Biden: Debt talks 'in abeyance'
WASHINGTON, June 23 (UPI) -- U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday debt-reduction talks between the White House and congressional leaders are "in abeyance."
In a statement following the announcement by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor that he was pulling out the talks, Biden said the negotiations "have made significant progress on a blueprint for putting America's fiscal house in order. Working together in good faith, we have found many areas of common ground and potential agreement on substantial savings."
He said congressional leaders will need to "determine the scope of an agreement that can tackle the problem and attract bipartisan support."
"For now the talks are in abeyance as we await that guidance," Biden said. "We stand ready to meet again as necessary."
Cantor, R-Va., said the talks led by Vice President Joseph Biden had reached an impasse that could only be broken by President Barack Obama and U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, The Washington Post reported.
In an interview with MSNBC Thursday, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the talks had been proceeding in good faith but Republicans are "resisting removing tax subsidies for big oil, removing tax breaks for corporations that send jobs overseas."
Pelosi said Democrats want to "make our tax system fair so everyo0ne pays their fair share."
"We're willing to have a balanced package," she said. "They're not."
Presidential press secretary Jay Carney told reporters Obama talked with Boehner before Wednesday's speech on Afghanistan but would not say whether the president was warned Cantor would leave the talks.
Carney repeatedly said the president would not give $200,000 tax breaks to the rich at the expense of putting an extra $6,000 expense on Medicare recipients. Carney wouldn't say whether Obama would meet with Boehner on the talks.
In a statement, Cantor said he is still optimistic about the talks, which he said have singled out "trillions in spending cuts" and set the "blueprint" for fiscal reforms, the Post said. He gave Biden "a great deal of credit for his leadership in bringing us this far."
But the Post reported a 3-hour bargaining session Wednesday failed to make progress, with Democrats repeatedly urging Republicans to accept a rise in taxes.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he was disappointed Cantor left the talks.
"I guess he wanted to meet directly with the president," the Post quoted Reid as saying.
In a Thursday meeting at the White House, U.S. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and other senior House Democrats called on Obama to support a significant tax increase as part of any deal, intended to reduce borrowing by as much as $2.4 trillion in the next decade, the Post said.
Cantor cited taxes as a reason for quitting the debt ceiling negotiations, The New York Times said.
The debt ceiling negotiation group has been working to reach some agreement before the Aug. 2 deadline for the debt limit to be raised.
Obama: U.S. not abandoning Afghanistan
WASHINGTON, June 23 (UPI) -- President Barack Obama said Thursday the decision to begin a troop drawdown this year does not mean the United States is abandoning Afghanistan.
"Keep in mind that we're talking about 10,000 troops by the end of this year, an additional 23,000 by the end of next summer -- and we'll still have 68,000 troops there, in addition to the coalition partner troops," Obama told Voice of America. "So there is still going to be a substantial presence. But what it does signal is that Afghans are slowly taking more and more responsibility."
The president said "there are Afghans out there every day who are fighting the fight, Afghans who are dying on behalf of their country, and their freedom, and their dignity" and he said the United States should be "a good partner with that process, but also want to send a signal to the Afghan people: this is your country ultimately and you are going to have responsibilities."
Obama announced Wednesday the United States will withdraw 10,000 troops by the end of the year, and said he saw great progress in the war and in the fight against al-Qaida, whose leader, Osama bin Laden, was killed by U.S. Navy SEALs last month.
The remaining 20,000 troops from the 2009 "surge" of forces will leave next summer, after the fiercest fighting ends, Obama said Wednesday in a 13-minute televised address from the White House East Room.
The remaining troops will leave "at a steady pace" until all U.S. and allied combat forces hand over security to the Afghan authorities in 2014.
The Afghan military plans to have 260,000 troops that year.
The Afghanistan war will cost an estimated $118 billion this year and $113 billion next year, a March report by the Congressional Research Service said. The overall cost since the 2001 U.S. invasion will likely be $444 billion, the report said.
The war so far has also cost 1,522 U.S. lives, including 684 since the surge began.
The United States has been militarily involved in Afghanistan since Oct. 7, 2001, when it led an invasion after the Sept. 11 attacks by al-Qaida. The group had been given safe haven in the country by the Taliban, which seized control in 1996 after years of civil war.
