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In her first public appearance since leaving the White House, the former first lady was asked which shards of glass had cut her the deepest.

There were no video cameras allowed at the event, but CNN has verified the remarks the Post reported with the Women's Foundation of Colorado.

Tuesday's speech at the Pepsi Center in Denver was part of the Women's Foundation of Colorado's 30th anniversary fundraising celebration.

Seated in a comfortable armchair in a talk-show format, Obama was met with cheers when she made brief remarks about the current administration and "boos" after saying she wouldn't be running for public office.

"Michelle is a rarity in today's society," said Mattye Crowley, one of the event's 8,300 attendees. "We have witnessed for over eight years people picked and tormented her every move, and she stayed true to herself."

The former first lady told the audience how best to empower girls from a young age. She said a large portion of that responsibility falls on education.

"If we want girls in STEM, we need to rethink how we deliver education," Obama told the crowd, using the acronym for science, technology, engineering and mathematics. "Teachers, a kind word can mean the world to a young girl."

While serving as first lady, she launched several campaigns aimed at education.

"Reach Higher" inspires students to complete education past high school, and "Let Girls Learn" helps facilitate educational opportunities for young girls in developing countries.

They may have left the White House, but the Obamas aren't going away anytime soon.

"Public service and engagement will be a part of my life and my husband's life forever," Obama said.

She stayed away from current politics, but did mention the campaign slogan of her husband, former President Barack Obama.

"It was never 'yes he can'; it was 'yes we can,'" Obama said. "When we put so much on a person, on a leader, we absolve ourselves of doing anything else. We're all on a journey together -- we are all figuring this out. We all want someone who will fix things, but we're going to have to fix it together."

Some final words of wisdom from Obama? Surround yourself with other powerful people, don't be afraid to fail and protect what you love.

"What is going on within us [women] that we don't feel worthy enough to protect the things we value?" she said.

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Michelle Obama rises above racist jabs to empower women - CNN International

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would ban transgender people from the U.S. military, an action appealing to some in his conservative political base but sowing confusion about the fate of thousands of transgender service members.

Trump's surprise announcement, in a series of Twitter posts, drew condemnation from rights groups and some lawmakers in both parties as discrimination with purely political motives. But it was praised by conservative activists and some Republicans.

Trump spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said the administration has not yet decided whether transgender service members already in the military would be immediately thrown out, saying the White House and Pentagon would have to work that out.

The action, reversing Democratic former President Barack Obama's policy, halted years of efforts to eliminate barriers to military service based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

"After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military," Trump tweeted, without naming any of the generals or experts.

"Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail," added Trump, who as a presidential candidate last year vowed to fight for lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people.

Sanders said Trump had "extensive discussions with his national security team" and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis was informed after the president made the decision on Tuesday.

"This was about military readiness," Sanders told a briefing. "This was about unit cohesion. This was about resources within the military, and nothing more."

Some White House officials were caught by surprise. A senior administration official said Trump had been determined to act for a while, but the question was the timing, with advisers split on whether to conduct reviews before announcing the move.

The Pentagon earlier referred questions about Trump's decision to the White House.

The announcement at least temporarily changed the subject in Washington with Trump's administration mired in investigations into his presidential campaign's contacts with Russia and struggling to win approval of any major legislation.

It was not the first time Trump has targeted transgender people since taking office in January. In February, he rescinded protections for transgender students put in place by Obama that had let them use bathrooms corresponding with their gender identity.

Senate Armed Forces Committee Chairman John McCain - the most prominent veteran in Congress, who was a Navy pilot and prisoner of war during the Vietnam War - called Trump's announcement unclear and inappropriate until an ongoing Pentagon study on the issue is completed and reviewed by Mattis, the military leadership and lawmakers.

Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council advocacy group, was among those praising Trump, saying that "our troops shouldn't be forced to endure hours of transgender 'sensitivity' classes and politically correct distractions."

Obama's Pentagon last year announced it was ending its ban on transgender people serving openly, calling the prohibition outdated. The Defense Department had been expected to start allowing transgender people to begin enlisting this year. But Mattis on June 30 approved a six-month delay in allowing transgender recruits to join the military.

American Civil Liberties Union attorney Joshua Block said Trump had rejected the "basic humanity" of transgender service members.

"There are no cost or military readiness drawbacks associated with allowing trans people to fight for their country," Block said. "The president is trying to score cheap political points on the backs of military personnel who have put their lives on the line for their country."

Obama's defense secretary, Ash Carter, last year cited a study by the RAND Corporation think tank saying there were about 2,500 transgender active-duty service members and 1,500 reserve transgender service members.

"To choose service members on other grounds than military qualifications is social policy and has no place in our military," Carter said on Wednesday, noting there were already transgender individuals serving "capably and honorably."

