Obama Meeting With Clinton Right Now: BREAKING NEWS (UPDATED)

NBC Political Director Chuck Todd just said on MSNBC that Democratic presumptive nominee Senator Barack Obama is now meeting with defeated rival Senator Hillary Clinton in Washington D.C.– a private meeting pulled off by the Obama camp in a way to keep the press pack literally miles away from it.

(MSNBC has just placed a banner on its website about this story but no published details yet…)

According to Todd, the press left on the campaign plane in a routine flight…except Obama wasn’t there. He was slated to meet with Clinton for private discussions.

The meeting comes amid pressure from some in the Clinton camp for Obama to name Clinton as his Vice President.

More details will follow later, but most likely it’s a getting-to-know-you meeting. Todd also speculated that the the two could chat about Clinton’s Saturday concession speech. When was the meeting slated? No one knows but could it have been yesterday:

Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton had a first, brief face-to-face conversation Wednesday after his historic victory, an exchange that left Obama optimistic about rebuilding party unity even though Clinton so far refuses to drop out.

Obama also announced that he’s picked a three-member vice presidential search committee _ a seeming attempt to tamp down growing talk by Clinton supporters that he should put her on the ticket.

Clinton and Obama ran into each other backstage at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference here, which they addressed just minutes apart Wednesday morning. But Obama’s comments left open the question of just how quickly Clinton might concede, as aides say she will need at least a few days to sort out her next move.

“We’re going to be having a conversation in coming weeks. And I’m very confident how unified the Democratic Party’s going to be to win in November,” Obama told reporters as he left the Senate.

He dismissed a question about Clinton’s refusal to concede after the final two primaries Tuesday night by saying she was “understandably focused on her supporters.”

Most of the ongoing speculation is about whether Obama will choose Clinton as his veep. Analysts are split on whether it would help or even hurt Obama. Polls have also shown mild support for the idea to somewhat stronger support for the idea. Most analysists believe Clinton does indeed want it but hurt herself by her Tuesday night post primary speech which some saw as graceless, defiant and not acknowledging Obama’s historic victory. Yesterday, amid reports that some of her supporters criticized her in a conference phone call, it was announced that she was getting out of the race and would make a formal announcement on Saturday.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This post went on the site by accident before it was completed. Usually we can stop a post if it starts to go through, but the system wouldn’t allow it and it took several minutes to call the post back up and fix it. We regret the error and the problem in reaccessing the system immediately.

UPDATE: MSNBC now has this on its website:

Hillary Rodham Clinton met late Thursday with Barack Obama, a day after saying she would end her quest for the Democratic nomination and endorse the Illinois senator.

A senior Obama campaign official confirmed to NBC News that Obama delayed his departure from Washington Thursday night to meet with Clinton at her home here.

Earlier, Clinton had disavowed efforts by some supporters who have urged Obama to choose her as his running mate.

“She is not seeking the vice presidency, and no one speaks for her but her,” communications director Howard Wolfson said. “The choice here is Senator Obama’s and his alone.”

Clinton was planning an event in Washington Saturday to thank supporters and urge them to back Obama’s candidacy. But as she was bowing out of the race, supporters in Congress and elsewhere were ramping up a campaign to pressure him to put her on the ticket in the No. 2 spot.

Bob Johnson, the billionaire founder of Black Entertainment Television and a Clinton supporter, sent a letter to the Congressional Black Caucus Wednesday urging the group to encourage Obama to choose Clinton as his vice presidential pick. He said he was doing so with her blessing.

Obama is seeking to become the first black president.

Clinton has told other friends and supporters she would be willing to be Obama’s running mate. But her immediate task is bringing her own presidential bid to a close.