President Clinton said Saturday he has his staff looking at "three or four folks" as potential nominees for attorney general and has held his first talks with foreign leaders since the inauguration.In a 30-minute telephone conversation with Russian President Boris Yeltsin, Clinton agreed that Secretary of State Warren Christopher and Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev would meet to work out the details of a planned summit between the two leaders, said White House press secretary Dee Dee Myers.
Clinton also spoke for 10 minutes with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, in response to a congratulatory letter from the Israeli leader upon Clinton's inauguration.
Clinton began work on selecting a new nominee for attorney general just hours after Zoe Baird withdrew her name Friday amid mounting opposition because she had hired two illegal aliens to work in her home.
"I did some work on it yesterday afternoon and had several extended conversations with people about potential nominees and gave my staff some instructions to go do some work on three or four folks," Clinton said in an Oval Office photo session Saturday.
Asked if those under consideration were men, Clinton said, "Three or four people. I'm not going to say who they were."
Myers said Clinton hoped to move forward quickly on selecting a new attorney general. "He'd like to make an announcement as soon as possible . . . but there's no particular timetable," she said.
Clinton is under pressure from some women's advocates to nominate another woman for attorney general, but aides say he will not limit his search by gender.
Myers said Clinton and Yeltsin discussed a "range of economic and foreign policy issues," and Clinton reaffirmed his support for Yeltsin's economic reforms.
Yeltsin's office said the two had agreed to hold their summit in a third country, but Myers said no decisions had been made on time or place.
Gad Ben-Air, Rabin's media adviser, said Clinton told the Israeli leader "that he would work very close with Israel to promote peace in the Middle East."
On another subject, Myers said Clinton remained committed to lift-ing the ban on gays in the military, despite opposition from top military officials. Clinton will discuss the matter with the Joint Chiefs on Monday.
"He's going to try to do that in the least disruptive way possible," Myers said.
Clinton spent much of Saturday working and "trying to get the house acclimated." Just before twilight, he took a 25-minute jog at Fort McNair, an Army post beside the Potomac River.
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Mom's a winner
President Clinton's mother, Virginia Kelley, wrapped up her inaugural week in Washington on Saturday with a visit to Laurel Race Course and picked three winners in the first six races. Kelley, a regular patron at Oaklawn Park in Arkansas, said she plans to attend this spring's Kentucky Derby. Asked if the president might accompany her to Churchill Downs, she said it was unlikely. "He's a lot busier than I am," she said.