There was some serious star power in the East Room of the White House Tuesday and it had nothing to do with politics. The Major League Soccer champion Los Angeles Galaxy including star players David Beckham, forward Robbie Keane, midfielder Landon Donovan and their team mates were honored by President Obama and dozens of young soccer fans invited to the White House.

Calling them the "Miami Heat of soccer" the president commended the team for their success.

"[T]ogether you pulled off one of the toughest feats in team sports: You lived up to the hype. You combined star power, hard work; it paid off."

The president poked a little fun at David Beckham telling the 36 year old, "I said half his teammates could be his kids."

"We're getting old, David. Although you're holding up better than me," the president laughingly told Beckham.

But he thanked the team for agreeing to stay and talk with children invited to the White House to meet the players.

"As a soccer dad, I know you've inspired a lot of kids. And today you're giving them an experience that they will never forget," the president told them.

After the East Room event, the players joined Michelle Obama and about 60 children invited for the event in the State Dining Room as part of a Let's Move program, the first lady's initiative to instill healthy eating habits in children.

Mrs. Obama said she hoped to hold a soccer clinic outside on the White House lawn but rain forced them inside. She told the kids about the importance of sports and remaining active.

"[W]e want to show kids just like you that there are all kinds of ways to be active, and that being active is also a whole lot of fun. So a lot of what we do while there are soccer drills and things like that going on, we're doing a lot of playing around and laughing, and realizing that that's what being healthy is about. It's not always work; most of the time it's a lot of fun."

She left admonishing the children to "eat your vegetables."

A sentiment that was echoed by star soccer player Beckham who when asked by one child was his favorite food is he hesitated only briefly and answered, carrots!

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) - The White House released documents Tuesday that show President Barack Obama and the first family hold assets valued at between $2.6 million and $8.3 million.

The disclosure forms, required by the Ethics in Government Act, show the president's largest asset, by far, is U.S. debt in the form of Treasury notes and bills. In total, the president has between $1.6 million and $6.3 million invested in Treasury debt.

The first family reported a few other large assets, including a JPMorgan Chase checking account that holds between $500,000 and $1 million and a set of 529 college savings plans.

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Washington (CNN)-Less than a week after President Barack Obama made history by endorsing same-sex marriage, the president would not commit to fighting to have the Defense of Marriage Act, commonly known as DOMA, be repealed.  In an interview on ABC's "The View" Mr. Obama reiterated his administration's decision to stop defending the law in the courts.  "My justice department has said to the courts we don’t think the defense of marriage act is constitutional this is something that historically had been determined at the state level, and part of my believing ultimately that civil unions weren’t sufficient."  But pressed further if he would fight to repeal DOMA, Mr. Obama would only say, "Congress is clearly on notice that I think it’s a bad idea."

And in the wake of the stunning news that JP Morgan Chase lost $2 billion dollars in risky derivatives trading, Mr. Obama called the bank's CEO one of the nation's smartest bankers but also pressed the need for Wall Street reform.

"First of all JP Morgan is one of the best managed banks there is. Jamie Dimon the head of it is one of the best banker’s we’ve got and they still lost two billion dollars and counting precisely because they were making bets in these derivative markets." he said.

"This is why we passed Wall Street reform. This is the best or one of the best managed banks. You can have a bank that isn’t as strong isn’t as profitable and we might have had to step in and that’s exactly why Wall Street reform is so important."

In a speech tailored to target issues close to the hearts of a key voter demographic- women, President Barack Obama Monday encouraged the 2012 graduating class at the all-female Barnard College in New York to shape their destiny.

"After decades of slow, steady, extraordinary progress, you are now poised to make this the century where women shape not only their own destiny but the destiny of this nation and of this world," Mr. Obama said in his first commencement address of the season.

"Don't just get involved, fight for your seat at the table," he told the 600 graduates. "Better yet, fight for a seat at the head of the table."

Less than a week after declaring his support for same-sex marriage, Mr. Obama touched only briefly on the hot button issue.

“If you are ready to fight for that brilliant, radically simple idea of America that no matter who you are or what you look like, no matter who you love or what God you worship, you can still pursue your own happiness, I will join you every step of the way,” the president told the graduates.

Mr. Obama received the Barnard Medal of Distinction. Among the other recipients of the medal Monday was gay rights advocate Evan Wolfson, founder and president of Freedom to Marry. Wolfson had been outspoken in urging the president to endorse marriage equality. FULL POST

RENO, Nevada (CNN) –- It’s not every day the President of the United States shows up on your doorstep but that was the case for Paul and Val Keller at their Reno, Nevada, home on Friday.

The reason for the president's visit was to highlight problems with mortgage refinancing and to urge Congress to do more to help homeowners.  Many families, like the Kellers, are struggling to refinance their home because they owe more than their home is worth. The Kellers purchased their $168,000 home fourteen years ago, yet now it is only worth $100,000.

In October of 2011, Val Keller heard the president announce new measures aimed at helping underwater homeowners and decided to call her bank and ask about the regulations. Their mortgage was refinanced within 90 days.
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It's been a bonanza money week for the Obama campaign. A Democratic source tells CNN the campaign raised $2 million dollars in donations in the 24 hours following the President's announcement he personally support's same-sex marriage.

