Michelle Obama

When President Obama announced his new stance on same-sex marriage Wednesday, he did so to a friendly and familiar media figure for his administration - Robin Roberts of ABC's “Good Morning America.” Roberts has had a series of exclusives with Obama and his wife, First Lady Michelle Obama, that began on the night of his inauguration. With the occasional intrusion of policy matters, most of the interviews have been light and nonconfrontational. In the brief Jan. 21, 2009, inauguration night interview, Obama told Roberts that “ultimately the American people coming together, that is going to determine what we accomplish and how we get through some very difficult challenges.” A couple of months later, Roberts interviewed Michelle Obama as she traveled to Ft. Bragg in North Carolina to visit military families.

When President Obama announced his new stance on same-sex marriage Wednesday, he did so to a friendly and familiar media figure for his administration - Robin Roberts of ABC's “Good Morning America.” Roberts has had a series of exclusives with Obama and his wife, First Lady Michelle Obama, that began on the night of his inauguration. With the occasional intrusion of policy matters, most of the interviews have been light and nonconfrontational. In the brief Jan. 21, 2009, inauguration night interview, Obama told Roberts that “ultimately the American people coming together, that is going to determine what we accomplish and how we get through some very difficult challenges.” A couple of months later, Roberts interviewed Michelle Obama as she traveled to Ft. Bragg in North Carolina to visit military families.

Michelle Obama says that claims in a new book about her relationship with the president and role in his administration are off base, and feed into the long-held view of critics that she is "some angry black woman" (see video below). In an interview that aired Wednesday on "CBS This Morning," the first lady said she has not read "The Obamas," the new book by New York Times reporter Jodi Kantor. In fact, she rarely, if ever, reads any of the books that claim to have insight into the personal life of her and her family.

Hilary Rosen is a Democratic "operative," as they like to say in the District of Columbia, but she's not likely to be hired anytime soon by President Obama's reelection campaign. Her snarky critique of Ann Romney's fitness to advise her husband about women's economic issues -- saying on CNN that the stay-at-home mother of five has "never worked a day in her life" -- has drawn denunciations from top Obama campaign advisors and a subtle remonstration from Michelle Obama, who tweeted , "Every mother works hard, and every woman deserves to be respected.

First Lady Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" anti-obesity campaign, celebrating its first birthday this week, might seem like a post-partisan cause everyone can get behind. After all, about a third of children are either overweight or obese -- and those conditions come with a host of medical risk factors and social stigma. But as it turns out, everything has a political angle. At a White House luncheon Tuesday , Obama was asked about remarks by Sarah Palin, who said back in December that the first lady did not want people eating dessert.

First lady Michelle Obama likes playing tennis, cuddling with dog Bo and rooting for the Chicago Bears. Her favorite book? Toni Morrison’s “Song of Solomon.” Favorite colors? Lavender and purple. Favorite place on the White House grounds? The Rose Garden. Favorite room in the Executive Mansion? The yellow Oval Room in the family quarters. Obama, rather uncharacteristically, took one question after another Thursday. Her interrogators were a couple hundred curious kids visiting the White House for “Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day.”          Their parents work for the White House or partner agencies, such as the Secret Service or Office of Management and Budget.

Michelle Obama joined White House chefs Sunday afternoon for a public preview of the state dinner that night, praising the kitchen's huckleberry pie and confessing that, yes, she might even do the traditional duty of coming up with her own china. "I think that's part of the job," she said, sliding in a joke about the challenge the White House kitchen has in getting her daughters to eat anything green.

Designs all seem to flow together I loved the design of the tower in Chicago ["Riding a New Wave," Jan. 17] and the similar design of the dress worn by Michelle Obama [on the cover of the Image section the same day]. I found them an interesting likeness -- flowing and fluid. Marni Washington Santa Monica The reality of British TV Great article on British TV. ["British TV: From Good to Pointedly Average," by Mary McNamara, Jan. 17]. I am indeed a fan of British telly.

On her first visit to California as first lady, Michelle Obama on Monday helped volunteers construct a school playground here on a site that has been barren for years. "Imagine the changes that happen with the creation of this park," Obama said, speaking at Bret Harte Elementary School. "Kids who were never able to play on a swing set will get the opportunity to play."

She was not bemused. Queen Elizabeth, whose life is defined by royal protocol, didn't appear to flinch when Michelle Obama seemed to depart from it. Thursday's papers in Britain delighted in a grainy photo from a gathering Wednesday at Buckingham Palace showing the American first lady with her arm around the queen. Touching the royal person is normally a no-no. When former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating did it, in 1992, the obstreperous British press dubbed him the "Lizard of Oz."