The House of Representatives' top Democrat, Nancy Pelosi, noted that a Pentagon-commissioned study determined the cost of providing medically necessary transition-related care involving transgender service members would amount to one-100th of 1 percent of the military's healthcare budget. The study put the cost at $2.4 million to $8.4 million a year of the more than $50 billion the Defense Department spends on healthcare.

"Once again, President Trump has shown his conduct is driven not by honor, decency, or national security, but by raw prejudice," Pelosi said.

Sarah Warbelow of the Human Rights Campaign advocacy group said Trump's action amounted to "discrimination on the basis of sex and identity," and was open to legal challenge under the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of equal protection under the law.

U.S. Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Republican whose son is transgender, said on Twitter: "No American, no matter their sexual orientation or gender identity, should be prohibited from honor + privilege of serving our nation."

Chelsea Manning, the transgender Army soldier who served seven years in prison for leaking classified data, said Trump's action "sounds like cowardice." Transgender celebrity Caitlyn Jenner defended "patriotic transgender Americans" in the military and asked Trump on Twitter, "What happened to your promise to fight for them?"

But Vicky Hartzler, a Republican congresswoman, praised Trump for changing Obama's "costly and damaging policy."

The U.S. military's ban on gays serving openly in the armed forces ended under Obama in 2011 after Congress passed legislation in 2010 reversing a law dubbed "don't ask, don't tell" that had forced the ouster of thousands of service members and others to hide their sexual orientation.

The Pentagon under Obama also opened all combat roles in the military to women.

The U.S. military at times has been in the vanguard of social progress. Trump's action came on the 69th anniversary of Democratic President Harry Truman racially integrating the armed forces, years before the 1950s and 1960s civil rights battles.

Reporting by Doina Chiacu and Phil Stewart in Washington; Additional reporting by Steve Holland, Lawrence Hurley and Susan Heavey in Washington, and Daniel Trotta, Andrew Seaman, Joseph Ax and Jonathan Allen in New York; Writing by Will Dunham; Editing by Jonathan Oatis

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Trump to ban transgender military personnel, reversing Obama - Reuters

Former President Obama's ambassador to the United Nations is set to meet with congressional investigators on the Senate Intelligence Committee in a closed session on Friday, according to a CNN report.

Senate investigators examining Russia's role in the 2016 presidential campaignand possible ties between the Trump campaign and Moscow have interviewed a slew of former Obama administration officials in recent weeks.

Obama's former national security adviser Susan Rice met with the intelligence panel last week, as did former chief of staff Denis McDonoughDenis McDonoughFormer Obama UN ambassador to meet with Senate Intelligence panel: report Trump administration must release Clinton emails State Department tried to hide Sunday shows preview: McMaster hits circuit for second straight week MORE and James Clapper, Obama's former director of national intelligence.

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In addition to speaking with the Senate Intelligence Committee, CNN reported, Power has also agreed to meet with lawmakers on the House Intelligence Committee, which is conducting its own investigation into Russian election meddling.

Spokespeople for the top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee declined to confirm the panel's reported meeting with Power to The Hill.

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Former Obama UN ambassador to meet with Senate Intelligence panel: report - The Hill

July 2015: Moving to End an Outdated Approach Photo Credit Zach Gibson/The New York Times

Mr. Hagels successor as defense secretary, Ashton B. Carter, announced that the Pentagon would move to allow transgender people to serve openly, making good on Mr. Hagels promise of continual review.

In announcing the plan, Mr. Carter acknowledged the many transgender people who were already serving in the military.

We have transgender soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines real, patriotic Americans who I know are being hurt by an outdated, confusing, inconsistent approach thats contrary to our value of service and individual merit, he said.

In previous months, lawmakers had begun to openly champion the cause of transgender service members.

Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., speaking to the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights group, argued that transgender people should be allowed to serve in the armed forces.

The vice president, who was still contemplating a presidential run at the time, called transgender rights the civil rights issue of our time.

A study commissioned by Mr. Carter and carried out by the RAND Corporation found that allowing transgender people to serve openly would cost little and have no significant impact on unit readiness.

The study estimated that 2,450 active-duty members were transgender and predicted that around 65 would seek to transition each year. It estimated that the cost to the Pentagon of those procedures would be $2.9 million to $4.2 million a year.

The study predicted that service members would not seek to transition were the procedures not covered by the Pentagon, and that they would likely have higher rates of substance abuse and suicide as a result.

Effective immediately, transgender Americans may serve openly, Mr. Carter announced, on June 30, 2016. They can no longer be discharged or otherwise separated from the military just for being transgender.

He said that the Pentagon would cover the medical costs of those in uniform who wished to undergo gender transition, and that it would begin a yearlong training program for service members on the changes.

Mr. Trumps victory in November was greeted with alarm by many in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, who feared reversals of political advances.

All across America right now there are millions of people who are terrified, Mara Keisling, the executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, told The Times.

