President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama have landed in London for the first leg of their week long European trip.

 A day before embarking on his first major foreign trip and leaving Congress to continue its showdown over his budget,  President Barack Obama heralded the fruits of bipartisan labor by signing a huge public lands management act today at the White House. 

The centerpiece of the bill is a protected wilderness designation for more than 2 million acres across the United States.  "That's something all Americans can support," said the President, "that's why so much of this legislation, some of it decades in the making has the backing of Americans from every walk of life and corner of this country:  ranchers and fisherman, small business owners, environmentalists, conservative republicans and liberal democrats, on the local state and federal levels."

The omnibus signed today is made up of more than 150 different bills - and is a massive expansion of wilderness protection.  Among other things this bill will:  create ten new National Heritage Areas, including former president Bill Clinton's childhood home in Hope, Arkansas; authorize land exchanges between the USDA Forest Service, National Park Service and other groups, it will permit new studies, ocean programs, a water projects. 

Also included in the bill was the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act.  The President described it as "the first piece of comprehensive legislation specifically aimed at addressing the challenges faced by Americans living with paralysis."

This marks the sixth piece of legislation the President has signed.  "I've gotten good at this," he joked.

DC residents may not have a vote in congress, but now they can have direct access to the White House. President and Mrs. Obama announced a new internship program today specifically targeted to DC public high school students who are "committed to public service". The White House's internship program is not new, but the effort to make it easier for DC residents to participate is.

The first family has long said they want to integrate themselves more fully into the community in which they now live. Today's announcement of the "DC Scholars" program reflects that commitment. "Now, for the first time, there will be a special place for DC students to learn about public service at the White House, while furthering their educational goals," President Obama said in a press release.

As with many internships, the Scholars program is unpaid and is part-time. Applicants must be 18 years old by June 22nd in order to participate. The White House says that high school students in the 2009 graduating class are eligible. The program runs from June 22nd to August 14th.

Applications and details are available at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/Internships/

In an interview on CBS “Face the Nation” President Obama said if his newly announced plan for Afghanistan doesn’t work he will not necessarily add more troops.

“What I will not do is to simply assume that more troops always results in-- an improved situation, “ said Obama. “I think there was a good argument after us scrubbing this very hard and talking to a lot of our allies in the region, including the Pakistan, Afghanistan governments, the Europeans, and our other NATO allies, that this was the best strategy.”

The comment about more troops resulting in an improved situation could be seen as a direct critique of the surge tactics President Bush took in Iraq. In 2007, President Bush announced a new series of deployments of U.S. troops to Iraq, known as the surge, to help stop insurgent violence that at the time was spiraling out of control. The announcement by Bush and the subsequent troop movements was roundly dismissed by then-candidate Obama on the campaign trail. He often used his assessment of the Iraq surge as a way to discuss his plans for changes in Afghanistan troop movements.

The President today also said that his plans for Afghanistan focus on increasing foreign aid to that impoverished nation as well as to Pakistan. “And I am gonna be-- really pushing Congress because sometimes foreign aid is, you know, a juicy target, particularly during tough times, “ Obama said. “I'm gonna tell them this is central to our strategy, and it can save lives and troops if we properly execute it.”

The President’s plan for Afghanistan, announced Friday, sets no timelines for US troops in the country and includes training for Afghan military and police with a goal of 134,000 military and 82,000 police by 2011. Those numbers would almost double both groups.

The President may visit a Muslim country other than Turkey before the month of April is up, or so insinuated his press secretary Robert Gibbs today at his daily briefing in Washington.

Mr. Obama embarks on his first major overseas trip next week with several stops through Europe and a symbolic visit to Turkey - his first to a Muslim country. After winning the presidency Mr. Obama promised that he would give a major speech in a Muslim country within the first one hundred days of taking office. Many believed that the stops in Ankara and Istanbul would fulfill his pledge. But Gibbs put that assumption to rest, "that's not the speech that [the president] talked about."

Only six days after taking office, President Obama gave his first sit down interview to Arab satellite station Al Arabiya - a measure that illustrated how he values reaching to the Muslim world and "to communicate that the Americans are not [Muslims'] enemy,"

So when could he squeeze this in? His Europe trip spans a week. Not but a few days later he travels to Trinidad and Tobago for the Summit of the Americas. The one hundredth day deadline looms.

The White House is actively monitoring the midwest flooding and President Obama recently approved major disaster relief for North Dakota and last night issued an emergency declaration for Minnesota.  FEMA, the Army Corps of Enginers and others continue to work with officials to see that their needs are met and federal support is being provided up and down the river.

This morning, President Obama talked to North Dakota Governor John Hoeven and Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty as well as Fargo, ND Mayor Dennis Walaker.  Obama wanted to make sure they are getting the help they need.   Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has also been in touch with officials on the ground.  Gibbs went on to say residents need to remain vigilant about flood crests and should pay attention to emergency information about evacuations.

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First Lady Michelle Obama  will speak at two commencement ceremonies this spring.   On May 16th she will address the first senior class at the University of California at Merced.  And on June 3rd, the first lady will address high school seniors at the Washington Mathematics Science Technology Public Charter, in Washington D.C.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs says President Obama is looking forward to delivering the May commencement speech at The University of Notre Dame.  The University's invite to President Obama has ignited a fire-storm on campus.  Many students and others are protesting the invitation of a president that appears to be at odds with Catholic values.  Earlier this month, Obama signed an executive order lifting a ban on the use of federal funding for research on new embryonic stem cell lines. 

More than 130,000 signatures have been added to an online petition. which calls the invitation "an outrage and a scandal."  Gibbs told reporters in Thursday's briefing, "the President obviously believes in everyone's right to get involved and exercise their opinion."   Gibbs went on to point out that President Obama met last week with Chicago Cardinal Francis George to discuss topics that "he's interested in and the Catholic Church is interested in." 

The University of Notre Dame has said it will not rescind the invitation. 

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White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said in Thursday's briefing that President Obama has been making calls and briefing members of Congress on his administration's review of current Afghanistan policy.  President Obama will announce his decision on the policy Friday at the White House.  According to Gibbs, the calls that President Obama is making today are at the "end of a long process of consulting with members of Congress and coordinating with international leaders."

President Obama today took a stand: legalizing marijuana is NOT a good way to save our struggling economy. Why would he make an announcement like that? Apparently, it was of importance to a large number of participants in Obama's first-ever online economy townhall meeting today. He took questions all over the board, but paused to answer one that garnered a lot of interest-- if not just to turn around and shoot it down-- using humor to tell the story:

Obama: "We took votes about which questions were going to be asked, and... 3.5 million people voted.  I have to say that there was one question that was voted on that ranked fairly high, and that was whether legalizing marijuana would improve the economy and job creation.
   (LAUGHTER)
   And I don't know what this says about the online audience...
   (LAUGHTER)   ... but I just want -- I don't want people to think that -- this was a fairly popular question.  We want to make sure that it was answered. The answer is, no, I don't think that is a good strategy to grow our economy."