VOICE: "Obviously you and the Pentagon

have spoken about the India stories that have been out there. Are you surprised

that there are kind of these stories about lots of protection or more planes

than usual? Is there something about this trip that's different than others?"

GIBBS: "No. Whenever you move any president in a foreign country, you're not,

surprisingly, taking certain precautions. This is -- the first stop on our trip

is at a memorial for victims of a terrorist attack November 26, 2009 at the

hotel we're staying at. So obviously the Secret Service takes the duty of

protecting this and any president seriously. They do an amazing job, and they'll

continue to do so."

PAT: Usual nonanswer. Then he's pushed a little bit.

VOICE: "Could you specify which trip President Bush ever took which cost $200

million a day?"

GIBBS: "This trip doesn't cost $200 million a day."

VOICE: "That's what was reported all over the world.

GIBBS: "So let me get this straight, Lester."

Question: "Another questioner asked."

GIBBS: "So you subscribe to the veracity of everything you read in the press,

right?"

VOICE: "No, not everything, but several things.

GIBBS: "But just the things that you previously agreed on that you agree with?

We seem to be several slips, several steps down the slippery slope."

VOICE: "Are you denying $200 million a day."

GIBBS: "For about the third time, yes.

VOICE: "How much is it?"

GIBBS: "I'm not going to get into how much it costs to protect the president.

But the same report, Lester, which you don't believe me I can understand you."

VOICE: "I'd like to believe you. I enjoy you very much.

VOICE: "Should we leave you guys alone?"

GIBBS: "With a slurpy and a twisty straw. I think the same report said there

were 34 warships. The Pentagon said that's not true."

VOICE: "Oh."

VOICE: "But nobody's denying the 200 million except you.

GIBBS: "All right. We now have seem to have come almost full circle on a

circular argument, haven't we?"

PAT: That's bizarre. But that's what he does. He interrogates the interrogator.

STU: But all the other reporters were laughing at the guy. And who was that

reporter?

PAT: That was Les Consulting. World Net Daily.

STU: That's interesting. The idea -- it was reported all over the place the 200

million was thrown around all yesterday.

GLENN: Still being reported by Drudge.

STU: It doesn't seem plausible to me because back of the envelope map means it

would cost more than the entire Afghanistan war, I think. The entire Afghanistan

war doesn't cost $200 million a day. So I don't know what the truth is behind

that. But I don't know why it's being reported, but it is a bizarre story. I

don't know why he wouldn't say how much it costs.

GLENN: It's coming from India. Now, here's the thing. On security, the White

House will never say how much security costs for the president.

PAT: But they do say how much these trips cost. We hear about their vacation

costs. We hear about these expenses.

GLENN: The most expensive trip we can find for a president, not including the

security, the most expensive trip, not including security, was Bill Clinton and

it was $43 million.

PAT: Where did he go?

GLENN: Africa, I believe. And that was the most. And remember it was in the

news. I don't know if you remember that very famous trip to Africa. If I say

Africa and Clinton trip, it doesn't ring a bell with any of you guys?

STU: This one where the plane was running on the --

GLENN: No.

STU: That's a different one?

GLENN: Yeah. But he went over and he was in Africa. And there were a lot of

people that joined him and everything else. I don't remember what the trip was

for or anything. I do remember it was very expensive. It was $43 million. And

that was the most expensive trip that we could find yesterday.

PAT: Such an easy solution to this. Just tell us what it costs.

GLENN: You don't necessarily want to tell everybody what the security costs --

PAT: You don't have to. Just what is this trip costing.

STU: Again, I'm totally fine in receding any information that protects the

president, but what information would we gather for how much it costs.

GLENN: I don't think you would be able -- because I thought about this this

morning. You wouldn't be able to necessarily divine what they were doing with

the money if you had a lump sum. But most likely, they probably don't get into

that, because once they open that door, then you're like, whoa, what is that.

Well, okay. Let's just explain this. And then you've opened the door.

STU: That's fine.

GLENN: I don't want to know about the president's security. Nobody needs to know

about the president's security. There's no need to. There's no need to know.

STU: That's fine. I'm fine with that.

PAT: But if they just released the cost of the trip, security's rolled into

that, we don't know how much is this and how much is that, just tell us what it

costs. You dispel everything if you tell us it costs $50 million, then okay.

