44, Day 91: In Search of Intelligence

An ongoing log of the daily activities of the 44th president of the United States during his first 100 days:

--Three months into his presidency, Barack Obama today convened the first meeting of his Cabinet. At the meeting--something the AP's Charles Babington described as "a spring rite that's more photo op than substantive event"--Obama asked the Cabinet members to to find $100 million in cost cuts over the next three months.

-With a visit to CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, Obama sought to buck up the morale of the country's intelligence corp. "We live in dangerous times. I am going to need you more than ever," Obama said. Last week, the president released legal memos during the Bush 42 years that detailed the use of interrogation against terror suspects. Some intelligence officials, including Obama's CIA director Leon Panetta, feared a backlash against US agents because of their release.

-The president was urged today to move on getting a free trade agreement with South Korea in place. Obama opposed such an agreement during last year's campaign, but the Senate Finance Committee's top Democrat and Republican wrote to the president saying that the renewed threat of a nuclear North Korea make a trade pact crucial. "In the face of this threat, it is vital that the United States maintain and expand its strong and proven partnership with the Republic of Korea," wrote Democrat Max Baucus and
Republican Charles Grassley.

-As Congress prepares to dive into the issue of consumer lending practices, the White House said today that Obama would meet on Thursday with the credit card chiefs at 14 major banks.

-Obama, who is the country's first bi-racial president, had a visitor at the White House today from someone else who has broken racial boundaries--pro golfer Tiger Woods.

-The White House posted a new online slideshow of the president's trip to Latin America. Check out the pics here.

by J. Jennings Moss

Sources: The White House, the New York Times, the Associated Press, Reuters, Washington Post, CNN.com,