Statement from the President on preliminary assessments from reviews ordered on the Christmas Day incident

"This morning, I spoke with (top counterterrorism adviser) John Brennan about preliminary assessments from the ongoing consultations I have ordered into the human and systemic failures that occurred leading up to the attempted act of terrorism on Christmas Day and about our government-wide efforts at continued vigilance on homeland security and counterterrorism efforts. In a separate call, I spoke with Sec. Napolitano to receive an update on both the Department of Homeland Security review of detection capabilities and the enhanced security measures in place since the Christmas Day incident.

"I anticipate receiving assessments from several agencies this evening and will review those tonight and over the course of the weekend. On Tuesday, in Washington, I will meet personally with relevant agency heads to discuss our ongoing reviews as well as security enhancements and intelligence-sharing improvements in our homeland security and counterterrorism operations."

Three U.S. senators — John McCain, Lindsey Graham and Joe Lieberman — this week proved, however, that spotting clues, even obvious ones, is harder than you think. Hoping to score a few points in their battle to keep Guantanamo open, the three wrote a letter to Obama, urging him to halt the repatriation of six Yemenis "currently being held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba." The letter, which you can read here, is dated Dec. 29. On three occasions it cites as its information source "reports," "press reports" and "news reports."

What gives pause is that the senators apparently missed the "reports, press reports and news reports" as well as the Justice Department press release that the six Yemenis in question had been sent back to their homeland on Dec. 18. Here's McClatchy's story, which posted a day ahead of the Justice Department release. In case the senators weren't watching McClatchy, there were these opportunities in the New York Times and the Washington Post.

Of course, there were other clues the senators missed — such as the congressionally mandated paperwork the Obama administration had to file with Congress at least 15 days before the detainees were transferred. That paperwork has to identify the detainees and provide a risk assessment on each.

So what's the possible explanation for the senators' missing this detail? Well, there was a big snowstorm in Washington on the weekend the detainees were sent home and there was the matter of the health-care debate, which Sen. McCain was working hard to make last as long as possible. But still, don't they have anyone on their staffs to read the papers?

The Senate Majority Leader, who has navigated a tortuous parliamentary course in order to get the Senate to pass health care legislation, at first voted "No" when his name was called for the final vote Thursday.

He laughed, the senators and spectators laughed and a chuckling Reid quickly said, "Yes."

The bill went on to pass 60 to 39.

"First of all, this bill is not going to pass until tomorrow morning. And my eyes are focused on tomorrow morning. There will be proceedings after tomorrow morning, but I'll worry about those after tomorrow morning," he told reporters Wednesday.

And for that matter, don't expect a lot of detail Thursday, either.

He'll know more Reid said, "After I go home to Searchlight (Nevada, his home) -- after I have a chance to talk to other people about how we're going to proceed on this, but for the time being, I'm going to focus on this bill passing in the morning.

"And for a few days after that, frankly, I am going to just sit back and watch my rabbits eat my cactus."

So it was an unusual situation, indeed, when First Lady Michelle Obama brought the girls along with her on a visit today to Children's National Medical Center in Washington, with a press pool in tow, and told the kids there they could ask her girls any questions.

Ebony Magazine's Kevin Chappell, the pool reporter for the visit, said the first daughters and their mom, and the family dog, Bo, toured through the 26-bed Heart and Kidney unit of the hospital, and hospital staff followed behind giving anti-bacterial lotion to patients who pet the dog.

Malia and Sasha asked patients questions and made small talk. Later, the first lady read "'Twas The Night Before Christmas," to children and staff assembled in an atrium, while Bo barked repeatedly at a costumed Santa.

Sasha and Malia read aloud another holiday book, "Snowmen at Night."

A sampling of the girls' subsequent Q & A with assembled kids:

Q: How will the holidays be different for you this year?

SASHA: Well, it will be easier to get on the plane (laughs follow) . . . but I don't think anything will be very different.

Q: How many Christmas trees are in the White House?

MALIA: Like, okay, well, let's see, one, two, three -- (Michelle Obama and staff confer and Sasha announces the number as 26)

SASHA: One of the trees is called the wishing tree, and it is made out of cardboard. And so you can write down a wish and you roll it up and then you can put it one of the holes and it might come true.

The first lady says her daughters have been especially interested in two Christmas songs.

SASHA: Well, I don't play "Jingle Bells" as much as Malia plays "Carol of the Bells." . . . I'm getting bored of that song now.

But in a demonstration of just how tentative the Obamas are about the girls' exposure, a press aide declined to clarify whether "play" meant the girls were playing a CD or playing musical instruments, or if the latter, which musical instruments.

As the Obama family prepares to leave town, all have been making holiday appearances around the greater Washington area.

The first lady visited a Toys for Tots distribution center last week. President Obama visited a Boys and Girls Club site on Monday to read a Christmas book and pass out cookies.

The bill is expected to win approval, but Republicans were threatening to continue debate until early evening Christmas Eve. But some in the GOP were wary, fearing they would not be able to get home in time for the holidays.

"The American people are entitled to review the content. They're still interested in what the details are," said Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

But McConnell agreed to the earlier vote. Since a series of procedural votes this week has consistently garnerned 60 votes--58 Democrats and two independents--the bill is expected to pass. None of the 40 Republicans has voted with the majority.

"No, oh my gosh!" said Kaine, a friend and politically ally of Obama who was a contender for vice president and is now chairman of the Democratic National Committee."

Lincoln offered few details as to why, just that Crist had "left us no alternative and he knows why."

The move is a significant blow to the governor's campaign, which has struggled in recent weeks with sliding poll numbers. But Diaz-Balart said the decision had nothing to do with Crist's recent political perfomance, and in fact, was made weeks ago. But their names were only recently pulled off Crist's webpage. He said the two Miami Republicans are unlikely to endorse anyone else in the race -- including former House Speaker Marco Rubio.

The pair doesn't take endorsements lightly -- backing Bill McCollum in the Senate Republican primary in 2004 against the eventual winner, Mel Martinez.

"We take our endorsements seriously, but the governor knows why we withdrew and he left us with no alternative,' Lincoln Diaz-Balart said. It was just last July that the brothers enthusiastically threw their support behind Crist, with Lincoln Diaz-Balart saying he strongly supported Crist and that he would be an "effective Senator for Florida."

Republicans so far have refused to budge on their demand that the clock keep running as long as it can on debate. But there have been grumblings among some members about missing Christmas.

So, Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell said after Tuesday's vote, "We are working on an agreement that will give certainty to the way to end this session, and hopefully the two of us (he and Majority Leader Harry Reid) together can be recommending something that makes sense for both sides in the not too distant future."

Stay tuned...