Mr. Trump had sometimes seemed to court their support in his race against Hillary Clinton, tweeting during the campaign, Thank you to the L.G.B.T. community! I will fight for you while Hillary brings in more people that will threaten your freedoms and beliefs.

Two transgender cadets one at West Point, the other at the Air Force Academy were denied their commissions because of a loophole in the Pentagons transgender policy, which officials said only covered active-duty service members.

The policy, which had been released in October, was written by Brad Carson, an undersecretary of defense under President Obama.

But Mr. Carson said that he had envisioned academy personnel as being covered by the same rules as active-duty service members because theyre already in the military.

A year after Mr. Carter lifted the Pentagons ban, Mr. Trumps defense secretary, Jim Mattis, delayed a plan to allow transgender recruits to join the military.

According to a Pentagon spokeswoman, the delay would allow service leaders to review their accession plans and provide input as they consider the impact of transgender recruits on the readiness and lethality of our forces.

Congressional Republicans were also attempting to roll back the Obama policy. In early July, the House narrowly rejected a bill that would have stopped the Pentagon from paying for gender transition and hormone therapy.

On Wednesday, Mr. Trump swiftly reversed what had been ushered in by the Obama administration, saying on Twitter that he had made the decision based on advice from generals and military experts. (He did not specify whom he had consulted.)

After consultation with my generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. military, he wrote in a series of tweets.

Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail.

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How US Military Policy on Transgender Personnel Changed Under Obama - New York Times

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders staunchly defended President Trumps decision Wednesday to ban transgender people from serving in the military in "any capacity," a move that touched off a firestorm in Washington and beyond.

In her first, solo on-camera press briefing since she replaced Sean Spicer, Sanders faced a battery of questions on the presidents abrupt Twitter announcement earlier Wednesday morning. She said the decision was based on consultation with the presidents national security team and the Pentagon.

This decision was made after extensive discussions with the national security team and it was in the militarys best interest to end this Obama policy, Sanders said. ... This is a very expensive and disruptive policy and based on consultation with his national security team, it erodes military readiness and unit cohesion, and he made the decision based on that.

TRUMP ANNOUNCES BAN ON TRANSGENDER INDIVIDUALS SERVING IN MILITARY

The decision effectively reversed one made at the end of the Obama administration. Transgender service members had been able to serve openly in the military since last year, when former Defense Secretary Ash Carter ended the prior ban. But Carter also gave the services until July 1 to develop policies to allow people already identifying as transgender to newly join the military, if they meet physical, medical and other standards.

When pressed repeatedly Wednesday on what would happen to transgender service members currently serving in the military, Sanders could not say. She said implementation of the policy would be something the White House and Department of Defense would work together to lawfully determine.

The decision is based on a military decisionnot meant to be anything more than thatobviously this is a very difficult decision. Its not a simple one, but the president feels its the best one for the military, Sanders said.

Earlier this month, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said he would give military chiefs another six months to conduct a review to determine if allowing transgender individuals to enlist would affect the readiness or lethality of the force. The deadline for that review was Dec. 1, 2017.

Sometimes you have to make decisions, and once [Trump] made a decision, he didnt feel it was necessary to hold that decision, Sanders explained, adding that Mattis was immediately informed of Trump's choice.

Some lawmakers including Reps. Steve King, R-Iowa, and Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., backed the president's decision, as did groups like the Family Research Council. But the move drew criticism from past secretaries of defense and lawmakers from both parties.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., slammed the announcement and said anyone fit to serve in the military should be allowed to do so.

The presidents tweet this morning regarding transgender Americans in the military is yet another example of why major policy announcements should not be made via Twitter, McCain, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said.

Trump made his announcement in a series of tweets on Wednesday morning:

After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allowTransgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military. Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelmingvictory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Thank you.

At Wednesday's briefing, reporters questioned Sanders over a tweet then-candidate Trump posted in June 2016, when he said: Thank you to the LGBT community! I will fight for you while Hillary brings in more people that will threaten your freedoms and beliefs.

Sanders responded that the president has made very clear that he is committed to fighting for all Americans.

The on-camera briefing was arranged on the heels of Anthony Scaramucci being named White House communications director.

At the beginning of the briefing, Sanders told reporters that from time to time she would like to give a reminder of why we are here every day.

She started by reading a letter to the president from a 9-year-old boy nicknamed "Pickle" and added some personal reflections about her own family.

I have three children, and the oldest, Scarlett, starts kindergarten in a few weeks, Sanders said, noting she is the first mom to be White House press secretary. As a working mom, its not lost on me what a great honor, and privilege it is to stand here at the podiumI hope to send my daughter a message, and every other kid in America, dont listen to the critics, dream big and fulfill your potential.

Fox News' Barnini Chakraborty contributed to this report.

Brooke Singman is a Reporter for Fox News. Follow her on Twitter at @brookefoxnews.

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White House defends reversal of 'Obama policy' on transgender military service - Fox News