President Obama is about to begin a news conference from the White House. We'll be posting a live feed as soon as it is available. You can also watch it live at the White House web site.
The news conference had originally been scheduled for 11:15ET, but was pushed back to 12:30ET in the wake of the massive earthquake and tsunami in Japan. In addition to developments in Japan, the news conference will likely focus on energy prices and the federal budget. I'll be tracking it live here in this post, and you join the discussion in the comments.
Update: Here's a live feed from MSNBC.com:
Update: President Obama begins with a statement about the earthquake and tsunami, offering his condolences and support to the people of Japan. He also said that FEMA is fully activated for addressing any impacts in America, but thus far there had been no major damage inside the U.S.
Update: Obama turns attention to rising gas prices, saying that prices are rising as demand increases. He also said that the U.S. could withstand any supply disruptions that may come from Middle Eastern and that he'd directed the Attorney General to investigate any potential price manipulation. He concluded by saying we need to be less dependent on foreign oil. He said that we need to continue expanding domestic oil production, pointing out that domestic production is now at an all-time high and that the administration was pushing forward with offshore drilling even as it works to make offshore drilling safer in the wake of the BP disaster. Obama also said the administration was looking at increased production in the short and medium term, but, citing T. Boone Pickens, he said we can't drill our way of this problem. The fundamental problem is that we "cannot place our long-term bets on finite resources that we only control two percent of." Obama emphasized the importance not only of efficiency but also developing new sources of fuel, citing his goal to have 85% of electricity come from alternative energy sources by 2035.
"We've been having this conversation for nearly four decades now," he said. "I think the American people are tired of that. They're tired of talk. We've got to work together, Democrats and Republicans and everybody in between."
Update: First question is from Chuck Todd about Libya. President Obama said his first goal was to protect American citizens in Libya. He said he then turned to pressuring Qaddafi through diplomatic and economic measures. Obama also said he was discussing military options—specifically, a no-fly zone—with NATO. He reiterated his desire to see Qaddafi leave Libya, and said he had not taken any options off the table. But he said he was weighing the potential use of military force carefully, not just to protect American forces, but also to maintain the solidarity of the international coalition. Obama said Secretary Clinton was meeting with the opposition to Qaddafi, and allowed that he there was "no doubt" he was "concerned" about the possibility that Qaddafi would prevail.
Update: Two-part question from Mimi Hall. The first was whether it was acceptable for Qaddafi to remain in power; President Obama reiterated that it was not in the U.S. interest nor that of the Libyan people for Qaddafi to remain in power. He said the U.S. would continue to work to achieve that outcome, but as for making an absolute statement about whether Qaddafi remaining would be acceptable, we had to weight risks vs. rewards.
The second part of the question was about Obama's leadership on the budget. Obama said we know that the GOP budget and the Democratic budget have both been rejected by the Senate. Both sides will have to sit down and "compromise on prudent cuts somewhere between" the GOP and Democratic plans. Obama said with only one week left until funding runs out, we may need one more short-term extension to get a final deal with "serious but prudent spending cuts."
President Obama also said "there are going to be certain things House Republicans want that I won't accept." He added: "The notion that we would cut, for example, Pell Grants" was unacceptable. Eliminating 200,000 Head Start slots and laying off 5,000 teachers also "doesn't make sense" Obama said. "We can't stop investing in our people, in research and development, in our infrastructure." Obama said he told McConnell and Boehner that we need to achieve a sustainable fiscal policy, but that he would "hold the line" on programs that he believes are critical to the future. Obama also said in general, he opposes including "riders"—such as block health care or banning family planning funding—in the budget. Obama said if Republicans want to pursue such policies, they should pass stand-alone legislation instead of inserting a political agenda into the budget process.
Update: Jake Tapper asked about whether the situation with the Japanese nuclear plant was serious. Obama said thus far, no radioactive leaks had been detected, but that he'd asked Steven Chu to support Japanese efforts. Tapper also asked about the treatment of Bradley Manning. Obama said he could not go into the details but was confident Manning was being treated appropriately. Tapper followed up on the nuclear plant, asking about the shipment of coolant to the plant from the U.S. President Obama said it was an unfolding situation and he wasn't in a position to comment until all the facts are known.
Update: CBS' Chip Reid asked another variant of the Libya question (the third of the press conference, nobody seems to be interested in energy policy). He received another variant of an answer. YMMV, but IMO, no new ground was covered.
Update: Zachary Goldfarb asks a question about the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and whether Obama would walk through the price points at which he'd dip into it. Obama said he wouldn't do that (the specific price points), but pointed to the scenario that the SPR is intended for: supply disruptions. He said there weren't any major supply disruptions and that he was confident we could handle any supply disruptions if they occur. He said the SPR was not designed to address the fallout from increasing demand.
Obama reiterated that if there are supply disruptions, the SPR was available, and reiterated that he'd directed the Attorney General to monitor oil markets for price manipulation, saying he would do everything in his power to prevent American families from being gouged.
Obama also taked about the economy in general, saying that while he was upbeat about the general direction of the economy especially in light of the most recent jobs report, there were still challenges, including oil prices and the housing market. Obama also said it was important that long-term fiscal issues be addressed in a comprehensive way, not by the sorts of mean-spirited short-term cuts proposed by Republicans. Such cuts would simply put teachers out of work. He mentioned the budget pressures faced by state governments, and while he didn't directly say so, the implication was that extreme cuts could threaten economic growth. In describing long-term fiscal challenges, he said we need to deal with spiraling health care costs. Although I might have missed it, I don't think he mentioned anything about the revenue side of the equation.
Update: The (almost) final question was again about change in the Middle East, focusing on President Obama's broader view. In short, he said every country is different, but that the United States was on the side of self-determination. There isn't a cookie-cutter approach, but that ultimately, the U.S. supports the people of the Middle East and their aspirations.
Update: Obama decided to take one more question, this one from Japanese media. The question about his personal feelings about the tragedy, and about whether U.S. armed forces in Japan would help with recovery. On the second question, Obama said we would provide whatever help was necessary, likely to be lift capacity. On the personal level, he said he was "heart broken" and spoke of his "close personal friendship with the Japanese people" coming from growing up in Hawaii. He also expressed confidence that Japan will successfully rebuild and come back stronger than ever.