Hotmail
Obama orders CIA prisons, Guantanamo shut
 | Video |
 | Reviewing cases Jan. 22: NBC's Pete Williams reviews the options the government may take to resolve the legal cases against Gitmo terror detainees. MSNBC |
 | Slide show |
 | more photos |
 | Video: White House |
 Is Obama a sellout? Dec. 16: Msnbc’s Ed Schultz and a series of guests including Senator Tom Harkin debate whether the White House could have done more to help liberal Democrats pass their health reform legislation without so many compromises to conservative Democrats and the GOP. |
Tweets from inside the Beltway |
|
Click here for more tweets from NBC's D.C. bureau. |
 | Interactive |
 |
| White House visitor logs |
 | Public records Help figure out who has been visiting the White House during the first eight months of the Obama administration. |
 | INTERACTIVE |
 | Al-Qaida's reach For nearly two decades, al-Qaida and groups it's inspired have tried to attack U.S. and other Western targets across the world, with mixed results. |
Mitchell tapped for Mideast
Obama used that appearance to name George Mitchell, the former Senate Democratic leader, to serve as special Mideast envoy, a step to make good on a campaign pledge to be more robustly involved in efforts to help with peace efforts in the volatile region.
Mitchell, 75, returns to a role he pursued during President Bill Clinton's presidency when the former senator took on several difficult diplomatic assignments, including chairing peace talks on Northern Ireland.
Mitchell also led an international commission to investigate violence in the Middle East. His report, issued in spring 2001, after Clinton had left office, called for a freeze on Israeli settlements on the West Bank and a Palestinian crackdown on terrorism.
Obama has vowed to move swiftly to meet challenges in the Middle East and other troubled overseas regions.
Richard Holbrooke, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, was named Obama's special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan.
On his first full day in office, Obama made telephone calls Wednesday to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Jordan's King Abdullah and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said.
Economy starts the day
Obama was starting his day Thursday with a private meeting on the nation's struggling economy, a signal to the millions of Americans hit by tighter credit, increasing home foreclosures and the dollar's shrinking value.
Some of Obama's other promises already were being implemented on his first full day in office.
On Wednesday, he signed executive orders to limit his staff's ability to leave the administration to lobby their former colleagues. He also limited pay raises for his senior aides making more than $100,000 a year — a nod to a flailing economy and voters' frustrations.
- Discuss Story On Newsvine
-
Rate Story:
View popularLowHigh - Instant Message
MORE FROM THE WHITE HOUSE |
 The White House Section Front |
| Add The White House headlines to your news reader: |
Sponsored links
Resource guide