UPDATE: BP says it will continue to stream live video of the underwater leak on Wednesday when it attempts the "top kill" procedure to plug the well.

President Obama is frustrated with the response to the Gulf Coast oil spill, according to adviser Carol Browner, assistant to the president for energy and climate change.

Browner says that the president has expressed his concerns in meetings at the White House.

"He wants this thing shut down, he wants to get on with cleaning it up and restoring these communities and getting those fishermen back to work," Browner told Fox Senior White House Correspondent Major Garrett in an interview Tuesday.

The president will travel to the coast on Friday, almost four weeks after his initial visit to the region. During his first trip he received a briefing on response efforts and met with local fisherman affected by the disaster.

On Wednesday oil rig operator BP will attempt to close the leak with mud, rubber tires, and cement. This so-called "top kill" maneuver has a 70 percent chance of success, according to experts.

BP has informed lawmakers that it intends to cut the live video feed of the spewing underwater well before it attempts the procedure.

But Browner says the White House has protested a video black out and is hopeful that the company will change its mind.

"I think it will end with the public having the right to this information. We think they do and we are doing everything to make that happen."

Democratic Congressman Ed Markey -- who initially pressed BP to provide live video of the leak to the public -- said that pulling the video feed would be outrageous. "After more than a month of spewing oil into the Gulf of Mexico, BP is essentially saying to the American people the solution will not be televised," he said in a statement.

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In a move that could appease some Republicans, the White House just announced that President Obama will deploy up to 1,200 National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border to provide surveillance and reconnaissance support to Customs and Border Patrol. The president will also request $500 million in funds for enhanced border protection and law enforcement activities, according to an administration official.

The announcement comes on the heels of Mr. Obama's meeting with Senate Republicans on Tuesday. Mr. Obama has been under pressure from Arizona Republicans John McCain and Jon Kyl to deploy National Guard troops to the border before the Senate takes up immigration reform.

During a state visit by Mexican President Felipe Calderon last week, Mr. Obama promised increased security at the nation's borders to combat illegal immigration and the flow of drugs and weapons into the United States.

The White House says that the deployment and funding request will tackle both issues, while the administration continues to work with Congress to fix a "broken immigration system."

Fox's Major Garrett has confirmed that President Obama will travel to the Gulf Coast region on Friday to assess relief efforts. More to details to come...

President Obama on Tuesday praised the Small Business Administration for the work it has done to help those affected by the Gulf Coast oil spill.

"From the very beginning of this disaster, the SBA has acted quickly to assist fishermen and fishing-dependent small businesses. They're offering low-interest loans and deferrals of existing loans," the president said. "And while small businesses are encouraged to file claims with BP, these loans and deferrals can provide much needed temporary assistance."

The comments came at a Rose Garden event celebrating National Small Business Week, a tradition dating back to President John F. Kennedy.

Administration officials have expressed frustration with the slow response in the Gulf, but insist that BP should remain in charge due to its expertise and the fact that it has access to the proper equipment. (read more)

"The president decided to make a change. I'll let that speak for itself."

That was White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs' final answer when it came to questions surrounding the abrupt resignation of Admiral Dennis Blair, President Obama's director of national intelligence who will officially step down next Friday.

President Obama asked for Blair's resignation just 16 months after appointing him to the position of top counterterrorism chief.

The president's press secretary on Friday praised Blair's tenure and credited him with refocusing the government's attention on terrorism and threats of radicalization, never once indicating that the White House was displeased with his performance record.

But some Republicans accuse the administration of making Blair the scapegoat in the wake of several intelligence failures that have put the country at risk.

"The problem was not with Dennis Blair, but with the White House itself," said New York Congressman Pete King, who sits on the House Homeland Security Committee. King charged that the Obama administration has tried to "control intelligence policy beyond the scope of congressional oversight while withholding necessary information from Congress."

Blair faced intense scrutiny in the wake of the Fort Hood massacre in November, and was criticized after the attempted airline bombing on Christmas day, as well as this month's failed car bombing in Times Square.

Observers say the government dropped the ball in the last two situations and got lucky only because the would-be attackers failed to carry out their actions.

