Obama sings "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" at tree lighting

While President Obama was in Berlin for meetings with European leaders, Michelle Obama and the Obama daughters toured some historical sites in the German capital city.

Toasting his German hosts in Berlin, President Obama said, "We are proud to join with millions of men and women throughout the world who hold the cause of freedom sacred."

The Tea Party Patriots held an "Audit the IRS" rally Wednesday on the National Mall, and CBS News' Tolleah Price spoke with protesters about why they are demonstrating against the tax agency.

Flash Points: CBS News correspondent Bob Orr talks with CBS News senior national security analyst Juan Zarate about the damage dealt to American counterterrorism and intelligence efforts by Edward Snowden, who recently leaked details on National Security Agency surveillance programs.

During a speech in Berlin, President Obama paid tribute to 92-year-old Gail Halvorsen, a retired Air Force colonel who dropped candy to German children during the Berlin Airlift, saying, "We could not be more proud of him."

Asked by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, whether the FBI uses drones on U.S. soil for surveillance purposes, FBI Director Robert Mueller replied, "Yes," adding that the bureau uses drones "in a very, very minimal way, and very seldom."

Addressing the role of NSA surveillance programs in stopping terror threats, FBI Director Robert Mueller said, for most of the cases, it "has been a contributing factor - one dot amongst a number of dots - but there are those cases where it has been instrumental."

Saying we must seek the "security of world without nuclear weapons," President Obama announced that he will push the Senate to ratify the comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty and that America will host a 2016 summit to help secure nuclear materials around the world.

Addressing the growing role of the United States in the Syrian civil war, President Obama said some of the coverage has gotten "a little over-cranked, in terms of the idea that somehow the United States is preparing to go all in and participate in another war. What we want to do is end a war."

President Obama assured an audience in Germany that America is not indiscriminately "rifling" through the emails of ordinary European citizens, describing the National Security Agency's surveillance programs as a "circumscribed" system that has averted threats in America, Germany, and elsewhere.

Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., asked during a House Intelligence Committee hearing whether the National Security Agency ever targeted for wiretapping the "political enemies" of the current administration.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said a bill banning abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy won't turn women off to the GOP because of "horrific acts" like Kermit Gosnell's.