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SCOTT McCLELLAN: …And I would like to make note of one announcement that the State Department will be making shortly at their briefing. They will be talking about the — have some further news regarding the reward for help in locating Uday and Qusay Hussein in Iraq. And that will be coming from their briefing here shortly, under their rewards for justice program and the payout of that reward.

Q. A giant check? (Laughter.)

Q. Is it in the mail?

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THE PRESIDENT: …Listen, thank you all very much for giving me a chance to come and answer some of your questions. For those of you who are traveling to Crawford, gosh, did you luck out. And we look forward to seeing you there. (Laughter.) Thank you.

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Q. Thank you, Mr. President –

THE PRESIDENT: Kate.

Q. That’s right. Thank you, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT: How long have you been — how long have you been in the press corps? You look like you just came.

Q. Last week was my first week.

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, congratulations.

Q. Thank you.

THE PRESIDENT: Be careful whose company you’re keeping, though. (Laughter.)

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Q. Mr. President, with no opponent, how can you spend $170 million or more on your primary campaign?

THE PRESIDENT: Just watch. (Laughter.) Keep going.

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THE PRESIDENT: …Let me finish for a minute, John, please. Just getting warmed up. I’m kind of finding my feet. (Laughter.)

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THE PRESIDENT: …You know, let me talk about al Qaeda just for a second. I made the statement that we’re dismantling senior management, and we are. Our people have done a really good job of hauling in a lot of the key operators: Khalid Sheik Mohammed, Abu Zubaydah, Ramzi — Ramzi al Shibh, or whatever the guy’s name was. (Laughter.) Sorry, Ramzi, if I got it wrong. (Laughter.) Binalshibh, excuse me. Swift Sword is dead, thanks to the Saudis. Abu Bakr is now captured by the Saudis. We’re dismantling the operating — decision-makers.

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THE PRESIDENT: Okay. Tom, I’m getting a little older, so when you ask four or five questions, it’s hard for me to remember every question…

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THE PRESIDENT: …And now I’ll be glad to answer some questions. Tom. And we’ll work our way around. There’s no need for any unrestrained yelling. (Laughter.)

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THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Good morning. I was hoping it would be a little hotter here to prepare the traveling team for the Crawford experience this August. But thank you for coming.

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Q. The second question, which gets to an issue that never got quite addressed in our 90-minute marathon yesterday –

SCOTT McCLELLAN: I hope it’s not a 90-minute marathon today. (Laughter.)

Q. We couldn’t stand it, either. (Laughter.)

MR. McCLELLAN: I know you meant that in a good way.

Q. Yes, right. (Laughter.)

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Q. The Robert Novak column last week identified the wife of Ambassador Joseph Wilson as a CIA operative who was working on WMD issues. Novak said that identification is based on information given to him by two administration sources. That column has now given rise to accusations that the administration deliberatively blew the cover of an undercover CIA operative, and in so doing, violated a federal law that prohibits revealing the identity of undercover CIA operatives. Can you respond to that?

SCOTT McCLELLAN: Thank you for bringing that up. That is not the way this President or this White House operates. And there is absolutely no information that has come to my attention or that I have seen that suggests that there is any truth to that suggestion. And, certainly, no one in this White House would have given authority to take such a step.

Q. So you’re saying –

MR. McCLELLAN: I’m saying that that is not the way that this President or this White House operates, and I’ve seen no evidence to suggest there’s any truth to it.

Q. Are you saying Novak was wrong in saying that it was two administration sources who were the source for –

MR. McCLELLAN: I have no idea who “anonymous” is. I often wish –

Q. It’s not anonymous. He says senior administration officials.

MR. McCLELLAN: That would be anonymous.

Q. Well, that would be senior administration –

Q. Like the guy who briefed us last week?

MR. McCLELLAN: Whether it’s anonymous senior administration officials or just anonymous sources, it’s still anonymous.

