"Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister. Your assistance has been greatly appreciated. We don't know yet if the President will personally fly to Perth or just send transportation, but you can understand it will just be a quick and unofficial visit. I doubt we will be on the ground very long except to refuel. Again, thank you so much for the assistance." Leo hung up the phone. With the President asleep, Leo had called the Prime Minister of Australia to thank him for his assistance in rescuing the First Lady and the plane's other occupants.
A knock at the door and CJ stuck her head in. "Leo, have a minute?"
"Yeah. Come on in."
"President asleep?"
"Yeah. Has been for the last two hours. I hope he stays that way for some time to come. He's grumpy when he doesn't get his beauty rest."
Both people had a quick laugh because they each had been the target of a grumpy President.
"Leo, Danny has the story and from the look of my email, so does most of the press corps. I've called a briefing for noon. But I need help wording a reply to a question Danny had and I think will come up at the briefing."
"What's the question CJ?" CJ was smart and could handle most anything so Leo was concerned if there was something that the Press Secretary thought she couldn't handle.
"Danny wanted to know why the White House, and I quote, think they could keep this a secret?"
"Damn."
"My thoughts exactly."
"OK, let's think this though. His question was 'Why did the White House think they could keep it a secret'?
"Yes."
"We didn't keep it secret. Let's try this. This incident occurred approximately twelve hours ago. We have been responding to constantly changing events and our information has been intermittent. With the events changing rapidly we wouldn't have been able to respond to requests to information and keep the press up to date in a responsible manner. By the time the information became public knowledge, the situation had resolved and we began to make plans then to inform the American public, through the press, about the circumstances surrounding the event. The White House and the President and his family is pleased that the First Lady is healthy and safe, as well as all of the other passengers on the plane. We take the safety of any Government employee very seriously. We will strive to find out the cause of the failure and be transparent to the American public.
"Works for me. Thanks Leo."
Leo stood. "CJ, I'm going home for a little while. If you need me, call. But I'm sleepwalking now. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Bye. I totally understand. I'm going home myself after the briefing."