Obama, Xi work through range of issues in 2-day summit
PALM SPRINGS, California (CNN) -- President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping wrapped up their Sunnyland summit Saturday with a late-morning stroll in the California desert.Obama declared the visit "terrific."Over two days, the two leaders met for a total of eight hours at the Annenberg Retreat at Sunnylands, just outside Palm Springs in California.The summit, held just four months after Xi took office, was meant to launch a close new relationship with a new Chinese leader.The backdrop was unusual.Sunnyland is a private estate of the Annenburg family.
Pres. Obama wants high-speed Internet in schools by 2018
(CNN) -- Saying Web access is essential for students to compete in a wired world, President Obama on Thursday will announce an initiative to bring high-speed Internet to almost all of the nation's schools by 2018.At a speech in a high-tech middle school in Mooresville, North Carolina, Obama was scheduled to order federal agencies to earmark funds for providing broadband and wireless access to 99% of U.S. public schools in the next five years, according to senior administration officials.
Susan Rice to replace Tom Donilon as national security adviser
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Barack Obama on Wednesday announced he was bringing longtime confidante Susan Rice, the U.N. ambassador caught up in political controversy over the Benghazi terrorist attack, to the White House to succeed Tom Donilon as national security adviser.Donilon had been widely expected to step down in Obama's second term, and the president thanked him for his service in announcing the change in the White House Rose Garden.Obama also announced he will nominate Samantha Power as Rice's successor at the United Nations.
Court sides with government efforts to track weapons into Mexico
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Obama administration efforts to monitor gun trafficking of certain semi-automatic firearms along the U.S. border into Mexico received court approval on Friday amid complaints from gun dealers it violated their rights.A federal appeals court in Washington said the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms can require the four southern border states -- California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas-- to report multiple sales of certain guns.The three-judge panel said those 2011 special requirements did not "come close" to violating a law prohibiting a national firearm registry, any possibility of which is a major fear of gun rights activists.The judges said the ATF demand letter was sent to 7 percent of federal firearms dealers nationwide and required information from a "small number of transactions."A coalition of gun rights groups supported by the National Rifle Association that lost the appeal can now ask the Supreme Court to decide the matter.ATF officials have admitted they struggle to trace firearms recovered from gun trafficking operations into Mexico.
Suspicious letter for President Obama intercepted
(CNN) -- Officials intercepted Thursday a letter addressed to the White House that was similar to threatening letters sent to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and a group he founded.The off-site facility that screens mail addressed to the White House turned the letter over to the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force for testing and investigation, U.S. Secret Service spokesman Brian Leary said.A U.S. law enforcement official said the letter was addressed to President Obama.The letters sent to Bloomberg and his group are suspected of containing poison.
Obama, Christie take rain-soaked tour of Jersey recovery efforts
(CNN) -- "Down the shore, everything's all right," President Barack Obama declared Tuesday on his return to New Jersey's devastated coast seven months after Superstorm Sandy caused billions of dollars in damage there.The line from the Tom Waits song "Jersey Girl," popularized by local hero Bruce Springsteen, was the main theme of the joint visit by Obama and Gov.
President Barack Obama caught with lipstick on collar, but he explains
(CNN) -- Don't get any ideas about the lipstick on his collar, President Barack Obama jokingly warned Tuesday night.Speaking at a White House reception for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month in the East Room, the president explained why he had a red mark on his white shirt.Thanking the crowd for their warm greeting, he said "a sign of that warmth is the lipstick on my collar.""I have to say I think I know the culprit," he said, adding it was the aunt of American Idol runner-up Jessica Sanchez."Auntie, right there, look at this," he said, pointing to the smooch mark as the crowd laughed and cheered."I just want everybody to witness.
President Obama gives Memorial Day speech in Virginia
(CNN) -- President Barack Obama laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns and delivered Memorial Day remarks the week after addressing America's controversial counter-terrorism strategies and a rash of sexual assault in the military that he said could threaten national security.Obama arrived at Virginia's Arlington National Cemetery, amid a 21-gun salute.
New terror stance worries Republicans
(CNN) -- The new era in America's war on terror -- described by President Barack Obama in a major address Thursday -- worries some Republicans, who say the phase-down could leave the country vulnerable to still-persistent threats from abroad.In his remarks, Obama insisted the fight against terrorists must shift to reflect current threat levels, which he described as having evolved since the attacks of September 11, 2001.
President Barack Obama tours Oklahoma tornado damage
MOORE, Oklahoma (CNN) -- Oklahomans have the nation behind them as they struggle to bounce back from tornadoes that tore through the state last week, President Barack Obama said Sunday."As fellow Americans, we're going to be there as shelter from the storm for the people of Moore who have been impacted," he said. "And when we say that we've got your back, I promise you that we keep our word."The president described himself as a messenger speaking on behalf of the entire nation as he toured storm damage Sunday.
Sex assaults threaten military trust, Obama tells Naval graduates
(CNN) -- A rash of sexual assaults in the armed forces undermines Americans' confidence in the military, President Barack Obama told newly commissioned officers at the U.S. Naval Academy Friday."Those who commit sexual assault are not only committing a crime, they threaten the trust and discipline that makes our military strong," Obama told the graduates, who were commissioned as Naval ensigns and Marine Corps second lieutenants."That's why we have to be determined to stop these crimes.
