BY SONYA ROSS
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- President Clinton tried hard to treat Thursday like a regular day.
He stood with senior citizens and announced steps being taken to prevent HMOs from dropping Medicare patients. He denounced the attacks in Kosovo that threaten to again turn the Balkans into a humanitarian catastrophe. He huddled with his economic advisers.
But the mood at the White House seemed as dreary as the rain outside. Toward day's end, Mr. Clinton sat among his budget advisers in the Cabinet Room, clasped his hands on the conference table and declared the matter of possible impeachment out of his control.
"It is in the hands of Congress and the people of this country -- ultimately, in the hands of God," Mr. Clinton said. "I have surrendered this. I trust the American people. . . . And I'm working in a way that I hope will restore their trust in me."
Earlier, Mr. Clinton's eyes locked into a pensive gaze as Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala talked about Medicare in the Roosevelt Room. He bit his lower lip, seemed to force a smile. He laughed as Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., jokingly declined to shake hands with the crowd because of a cold: "If I can find a room full of people I don't like, I'll be happy to shake hands with them."
TV coverage of the House impeachment debate poured out of television sets elsewhere in the White House as Mr. Clinton gripped the lectern and began to speak.
"Since this is the only time I'll have to talk to the press for the next several hours, I hope you will indulge me for a moment while I make a few comments," he said, pausing slightly, "about the present situation in Kosovo."
The violence there was unconscionable, he said, and NATO should be allowed to prepare for military action.
He made a phone call to French President Jacques Chirac to discuss the situation in Kosovo.
He promised a speedy federal review and approval process for health plans applying to enter markets being vacated by other HMO plans because of fee limits on Medicare patients.
"We were not going to allow Medicare to be held hostage to unreasonable demands," the president said.
Afterward, the man who usually glides around to shake hands with supporters proceeded to greet only a few, including Sens. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., behind a curtain of applause that drowned out shouted questions about the House vote.
Paper flew Thursday. Mr. Clinton signed the Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act , which established a working group to locate and disseminate all classified U.S. records on Nazi war criminals. He declared Thursday "Leif Erikson Day" in honor of the explorer, promised to sign a bill that puts a three-year ban on Internet taxes and nominated people to the Labor Department and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
"The president remains focused on his job," spokesman Joe Lockhart said.
