American Morning
Sr. WH Adviser Jarrett also Obama's close friend
So what's it like when one of your closest friends is also your boss – and the president of the United States?
That's life for Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser to President Obama. Suzanne Malveaux has part four of our AM original series, "The Presidential Brain Trust."
Robert Gibbs is adviser, friend and mouthpiece for Obama
By Dan Lothian, CNN White House Correspondent
Washington (CNN) - In the tight circle that surrounds President Obama, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs is in the inner bubble.
He's the 3 a.m. wake-up call when North Korea fires a test missile, or when the Nobel committee picks the president for the top award.
"Trust me, it is a job I would gladly give to anybody who would volunteer," Gibbs said.
Or would he?
After all, he's an adviser, a friend and a mouthpiece for the administration with more access than recent press secretaries.
"I can walk in and ask him a question at any given time, pick up the phone and talk to him about anything at any given time. I think [that] makes my job easier," Gibbs said in an exclusive interview with CNN.
The president and the press secretary first connected in 2004 when Obama was a virtual unknown outside of Chicago, Illinois, and was campaigning for the U.S. Senate. They clicked and grew close, leading Obama to tell the Wall Street Journal in a 2008 interview, "Robert is the guy I want in the foxhole with me during incoming fire. If I'm wrong, he challenges me. He's not intimidated by me."
Gibbs chuckled while recalling the comment and quipped, "That is when we called him 'Senator' or by his first name."
Obamas' marriage had 'serious period of tension'
To many it looks like President Obama and First Lady Michelle have a picture-perfect marriage. In a candid interview with New York Times writer Jodi Kantor, the first couple revealed things weren't always so perfect.
Kantor joined Kiran Chetry on CNN’s “American Morning” Friday. Below is an edited transcript of the interview.
Kiran Chetry: You had a very rare opportunity to sit down with both of them for 40 minutes and ask them a lot of personal questions about their marriage. What struck you the most about that interview?
Jodi Kantor: A couple of things. One was just being in the Oval Office, the place that symbolizes executive power and we were talking about things like date night. And another thing, you know, I think the question that elicited the most memorable response was I asked the president and first lady if it's possible to have an equal marriage when one member is president and it was a little tough for the president to answer the question.
Chetry: So how did he answer it?
Kantor: Well, he took a couple tries. I mean, he's normally so eloquent and fluent and he tried once and he tried again and then he said, I have to be really careful about how I answer this question. And Mrs. Obama is looking at him, intently, to see what he's going to say. And finally, she sort of stepped in to say, you know what, in our jobs, we are not equal now, but in our private lives we are.
The Obamas’ Marriage
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/10/30/barack.michelle.obama.lawn.gi.art.jpg caption="President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama make their way from Marine One upon return to the White House in Washington, DC."]
By Jodi Kantor
New York Times
Another Washington dusk, another motorcade, another intimate evening played out in public view. On Oct. 3, just a day after their failed Olympics bid in Copenhagen, Barack and Michelle Obama slipped into a Georgetown restaurant for one of their now-familiar date nights: this time, to toast their 17th wedding anniversary. As with their previous outings, even the dark photographs taken by passers-by and posted on the Web looked glamorous: the president tieless, in a suit; the first lady in a backless sheath.
The Obama date-night tradition stretches back to the days when the president spent half his time in Springfield, Ill., reuniting at week’s close with his wife, who kept a regular Friday manicure and hair appointment for the occasion. But five days before he ventured out for his anniversary dinner, the president lamented what has happened to his nights out with his wife.
“I would say the one time during our stay here in the White House so far that has. . . .” He paused so long in choosing his words that Michelle Obama, sitting alongside him, prompted him. “Has what?”
“Annoyed me,” the president answered.
White House releases portrait of first family
The White House unveiled this portrait of the first family this morning. It's the first official White House portrait of the Obamas. The picture was taken by famed photographer Annie Leibovitz.
President Obama to visit Egypt this week
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/06/01/obama.gm.art.jpg caption="President Barack Obama speaks about the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing by General Motors June 1, 2009 from the White House in Washington, DC"]
From CNN's Jim Acosta and Bonney Kapp
The White House says President Obama’s trip to Egypt this week fulfills a campaign pledge. But that may be up for debate.
In October 2007, then candidate Obama said the following in Iowa: “One of the things I’ve proposed is to call a summit in the Muslim world within the first year of my presidency that I would lead and would invite Muslim leaders from all around the world.”
Mr. Obama said roughly the same thing to author Richard Wolffe, who writes about the Muslim summit proposal in his new book, “Renegade.” "If I had a Muslim Summit," Mr. Obama tells Wolffe, "I think that I can speak credibly to them about the fact that I respect their culture."
But the White House says there will be no such summit. Instead, the president will be delivering a speech at one of the region’s most important universities. The White House points to this statement from the president that he made back in August, 2007: “As president, I will lead this effort. In the first 100 days of my administration, I will travel to a major Islamic forum and deliver an address to redefine our struggle. I will make clear that we are not at war with Islam, that we will stand with those who are willing to stand up for their future, and that we need their effort to defeat the prophets of hate and violence.”
Technically, the trip falls after the first 100 days. But who’s counting.
About this Show
Welcome to the American Morning blog where you can get daily news updates from American Morning's reporters and producers. Join us for "the most news in the morning," weekdays from 6-9 a.m. ET, only on CNN.
On Twitter
