Pres. Obama Toasts Singh: To Future Partnership...State Dinner

Pres. Obama toasts the future. At the first state dinner of the Obama administration, the president and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh offer a toast to the partnership between the two countries.

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At the White House, by invitation only. Tuesday night's first official State Dinner of the Obama Administration is the hottest ticket in Washington. NBC's Norah O'Donnell reports.

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Playing Politics with the State Dinner?

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The Obamas welcome Prime Minister Singh, guests to State Dinner


The first state dinner of the Obama White House had it all: Oscar-winning entertainers, Hollywood moguls, a knockout guest chef and even a wardrobe malfunction.

Traditional evening gowns vied with saris of vibrant colors Tuesday night at the high-glitz dinner in honor of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. There were turbans and bindis as well as diamonds and brocades.

"Everyone looks great; we're feeling great," White House social secretary Desiree Rogers told a phalanx of cameras as she arrived, betraying no hint of nerves at the biggest social event of the Obama presidency.

First lady Michelle Obama had been a little more forthcoming earlier in the day when she described the trick to pulling off the event as sort of like being a swan: calm and serene above the water but "paddling like mad, going crazy underneath."

Questions for Spielberg

The 338-person guest list was a mix of wonky Washington, Hollywood A-listers, prominent figures from the Indian community in the U.S., and Obama friends, family and campaign donors.

Attorney General Eric Holder patted his pocket as he arrived and said his kids had prepped him with all sorts of questions for tablemate Steven Spielberg. U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice, asked who she was most looking forward to chatting with, ventured, "I'd have to name four." Then didn't.

Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania had to scramble when his ensemble went rogue at just the wrong moment: His cummerbund dropped to the floor just as he and his wife stopped to pose before a scrum of about 40 reporters and photographers.

Alfre Woodard and Blair Underwood provided celebrity quotient, but neither could come up with a connection to India. Underwood said he was there because of Woodard. She said she was there because she's on the president's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities.

Dinner guests were treated to an eye-catching scheme of green and purple, from the green curry surrounding the prawns to the purple floral arrangements paying homage to the peacock, India's national bird.

Pumpkin was on the menu, too, with Tuesday's dinner coming just two days before Thanksgiving.

Big-tent Politics?

Hours before guests arrived and in keeping with tradition, Mrs. Obama previewed the glamorous table settings in the State Dining Room. That's often the venue for such dinners, but not this time.

Instead, in an effort to show Singh how much the U.S. values relations with his country, the Obamas decided to serve dinner in a huge white tent on the South Lawn, with views of the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial through clear panels.

It wasn't your everyday tent: This one had chandeliers suspended from the ceiling and beige carpet on the floor.

President Barack Obama, in his dinner toast, said the setting conjured images of India, where special events are "often celebrated under the cover of a beautiful tent." Singh, in turn, told the president he was overwhelmed by the Obamas' hospitality and said the president's election last year had been an inspiration to millions of Indians.

Magnolia branches native to both India and the U.S. adorn the inside walls, along with ivy and nandina foliage.

Guests were to sit 10 apiece at tables draped in green apple-colored cloths and napkins, offset by the sparkle of gold-colored flatware and china, including service and dinner plates from the Eisenhower, Clinton and George W. Bush settings.

Floral arrangements of hydrangeas, roses and sweet peas in plum, purple and fuschia evoked India's state bird.

Vegetarian Meal

Mrs. Obama brought in award-winning chef Marcus Samuelsson of Aquavit, a Scandinavian restaurant in New York City, to help White House executive chef Cristeta Comerford and her staff prepare the largely vegetarian meal. Singh is a vegetarian.

Samuelsson said being chosen to help whip up dinner was both "overwhelming and humbling."

The culinary offerings included potato and eggplant salad, arugula from the White House garden, red lentil soup and roasted potato dumplings or green curry prawns. Pumpkin pie tart and pear tatin were for dessert; the pears were poached in honey from the White House beehive.

The entertainment lineup was stellar:

Singer-actress Jennifer Hudson and jazz vocalist and composer Kurt Elling, both Grammy Award winners from the Obamas' hometown of Chicago, were performing. Hudson also won an Academy Award for her role in "Dreamgirls." Indian musician and singer A.R. Rahman, who won two Academy Awards for the music in "Slumdog Millionaire," also was in the lineup.