Q. Is Novak lying? Do you think he’s making it up?

MR. McCLELLAN: I’m telling you our position. I’ll let the columnist speak for himself.

Q. You’re saying, flatly, it did not happen, nobody –

MR. McCLELLAN: I’m telling you, flatly, that that is not the way this White House operates. I’ve seen no evidence to suggest that there’s any truth to that.

Q. That’s different from saying it didn’t happen. Are you saying, absolutely, it did not happen?

MR. McCLELLAN: I’m saying no one was certainly given any authority to do anything of that nature. And I’ve seen no evidence to suggest there’s any truth to it. I want to make it very clear, that is simply not the way this White House operates.

Q. If it turns out that somebody in the administration did do that –

MR. McCLELLAN: I’m not even going to speculate about it, because I have no knowledge of any truth to that report.

Q. What’s the extent of your knowledge? Don’t you want to get some more facts? I mean, how do you know that no one in the administration — Robert Novak has been around for a long –

MR. McCLELLAN: If I could go find “anonymous,” Terry, I would.

Q. Does the President support a criminal investigation –

MR. McCLELLAN: Did you have something?

Q. Can I follow on that?

MR. McCLELLAN: Oh, Richard.

Q. I’m not following.

MR. McCLELLAN: You answer his question and — (laughter.)

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SCOTT McCLELLAN: …Sara.

Q. Thank you.

Q. Do you know –

MR. McCLELLAN: Sara.

Q. Do you know –

MR. McCLELLAN: No, Sara.

Q. Do you know –

MR. McCLELLAN: Is your name Sara? (Laughter.)

Q. Thank you, and welcome…

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Q. Any final thoughts as you leave, Ari?

ARI FLEISCHER: Thank you. Let me — with the press’s permission, I want to say a couple words. I’ve had the privilege now of being here for two-and-a-half years. I joined the Presidential campaign trail more than four years ago. I’ve been with Governor Bush, then President Bush now for just under four years.

Having come to the White House, before I go, there’s just a whole city of people who I think everybody in this room recognizes and now this is my chance to at least publicly recognize these people for everything they have done for the President and, therefore, for the country. Often these people are ones that nobody gets to see.

But I want to just take a moment and I want to thank people that I know you all have relied on — the White House Operators, the Signal operators; Signal, of course, are enlisted men and women in our military; the White House Communications Agency that makes everything possible, that gets broadcast for the press’s use and therefore the public’s use; the Stenographers, who do such a fantastic job in turning around very quickly all the President’s words and the Press Secretary’s words; the people at the Mess, Lieutenant Frank Fuller who runs the Mess; Peggy Suntum, of course, runs the Stenographers; and Jim Van Keuren with WHCA.

I wanted to thank the GSA, all the people here who keep our building in operations. I especially want to thank Smokin’ Joe, for everything he did for my fireplace. I want to thank Mary Keltner, who you all know from Crawford, who also makes the infrastructure work. There’s a whole city of people behind the scenes.

There’s a military city who makes the White House work. And I want to just recognize all the personnel on Air Force One, Colonel Tillman; Senior Master Sergeant Tina Stein; and Sam Pleasant, who never let a bag ever get lost, as far as I know. The people on Marine One, Colonel Taylor and now Colonel Page. All the folks in the Situation Room, unbelievably hard-working, dedicated people who come from a variety of different agencies, who work 24/7, 365 days a year to keep the White House as current and as informed as doable. All the military aides, I want to thank them, even the ones who think they know how to play chess. (Laughter.)

You don’t know what a wonderful feeling it is to show up for work every day, and the first person you see is a Uniformed Division Officer of the Secret Service who gives you a big wave and a “hello.” The canine people who help keep the building and all the facilities safe; the sergeant at the desk who I see as I entered the building. And especially the Presidential Protection Division and the CAT team and everybody else who keeps our President safe and keeps our country safe.

