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"You know, there are certain days that remind me of why I ran for this office," President Obama exclaimed today. "And then there are moments like this, where I pardon a turkey and send it to Disneyland."

With a light tone and his daughters in tow, Mr. Obama participated in a relatively recent tradition on the day before Thanksgiving: The presidential turkey pardon. Though he eventually raised his hand over "Courage," the bird in question, to offer a pardon, the president suggested he was somewhat reticent to do so.

"That's a good looking bird," Mr. Obama said, later stating that his daughters convinced him to go through with the pardon. "Thanks to the intervention of Malia and Sasha, because I was planning to eat this sucker, Courage will also be spared this terrible and delicious fate."

While turkeys have been coming to the White House for more than 50 years, they have only been pardoned for the last couple decades. Mr. Obama noted that both Presidents Eisenhower and Johnson ate the turkeys presented to them, while President Kennedy's turkey came with a sign that said, "Good Eatin', Mr. President" around its neck.

(Check out CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller's history of the presidential turkey pardon here.)

Courage, this year's lucky bird, will be the grand marshal of a parade at Disneyland tomorrow; he will then live out the rest of his days at the theme park. A backup turkey, "Carolina," was also spared, in case Courage cannot fulfill his duties.

Sasha and Malia Obama took the opportunity to pet the turkey, which was donated by the National Turkey Federation, following the pardon. One of the girls could be heard saying, "he is like a large chicken."

As Knoller points out, the turkey pardon today was moved from the White House Rose Garden to the North Portico today – because, ahem, of "fowl weather."

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Nothing a president does lends itself more easily to a punch line – deliberate or inadvertent - than the annual pardon of a Thanksgiving turkey.

"I think it's kind of funny, and it's an annual ritual," said President Clinton at his first turkey pardon ceremony in 1993.

He said the pardon was easy for him "because I've been around turkeys all my life." Upon realizing the double meaning of his statement, Mr. Clinton was quick to add: "I didn't mean it like that."

At the turkey pardon in 2001, President George W. Bush observed that "our guest of honor looks a little nervous. Nobody's told him yet that I'm going to give him a pardon."

In 1990, then-President George H. W. Bush sought to allay the fears of his audience that a "terrible fate" awaited the turkey presented him.
"We've decided to spare him. He will not be subjected to questions from the Washington press corps after this ceremony."

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Officials say President Obama will put forward a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the United States in the range of 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020 during the Copenhagen Climate Talks in December.

They say this reflects Mr. Obama's broader commitment to reduce emissions by 83 percent by 2050 in interim steps as follows:

• 30 percent below 2005 levels in 2025
• 42 percent below 2005 levels in 2030

These numbers are similar to the bills pending in both House and Senate.

White House climate change adviser Carol Browner says the Congressional Budget Office has scored the economic impact of these reductions at $173 a year per family of four in 2020.

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Mark Knoller is a CBS News White House correspondent. You can read more of his posts in Hotsheet here. You can also follow him on Twitter here: http://twitter.com/markknoller.

Updated 11:11 a.m. Eastern Time

President Obama will announce his new strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as any troop increase in the region, in a speech next Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time at the United States Military Academy at West Point, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters this morning.

In the speech at West Point, which is located 50 miles north of New York City, the president is expected to announce he is deploying between 30,000 and 35,000 additional troops to Afghanistan. Gibbs said today that the president has not yet informed him of a final decision.

The press secretary said the president will discuss how to get additional troops into Afghanistan, how to train Afghan forces to take their place, and how to get them out.

"This is year nine of the United States in Afghanistan and we're not going to be there in another eight or nine years," he said, adding: "Our time there will be limited."

Gibbs said the president will discus how to ramp up training of Afghan personnel so security forces "can keep the gains that have been made."

Following a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday, the president vowed to "finish the job" that began more than eight years ago in Afghanistan following the Sept. 11 attacks.

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CBS News has confirmed that President Obama will attend the United Nations climate change summit next month in Copenhagen, according to senior administration officials.

Mr. Obama will be in Denmark on December 9 for the summit, which is expected to have at least 65 world leaders, according to the Associated Press. It was unknown until now whether Mr. Obama would attend the meeting, which is designed to create a new global treaty on climate change.

The president's visit to Copenhagen comes just before he heads to Oslo, Norway, to accept the Nobel Peace Prize the following day.

In the morning, President Obama will receive the Presidential Daily Briefing in the Oval Office. Later, he will participate in the traditional turkey pardoning ceremony in the Rose Garden.

In the afternoon, the first family will participate in a service event in the Washington area.