GLENN: I think the problem with that is every American would go out of their

mind with the price of security. You know what I'm paying for security for me.

STU: It's very high. It's very expensive.

GLENN: It's extraordinarily expensive.

STU: Multiply that by how many times for the president in a foreign country.

GLENN: Taking mailboxes off the streets and replacing them.

PAT: India where they had a massive terrorist strike that killed 119 people.

STU: In the same hotel.

GLENN: So I think people would have a coronary if they understood how much money

-- well, what they would say is the president doesn't need to go all the time.

He doesn't need to go everywhere.

STU: Right. That's a fair argument. But I don't know anyone who would care about

the cost -- it's one thing I'm not going to complain about cost.

GLENN: But I think people would say stop going so many places, because nobody is

going to say, hey, cut back on security. They'd say he doesn't go places all the

time. Period. The one thing I love they say the president went over here for

this fundraiser or whatever. Well, yeah, okay, so that wasn't paid for by the

taxpayers, but the security was. And the security for the president is

expensive. Wildly expensive.

STU: But he does have a role going overseas.

GLENN: Of course he does. Of course he does.

STU: And fund raisers.

GLENN: I don't need to know the cost of his security. I don't need to know it. I

would like to know how much this trip is costing.

PAT: So would I.

GLENN: I would like to know in the end how many warships were there. I'd like to

know exactly what we did and the reason why I want to know, and I want to know

in advance: Did this president -- and somebody in the media needs to ask this.

Did this president have his schedule or his itinerary changed? Did he allow the

Secret Service to change his itinerary from the last two trips? You don't have

to tell me the itinerary. You don't have to say anything. I would like that

answered. Did this president allow the Secret Service to change up the

itinerary? Is he staying at exactly the same hotel? Is he meeting with the same

people in the same ball rooms? Is he taking the same routes, is it the same

itinerary while he's there.

STU: Because isn't typical protocol to change that all the time.

GLENN: Of course. Of course it is. So has it been changed? Has the Secret

Service said, "Mr. President, it's good."

STU: Because if the Secret Service signs off on it I'm fine with it from a

Secret Service perspective. Assuming they sign off on it.

GLENN: Assuming they sign off on it willingly.

STU: Right. Yes.

GLENN: Look, here, the Secret Service can stop the president from going

someplace.

STU: But they never do.

GLENN: They never do. Because it would be a fire storm. The only way they're

ever going to do it -- they're not going to do it on a hunch. They're not going

to do it because the hair on their back is standing up or neck is standing up

they're saying this isn't good, they're not going to do that. They will stop the

president if they have a direct threat and they say, Mr. President, you're not

going in there we have a direct threat, period.

PAT: If they tell him that he's not going to go.

GLENN: Right. So this is what I would like to know. There's something wrong with

this trip. And now he's taking his children. If your security is so valuable, if

another country is going crazy with their own security team and you have to

close down entire beaches, you have to put people -- there were stories in the

Indian Times yesterday that people are going out of business because of this

trip because they're closing down whole roads and everything. This is a big time

in India. People won't be able to go to these stores and everything. How am I

going to survive. You don't take your family and your children.

STU: I'm very willing to entertain the idea that I'm just a wuss on this, but

when you look at the footage of the Taj Mahal the hotel they're staying at, all

I can think about is watching the footage of those attacks last time. This is a

dangerous, dangerous area. And I don't want to risk the president's life for

really anything, especially a trip that doesn't seem to have too much purpose to

it.

GLENN: Yeah. So he's going over there, and the other question that they won't

answer is: Are there 3,000 people traveling with the president? Is he truly

traveling with 3,000 people? The trip happens tomorrow.

PAT: They did say virtually the entire staff is going. How many is that? Staff,

family members. Might bring along some friends.

STU: I don't know.

PAT: Because they won't tell us anything, they leave it all up to the

speculation and reports from India that have circulated all over the world.

GLENN: Here's the problem. When a free press lets you down, you start to believe

$2 billion.

PAT: Yes.

GLENN: Because you can't trust the press anymore.

PAT: And you certainly can't trust the White House Press Secretary.

GLENN: No, of course not.

PAT: Because he lies through his teeth every day.