Queen came to the White House and took part in an arrival ceremony that outdid other arrival ceremonies for heads of state. It's easy to get jaded in the White House press corps by all these events, but not this one. The audience was huge -- 7,000 men, women and children waving American and British flags and soaking up all the pomp and ceremony.

The President and the Queen reviewed representatives from all the U.S. armed forces who stood at attention on the South Lawn and later heard from the Old Guard Fife and Drum corps.

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Who's on first?

Or as we say in White House briefing room, "Who's in the first row?" By tradition, first row occupants have been members of the television networks and the wire services. But when United Press International (UPI) went belly up several years ago, its prime reporter, the dean of the White House press corps, Helen Thomas, stayed on in the front row. Now, there are rumblings that the White House Correspondents Association (which controls the seating arrangement) wants to take her front row perch away.

All this supposedly will happen when the press corps moves into its new digs in late spring.

Today, long-time briefing attendee Lester Kinsolving, who's known for his off-beat questions, posed this question to Press Secretary Tony Snow:

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Honoring a hero

The East Room of the White House was packed. A retired Army Lt. Col. stood at attention in his dress uniform adorned with ribbons and medals. As he gazed out at the audience he could see men in business suits sitting up front -- wearing around their necks Medals of Honor. He would soon be joining them. Bruce Crandall was more than a helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War. He was a hero.

There was the ceremonial "Hail to the Chief" as President Bush briskly walked in. The president spoke and told the tale of the heroics from that day in 1965 when Bruce Crandall's Assault Helicopter Battalion was pinned down by two North Vietnamese regiments. Men were wounded and some died. It looked like a massacre. But Crandall, along with Capt. Ed Freeman and no armament on their helicopter, bravely made run after run after run -- during 14 hours of flying time, they rescued 70 men. Freeman received the Medal of Honor in 2001.

Photo caption: President Bush awards the Medal of Honor to Bruce Crandall of Manchester, Wash., during a ceremony in the East Room of the White house today. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

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The envelope, please

Heady issues at today's White house briefing by Deputy Press Secretary Tony Fratto. Reaction to Iran's nuclear activities, the Senate's possible vote on reauthorizing funding for U.S. troops in Iraq, North Korea, and VP Cheney's comments on Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa.

But what amused reporters most was the back-and-forth about the Oscars. No presidential picks today, but a little insight into what he's seen.

Question: What are the President's Oscar picks? And has he screened any of the films? (Laughter.)
Fratto: But you're not interested in whether I've screened them, or my views on them?
Question: ...the President of the United States, for whom you are the assistant and...
Fratto: And film critic.
Question: Has he seen any...?
Fratto: He has. He has. He has seen -- I think for certain he has seen -- of the pictures nominated for best picture, he has seen "The Queen." He has seen "Letters from Iwo Jima." And not nominated for best picture, but a great picture, is "Last King of Scotland," which he saw also. So I'm not sure what else he might have seen.
Question: He saw "Amazing Grace," didn't he?
Fratto: Oh, yes. That was screened here...
Question: Does he agree with...?
Fratto: He doesn't share those with me.

So will President Bush watch Sunday night? No, he's hosting a big gala at the White House with the nation's governors. He can always catch the winners the next morning on the TODAY show.

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Dogging it at the White House

So we're in the middle of our morning briefing known as a "gaggle" when there's an abrupt interruption. "We have to evacuate," is the word. A dog has tested positive on a vehicle not far from our temporary quarters just off the White House grounds. So we quickly exit and huddle in the cold in front of the New Executive Office Building. Ever since the "real deal," when we were moved on 9/11, there's more seriousness given to these events. There was the usual banter and camaraderie outside, but still in the pit of your stomach you never know. This time maybe it was some residue left in a or a dog having a bad day, but for 40 minutes, we didn't know for sure -- until the "all clear."

That's how it is these days.

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Peace on earth?

Christmas is in the air here at the White House. There is no gaggle today, there is no briefing. All is calm, all is bright. President Bush has an empty public schedule, which would give the outward appearance that there is hardly a soul stirring. But nothing could be further from the truth.

With decisions soon to be made by the President on what direction to take the war in Iraq and whether to expand the Army and Marine Corps, there is very much happening here. But it's all very private as the President attempts to map out a strategy for victory that will play out well with his generals, the Congress and the American public. Defense Secretary Robert Gates will soon be back from Iraq to give the President his candid assessment on what needs to be done to get the job done.

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Chicken fried steak in the people's house

As Air Force One heads back to the U.S. after President Bush's meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, there was another side of the White House on display today. It involved chicken fried steak with white onion gravy, herb roasted lollipop lamb chops, asparagus in an aioli sauce and much more.

This marks the annual beginning of the holiday season at the White House. So the first lady brought along the chief florist, the greeting card decorators, the invitation designers and the chefs. The purpose: to introduce holiday themes and food, of course, to the members of the salivating press corps who were not on the trip. All this at 10:30 this morning.

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'Tis the season

Chris Botek and his parents, Francis and Margaret Botek, of Crystal Spring Tree Farm present first lady Laura Bush with the National Christmas Tree. The Botek's children and grandchildren are riding in the back of the cart with the tree. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.

There is a rhythm in Washington as November slowly becomes December, and that rhythm is perpetuated by annual holiday events. Today at the White House a horse drawn wagon plodded up the northwest driveway and delivered for the Christmas season a 18 1/2 ft. Douglas fir that will sit in the White House Blue Room. Welcoming the wagon was first lady Laura Bush and White House staffers who will begin decorating the tree later today.

Similarly, the tree that will sit on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol was also delivered today, a half hour before the one for the White House -- not that there's any significance there. The Capitol tree, however -- is grander -- a 65-foot Douglas fir that was trucked in from the National Forest on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. It comes complete with 10,000 lights and 3,000 ornaments.

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Hello darkness, my old friend...

We heard the sounds of silence today, 9/11/2006, on the White House South Lawn... a marked contrast to the cacophony here five years ago. On that day, cooks, policy makers and grounds keepers were streaming away from the White House as fast as possible because they knew that the evacuation was for real. Not only had two planes crashed into the World Trade Center, but another had hit the Pentagon... and there were rumors that a fourth was heading for Washington and the White House might be the target.

For those of us at the White House that day who remember every millisecond of what occurred, today's dreary Monday in Washington has a special poignancy. In 2001, as we moved with warp speed off the White House grounds, I looked airborne and above the White House no higher than a couple of thousand feet was an unmarked 747 jumbo jet making lazy circles. Many of us on the ground feared the worst; that this might be another plane ready to attack, but it turned out it was an Air Force command and control plane sent into the sky to monitor conditions.

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