WASHINGTON -- First Lady Michelle Obama sat down for an interview with Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert to mark the one-year anniversary of her "Joining Forces" project to help veterans find employment after they return from war. In an appearance Wednesday on "The Colbert Report," Obama said the project began as a campaign promise to veterans, and that the work is not done. Unemployment among the armed forces has been decreasing, but is still a problem for many. "I said on the campaign trail that if I had the opportunity to serve in this role, that I would try to be their voice and tell their stories," Obama said of veterans and their families.

WASHINGTON -- Following the first lady and senior members of the Obama campaign, the White House spokesman on Thursday tried to distance the president from the comments of a Democratic strategist who dismissed the work of stay-at-home mom Ann Romney. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters that he hadn't talked to President Obama about Hilary Rosen's remark that the wife of likely GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney “hadn't worked a day in her life.” Still, Carney said: “I think we can all agree -- Democrats and Republicans -- that raising children is an extremely difficult job, and that is true for all mothers as well as fathers.” Rosen, after initially standing by her comments Thursday morning, issued a statement of apology hours later.

Several of Mitt Romney's most prominent female surrogates charged Thursday that a Democratic strategist's comments about Ann Romney's role in the home reflected President Obama's views on women - prompting the Obama campaign to quickly respond that Hilary Rosen has no role in the president's reelection effort. Seizing an opportunity to boost Mitt Romney's standing among female voters, Romney's team marshaled a half-dozen female backers - including New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington - to respond to Rosen's remark Wednesday night that Ann Romney should not be advising her husband on women's economic struggles since she'd never “worked a day in her life.” Obama's top advisors immediately condemned Rosen's remarks as “offensive and inappropriate.”  First Lady Michelle Obama weighed in with a tweet: “Every mother works hard, and every woman deserves to be respected.”  Romney's supporters were nonetheless eager to tie Rosen to Obama.  “This interview bothered me so much because it makes me feel like Obama doesn't value mothers, and not only women but specifically mothers,” Romney backer Stephanie Nielson, a blogger and mother of five, said on the Romney call with reporters.

A day after Americans said “Let's eat,” First Lady Michelle Obama promoted the theme of “Let's Go, Let's Play, Let's Move” today during the annual White House Easter Egg Roll. More than 30,000 people were expected in two-hour shifts during the 11-hour eggstravaganza.  The entire first family attended: President Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, daughters Malia, 13, and Sasha, 10, grandmother Marian Robinson and the family dog, Bo, immortalized in one of this year's commemorative wooden eggs.

Malia Obama, President Obama's eldest daughter who is on spring break in Mexico, is safe after a powerful earthquake shook the region this afternoon, First Lady Michelle Obama's office said in a statement. "In light of today's earthquake, we can confirm that Malia Obama is safe and was never in danger," said Kristina Schake, communications director for the first lady. The first daughter, 13, is reportedly traveling in Oaxaca with friends, accompanied by the Secret Service. In commenting on her safety, the White House also reiterated its longstanding request for reporters to "respect the privacy and security of the Obama children and not report on or photograph the girls when they are not with their parents.

President Obama and his wife, Michelle, hosted the sixth state dinner of their tenure Wednesday evening, honoring British Prime Minister David Cameron in a celebration of spring in a tent on the White House's South Lawn. The black-tie gala drew Hollywood celebrities, deep-pocketed donors, titans of government and the reigning king of golf: Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy. Other notables: investment guru Warren Buffett, actor George Clooney,  journalist Charlie Rose, Vogue magazine editor Anna Wintour and British actor Damian Lewis, who stars in TV's “Homeland,” which counts the president as a fan. PHOTOS: Inside the state dinner Guests from Chicago included White House advisor Valerie Jarrett and Obama campaign backers Neil Bluhm, Fred Eychaner and Rajiv Kumar Fernando.

The first lady shops at Target -- just like us! An Associated Press photographer on Thursday snapped some choice photos of Michelle Obama in the checkout line of a Target store just outside Washington for what her office says was a "routine errand," the likes of which she does often. The first lady appears to have been trying to pick up some items incognito. She is seen sporting a Nike cap and large, dark sunglasses. Photos: Michelle Obama shops at Target "It is not uncommon for the first lady to slip out to run an errand, eat at a local restaurant or otherwise enjoy the city outside the White House gates," said Kristina Schake, communications director for the first lady.

The president and first lady will cement their commitment to "eat local" efforts Wednesday evening when British Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife, Samantha, enjoy a menu based on offerings from the White House kitchen garden. On offer at the State Dinner, to be held outside on the White House South Lawn, are halibut with kale; salad greens from the garden; bison wellington and lemon sponge. Mercifully, the fish is from Alaska, rather than retrieved from the Potomac, and the bison once roamed in North Dakota, not the National Zoo, according to White House executive chef Cris Comerford.