Obama Aide Regrets Not Disclosing UFO Files
Obama advisor John Podesta expressed UFO regrets after stepping down from his post at the White House on Friday. Podesta #39;s tweet read, Finally, my biggest f...
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Obama Aide Regrets Not Disclosing UFO Files - Video
Gov. David A. Paterson announces millions in recovery funding that will aid Long Island school districts during a visit to Sequoya Middle School in Holtsville. (Credit: Photo by Ed Betz)
President Barack Obama has requested Gov. David A. Paterson drop out of next years New York governors race, according to a newspaper report.
The New York Times reports today that Obama has requested Paterson step aside because of his persistently low poll ratings, which Democrats worry could hand key state offices and congressional seats to Republicans. The Times, citing anonymous sources,...
President Barack Obama has requested Gov. David A. Paterson drop out of next years New York governors race, according to a newspaper report.
The New York Times reports today that Obama has requested Paterson step aside because of his persistently low poll ratings, which Democrats worry could hand key state offices and congressional seats to Republicans. The Times, citing anonymous sources, reports that Obamas request was conveyed to Paterson by Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-Queens), a confidante of both men.
The decision to ask Paterson to step aside was proposed by advisers to Obama, but approved by the president himself, an official told the newspaper.
The Obama administration has previously inserted itself into New York Democratic politics when it successfully persuaded Rep. Steve Israel (D-Huntington) not to mount a challenge to U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.
Paterson has come under increasing pressure not to run next year though so far he has ignored these calls. Last week he appointed Richard Fife his campaign manager. Fife was a senior advisor in New York for Obamas presidential campaign.
Paterson could not be reached for comment last night. Some Democrats believe state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, whose popularity hovers around 70 percent, should top the ticket. Staff and wire reports
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Report: Obama asked Paterson to back out of governor's ...
Eighteen-year-old Noah McQueen sat down with Obama at the White House to record an interview published Thursday by StoryCorps, a public broadcasting initiative that collects oral histories. Obama will also meet Friday at the White House with other mentees from the "My Brother's Keeper" program.
Obama asked McQueen about his run-ins with the law, getting back on a straight path and struggling to stay on that path -- also chiming in with his own experience growing up without a father.
McQueen said that while his father lives "down the street," the two don't have a relationship.
"That's one of the things we have in common. As I get older, I start reflecting on how that's affected me," Obama said. "How do you think that affected you?"
"You kinda learn right and wrong on your own terms. I got into fights. And fighting, or getting put out of school was, you know, normal," McQueen said.
For McQueen, that snowballed into run-ins with law enforcement and ultimately violating a house arrest order.
That's when things changed, McQueen said, explaining that he went to a "Christian retreat."
"Did you say to yourself, "Man, I need to find something different and go to a Christian retreat?" Obama asked.
"Oh no sir, I didn't want to go at all. My mom forced me," McQueen said.
"Ok, so mama intervened, 'Lord, please help me knucklehead son Noah straighten out.'" Obama chimed in.
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Obama interviews 18-year-old mentee
His comments to Kansas City-based KMBC during a series of interviews Thursday afternoon with local television stations, the same day that Washington implemented a new law decriminalizing the use of small amounts of marijuana over the objections of some congressional Republicans.
READ: D.C. legalizes pot, ignoring House Republicans
"I think that we have to separate out legalization -- there's a lot of concern about drug abuse of any sort by our children and the general population -- versus the heavy criminalization of non-violent drug offenses," Obama said. "And I think that a lot of states are taking a look to see, do we have proportionality in terms of how we are penalizing the recreational user."
He said the United States has managed to discourage the use of other harmful products like tobacco without stiff jail sentences.
"I think that's what every state across the country, including some very conservative states that don't have a lot of tolerance for marijuana, are looking at," Obama said, "is do we want to be throwing people in jail for five, 10, 15 years if they're not major drug dealers but they're using a substance that's probably not good for them but is probably not hurting too many other people?"
Obama also repeated his previous stances on the Keystone XL pipeline, which he recently vetoed after Republicans sought to authorize it before the State Department completes a six-year-old review, and international trade.
He touted his administration's push for a 12-country Trans-Pacific Partnership as a way to correct the labor and environmental lapses of past pacts like the North American Free Trade Agreement. And he said the new deal is an opportunity to keep China from setting international rules with other Pacific Rim countries.
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Obama on pot: decriminalize, don't legalize
Eyes glistening, President Barack Obama bid an affectionate farewell Friday to Attorney General Eric Holder. It was a sequel to an emotional going-away at the White House last year, but this tribute came with a soulful surprise.
"Eric is really just milking this departure thing for everything that it's worth," Obama said at a Justice Department ceremony to unveil the outgoing Cabinet member's official portrait. "I mean, golly."
But even Obama got upstaged this time.
After the president and the attorney general had concluded their remarks, Aretha Franklin, the "Queen of Soul," made an unannounced appearance in the Justice Department hall. Holder, stunned, genuflected. And Franklin stepped behind the lectern to sing "America the Beautiful" with an homage to Holder.
In his own remarks, Obama noted Holder's tenure as the third-longest serving attorney general. Holder also is the first black man to hold the job.
"I know it felt even longer and I'll just come out and say it. He's been one of our finest," Obama said.
Obama said Holder had led the department with integrity and helped make the U.S. "free and more just." He praised Holder as a "great friend" and a "great public servant" and brushed away tears at the conclusion of his brief remarks.
Holder is staying on the job until the Senate confirms his successor, which is expected soon. The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday approved Obama's choice of U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch to succeed Holder. She would be the first black woman to be the nation's top law enforcement officer.
In a veiled reference to Rudolph Giuliani's assertion that Obama did not love his country, Holder declared "those who have loved this nation most have dared greatly and have sought to change the status quo for the better." He offered a litany of examples, from Abraham Lincoln and Jackie Robinson to Martin Luther King Jr. and Harvey Milk. Then he paused and added pointedly, "Barack Obama."
Holder offered special thanks to Sen. Patrick Leahy, the former Democratic Senate Judiciary Committee chairman. Leahy, of Vermont, defended Holder during Holder's clashes with Republican lawmakers who held him in contempt in the House over a document dispute arising from a gun-trafficking operation known as Fast and Furious.
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Obama bids farewell again to Attorney General Eric Holder