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♪♪ (drum and bugle corps) ♪♪
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Narrator:
Welcome to the West Wing Week,
your guide to everything that's
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happening at 1600
Pennsylvania Avenue.
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This week, the President hosted
meetings with bipartisan
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Congressional leaders,
awarded the Medal of Honor,
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and repeatedly spoke to the
country about the ongoing effort
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to find a balanced approach
to our deficit challenges.
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That's July 8th to the 14th, or
"Our Heroes Are All Around Us."
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President Obama:
Leroy Petry showed that
true heroes still exist,
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and that they're
closer than you think.
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That ranger's right.
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Our heroes are all around us.
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Narrator:
On Friday, July 8th, the
President spoke from the
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Rose Garden on jobs and the need
for Democrats and Republicans to
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compromise and find common
ground so that the U.S.
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government can meet
our obligations.
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President Obama:
The American people sent us
here to do the right thing
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not for party, but for country.
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So we're going to work
together to get things
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done on their behalf.
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That's the least that
they should expect of us,
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not the most that they
should expect of us.
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I'm ready to roll up my sleeves
over the next several weeks and
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next several months.
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I know that people in
both parties are ready
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to do that as well.
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Narrator:
The President then sat
down for a series of regional
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interviews with television
journalists from Milwaukee,
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Pittsburgh, Raleigh, and Seattle.
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Jean Enersen:
Mr. President, I actually went
to high school with your mother.
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President Obama:
Did you really!
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Jean Enersen:
Stanley Ann Dunham.
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President Obama:
No kidding!
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Jean Enersen:
I did. Yes.
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President Obama:
How about that!
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Jean Enersen:
And classmates described her
as smart, quirky, funny --
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President Obama:
I think that's accurate.
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Larry Stogner:
Republicans, especially in the
House, are pretty entrenched as
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far as no new taxes,
no tax increases.
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How do we compromise on this?
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President Obama:
Well, you know, I think
the way you compromise is
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to get outside of your narrow
interests and think about the
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larger interests.
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And I've said to the Democrats
that they've got to set aside
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some of their sacred cows in
order to solve this problem,
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and I say to the
Republicans the same thing.
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Narrator:
On Sunday, July 10th,
the President called back
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Bipartisan Congressional
Leaders to the White House,
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a running theme of this episode,
to keep working on tough choices
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that need to be made to move
our economy forward and keep
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the country from
defaulting on our debt.
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President Obama:
All right, everybody.
Let's get started.
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All right, guys.
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Journalist:
Thank you.
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Journalist:
Can you work it out
in ten days, sir?
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Journalist:
Thank you.
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President Obama:
We need to.
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Narrator:
On Monday, July 11th, the
President held a news conference
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and took questions from
White House reporters about
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whether progress was made during
Sunday's talks and whether the
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President could overcome
Republican intransigence and
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reach a bipartisan agreement
on a big deal that would
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meaningfully address America's
long-term deficit challenge.
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President Obama:
As all of you know, I met with
Congressional leaders yesterday,
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we're going to be
meeting again today,
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and we're going to meet every
single day until we get this
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thing resolved.
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Narrator:
The President then
welcomed the group back,
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this time in their
business attire,
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to continue talks
in the Cabinet Room.
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Later the President surprised
guests at a two-day Hispanic
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policy conference being
held at the White House.
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President Obama:
The purpose here was to
make sure that you knew
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in each department,
in each agency,
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what are the steps we're trying
to take to respond to the
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genuine needs that you see
at the community level.
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Narrator:
On Tuesday, July 12th, the
President started the day
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with an interview with Scott
Pelley from CBS before welcoming
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Sergeant First Class Leroy Petry
to the White House to receive
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the Medal of Honor.
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This is only the second time
since Vietnam that a recipient
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of the Medal of Honor from an
ongoing conflict has accepted
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the medal in person.
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Sergeant Petry:
I meant to ask you
about that, Mr. President.
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President Obama:
Yes, sir. Lefty?
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Staff Sergeant Petry:
I'm now a lefty and I keep
trying to find out how not
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to get the ink all over my palm.
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President Obama:
Well, you know what I do is
I try to stay a little high,
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and then if, if I'm signing
like a document where I think
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it might smudge then I
put a little piece of
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paper under my hand.
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But you get used to it.
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It's not like my
handwriting's great.
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(laughter)
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Military Aide:
Although picking up and
throwing the live grenade
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grievously wounded
Staff Sergeant Petry,
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his gallant act undeniably saved
his fellow rangers from being
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severely wounded or killed.
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Despite the severity
of his wounds,
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Staff Sergeant Petry continued
to maintain the presence of mind
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to place a tourniquet on his
right wrist before communicating
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the situation by radio in order
to coordinate support for
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himself and his fellow
wounded rangers.
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President Obama:
When the fight was won, as he
lay in a stretcher being loaded
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on to a helicopter, one of his
teammates came up to shake the
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hand that Leroy had left.
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"That was the first time I
shook the hand of someone who I
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considered to be a true American
hero," that ranger said.
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Leroy Petry showed that true
heroes still exist and that
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they're closer than you think.
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And that ranger's right.
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Our heroes are all around us.
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They're the millions of
Americans in uniform who
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have served these past ten
years; many, like Leroy,
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deploying tour after
tour, year after year.
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Narrator:
Later, the Bipartisan
Congressional Leadership arrived
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at the White House, convening
for the third day in a row of
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debt and deficit talks.
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On Wednesday, July 13th, the
President made surprise calls to
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young leaders to congratulate
them on their ongoing efforts
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on behalf of youth employment
and entrepreneurship to the
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administration's 100 Youth
Round Tables Initiative.
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Later for the fourth
time this episode,
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Congressional leaders
arrived at the West Wing,
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a routine they seemed to
be getting accustomed to.
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The President reconvened the
meeting and urged Congressional
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leaders not just to kick
the can down the road,
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but rather to find common
ground around a big deficit
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reduction plan.
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On Thursday, the President
discussed jobs and the economy
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with three television reporters
before again meeting with the
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bipartisan leaders of
the House and Senate.
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And again, Legislative Assistant
Lauren Belive waited by the West
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Wing to take the Representatives to
the Cabinet Room as they arrived.
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To find out more information on
any of these topics or to see
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complete videos of these
events, go to WhiteHouse.gov,
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and thanks again for checking
out your West Wing Week.
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Young Child:
It says hand things are -- wait.
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Hard things are --
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President Obama:
Hard.
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Young Child:
Hard.