Among the other guests:

Hollywood moguls David Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg. Guests with ties to India included spiritual adviser Deepak Chopra, director M. Night Shyamalan and PepsiCo chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi. Katie Couric of CBS News, Brian Williams of NBC News, Robin Roberts of ABC News and CNN Medical Correspondent Sanjay Gupta were among the media representatives invited. Oprah Winfrey was not on the list, but her best friend, Gayle King, was among the guests. Also there Obama friends Eric Whitaker and Martin Nesbitt, along with Obama's half sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, and her husband, Konrad; and Marian Robinson, the first lady's mother.

Every aspect of Tuesday's events was fraught with meaning and symbolism, from the flower colors to Mrs. Obama's clothing designers.

For the dinner, Mrs. Obama wore a sleeveless, gold and cream colored sheath dress with an overlay of silver and matching shawl by Indian-born designer Naeem Khan. At the State Dining Room event earlier in the day, the first lady wore a skirt by Rachel Roy, who is Indian.

The dinner also was a debut of sorts for florist Laura Dowling, who's been on the job less than a month.



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Pres. Obama's 1st State House Dinner...Were You On The Guest List??

Were you on the official guest list for Pres. Obama's first State House Dinner?

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The Obamas prepare to host first state dinner. NBC’s Norah O’Donnell has a preview of one of Washington’s hottest social events since the inauguration – the first official state dinner hosted by President and Mrs. Obama.

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Obama-India state dinner: A big tent, a "Dreamgirl" and "Jai Ho!'"


Enough about Afghanistan and India-U.S. relations.

Let's talk about tonight's big, fancy, black tie dinner.

The menu? No meat. Instead, a selection that includes roasted potato dumplings or green curry prawns. Preceded by potato and eggplant salad and white house arugula with onion seed vinaigrette. Dessert features pumpkin pie tart and pear tatin. Wines are from California, Oregon and Virginia.

The entertainers? There's Jennifer Hudson, who won an Oscar for her turn in the film Dreamgirls.

Also A.R. Rahman, who won two music Oscars this year for his work on Best Picture winner Slumdog Millionaire. Expect a special version of that film's bouncy theme song, Jai Ho!

Kurt Elling, a Grammy-winning jazz singer and composer, will perform, as will the National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Marvin Hamlisch.

About 400 guests will be in a big tent pitched on the South Side of the White House for the formal state dinner honoring India. The tent allows for nearly three times the crowd that could squeeze into the state dining room.

The guest list includes at least one Indian-American Republican: Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana. Also Hollywood types such as Steven Spielberg and super agent Ari Emanuel. And CBS anchor Katie Couric and New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg.

First lady Michelle Obama has brought in a celebrity chef, award-winning Marcus Samuelsson of Aquavit, a Scandinavian restaurant in New York City.

"These state visits and dinners are a really important part of our nation's diplomacy," Michelle Obama said today. "Throughout history, they've given U.S. presidents -- and the American people -- the opportunity to make important milestones in foreign relations."

State dinners are a long-standing White House tradition. Since the time of George Washington himself, presidents have conduced business over meals with lawmakers and the occasional foreign diplomat.

Tonight's state dinner closes a circle of sorts.

The first formal state dinner that we know today was held Dec. 12, 1874, when President Ulysses S. Grant and his wife hosted King David Kalakaua of the Sandwich Islands -- also known as Hawaii, the future state that in 1961 became the birthplace of one Barack Obama.

Obama is the ninth president to break official bread with a leader of India. The Associated Press has a rundown here.

President Harry Truman feted Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1949 at the Blair House across from the White House, under renovation at the time. The meal ranged from roast turkey to toasted Triscuits.

In 1956, Dwight Eisenhower served Nehru a lunch of oysters on the half shell and roast leg of lamb. He also brought him to his private home in Gettysburg, Pa.

John F. Kennedy's state dinner for India featured the first live orchestra; before then, there had been taped music.

Both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush also held state dinners for India.

The Clinton meal included a main course of wild Copper river salmon with red kuri squash and rice bean ragout. Dessert included mango and banner lotus, litchis and raspberry sauce, honey almond squares and chocolate coconut bars.