On Friday, the president left on a campaign swing to Seattle and Los Angeles to pick up even more donations. The president dropped into Seattle where he collected roughly $3 million at two events. But the big haul came at the star-studded George Clooney blockbuster, where a Democratic official tells CNN, the reelection effort brought in $15 million.

(CNN) - With Mitt Romney's victories in the April 24 Republican primaries, a new phase of the campaign began at Obama re-election headquarters in Chicago. After a year spent hiring staff and building an organization, Obama for America finally had what it had been waiting for: an opponent.

"The monologue is over," Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said the day after Romney's conclusive five-state primary sweep. "Now Romney has to put his record and his agenda up against the president's, and we look forward to that debate. The general election might just be starting, but we've been at this for more than a year in Chicago."

This year of preparation certainly gave the Obama campaign a head start on building up a national organization, but it also allowed the campaign leadership to map out a message for the early weeks of the general election.

The map has included a campaign kickoff just days after the one-year anniversary of Osama bin Laden's death, a huge push by the president on the issue of student loans and an aggressive attempt to define Romney as out of touch with the struggles of middle-class Americans.

Even the president's recent announcement that he now supports same-sex marriage appears to have been scheduled as a part of the campaign's rollout. Senior advisers to the president say Obama was always planning to announce his new position before the Democratic convention in September, probably at a time when his Democratic base needed energizing.

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A senior administration official says the Vice President Biden met with President Obama in the Oval Office Wednesday morning and apologized for putting the president in a tough position. The president responded by saying that he knows the vice president is speaking from the heart.

President Obama's announcement that he now supports same-sex marriage came sooner than planned as a result of comments made by Vice President Joe Biden, he said in an interview broadcast Thursday.

Also a spokeswoman for the vice president Kendra Barkoff has issued a statement:

“The president has been the leader on this issue from day one. And the vice president never intended to distract from that.”

Washington (CNN) - Vice President Joe Biden gave no indication the White House was planning to change its position on same sex marriage when he was asked about just weeks ago at an LGBT fundraiser in Los Angeles April 19, two attendees tells CNN. Because it was an off the record event these participants did not want to be named, but tell CNN when Biden was asked about gay marriage he talked about his comfort with gay and lesbian couples raising families but added that the president sets the policy and offered no indication that there would be a shift in policy.

On the “CBS This Morning”, the co-creator of the television series “Will and Grace,” who also attended that fundraiser, said that he believed the vice president’s remarks were “choreographed” because his remarks at the fund-raiser were recorded by the White House and were so similar to his comments on NBC’s “Meet the Press” this past Sunday. White House officials confirm to CNN that it’s standard to record every event the president and vice president attend as a record, whether they’re public or private events.

That fund-raiser has taken on unexpected significance –in part because that’s where the vice president met the two young children he referenced in his comments to David Gregory on NBC Sunday. In explaining his change of heart in support of gay marriage, he said it was partly seeing the happy children, ages 7 and 5, of the gay couple who hosted that fundraiser. Sources say Biden met with the hosts and their children privately before the larger fund-raiser began – it was an impromptu meeting. And the vice president told Gregory the kids gave him flowers and he told THEIR fathers: "I wish every American could see the look of love those kids had in their eyes for you guys, and they wouldn't have any doubt about what this is about."

One source tells CNN the Vice President gave a nearly five minute answer and never explicitly states his support for gay marriage but left the clear impression he supported it. Another confirms the vice president did say “Will and Grace” helped him come to a greater acceptance of gay and lesbian same-sex partners. But the majority of his remarks focused on the president’s work overturning the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy and extending some federal benefits to same sex couples as well as repeatedly drawing a contrast with Mitt Romney on gay and lesbian rights. FULL POST

Washington (CNN) – Multiple top Democrats said Thursday the president's senior aides are deeply annoyed with Vice President Joe Biden for forcing the conversation on same-sex marriage.   One source said Biden has, in the past, counseled the president against announcing support for same-sex marriage – making the circumstances that much more frustrating. Although other sources said they have not heard Biden make that point in recent years.   Biden made comments supporting such unions during an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press" that aired Sunday, seemingly forcing the issue to the forefront of public debate.

Another source said the recent events gave renewed life to old jokes and flippant remarks like, "Hello? Does he know this is the Obama presidency not the Biden presidency?"

None of these sources said they believed it would create a lasting rift between the West Wing and the vice president's office – because Biden has gone off script before and will do it again.

The president's team said they were aware of the risk when they tapped Biden for the ticket. One source added that the president has a close personal relationship with the former senator and that trumps his advisers' frustrations. But there is a great deal of interest in keeping the vice president "on script."   These top Democrats said they are not concerned that Biden will "get credit" for the same-sex marriage announcement. They said history will show it's the president who did this and they believe most people thought the president already supported same-sex marriage.   Sources also said the vice president feels bad about putting the president in a tough position.   As evidence he is not in the dog house, Biden hosted a student loan event at the White House Thursday and will make a two-day campaign swing in Ohio next week.