Obama expected to tackle Iran, health care in news conference

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- With his young administration suddenly facing a series of stiff head winds in foreign and domestic policy, President Obama will try to recapture political momentum Tuesday with a midday news conference tackling a range of contentious issues.
he president is expected to address questions being raised about his approach to the crackdown in Iran and North Korea's recent missile tests. Closer to home, he is likely to use the occasion to take on congressional critics of his health care plan as well as to discuss broader economic concerns.

Obama's news conference will air on CNN and CNN.com at 12:30 p.m. ET.

The No. 1 issue may be Obama's Iran policy, which has received intense scrutiny in recent days amid growing concerns over Tehran's violent crackdown on street protests.

The Iranian demonstrators believe the country's June 12 presidential election was a sham. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Monday that Obama "continues to have concerns and questions ... about how that election was conducted."


Obama has called on Iran to stop violent and unjust steps that stifle free speech, but some Republicans have criticized him for not siding more strongly with the demonstrators.

Gibbs said Monday that Obama's statements have been intended to prevent Iranian leaders from claiming that the protests were a U.S.-backed attempt to bring down the regime.
Don't Miss

* Obama 'moved' by Iran images, spokesman says
* Obama to Iran: 'The whole world is watching'
* Commentary: Is Obama's honeymoon over?

"This isn't about a foreign policy that makes us feel good," Gibbs said. "This isn't about a statement that makes us feel good or sound good on television."

On the domestic front, overhauling health care remains a top presidential priority, but the initial proposals to reach Congress last week received a rocky reception.

The Congressional Budget Office determined that either of two similar bills by Senate Democrats would cost more than $1 trillion, which was significantly higher than expected.

Republican opponents immediately slammed the measures, and the Senate Finance Committee delayed scheduled hearings on one of the bills. Hearings by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on the other measure began amid intense partisan bickering, with hundreds of amendments proposed by Republican opponents.

At issue is how best to reduce the cost and increase the reach of the health care system, which officials say is draining personal, corporate and government budgets while leaving 46 million Americans without health insurance.

Obama has warned that a failure to act soon will bring far worse economic difficulties than the costs of plans under discussion. He has further raised the political stakes by saying he expects to sign a comprehensive reform bill this year.

The president tried to demonstrate new momentum for his approach Monday by showcasing a decision by the nation's pharmaceutical industry to agree to a deal cutting drug costs for elderly Americans.

Obama called the agreement an example of the kind of compromise required for successful national health care reform.

The deal "marks a major step forward, but it will only be meaningful if we complete the journey," Obama said.

"I have to repeat and revive an old saying we had from the campaign: Yes, we can. We are going to get this done."

Both parties in Congress agree on the need to slow the increase in health care costs while ensuring that all Americans can get health insurance, but they differ sharply on how to proceed.

The biggest sticking point so far: Democrats generally favor a government-funded "public option" to compete with private insurers. Republicans are adamant that such a step will lead to a government takeover of health care, which they oppose.

Republicans also accuse Obama and Democrats of trying to rush through what they say is flawed legislation in 2009 before the politics of midterm elections in 2010 and the 2012 presidential race.

Adding to the charged health care debate are indications of increased public anxiety over the growing federal deficit.

Obama, who signed a $787 billion stimulus bill this year, has said that short-term deficit spending is necessary to boost the sagging economy.

A June 12-15 NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, however, showed that 58 percent of adult Americans believe the president and Congress should be more concerned with deficit reduction than economic growth.