have a lot of respect for the responsibility that journalists have to ask tough questions, to hold the administration accountable and to be advocates for the citizens of the United States.

The most frequent way that I will communicate with him Obamacis when we're traveling. We talk about what's in the news, and I hear him talking about issues that are important to him.

My mom and my grandmother definitely were (Democrat supporters). It wasn't a sense that, "Well, we vote for Democrats no matter what," but it was sort of the sense that, "Democrats are typically the ones that are looking out for working people like us."

We would welcome that, but it's going to require a commitment on the part of the North Koreans to denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula and pursuing a stable relationship with their neighbors. Instead, we've seen a lot of provocations and a flouting of international norms and obligations.

The biggest challenge of being the press secretary is trying to be aware of all of the things that are happening, both around the world but also here at home and in politics, and trying to absorb all of that information as quickly as I can.

The President and first lady did hold a private party at the White House over the weekend, but given the private nature of that event, I don't have a lot of details to discuss from here.

If it gets to a situation where it turns into a debate, look, the person that I'm debating is the person that is writing the story or presenting the broadcast. They're not going to write the story in such a way that shows they lost.