Sen. John McCain said Sunday it's "fine" that President Barack Obama canceled a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but Obama's actions and statements show he does not understand how to deal with Putin. 
 
 “The president comparing him to a kid in the back of the classroom, I think, is very indicative of the president’s lack of appreciation of who Vladimir Putin is," the Arizona Republican said on "Fox News Sunday," referring to a comment Obama made in a press conference on Friday. "He’s an old KGB colonel that has no illusions about our relationship, does not care about a relationship with the United States, continues to oppress his people, continues to oppress the media and continues to act in an autocratic and unhelpful fashion.” 
 
 Canceling the meeting, which the president did last week after Russia granted asylum to NSA leaker Edward Snowden, was "symbolic," McCain said, but the U.S. needs to expand the Magnitsky Act and enforce human rights, get Georgia into NATO and expand missile defense systems in Europe. 
 
 “We also need very badly to understand that Mr. Putin does not have the United States-Russia relationships in any priority and treat him in a realistic fashion," the senator said. "hat’s the way to treat Mr. Putin, not just canceling a meeting." 
 
 Read more about: White House, John McCain, Russia, Vladimir Putin ||||| Instead, Mr. Obama is weighing how to reach an informal agreement with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia for mutual cuts within the framework of the new Start — but without the need for ratification. Mr. Obama’s national security adviser, Tom Donilon, is planning to travel to Russia next month, officials say, to lay the groundwork for those talks. Mr. Obama and Mr. Putin will hold two summit meetings in the early summer. 
 
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 Even as he revives a nuclear agenda that has been nearly moribund for two years, Mr. Obama is also expected to try to address new threats. 
 
 Within days of the State of the Union address, officials say, he plans to issue a long-anticipated presidential directive on combating cyberattacks aimed at American companies, financial institutions and critical infrastructure like the electric grid. The announcement comes at a moment of heightened attacks from China and, most recently, from Iran. 
 
 A lobbying effort by American companies last year defeated a bill in Congress that, in some versions of the legislation, would have required private companies to meet minimum standards of protection and to report attacks to the government. It died over objections that the bill would incur huge new costs and involve the government more deeply into private computer networks. 
 
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 While Mr. Obama cannot impose the failed bill’s mandates by executive order, he is expected to give companies that control “critical infrastructure” access to an experimental government program that has been aimed at protecting defense contractors. The directive will also require the government to inform industry officials of cyberthreats detected by American intelligence agencies; that, in turn, may create some liability for companies that fail to react to the warnings. 
 
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 The nuclear reduction plan has been debated inside the administration for two years, and the options have been on Mr. Obama’s desk for months. But the document was left untouched through the presidential election. The president wanted to avoid making the reductions a campaign issue with Mitt Romney, who declared at one point that Russia was now America’s “No. 1 geostrategic foe,” a comment that Mr. Obama later mocked as an indication that Mr. Romney had failed to move beyond the cold war. 
 
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 Mr. Romney, in turn, leapt on a remark that Mr. Obama intended to make privately to Russia’s then president, Dmitri A. Medvedev. He was picked up by an open microphone telling Mr. Medvedev that “after my election I have more flexibility” on missile defense, which Republicans said was evidence that he was preparing to trade away elements of the arsenal. 
 
 Among the most outspoken advocates of a deep cut has been a former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. James E. Cartwright, whom Mr. Obama continues to turn to on strategic issues. General Cartwright has argued that a reduction to 900 warheads would still guarantee American safety, even if only half of them were deployed at any one time. 
 
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 “The world has changed, but the current arsenal carries the baggage of the cold war,” General Cartwright said last year. The challenges of North Korea, which is preparing a third nuclear test, and the possibility that Iran will get the bomb pose very different kinds of threats to the United States, and do not require the ability to deliver the kind of huge first strike that was the underlying logic of a large arsenal to face off against the Soviet Union. 
 
 “What is it we’re really trying to deter?” General Cartwright asked. “Our current arsenal does not address the threats of the 21st century.” 
 
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 It is unclear how much money would be saved by the nuclear reduction plan that Mr. Obama is about to endorse; partly that depends on how the cuts are spread among the three elements of America’s nuclear “triad”: land-based missiles in silos, missiles aboard hard-to-find nuclear submarines, and nuclear bombers. 
 
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 “These cuts don’t require a radical change in the triad, and that makes it politically easier,” said Daryl Kimball, the executive director of the Arms Control Association, which has argued for deep cuts. General Cartwright’s more radical plans, by some estimates, would have saved at least $120 billion over the next two decades. 
 
