All Blog Posts from Political Hotsheet

Crave dressing up in a tuxedo or evening gown? Long to mingle with world leaders and high-ranking officials? Aspire to dine on haute cuisine prepared by world class chefs?

Then you'll want to be at tonight's first State Dinner of the Obama presidency. Just show up at the East Wing Entrance of the White House by 7:00 p.m. ET.

Oh. Did I mention you'll need an invitation?

What? You didn't get one of the engraved, gold-embossed notes from the president requesting the pleasure of your company and addressed to you by top tier calligraphers? Well, then you won't have to change plans for meat loaf night.

Since taking office, President Obama has met with 70 foreign leaders. Tonight he honors Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India with a State Dinner. (at left, Mr. Obama welcomes Singh at a ceremony this morning)

"This is a very important relationship with a very important country," says White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. "That's why India was chosen to be the first (State)Visit."

Some 320 guests will gather in a heated tent on the South Lawn this evening for the black tie event that includes an exchange of toasts by two leaders, a very fancy dinner and after-dinner entertainment.

Read full post…

CBS News has confirmed that Jennifer Hudson will perform at the State Dinner that President Obama is hosting tonight in honor of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Hudson rose to fame on "American Idol" in 2004, but is also known for her role in the movie "Dreamgirls" in 2006 -- which led to her winning an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

She previously sang the national anthem at the Democratic National Convention in Denver last year. Like the Obamas, the 28-year-old is from Chicago.

The dinner is scheduled to begin at 8:15 p.m. ET in a large tent on the South Lawn of the White House.

Updated 5:07 p.m. ET

Credit tail winds or a pilot with a heavy hand on the throttle, but President Obama returned home two hours early from this 8-day, 4-nation Asia trip.

Worth noting: The trip home was one of those time warp events: Thanks to the International Date Line, Mr. Obama left Seoul at 4:11p.m. local time Thursday and arrived at Andrews Air Force Base 21 minutes earlier at 350 p.m. Washington time.

He traveled 20,898 miles to Japan, Singapore, China and South Korea.

It brings to 20, the number of foreign nations he has visited since taking office a day short of ten months ago.

He has done more foreign travel in his first year than any other U.S. president. And his overseas journeys are not yet at an end for the year.

He'll be going to Oslo next month to receive his Nobel Peace Prize. And may return to Scandinavia a week later to attend the U.N. Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen.

President Obama told CBS News' Chip Reid that anyone in his administration caught leaking information about the Afghanistan troop decision would be fired. But transparency only goes so far.

Releasing information that transpired among senior staff in the high-security Situation Room in the basement of the White House about how to conduct or wind down the war in Afghanistan is not appropriate, the president said.

Other presidents, such as Mr. Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush, have made similar threats. Mr. Bush said he would fire anyone who leaked Valerie Plame's name to the press. Scooter Libby, chief of staff for former Vice President Dick Cheney, was indicted and convicted on charges of obstruction and perjury related to the leak, but he quit before anyone could fire him. Libby was sentenced to a 30-month prison terms and fined $250,000. But Mr. Bush commuted the prison sentence.

Read full post…

Remember when the first lady did some hula hooping last month during Healthy Kids Fair at the White House? (See more photos here)

Today, Mrs. Obama said she "got a little too much attention from the hula hooping."

She was discussing healthy lifestyle and living curriculum with teachers at Hollin Meadows School in Alexandria.

But Mrs. Obama said the goal of the hula hooping was to engage "families and kids in the whole area of fitness."

One of the teachers told her that her hula hooping inspired the kids and even him to follow suit.

Mrs. Obama visited the school cafeteria and with the principal, handed bananas and oranges to kids as they emerged from the chow line.

She says government can do better in the school lunches provided to kids.

"The low rates of vegetables and fruits in those meals and the high rates of foods that have high calories probably plays a role in some of the statistics the we hear, that one in three kids in this country are obese," said the first lady.

She described childhood obesity as a problem "we have to really combat."

"If we don't do something about it now it's only going to get worse."