Here is the full schedule from the White House (all times Eastern):

10:30AM: President Obama receives the Presidential Daily Briefing

11:35AM: President Obama participates in turkey pardoning ceremony

The White House has released the guest list for tonight's state dinner honoring Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. This is the first state dinner of Mr. Obama's presidency, and the guest list includes politicians, entertainers and journalists, among others. The list also includes the Indian Prime Minister's daughter, Amrit Singh, who works for the American Civil Liberties Union in New York.

Below is the full list of expected attendees, as provided by the White House:

The President & First Lady Michelle Obama

Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister, India & Ms. Gursharan Kaur

The Honorable (Rep) Gary Ackerman, United States Representative
Mr. Sant Singh Chatwal (Guest)

His Excellency Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission of the Republic of India, Indian Delegation

Mr. Mukesh D Ambani

Mr. Tim Dutta (Spouse of Ms. Pia Awal)

The Honorable (Mr.) David Axelrod, White House Communications
Mrs. Susan Axelrod

Ms. Preeta Bansal, OMB - General Counsel

The Honorable (Ms.) Melody Barnes, Domestic Policy Council
Mr. Marland E. Buckner

The Honorable (Rep.) Howard Berman, United States Representative (D/California)
Mrs. Jane Berman, Spouse of United States Representative (D/California)

Mr. Om Prakash Bhatt

Mr. Hunter Biden
Mrs. Kathleen Biden

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Doug Hoffman, the Conservative Party candidate who up-ended the special election for New York's 23rd congressional district earlier this month, finally conceded for the second time to Democrat Bill Owens, according to reports. He reportedly said he will not challenge the results.

"Yesterday, the remaining ballots were counted in the 23rd Congressional District special election," Hoffman said in a statement, according to Politico. "The results re-affirm the fact that Bill Owens won."

Hoffman continued: "Since, the morning of November 4th, many of my supporters have asked me to challenge the outcome of this race. Their concerns centered on the veracity of the new voting machines used, for the first time, in the majority of the 11 counties that make up the congressional district. Over the past three weeks, we nearly cut Bill Owens' lead in half. Sadly, that is not enough."

After Hoffman jumped into the race to represent New York's 23rd district, he began siphoning votes away from Republican candidate Dede Scozzafava, leaving the largely Republican district up for grabs for Owens, the Democrat. Scozzafava dropped out of the race days before election day and endorsed Owens.

On Election Night, Hoffman conceded to Owens when he was down by 5,335 votes. Some days later, however, Hoffman "unconceded" after learning that there were still a significant number of absentee ballots to count. Hoffman blamed the community organizing group ACORN for Owens' victory, though he gave no specific evidence to back up those claims.

Last week, it was reported there were not enough remaining ballots left to turn the victory over to Hoffman.

Blue Dog Democrat Jim Matheson (D-Utah) told CBS News' John Dickerson that members of the moderate Democratic coalition are the "true Democrats because we wear that label even when it may actually effect us in a negative way in our elections," on "Washington Unplugged" Tuesday.

"At the end of the day if people want to question the Democratic credentials of the Blue Dogs," Matheson said, "I'll tell you what, by Blue Dogs running as Democrats we face a handicap in running in our districts. There are other people who by running as a Democrat they automatically win."

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The White House has released the menu for tonight's state dinner honoring Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. It is both tailored to Indian tastes and to the predilections of the prime minister, who has reportedly been "described by aides as an abstemious vegetarian." (Abstemious: "sparing or moderate in eating and drinking; temperate in diet.")

Here's the menu, which will be prepared by guest Chef Marcus Samuelsson and White House Executive Chef Cristeta Comerford. (At left, check out photos from CBS News' Frank Thorp of the table settings for the event.) You'll note the only non-strictly vegetarian option are the green curry prawns:

Potato and Eggplant Salad
White House Arugula w/ Onion Seed Vinaigrette
2008 Savingnon Blanc, Modus Operandi, Napa Valley

Red Lentil Soup w Fresh Cheese
2006 Riesling, Brooks "Ara", Wilamette Valley
Roast Potato Dumplings w Tomato Chutney
Chick Peas and Okra or Green Curry Prawns w caramelized Salsify w smoke Collard Greens and coconut aged basmati
2007 Granache Beckman Vineyards, Santa Ynez, CA

Pumpkin pie tart
Pear tatin
Whipped Cream and Caramel sauce
Sparkling Chardonnay, Thibaut Janisson Brut, Monticello, VA

Petits fours and Coffee
Cashew Brittle
Pecan Pralines
Passion fruit and vanilla gelees
Chocolate dipped fruit

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