The senior staff at the White House — anything I’ve ever been able to do was because of senior staff helping me to do it. There are some fantastic, fantastic minds who enter government service to serve a President and to serve a country who could be doing so much more with so much of an easier time in the private sector, yet they give themselves to our country to serve our President. I’m grateful to Andy Card and everybody in the senior staff for everything that they have done.

I especially want to thank — and I want everybody to come out here now — the press office. We’ve got people in the press office, in addition to the deputies, that you know so well. We have our interns. We have our staff assistants, the press assistants, the people who travel with you all. Come on out. Everybody step up here. I want you all out here. (Applause.) Liz. Lois, come on. Who’s hiding back there? Bring them all out. Ashley, Georgia, come on. Have we got everybody? Where’s Vicki? I know Vicki’s going to hide. There she is.

The press office staff, who I have to rely on, I could never do anything that I do without having such a wonderful and able team behind me. And also Scott McClellan, who has been a fantastic, valuable member of a team, who now has a wonderful job ahead of him, and a very enjoyable job. And I wish you well in it.

And then, finally, there is one person who I want to thank above everybody else — before I do that, though, I want to thank the press corps. As today shows, the relationship between the press secretary the press corps is designed to be a relationship that has some levels of tension built into it. It is the press’s job to ask anything about everything. I always do my best to give you the fullest answers from the President that I possibly can. And I hope that I’ve endeavored to do that and do it well in the course of our interaction.

But one thing is for sure, as sometimes messy as it can be, in the 225 year history of our country, the fact that there is a free press who can ask whatever it wants and a government that is accountable has kept our nation strong and free. And it will forever more.

The final person I want to thank is, of course, the President, a person who gave me this opportunity to serve my country, a person in whom I believe so deeply, both on policy and as a person, as a leader and as somebody I’ve come to be very close to.

There’s one other thing that the President did, by putting me here, that I will always remember and take with me from the White House, and that is, thanks to the President, I met my wife here, because she worked at the White House, too. Becki is with us today. She is with us today. Becki, I can’t wait to see you at regular hours. (Laughter.)

Thank you, everybody, thank you for letting me serve. Thank you. (Applause.)

Q. Ari, how do you want to be remembered by the press?

MR. FLEISCHER: Fondly.

Q. I want to say, on behalf of the press corps, thank you for all you do for us, thank you for the long hours, the red-eyes we’ll miss, and thank you for the times you advocated on behalf of open access behind the scenes. And if you will stick around, we have a little something for you. We’ve received assurances that it’s not yellow cake. (Laughter.) But that doesn’t prove that it’s not yellow cake. (Laughter.)

MR. FLEISCHER: Well, if it is, I’m sure we’ll find it. (Laughter.)

Q. Ari, thank you.

MR. FLEISCHER: Thank you, everybody.

END 12:56 P.M. EDT

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Q. I’m asking should the Party — should the Republican Party take money –

ARI FLEISCHER: Russell, you need to address your question to the Party and not cite the specifics.

Q. Well, he’s the titular head of the Party.

MR. FLEISCHER: And the titular head of the Party refers you to the Party. (Laughter.)

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Q. And, Ari, if I could ask you one question about the press secretary’s job. The job –

ARI FLEISCHER: Can I have Scott answer it? (Laughter.)

Q. You can. The job requires you to sort of strike a balance between serving the American people and serving the President. How comfortable are you with the balance that you’ve struck?

MR. FLEISCHER: I’m absolutely comfortable with it. That’s why I leave this job, a job that I love, working for a boss that I believe in. You know, I think that working for the President, I serve the American people. The President answers to the American people. The President hired me. I report to the President, and in so doing, I hope I have served the American people. I believe I have.

Q. Does today’s briefing reinforce your decision to leave? (Laughter.)

MR. FLEISCHER: It reinforces my decision to write a book. (Laughter.)

Q. Does that mean, “don’t get mad, get even”?

MR. FLEISCHER: No, no, no. No, the answer to that is a categorical, no. There’s no such thing as getting even.

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