Lynn Sweet

The White House Civil Rights concert was moved to Tuesday night from Wednesday because of the continuing snow emergency in Washington. The concert will be webcast live at www.whitehouse.gov at 8 p.m. eastern time

WASHINGTON--In a surprise move, President Obama made a very rare briefing room appearence on Tuesday afternoon, taking the podium usually occupied by Press Secretary Robert Gibbs to report bi-partisan meeting with the House and Senate leaders.

He is also took several questions from the press, the first time he has taken questions from the White House press corps since a press conference on July 22.

Obama has been stepping up his outreach to Republicans. Obama said he hoped " this will be first of a series of meetings I will have with the leaders of Congress."

First Lady Michelle Obama is leading "a national public awareness effort to tackle the epidemic of childhood obesity," says the presidential memo President Obama signed Tuesday morning. Her kick off event is at noon eastern time, but the web site associated with the drive is already live: letsmove.gov

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release February 9, 2010

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT

AT SIGNING OF MEMORANDUM ON CHILDHOOD OBESITY

Oval Office

9:16 A.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning, everybody. I am so proud of the work that the First Lady, along with the Cabinet Secretaries behind me, have done in trying to tackle one of the most urgent health issues that we face in this country, and that is the increase of childhood obesity.

And because of the outstanding planning that they've done, they are going to be rolling out a terrific plan of action that involves the private sector as well as government agencies coordinating much more effectively a lot of public information out there to help parents make good decisions about allowing their children to be active and eating healthier.

And what the executive order I'm going to be signing today does is to create a 90-day plan that allows optimal coordination as we move forward, in addition to the coordination that we're doing with private sector companies and not-for-profits and other organizations out there that are interested in this issue.

So we think that this has enormous promise in improving the health of our children, in giving support to parents to make the kinds of healthy choices that oftentimes are very difficult in this kind of environment. And so I just want to say how proud I am of the First Lady for her outstanding work and I will now sign this order.

(The executive order is signed.)

There you go.

MRS. OBAMA: Nice job.

THE PRESIDENT: It's done, honey. Thanks. (Applause.)

MRS. OBAMA: Now we work.

THE PRESIDENT: Now they get to work. Thank you, guys.

END 9:19 A.M. EST

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By KIM JANSSEN AND LYNN SWEET Staff Reporters
CHICAGO--A tearful Scott Lee Cohen, the pawnbroker who won the Democratic lieutenant governor nomination, only to have his scandalized past surface and threaten the ticket, said Sunday he would step aside, giving Democratic Party leaders a chance to pick his replacement.

"For the good of the people of the state of Illinois and the Democratic Party, I will resign," Cohen said at the Hop Haus, a bar and restaurant at 7545 N. Clark, during the Super Bowl.

Watch CBS News Videos Online

The debacle of Democrats nominating pawnbroker Scott Lee Cohen for lieutenant governor -- a candidate so politically toxic he could bring down the Democratic ticket in November -- highlights the awful job House Speaker Michael J. Madigan is doing as chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois. Unlike every other state party chairman in the nation, Madigan refuses to run a viable statewide political organization.

President Obama and First Lady Michelle are inviting members of Congress, the Obama cabinet and some soldiers injured in Iraq and Afghanistan to their Super Bowl party Sunday.

The Obamas will host seven members of Congress; six men and one female; six Democrats and on Republican. Of the cabinet level invitees, there are five men and four women.

Click below for the names.

Democratic Illinois Senate nominee Alexi Giannoulias called for embattled Illinois Lt. Gov. Democratic nominee Scott Lee Cohen to step down, in the wake of allegations of domestic abuse, anabolic steroid use and being behind on child support payments as Cohen was pouring $2 million into his own campaign:

"These revelations are deeply disturbing and there is no place in society let alone public office for this type of behavior," Giannoulias said in a statement.

The first third-party ad in the Illinois Senate race comes from VoteVets and slams GOP Senate nominee Rep. Mark Steven Kirk (R-Ill.), an intelligence officer in the Naval Reserves. Kirk makes much of his military record, so it is interesting to see what impact the VoteVets group has in the race. The spot--running in the Chicago market--hits Kirk on an energy vote and for taking campaign contributions from energy interests. See the spot here.

Illinois Democrats start off the general election season with a big problem and his name is Scott Lee Cohen, the pawnbroker and political unknown who self-financed his way to winning the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor on Tuesday. Then came news Cohen was accused of threatening his live-in girlfriend with a knife and being user of injectable anabolic steroids. Gov. Quinn is saddled with Cohen as a running mate. Under Illinois law, the governor and lieutenant governor contenders each run in their own primaries for the nomination. Once nominated, they have to run as a team, like it or not. On Thursday, Quinn was not liking it and called for Cohen to step down. With the revelations--splashed on the front pages of the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune--Quinn said the "only appropriate thing is to step aside."

The Chicago Sun-Times Quinn/Cohen package

BY ABDON M. PALLASCH AND DAVE McKINNEY Staff Reporters

Gov. Quinn said today that if his running-mate, Scott Lee Cohen, can't adequately explain the charges against him -- that he held a knife to the throat of a prostitute ex-girlfriend -- then "he should step aside" as the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor.

and this headlined, Scott Lee Cohen allegedly abused steroids, forced himself on ex-wife

BY CHRIS FUSCO AND DAVE McKINNEY Staff Reporters

Gov. Quinn's embattled running mate, Scott Lee Cohen, allegedly abused anabolic steroids, displayed fits of rage and forced himself sexually on his ex-wife before their divorce, court documents reviewed by the Chicago Sun-Times show.

and this with the headlines, Details surface of Scott Lee Cohen's 2005 domestic violence arrest SHOCKING PAST | Dem nominee for lt. gov was once accused of holding knife to woman's neck

BY CHRIS FUSCO, DAVE McKINNEY, ABDON M. PALLASCH AND STEVE WARMBIR Staff Reporters

Scott Lee Cohen -- a pawnbroker who shocked state Democratic leaders Tuesday night by winning the party's nomination for lieutenant governor -- was arrested about four-and-a-half years ago and accused of holding a knife to a former live-in girlfriend's neck, newly obtained court records show.

Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich was re-indicted on Thursday, with eight new corruption charges added, including extortion of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel back when he was a congressman along with one of his brothers. Read the indictment here. Read Sun-Times federal court reporter Natasha Korecki's report here.