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The White House says President Obama wasn't aware of the fact that there was an unexpected visitor in the Rose Garden yesterday as he delivered remarks on financial regulatory reform.    It's still unclear what kind of animal scurried along the steps near the presidential podium as the president spoke.  But some in the White House press corps suggest that the uninvited guest might be a vole, a small rodent that looks like a mouse but with a stouter body and shorter tail. At the end of Friday's White House briefing, reporters quizzed Press Secretary Robert Gibbs about the animal. He said that Obama aide Reggie Love believes the creature is a field mouse, but reporters who've seen it in person weren't buying it. Neither was Gibbs, who believes it's way too big to be a field mouse and poked fun at Love for his assessment.

"My sense is that Reggie has lived in some houses with 'field mice,'" Gibbs said. "Judging the size of the animal... I've got to tell you, that's a rat." (read more)

The White House announced Thursday that Vice President Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, will attend the opening ceremonies of the 2010 World Cup and the first U.S. men's game in South Africa next month.

President Obama was invited to the opening ceremonies but won't be going, though his interest in the sport is well-known.

Mr. Obama met with FIFA President Sepp Blatter last July at the White House and urged him to consider allowing the U.S. to host the World Cup in either 2018 or 2022.

And that wasn't the first time the president made such a plea.

In an April 2009 letter to Blatter, Mr. Obama said he wanted the world to gather in the U.S. to celebrate common hopes and dreams. "Soccer is truly the world's sport, and the World Cup promotes camaraderie and friendly competition across the globe. That is why this bid is about much more than a game." (read more)

  The White House on Thursday weighed in on controversial comments by Kentucky Republican Senate Candidate Rand Paul, who made headlines after his position on civil rights and racism came into question during a television appearance Wednesday evening. In an interview with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow one day after his primary victory, Paul was asked about comments he made last month to the editorial board of the Louisville Courier-Journal in which he told reporters he liked that the 1964 Civil Rights Act ended discrimination, but implied that he believed it should not apply to private business owners.  Maddow on Wednesday specifically asked Paul whether he thinks private business owners have the right to refuse service to black people.   (read more)

Update 1:57 p.m.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs would not answer reporters who followed up on this story in Thursday's daily briefing. Instead, Gibbs would only say repeatedly, "I don't have anything to add to what I said in March."  Several members of the press corps pressed Gibbs on whether the White House offered Rep. Sestak a job in order to stay out of the Senate race.  But Gibbs wouldn't bite.  Check back here through the day to see if the RNC issues another statement from Chairman Steele. 

 

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele is calling on the White House to come clean on whether it offered Congressman Joe Sestak a job to keep him from entering the Pennsylvania Senate race.

Sestak defeated incumbent Senator Arlen Specter in Tuesday's democratic primary. Specter had switched parties because he didn't believe he could win reelection as a Republican.

The White House for months has deferred questions about a deal for Sestak, who claimed in February that the Obama administration offered him a federal job if he dropped out of the primary.

In March, Sestak told Fox's Bret Baier that the White House offered him a job so as not to enter the primary race, but wouldn't elaborate.   "To go beyond that, Bret, doesn't serve any purpose," Sestak said at the time.   "There's nothing to be gained by focusing on this politics stuff."  (read more)

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says he drives American, and suggested that a member of the White House press corps try taking the Ford Escape Hybrid for a test drive.

LaHood stopped to talk to reporters as he arrived at the White House for Wednesday's state dinner honoring Mexican President Felipe Calderon and first lady Margarita Zavala.

The comment came in response to a question from a member of the press who asked LaHood whether he arrived in a Toyota.

In February the transportation secretary told reporters that owners of recalled Toyotas should stop driving their cars. He was forced to backtrack later in the day, telling a congressional panel that he misspoke and meant to say that Toyota owners should take their vehicles to the dealer to have them fixed.

When asked Wednesday evening about his transportation to and from the White House dinner, LaHood didn't miss a beat. "I drive American, domestic-made automobiles. I have a 1998 Buick [here] and a Ford Escape Hybrid in Peoria," LaHood said proudly. He then suggested that the reporter who questioned him try one out.