My mom's younger sister was born with Down syndrome. I was close to my grandmother when I was growing up. I remember talking to my grandmother about politics, and she told me that she regularly voted for the Democrats because she knew that they were going to look out for people like her daughter. That made an impression on me, too.

The United States played the role of encouraging both sides to come together to try to finally resolve this issue, and we were pleased to see leaders on both sides work courageously to get that done.

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.

There was always this sense, even early on in the campaign, that if the senator Obama could score this upset victory in Iowa, that there was a pretty good chance that he would end up being president of the United States.

I believe that that responsibility that reporters have is worthy of me showing them respect, and that's what I try to do on a regular basis, and I have been pleased that most reporters have reciprocated and shown me respect as well.

There was also a sense that if he [Obama] did not win in Iowa, that it was very unlikely that he would be able to come back and win the Democratic nomination and win the general election. It was sort of an all-or-nothing bet. The stakes were that high.

We have marched in lockstep with Israel. We've been side by side with them as they've confronted the Iranian nuclear threat and we'll continue to be. All options do remain on the table. That's something that we've said all along. That continues to be the case.