 But Mr. Obama is already moving quietly, officials acknowledge, to explore whether he can scale back a 10-year, $80 billion program to modernize the country’s weapons laboratories. 
 
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 The White House agreed to the spending on the weapons labs as the price of winning Republican votes on the new Start three years ago, but one senior defense official said late last year that “the environment of looking for cuts in the national security budget makes this an obvious target.” 
 
 Mr. Obama’s advisers have said he is unlikely to simply announce American cuts unilaterally, though President George W. Bush took a similar step his first year in office before negotiating a short treaty with Mr. Putin that passed the Senate with little rancor. 
 
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 Along with the executive order on cybersecurity, the administration plans to try again this year to get comprehensive cyberlegislation passed by Congress. 
 
 Last month, Senators Tom Carper, the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and Dianne Feinstein, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, introduced a cybersecurity bill similar to the one that administration had hoped to pass in 2012. 
 
 “We want to foster notice and we want to foster information-sharing requirements,” Janet Napolitano, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, said in a recent interview on the legislation. “We want to take care of some of the nuts and bolts like relaxing Civil Service requirements so we can hire more competitively. Really the things that can’t be done by an executive order.” 
 
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 Ms. Napolitano said that she hoped it would be a high priority for Congress. But “in the meantime we can’t stand still,” she said. ||||| President Barack Obama is looking forward to national debate over surveillance policies triggered by the disclosure Wednesday of a highly classified National Security Agency program to obtain records of telephone calls made by million of Americans, the White House said Thursday. 
 
 White House Spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters traveling with Obama on Air Force One that the discussion about balancing national security and individual privacy is a valuable one. 
 
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 “The president welcomes the discussion of the trade-off between security and civil liberties,” Earnest said. “The close examination of some of these complicated issues could cause people to arrive at differing opinions…. The president welcomes that debate. He has his own ideas, he’s presented them.” 
 
 (Also on POLITICO: Obama names Susan Rice head of NSA) 
 
 Earnest declined to comment on classified matters, but noted that the order to telecom giant Verizon that was obtained Wednesday by Britain’s Guardian newspaper does not authorize listening to anyone’s calls. The White House spokesman also said the program has been effective at countering terrorist threats. 
 
 House Intelligence Committee Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) was more specific, saying the call tracking had “thwarted” a specific terrorist incident in the United States. 
 
 “Within the last few years, this program was used to stop a terrorist attack in the United States,” Rogers told reporters Thursday. “We know that. It’s important. It fills in a little seam that we have, and it’s used to make sure that there’s not an international nexus to any terrorism event that they may believe is ongoing in the United States.” 
 
 (PHOTOS: Pols, pundits weigh in on NSA report) 
 
 Attorney General Eric Holder emphasized that the administration had kept federal lawmakers fully informed about the program. 
 
 “Members of Congress have been fully briefed as these issues, these matters have been underway,” Holder said at a Senate hearing. He said he was “not really comfortable in saying an awful lot more than that” in an unclassified setting. 
 
 Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) said she had doubts about claims lawmakers had been kept in the loop. “This ‘fully briefed’ (claim) is something that drives us up the wall…. ‘Fully briefed’ doesn’t mean we know what’s going on,” she said, urging a classified hearing or briefing that all senators could attend. 
 
 (Also on POLITICO: Report says Panetta revealed SEAL unit info) 
 
 And Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) said he was concerned that data on calls by members of Congress and Supreme Court justices could have been swept up in the program, though Holder said there was “no intention to do anything of that nature.” 
 
 Elsewhere on Capitol Hill, the top two leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee said Thursday that the widespread monitoring of Verizon phone calls made in the United States has been going on for years, and that Congress is regularly briefed on it. 
 
 Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) also defended the National Security Agency’s request to the company for all the metadata about phone calls made within and from the United States. 
 
 “As far as I know, this is the exact three-month renewal of what has been in place for the past seven years,” Feinstein said. “This renewal is carried out by the [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court] under the business records section of the Patriot Act. Therefore it is lawful. It has been briefed to Congress.” 
 
 Chambliss said the report in the Guardian Wednesday was “nothing new.” 
 
 “This has been going on for seven years,” he said. “…every member of the United States Senate has been advised of this. To my knowledge there has not been any citizen who has registered a complaint. It has proved meritorious because we have collected significant information on bad guys, but only on bad guys, over the years.” 
 
 The Obama administration is defending the program, arguing that the policy is a vital tool in monitoring terrorists and has the approval of “all three branches of government,” according to a senior administration official. 
 
