Bam and Mitch Are Friends

POTUS and commander-in-chief of the Indiana National Guard make nice on tarmac.

Pool Report 2:
Wheels down in Indianapolis at 11:10 AM. Sunny, a bit windy, mild temperatures.
POTUS out at 11:24 with LaHood and rep. Andre Carson. Per WH, greeting the President at the stairs:

- Governor Mitch Daniels
- Mayor of Indianapolis Greg Ballard
- Butler Coach Brad Stevens.

Shortly before 10:40 AM, Carney went to the press cabin for a gaggle. Highlights (please check against transcript):

On today's job figures:
"This is obviously good news" but "we obviously have a lot more work to do".

Says that the visit to Allison transmission in Indy is "meant to highlight the president's commitment to diversifying our energy requirements to reduce ouir dependence on imported oil and to ensure that we're leaders in clean energy technology in the 21st Century."

- On today's visit to Fort Campbell, Carney was asked to come on the record about POTUS meeting members of the Ben Laden mission: "What I can say is that he is meeting with special operators, some special operators who were involved in that. But that is all I can say".

- On the threat of Al-Qaeda retaliation, reported by SITE:
"We are aware of it. What it does do obviously is acknowledge the obvious, which is Osama bin Laden was killed on Sunday night by US forces."
"We remain extremely vigilant"
"We're quite aware of the potential for activity and are highly vigilant on that matter for that reason"

On the Biden Blair House talks on debt on Thursday:

Talks were "productive". "We certainly think that it's a good thing if those who are participating in those negotiations understand that in order to achieve comprise we need to find common ground."

On NYC and POTUS meeting 9/11 families and first responders:
"He felt very good about it"...
Those were "powerful events". "He understands that this is a bittersweet moment"

On whether POTUS saw the first Republican presidential debate:

"I haven't asked him. I don't know. I think there was some basketball on last night. Or maybe that's tonight?"

And Week ahead per Carney:
Monday: POTUS meets "heads of the Chinese strategic economic dialogue delegation at the White House"
Tuesday: travels to El Paso, TX for a speech on immigration reform, then to Austin, TX.
Wednesday: CBS Town Hall at the Newseum in DC, then poetry event at the WH.
Thursday: remarks at the national Hispanic prayer breakfast.
Friday: meetings at the White House.