That's about as straight as it can be:
   No, he has not.
Are you claiming
   he's asked for an exemption
      on torture?
No, that's --
   -- that is inaccurate.
 No, you're mischaracterizing things.
And I'm not going to get into discussions we have -

Let me give it to you,
   just like the President has.
We do not torture.
   He does not condone torture and he would never -
Let me respond.
   And he would never authorize the use of torture.
We have an obligation to do all that we can to protect
   the American people.
      We are engaged -

It is an answer -
   because the American people want to
      know that we are doing all within our power
         to prevent terrorist attacks from happening.    
There are people in this world
   who want to spread
      a hateful ideology
         that is
based on killing innocent men, women and children.

We saw what they can do on September 11th -
             -- and we are going to --

I am answering your question.
The President has made it very clear
   that we are going to do --
No, you don't want the American people
   to hear what the facts are, Helen,
      and I'm going to tell them the facts.

And let me respond.
You've had your opportunity to ask the question.
Now I'm going to respond to it.

And I'm going to answer it,
   just like the President --
         I just did,
   and the President has answered it numerous times.

Our most important responsibility
   is to protect the American people.
We are engaged in a global war
   against Islamic radicals
      who are intent on spreading a hateful ideology,
and intent on killing
   innocent men,
      women
         and children.

We are going to do what is necessary
to protect the American people.

We are also going to do so
   in a way that adheres to
      our laws and to our values.

We have made that very clear.
The President directed everybody within this government
   that we do not engage in torture.
We will not torture.
He made that very clear.

Helen, we will continue to work with the Congress
   on the issue that you brought up.
The way you characterize it,
    that we're asking for exemption from torture,
      is just flat-out false,
because there are laws that are on the books that prohibit
    the use of torture.
And we adhere to those laws.

I just answered your question.
The President answered it last week.

We're asking to do what is necessary
   to protect the American people
      in a way that is consistent with our laws
         and our treaty obligations.
And that's what we --

David, let's talk about people
   that you're talking about
      who have been brought to justice and captured.
You're talking about people like Khalid Shaykh Muhammad;
   people like Abu Zubaydah.

No, this is facts about what you're talking about.

There are already laws and rules
   that are on the books,
      and we follow those laws and rules.
What we need to make sure is
   that we are able to carry out the war on terrorism
      as effectively as possible, not only --

What I'm telling you right now -
   not only to protect Americans from an attack,
      but to prevent an attack
         from happening in the first place.
And, you bet, when we capture terrorist leaders,
   we are going to seek to find out
      information that will protect -
that prevent attacks from happening in the first place.
But we have an obligation to do so.
Our military knows this;
all people within the United States government know this.
We have an obligation to do so
in a way that is consistent with our laws and values.

Now, the people that you are bringing up -
   you're talking about in the context,
      and I think it's important
         for the American people to know,
are people like Khalid Shaykh Muhammad,
                Abu Zubaydah,
                Ramzi Binalshibh -
                   these are --
                   these are dangerous killers.

No. And we have not.
That's what I told you at the beginning.

Well, obviously,
you have a different view from the American people.

I think the American people understand
   the importance of doing everything within our power
      and within our laws
         to protect the American people.

I'm not going to
   get into talking
      about national security matters, Bill.
         I don't do that, because this involves --

This involves information
   that relates to doing
      all we can to protect the American people.
And if you have a different view -
   obviously, some of you on this room -
      in this room have a different view,
   some of you on the front row
      have a different view.

It's spelled out in our statement of administration policy
   in terms of what our views are.
That's very public information.
In terms of our discussions with members of Congress --

In terms of our members -
   like I said,
      there are already laws on the books
         that we have to adhere to and abide by,
and we do.
And we believe that those laws
   and those obligations address these issues.

Again, you asked me -
   you want to ask questions
      of the Vice President's office,
   feel free to do that.
We've made our position very clear,
   and it's spelled out
      on our website
         for everybody to see.

And what I just told you is what our view is.

Jessica, go ahead.