Obama only calls on women reporters in his final press conference
Obama only calls on women reporters in his final press conference Subscribe My Channel! .In a presidential first, Obama called upon eight women in the last press meeting of the year and fielded...
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Obama only calls on women reporters in his final press conference - Video
Chris Matthews compares an "incredibly strong" Obama to Winston Churchill
MATTHEWS: Let #39;s bring on Chuck Todd, moderator of Meet the press. It seems like the president has gotten himself into this conversation. Was Sony right? The president jumps in and says,...
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Chris Matthews compares an "incredibly strong" Obama to Winston Churchill - Video
President Obama #39;s briefing full of women
At President Obama #39;s end of the year press conference Friday, he called on eight female reporters.
By: CNN
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama prodded Congress to eliminate the United States' decades-old Cuba embargo Friday, saying that improving relations with the communist country will help open its "hermetically sealed society" -- even if changes come in "fits and starts."
He said he doesn't expect lawmakers to strip the embargo away immediately, and that Congress will need time to digest a deal he struck this week to free American contractor Alan Gross, trade imprisoned spies and ease U.S. economic restrictions on Cuba in exchange for the release of dozens of political prisoners and expanded Internet there.
His comments came during a feisty year-end news conference Friday, just hours before Obama and his family boarded Air Force One for a holiday vacation in Hawaii.
"I don't anticipate overnight changes. But what I know deep in my bones is that if you've done the same thing for 50 years and nothing's changed, you should try something different if you want a different outcome, and this gives us an opportunity for a different outcome, because suddenly Cuba is open to the world in ways that it has not been before," Obama said.
"The more the Cuban people see what's possible, the more interested they are going to be in change. But how societies change is country-specific. It's culture-specific," he said.
Obama offered some notes of caution, saying a presidential visit Cuba or Cuban President Raul Castro coming to the United States isn't "in the cards."
His moves have already triggered controversy among potential Republican 2016 presidential contenders. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who accused Obama of giving up leverage, is sparring with Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, who advocates a smaller U.S. footprint overseas.
Obama said he expects a "healthy debate" to rage in Congress.
"I think that ultimately we need to go ahead and pull down the embargo, which I think has been self-defeating in advancing the aims that we're interested in," Obama said. "But I don't anticipate that that happens right away."
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Obama wraps 2014: Cuba, North Korea and Congress
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama is set to close a week jam-packed with news of a breakthrough with Cuba and new tensions with North Korea on Friday with a 1:30 p.m. EST news conference.
Just weeks removed from huge Democratic losses in the midterm elections, Obama's allies say he appears liberated -- taking executive actions to overhaul immigration rules, thaw the United States' economic and diplomatic freeze with Cuba and more.
Here are some of the questions Obama will likely face as he confronts the press one more time before he heads to Hawaii for what's left of 2014:
Did November's election result liberate you?
President Barack Obama speaks to the nation about normalizing diplomatic relations the Cuba.
A President derided as overly cautious for much of the last six years -- especially since the Republican wave of 2010 -- is suddenly no longer hesitant to use every lever the Oval Office has to offer. He's brokered a diplomatic breakthrough with Cuba, halted deportations for more than 4 million undocumented workers, green-lit Environmental Protection Agency restrictions on ozone emissions, endorsed net neutrality and extended talks with Iran to curtail its nuclear program. And that's just been in the first six weeks since Democrats lost the Senate.
With no more potential election results weighing on his actions, does Obama suddenly feel like he's free to be the President he's always wanted to be?
Republicans scoff at this notion -- and they're working quickly to curb Obama's executive authority. Dozens of states are challenging his immigration action in court, while Congress is plotting to defund him on immigration and block parts of his Cuba deal. The strength of Obama's resistance on Capitol Hill won't come fully into view until new lawmakers take office in January.
Was this the push Cuba needed to embrace democracy?
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Obama to hold end of year briefing