Read full post…

The White House lashed out against Israel today after the country's municipal planning committee announced that it would move forward with a plan to build hundreds of new housing units in eastern Jerusalem, an area that Palestinians hope will be part of their future state.

Under the proposed Israeli plan, called "Gilo's Western Slopes," 900 more housing units would be built, mostly in the form of four and five bedroom apartments, in a Jewish neighborhood in East Jerusalem, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports. This plan to advance has attracted harsh criticism from international powers, which see the expansion proposal as an infringement on a previous Israeli-Palestinian agreement and as an impediment to peace negotiations.

"We are dismayed at the Jerusalem Planning Committee's decision to move forward on the approval process for the expansion of Gilo in Jerusalem," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said in a statement. "At a time when we are working to re-launch negotiations, these actions make it more difficult for our efforts to succeed. Neither party should engage in efforts or take actions that could unilaterally pre-empt, or appear to pre-empt, negotiations."

Read full post…

The White House announced this evening that an event billed as a "Forum on Jobs and Economic Growth" will be held at the White House on December 3rd.

"The forum will be an opportunity for the President and the economic team to hear from some of the best and brightest CEOs, small business owners, and financial experts about ideas for continuing to grow the economy and put Americans back to work," the White House said in a statement.

"During these difficult economic times, we have a responsibility to consider all good ideas to encourage and accelerate job creation in this country," President Obama said in the statement. "At the forum next month, I am looking forward to hearing from the private sector, from CEOs and small business owners and from Americans struggling to make ends meet on how we can work together to create jobs and get this economy moving again."

Read full post…

Even Attorney General Eric Holder says he was surprised at this morning's announcement that White House Counsel Greg Craig (second from left) is stepping down.

Neither the White House statement nor Craig's letter of resignation said a word about why he was leaving.

He has faced criticism in recent months over his efforts to carry out President Obama's order to close the terror suspect detention facility at Guantanamo Bay. It's clear the facility will not be shut down by president's one year deadline on Jan. 22nd.

Privately, White House officials say Gitmo had nothing to do with the resignation. They say Craig remains highly regarded by the president and other top aides and he was not asked to step down less than a year on the job.

"Absolutely not," said a senior White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, on whether his performance on Guantanamo Bay prompted Craig's resignation. Right from the start, the official said, Craig agreed to serve as White House Counsel with the caveat that he would leave after one year.

But that agreement was closely held – and Craig repeatedly denied any such intention to reporters.

"I have no plans to leave whatsoever," he said last month. "The reports that I'm about to leave are wrong. I have no plans to leave."

Read full post…

Angered over a number of leaks about President Obama's deliberations over the war in Afghanistan and the investigation into the Fort Hood shootings, the administration is reportedly planning to find those responsible for the leaked information and punish them.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday called leaks pertaining to the Fort Hood massacre "unconscionable" and said, "Everybody ought to just shut up," the New York Times reports.

With respect to the Afghanistan deliberations, Gates reportedly said, "I have been appalled by the amount of leaking that has been going on in this process."

He added that he believes "a lot of different places are leaking," saying he is "confident that the Department of Defense is one of them."

"And frankly if I found out with high confidence anybody who was leaking in the Department of Defense, who that was, that would probably be a career ender," Gates said.

Read full post…

American presidents often face their greatest speaking challenges when called upon to serve as consoler-in-chief to a nation grieving a collective loss.

But national calamities also give U.S. leaders an unequaled chance to inspire and provide solace.

Remember President Reagan's evening address to the nation on the day America suffered through the Challenger disaster that claimed the lives of 7 astronauts:

"Today is a day for mourning and remembering. Nancy and I are pained to the core by the tragedy of the shuttle Challenger. We know we share this pain with all of the people of our country. This is truly a national loss."

That speech is remembered as one of Ronald Reagan's finest and most moving – especially its ending.

"The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for the journey and waved goodbye and 'slipped the surly bonds of earth' to 'touch the face of God.'"

In 1995, President Clinton found himself in a similar situation, trying to comfort the nation after the worst episode of terrorism to hit the U.S. to that time: the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City.

Read full post…