Obama met Thursday with soldiers from the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, N.Y. Speaking to a few hundred soldiers who recently returned from Afghanistan deployments, the president told the soldiers "the American people understand the sacrifices you're making" but "our job is not finished" and there is "still some fighting to be done" before the fighting is transferred fully to Afghan forces.
Fugitive Bulger laughs in court
SANTA MONICA, Calif., June 23 (UPI) -- Alleged crime boss James "Whitey" Bulger laughed Thursday during his first court appearance following his capture in Santa Monica, Calif., a U.S. official said.
Bulger, accused of 19 deaths and an inspiration for the film "The Departed," was shackled as he entered a courtroom with his girlfriend, Catherine Greig, who was arrested with him Wednesday in Santa Monica. He laughed when she pointed out there was "a lot of media her to see you," ABC News reported, citing a federal official.
A judge asked Bulger if he understood the charges brought against him in a 200-page indictment. Bulger said he hadn't read the whole thing but he knew what it contained, ABC reported. He was expected to be extradited to Massachusetts to face charges in Boston within about 48 hours, the report said.
A tip from FBI television spots that began airing this week led to Wednesday's arrest of 81-year-old Bulger, ending a 16-year, globe-trotting manhunt, The Boston Globe reported Wednesday.
Authorities recovered cash and weapons in the Santa Monica apartment Bulger shared with longtime companion Greig, 60, who also was taken into custody, the Los Angeles Times reported.
"Recent publicity produced a tip that led agents to a residence in Santa Monica, Calif., where they located Bulger and Greig Wednesday evening," said a statement released Thursday by Richard DesLauriers, special agent in charge of the FBI's Boston office, and Steven Martinez, assistant director in charge of the FBI's Los Angeles office.
Bulger, who was on the bureau's Ten Most Wanted list, and Greig did not resist arrest, the FBI said.
Bulger did not appear to be in good health, an official said.
"I don't think he's in a position to be fighting anybody," the official said, adding, "They got a confession from him."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Kelly, part of the prosecution team that brought the federal charges against Bulger, said Thursday, "It's a long time coming and we're glad he's finally in custody."
Bulger fled just before he was indicted on federal racketeering charges in January 1995. Eventually it was revealed in federal court in Boston he was a longtime FBI informant who was warned by his corrupt handler that he was about to be arrested.
Bulger's brother, William, a former president of the Massachusetts Senate and president of the University of Massachusetts, had no comment when asked about the fugitive's arrest, the Globe reported.
John Weiskopf, 63, who lives across the street from Bulger's apartment, told the Los Angeles Times he used to see Bulger and Greig in the neighborhood.
"I used to see him" and Greig, said Weiskopf, a screenwriter, film producer and novelist. "They've been here a while. I would see them out here walking their dog. They were very unassuming."
Minot, N.D., waits for river to crest
KANSAS CITY, Mo., June 23 (UPI) -- U.S. officials said Thursday they were confident two nuclear plants along the Missouri River are protected and will be able to stand weeks of high floodwaters.
The Fort Calhoun plant 20 miles north of Omaha, where parts of the grounds are already under 2 feet of water, was shut down in April for refueling, CNN reported. But the Omaha Public Power District has built walls around the plant's reactor and transformers, minimizing the threat.
"They've surrounded all the vital equipment with berms," Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman Victor Dricks said.
An 8-foot-high, 16-foot-wide water-filled berm was built around the reactor containment structure and auxiliary buildings, and an additional emergency diesel generator is on site, the NRC said.
The Cooper Nuclear Station 80 miles south of Omaha, which stood 2 feet above the water level Thursday, is operating at full power. Dricks said the NRC will send additional inspectors to the Cooper plant "if conditions warrant."
Low-lying neighborhoods in Minot, N.D., were empty Thursday as crews scrambled to build secondary levees on the flooded Souris River.
The Minot Fire Department said Thursday afternoon all residents of the valley must leave after the Souris overtopped dikes and levees. Work crews were building secondary levees to protect as many businesses as possible, the Grand Forks Herald reported.
The river, which flows into North Dakota from Canada, was expected to crest Monday 7 feet above its peak in a 1969 flood.