 “On its face, the order reprinted in the article does not allow the government to listen in on anyone’s telephone calls,” said the official, who asked not to be named. “The information acquired does not include the content of any communications or the name of any subscriber. It relates exclusively to metadata, such as a telephone number or the length of a call.” ||||| Story highlights Obama says there are enough votes to pass immigration reform 
 
 The president is rejecting calls to boycott the Olympics in Russia 
 
 Obama says he will decide on a Federal Reserve chairman in the fall 
 
 He outlines steps to improve public confidence in intelligence gathering 
 
 President Barack Obama on Friday outlined steps to reform U.S. intelligence gathering measures after they came under scrutiny following their revelation by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, saying the classified leaks created a public distrust in programs meant to safeguard Americans. 
 
 Since Snowden leaked secret documents to the media, critics have called the NSA's domestic surveillance -- including a program that monitors the metadata of domestic phone calls -- a government overreach. Many of those same critics have asked the Obama administration and Congress to rein in the programs. 
 
 "Given the history of abuse by governments, it's right to ask questions about surveillance, particularly as technology is reshaping every aspect of our lives," Obama said during a news conference in the East Room of the White House. 
 
 But the president slammed the release of the information that has "come out in dribs and drabs," saying a general impression has taken hold "that we are somehow out there willy-nilly sucking information from everybody." 
 
 At the same time, Obama sought to assure the public that there are safeguards in place, while acknowledging the need for transparency. 
 
 Among the steps being taken, according to the president: Working with Congress to pursue appropriate improvements of the telephone data program; reforming the secret court that approves that initiative; improving transparency to provide as much information as possible to the public, including the legal rationale for government collection activities; and appointing a high-level, independent group of outside experts to review surveillance technologies. 
 
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 "There's no doubt Mr. Snowden's leaks triggered a much more rapid and passionate response than if I had simply appointed this review board," the president said. 
 
 'Take a pause' 
 
 But Obama refused any characterization of Snowden as a "whistle-blower" or "patriot," saying there were "other avenues" the former NSA contractor could have taken instead of leaking national security surveillance information. 
 
 Snowden, who has been granted temporary asylum in Russia, has been charged with three felony counts related to the leaks, including violations of the U.S. Espionage Act. 
 
 If Snowden believes his actions were right, "he can appear before a court with a lawyer and make his case," the president said. 
 
 Snowden was granted temporary asylum in Russia, a move that further strained already tense relations between Washington and Moscow. 
 
 Obama said that his decision to not go to Moscow next month for a summit was not solely related to Russia's decision to grant asylum to Snowden. 
 
 He said the United States must "take a pause" and "calibrate the relationship" with Russia to assess where things stand, while "recognizing there are going to be some differences and we are not always going to agree." 
 
 Relations between Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin have foundered over a number of issues, including their sharp differences over Syria, missile defense and, most recently, a new anti-gay law signed by Putin that could put gay and lesbian athletes at risk of arrest in next year's winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. 
 
 Since Putin's election as president, Obama believes there has been a return to some Cold War attitudes with "more rhetoric on the Russia side that was anti-American." 
 
 "I've encouraged Mr. Putin to think forward as opposed to backwards on those issues with mixed success," the president said. 
 
 'No Olympic boycott' 
 
 Obama rejected calls to boycott the 2014 Winter Olympics unless the law is repealed, saying it would hurt American athletes who have trained and sacrificed to make it to the Olympics. 
 
 "One of the things I'm really looking forward to is maybe some gay and lesbian athletes bringing home the gold or silver or bronze, which I think would go a long way in rejecting the kind of attitudes that we're seeing there," Obama said. 
 
 "If Russia doesn't have gay or lesbian athletes, then that would probably make their team weaker." 
 
 It had been more than three month since the president took questions from reporters in the White House briefing room, and much has transpired since then, including the recent closing embassies in Africa, the Middle East and Asia because of a heightened terror threat. 
 
 If he headed out to his Martha's Vineyard vacation this weekend without addressing the issues, "it would be seen as a mistake," said Candy Crowley, CNN's chief political correspondent. "The most immediate topic, I think, on his plate, has got to be what's going on in terms of terrorism and the closing of the embassies." 
 
 Last week, officials shuttered 22 U.S. embassies and consulates for the day on Sunday amid fears of an al Qaeda attack. On Sunday afternoon, the State Department said it had extended embassy and consulate closures in 15 of the locations until Friday and later added four other posts to the list. The decision was seen as unprecedented from many in the diplomacy and intelligence communities. 
 
