Obama on Leno: President Says Russia Sometimes Slips Back Into Cold War Mentality

Obama Tells Leno Closure of Embassies Is No Overreaction (New York Times)

For a late-night comic Jay Leno certainly covered some serious ground with President Obama on Tuesday evening.

Mr. Obama, making his 6th appearance on NBC’s “Tonight Show,” and his fourth as president, told his host that the government is not overreacting in locking down nearly 20 diplomatic posts and issuing a worldwide travel warning after intercepted electronic conversations raised concerns of terrorist attacks abroad.

Americans should proceed with vacations in a “prudent way, “ Mr. Obama said during the taped appearance, and check the State Department Web site for updates. “The odds of dying in a terrorist attack,” he added, “are a lot lower than they are of dying in a car accident, unfortunately.”

While the White House has declined to use the latest reports of terrorist threats to justify the administration’s broad intelligence surveillance programs in the United States and in foreign countries, Mr. Obama did reiterate that such government surveillance is a “critical component to counterterrorism.” In both parties in Congress, however, lawmakers are trying to limit the intelligence-gathering.