Diary Prequel Package — page 62

Nov. 16. However, at the WH, the President told the cabinet (including TGT) that he now wants to wait until he comes back from a foreign trip (Nov. 27) since Osama bin Laden just released a tape yesterday indicating that he is still alive and threatened the USA, UK, and Russia. Bush does not want it to appear that we are panicking in response to the tape. I am relieved that we decided to wait since I would have had to cancel my going to Los Angeles to receive the RAND Prize ($10,000.00) in order to remain in DC for the Press. Heard that the WH meeting with the 4 visitors on the global AIDS plan went extremely well. I believe that we are convincing the skeptics that we can effectively treat HIV in developing nations. Of note, Robin Cleveland asked to have Nils Daulaire there for his opinion. It is my impressions that she is resentful of the NIH and me. This is likely due to the fact that her OMB account for which she is responsible includes USAID and there is obviously some competition in her mind given that NIH always does so well with the budget. November 19, 2002 - Another meeting at the White House with Jay Lefkowitz, Gary Edson, Joe O'Neill, Mark Dybul and me to further discuss the potential for getting the President to accept our proposal for a comprehensive $50 billion over 5 year plan. Gary and Jay want me to further refine the presentation and actually start finalizing it for presentation first to Mitch Daniels and then ultimately to President. Jay had shown me a memo that Nils Daulaire had sent to Robin after the meeting with Mugyemnyi et al and it was clear that Robin and Nils are working together. Nils is a fine former public servant and is now in the private sector. However, judging from his memo, he is dead wrong on certain issues, i.e. he does not believe that Russia, China and India will surpass Africa within the next 5 years in AIDS impact. Also, I am not happy that Robin previously told Nils about the plan at the same time that Gary and Jay will not allow me to tell Terrell Halaska or Secretary Thompson about it. Strange situation in this WH regarding secrecy - they are almost pathologic about it. At the meeting, Jay and Gary asked me and Mark to prepare again even more material for an upcoming meeting with Mitch Daniels (see above). We got it to them within 1 day. November 21, 2002 - Another pre-roll out meeting at the Department to prepare for the upcoming announcement by the President on the Smallpox vaccination policy. Meeting was with Kevin Keane, Bill Hall, Jerry Hauer, and on teleconference - Michael Osterholm, Julie Gerberding and an assortment of CDC public affairs people. I have convinced them that we should not recommend to the general public that they take the vaccine give the non-quantifiable risk. I am also convincing them that for the Stage 2 (10,000,000 first repsonders), we also should not make a blanket recommendation that they get vaccinated. Rather, we should say that as a group the vaccine should be offered to them, but since this is a heterogenous group, the actual recommendation to take it or not should rely on discussions between the CDC and the State and local public health officials in light of the particular needs and situation within a given jurisdiction. Clearly, the Stage 1 group (500,000 smallpox response teams) should have a recommendation to take the vaccine voluntarily.