The Bush menu: Chilled asparagus soup and lemon creme, pan-roasted halibut and ginger-carrot butter and basmati rice with pistachio nuts and currants. Chocolate lotus blossoms and a trio of mango, chocolate-cardamom and cashew ice creams were served for dessert.




Jennifer Hudson's on deck for Pres. Obamas' 1st State dinner


Soul singer and Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson will perform at the White House state dinner Tuesday night, a representative at her label, Arista Records, says.

The 28-year-old Chicago native should make a fitting addition to what promises to be a star-studded evening on Pennsylvania Avenue. Hudson first rose to fame as a contestant on "American Idol" in 2004 and made her big-screen debut in 2006's "Dreamgirls" -- a performance that earned her an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

It won't be the first time Hudson has flexed her gale-force pipes in front of the Obamas; she performed the national anthem at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. But tragedy struck in October 2008, when the entertainer's mother, brother and nephew were found slain in Chicago. Since then, Hudson has returned to the spotlight slowly. She was absent from Washington's inaugural festivities in January but performed a concert at DAR Constitution Hall in April.




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McCain Camp Hits Back At Palin..."He Say, She Say"

McCain campaign fires back at Palin


Top aides to Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign hit back at Sarah Palin Friday, after news reports revealed that the former vice presidential nominee’s soon-to-be-released book criticizes the campaign’s press strategy.

According to excerpts from copies obtained by media outlets, Palin charges that the staffers assigned to her by McCain’s team blocked her from speaking to the press aboard the campaign plane. And she asserts that former McCain communications aide Nicole Wallace ‘pushed’ her to do a September 2008 interview with CBS’s Katie Couric that resulted in serious damage to the former Alaska governor’s image.

“Aboard the campaign plane I was within twenty-five feet of reporters for hours on end. Headquarters’ strategy was that I should not go to the back of the aircraft and talk to the press,” Palin wrote, according to an excerpt that appeared Friday on the Drudge Report website. “At first this was subtle, but as the campaign wore on, [campaign aides] Tracey [Schmitt] or Tucker [Eskew] would call headquarters to request permission, and someone in DC would respond, ‘No! Absolutely not—block her if she tries to go back.’”

The excerpt also described Wallace as having aggressively “pushed for Katie Couric and the CBS Evening News” because “Katie really needed a career boost.”

Longtime McCain hand and former campaign manager Mark Salter disputed Palin’s account, and told POLITICO in an email that it does not line up with his memory of events.

Explaining the campaign’s decision to limit press access as Election Day drew closer, Salter said that “after we had been criticized in the press for a lack of disciplined messaging earlier in the campaign when we provided frequent and unscheduled access to the candidate, we felt it necessary to adopt the same deliberativeness and discipline employed by our opponents and rely less on impromptu press conferences with our traveling press, and more on interviews arranged in advance so our candidates would have the same opportunity our opponents enjoyed to discuss and prepare for the interview.”

Reflecting on the first set of interviews Palin did as the GOP vice presidential nominee, Salter said that the sit downs were “discussed and agreed to by senior members of the campaign staff in consultation with the candidate” and that Wallace did not choose either the journalists or the outlets Palin spoke to.

“Nicolle Wallace, along with others, was tasked with helping the Governor prepare for some of her interviews. She did not decide which interview requests the candidates would accept. Nor was she tasked with securing the candidates’ agreement,” Salter said.

“Those decisions were made by campaign management in consultation with the candidates. Campaign management and the candidates agreed to multi-segment interviews so the Governor would maintain a presence in the media while she was in debate prep,” he added. “And to the best of my knowledge, any interviews the Governor had with the individuals she referred to were approved and arranged by the campaign management with her agreement.”

Former McCain strategist John Weaver was more direct in his criticism, slamming Palin for using the book for “petty and pathetic” score-settling.

“Sarah Palin reminds me of Jimmy Stewart in the movie 'Harvey,' complete with imaginary conversations. All books like these are revisionist and self-serving, by definition,” Weaver wrote in an email to POLITICO. “But the score-settling by someone who wants to be considered a serious national player is petty and pathetic.”

“The problem wasn't who her interview was with, the problem was her interview,” he added. “Couric asked no trick questions. This just seems to be an attempt to obscure as bad a performance since Roger Mudd asked Ted Kennedy that simple question.”

Palin did not respond to a request for comment.



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