President Obama, N.J. Gov. Christie to tour Jersey Shore coastline
(CNN) -- President Barack Obama and New Jersey Gov.
Obama: U.S. will keep deploying drones -- when they are only option
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Drone strikes are a necessary evil, but one that must be used with more temperance as the United States' security situation evolves, President Barack Obama said in a counterterrorism speech Thursday.America prefers to capture, interrogate and prosecute terrorists, but there are times when this isn't possible, Obama said in his remarks at the National Defense University in Washington.
Obama heckled by Code Pink leader during counterterrorism speech
(CNN) -- President Barack Obama's solemn remarks on drones and counterterrorism were interrupted at length Thursday by a protester who loudly advocated for the closure of the Guantanamo Bay prison - the same position Obama was stressing in his speech.The woman shouting was identified as peace activist Medea Benjamin of the group Code Pink, whose members have been loudly interrupting congressional hearings and official speeches for years."You are commander-in-chief - you can close Guantanamo today," Benjamin shouted during a portion of Obama's speech in which the president outlined changes in policy that included an all-out push to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba.
Obama: Americans stand with OK for 'as long as it takes'
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Describing the tornado that swept across Oklahoma plains as "one of the most destructive storms in history," President Barack Obama said Tuesday the state "needs to get everything it needs right away" to recover from the devastating twister.The president, speaking from the State Dining Room at the White House, said he doesn't yet know the "full extent" of the damage or the "human and economic losses that may have occurred."Dozens of people - including several children - were killed when the massive tornado struck an area outside Oklahoma City on Monday afternoon, officials said.At least seven of the children killed were at Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, Oklahoma, according to a police official.While the total magnitude of the storm's damage is unknown, the president pledged the country's resources as the community seeks to rebuild."The people of Moore, should know that their country will remain on the ground, there for them, beside them, as long as it takes," he said. "There are empty spaces where there used to be living rooms and bedrooms and classrooms and in time we're going to need to refill those spaces with love and laughter and community."Obama signed a disaster declaration for Oklahoma late Monday night, ordering federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts.
President Obama to new grads: "No time for excuses"
ATLANTA (CNN) -- Past, present and future came together on a thunderstorm-filled Sunday, as President Barack Obama received an honorary doctorate and gave the commencement speech at historically black, all-male Morehouse College, where the Rev.
Obama names budget official as acting IRS chief
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Barack Obama named Danny Werfel, an official in his budget office, as the acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, the White House announced Thursday.Obama demanded the previous acting commissioner resign Wednesday after revelations the tax agency was applying extra scrutiny to conservative groups asking the government for tax exempt status.Werfel, who serves as the controller of the Office of Management and Budget, will "lead efforts to ensure the IRS implements new safeguards to restore public trust and administers the tax code with fairness and integrity," the White House said.He'll serve through the end of the fiscal year, and since he's being tapped to become acting commissioner won't be subject to Senate confirmation."Throughout his career working in both Democratic and Republican administrations, Danny has proven an effective leader who serves with professionalism, integrity and skill," Obama wrote in a statement. "The American people deserve to have the utmost confidence and trust in their government, and as we work to get to the bottom of what happened and restore confidence in the IRS, Danny has the experience and management ability necessary to lead the agency at this important time."At the White House budget office, Werfel, 42, was responsible for enacting programs designed to enhance the federal government's integrity in financial management, reporting and accounting.
White House released more than 100 pages of Benghazi e-mails
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The White House released more than 100 pages of e-mails on Wednesday in a bid to quell critics who say President Barack Obama and his aides played politics with national security following the deadly terror attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya.The e-mails detail the complex back and forth between the CIA, State Department, and the White House in developing unclassified talking points that were used to underpin a controversial and slow-to-evolve explanation of events last September 11.The talking points have become a political flashpoint in a long-running battle between the Obama administration and Republicans, who accuse it of not bolstering security prior to the attack, of botching the response to it, and of misleading the public for political gain less than two months before the November election.The GOP suggests that the administration removed specific terror references and stuck to an explanation -- later proved untrue -- that the attack was result of a spontaneous demonstration over an anti-Muslim film that was produced in the United States.
'Angry' Obama announces IRS leader's ouster after targeting
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The nation's top tax collector resigned Wednesday amid controversy over Internal Revenue Service targeting of conservative groups that applied for federal tax-exempt status.The official, acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller, was aware employees were targeting conservative groups in May 2012, according to the agency.But Miller, then the agency's deputy commissioner, didn't tell Congress about it when he testified before an oversight committee in July -- despite being questioned on the issue.
White House releases Benghazi e-mails
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The White House released more than 100 pages of e-mails on Wednesday in a bid to quell critics who say President Barack Obama and his aides played politics with national security following the deadly terror attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya.The e-mails detail the complex back and forth between the CIA, State Department, and the White House in developing unclassified talking points that were used to underpin a controversial and slow-to-evolve explanation of events last September 11.The talking points have become a political flashpoint in a long-running battle between the Obama administration and Republicans, who accuse it of not bolstering security prior to the attack, of botching the response to it, and of misleading the public for political gain less than two months before the November election.The GOP suggests that the administration removed specific terror references and stuck to an explanation -- later proved untrue -- that the attack was result of a spontaneous demonstration over an anti-Muslim film that was produced in the United States.