 A senior state department official said Friday that the majority of those posts will reopen on Sunday. 
 
 Al Qaeda threat 
 
 On Friday, Obama declined to answer questions about reported U.S. drone strikes against militants in Yemen in recent weeks that have left at least 34 people dead, saying he would not discuss operations. 
 
 The core leadership of al Qaeda has been decimated, but the terror group's offshoots -- such as al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula operating in Yemen -- still possess the ability to threaten U.S. embassies and businesses. 
 
 "We are not going to completely eliminate terrorism. What we can do is weaken it and strengthen our partnerships" so it cannot pose the type of threat seen on 9/11, he said. 
 
 Obama's administration has been under fire in recent months over its response to the attack on a U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, that left U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans dead. 
 
 Asked why Obama has not made good on a promise to get those responsible for the September 2012 attack, he said: "I also said we would get bin Laden, and I didn't get him in 11 months." 
 
 A sealed federal indictment has been issued in the Benghazi case, and "it's sealed for a reason," Obama said. 
 
 Immigration, health care 
 
 Among the other issues Obama discussed during the news conference: 
 
 -- Immigration: Obama believes there are enough votes in the House to pass a Senate immigration reform bill, which would allow undocumented immigrants an opportunity to become U.S. citizens. 
 
 The bill also increases border security and penalties for employers who knowingly hire people not authorized to work in the United States. 
 
 "I'm absolutely confident that if the bill was on the floor of the House, it would pass," he said. 
 
 House leaders have refused to take up the bill, saying it will not solve the immigration problem. Instead, they have proposed a series of issue-oriented bills, such as border security. 
 
 "I don't know a law that solves a problem 100%," Obama said. 
 
 -- Health care: Obama warned against a Republican threats to shut down the government if it can't defund the president's health care law, saying it was a bad idea. 
 
 "The idea that you would shut down the government unless you prevent 30 million people from getting health care is a bad idea," Obama said. 
 
 Meanwhile, Obama said the decision to delay for a year a portion of the health care law known as the "shared responsibility payment," which requires businesses of a certain size to pay a fine if they fail provide health insurance, was drawing criticism because of the politicization of the issue. 
 
 "In implementing the Affordable Healthcare Act, there are going to be some glitches," Obama said, adding the were the same kind of obstacles that the government ran into when the country was adopting Social Security and Medicare. 
 
 "...That's true of a car company rolling out a new car. That's true of Apple rolling out a new iPad." 
 
 -- Federal Reserve chair: The president said Lawrence Summers and Janet Yellen were both highly qualified to be the next chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve, but said there were "a range" of candiates for the job. 
 
 The term for Ben Bernanke, the current Federal Reserve chair, ends in 2014, and Obama said he will make a decision about who will replace Bernanke in the fall.
– John McCain think it's great that President Obama axed his meeting with Vladimir Putin, but comparing Putin “to a kid in the back of the classroom, I think, is very indicative of the president’s lack of appreciation of who Vladimir Putin is," McCain said today. "He’s an old KGB colonel that has no illusions about our relationship, does not care about a relationship with the United States, continues to oppress his people, continues to oppress the media, and continues to act in an autocratic and unhelpful fashion.” In short, Putin "does not have the United States-Russia relationships in any priority," and we need to treat him as such. Elsewhere on your Sunday dial, as per Politico: Pete King on running for president: “This is not a game I’m playing, I’m serious. I’m serious about looking at it and we’ll see where it goes from there. I have no intention of being there just for the sake of being there, so if I think there’s any real chance and support, then we’ll move forward." King on Obama and the NSA: “I applaud the president for continuing the NSA program. What I’m very critical of him for, though, is basically he’s been silent for the last two months. He’s allowed the Edward Snowdens and the others of the world to dominate the media and now we have so many people who actually think the NSA is spying on people, is listening to our phone calls, is reading our emails. The president has the obligation to be aggressively and effectively defending this program and he really didn’t do it." Louis Gohmert on Obama's claim that GOP is trying to prevent people from getting health care: “That's a false narrative. That is an absolute, blatant lie. We're not trying to keep anybody from getting health care. And whether or not they have insurance under an exchange or not does not prevent people from getting health care." House Homeland Security chair Mike McCaul on Obama's NSA reforms: "I think when the story initially broke, the president went under cover. He just finally came out last Friday trying to come up with ways to salvage the program by window dressing.. . The problem is he's failed to explain these programs which are lawful, which have saved lives, which have stopped terrorist plots. He has not adequately explained them or defended them. "