Monday, January 23, 2012

Went to Situation Room in the White House at 3:15 PM. Cold, very damp, gray day. Purpose to discuss the H5N1 situation and brief the National Security Staff (NSS) about my upcoming trip to the Geneva meeting scheduled for Feb. 16-17, 2012. Present at the meeting: John Brennan (Chief, NSS), Heidi Avery (Deputy Chief), Francis Collins, Amy Patterson, Bill Corr (Deputy Secretary-HHS), Sally Howard (Chief-of-Staff to Sebelius), Bill Shultz (OGC-HHS). NSS concern was what we would agree to or not at the Geneva meeting. I tried to explain that the information was already out there and multiple papers have already described the methodology. I explained that what I wanted to get out of the meeting was a transparency to others about what we are trying to do in order to get away from this USA-centric perception. Of note, after the meeting, Heidi sent an email to Bill Corr saying that there are certain “redlines” that we should not give in to at the meeting. I fear that she is not fully getting what I want to accomplish at the meeting. Also, of note, she mentioned in her e-mail that she does not want total unbridled availability of the information in the papers (her “redline”) even though she knows that certain USG scientists do not agree with her. I am certain that she is referring to me.