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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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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.

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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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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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.

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Update 3:55 p.m. ET

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.

The first lady's office has released the full list of performers, in addition to Hudson:

• Critically-acclaimed jazz vocalist Kurt Elling. The Chicago-based singer is an eight-time Grammy nominee.

• A.R. Rahman. The Indian film composer has won numerous awards for his music, including two Academy Awards for his score of the movie Slumdog Millionaire.

• National Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Marvin Hamlisch. One of the country's top composers, Hamlisch has been awarded an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, a Tony, a Pulitzer Prize and a Golden Globe.

• U.S. Marine Corps Band, the oldest professional musical organization in the United States.

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.

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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."

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