i raise a glass to them and all of you with the words of the american foreign correspondent dorothy thompson, it is not the fact of literary, but the way in which -- the fact of liberty but the way in which liberty is exercised to make sure that liberty survives. thank you for telling our american story. god bless you. god bless the united states of america. [applause] >> now, remarks from saturday night live cast member, cecily strong. she was the entertainer at this year's dinner and spoke for about 25 minutes. [applause] cecily: it feels right woman follow president obama, doesn't it? . good evening, i am cecily strong. you may know me from saturday night live or the ethnically ambiguous girl from every college brochure. i'm kind of a mash-up of the people from hillary clinton's video. i am also the only straight woman to host this in 20 years. we finally made it, straight people. [applause] where are my heterosexual that? i do need to say something here. just because i am a woman doesn't mean i will go easy on you. i will go easy on you because my brain is smaller. [laughter] i feel very

i raise a glass to them and all of you, with the words of the american foreign correspondent dorothy thompson, it is not the fact of liberty but the way liberty is exercised that ultimately determines whether or not liberty itself survives. thank you for your devotion, for exercising our liberty, and for telling our story. the bless you and god bless united states of america. [applause] >> before i introduce our final speaker, let me take a moment to its knowledge the hard work of a few people whose friendship has been so valuable during this past year. i want to thank the eight members at the first table, the eight members of the board. they fight hard to do their job with excellent and to help you do yours. [applause] i especially want to thank vice president carol lee. no one fights harder than she does for what she believes is right. she is a fierce advocate for press read them and she will be your president next year. [applause] i wanted to knowledge our incredible executive director, julia. julia, thank you for keeping this association's heart in the right place or so many years. [appla

i raise a glass to them and all of you for the words of the american foreign correspondents' dorothy thompsons. it is the way liberty is exercised that determines whether liberty itself survives. thank you for your devotion and exercising liberty and telling our american story. god bless you, god bless the united states of america. [applause] christi: let me take a moment to acknowledge several people whose assistance and friendship has been so valuable during this year. i want to thank the people sitting at the head table, the eight members of the board. they fight hard every day at the white house to do their jobs with excellence in to help you do yours. [applause] i especially want to thank carol lee. nobody fights harder than carol. she is a fierce advocate for press freedom and she will be your president next year. [applause] i want to acknowledge our incredible executive director julia wiston. julia, thank you for keeping this association's heart in the right place for so many years. [applause] thank you george laner our lawyer three of for your insightful counsel and devotion to our cor

i raise a glass to them and all of you for the words of the american foreign correspondents' dorothy thompsonss the way liberty is exercised that determines whether liberty itself survives. thank you for your devotion and exercising liberty and telling our american story. god bless you, god bless the united states of america. [applause]

i raise a glass to them and all of you for the words of the american foreign correspondents' dorothy thompsonshat determines whether liberty itself survives. thank you for your devotion and exercising liberty and telling our american story. god bless you, god bless the united states of america. [applause] christi: let me take a moment to acknowledge several people whose assistance and friendship has been so valuable during this year. i want to thank the people sitting at the head table the eight members of the board. they fight hard every day at the white house to do their jobs with excellence in to help you do yours. [applause] i especially want to thank carol lee. nobody fights harder than carol. she is a fierce advocate for press freedom and she will be your president next year. [applause] i want to acknowledge our incredible executive director, julia. julia, thank you for keeping this association's heart in the right place for so many years. [applause] thank you, george, our lawyer. for your insightful counsel and devotion to our core mission of fighting for openness and transparency. i th

raise a glass to them and to all of you, with the words of the american foreign correspondent dorothy thompsonbut the way in which liberty is exercised that ultimately determines whether liberty itself survives. thank you for your devotion to exercising our liberty and to telling our american story. god bless you. god bless the united states of america. [ applause ] >> little more seriousness at the end of that than usual. >> that was the most serious. >> but the beginning, president obama setting the tone saying he feels loose. that was the looseiest, edgiest performance i have seen him do. comedians will usually go that's funny. i was belly laughing throughout. it was not really just the president's routine, but it was a routine a comedian would do saying dick cheney is the worst president ever. it's stuff i wish i came up with. >> the bucket list. that's going to be trending. >> and hillary clinton. talking about one of his friends, his one friend who has been making so much money of late and now living in iowa out of a van. that was hysterical. >> he did it in reverse. usually he'll start

i raise a glass to them and all of you for the words of the american foreign correspondents' dorothy thompsonss a way to liberty is exercised that determines whether liberty itself survives. thank you for your devotion and exercising liberty and telling our american story. god bless you, god bless the united states of america. [applause] christi: before i introduce our final speaker, let me take a moment to acknowledge several people whose assistance and friendship has been so valuable during this year. i want to thank the people sitting at the head table, the eight members of the board. they fight hard every day at the white house to do their jobs with excellence and to help you do yours. [applause] i especially want to thank vice president carol lee. nobody fights harder than carol. she is a fierce advocate for press freedom and she will be your president next year. [applause] i want to acknowledge our incredible executive director, julia. julia, thank you for keeping this association's heart in the right place for so many years. [applause] thank you, george, our lawyer. for your insightful

i raise a glass to them and all of you with the words of the american foerpts correspondent dorothy thompsonbut the way in which liberty is exercised that ultimately determines whether liberty itself survives. thank you for your devotion to exercising our liberty and to telling our american story. god bless you, god bless the united states of america. [ applause ] >>> before i introduce our final speaker let me take a moment to acknowledge the hard work of several people whose assistance and friendship have been so valuable during this past year. i want to thank the people sitting at the head table, the eight members of the whca board. they fight hard every day at the white house to do their jobs with excellence and to help you do yours. [ applause ] i especially want to thank vice president carol lee. no one fights harder for what she believes is right than carol. [ applause ] she is a fierce advocate for press freedom and she will be your president next year. [ applause ] i want to acknowledge our incredible executive director julia wiston. julia, thank. >> you're watching the washington c

i raise a glass to them and all of you, with the words of the american foreign correspondent dorothy thompsonbut the way in which liberty is exercised that ultimately determines whether liberty itself survives. thank you for your devotion to exercising our liberty and to telling our american story. god bless you. god bless the united states of america. [ applause ] >> president barack obama delivering his remarks, opening with a lot of jokes, including his anger translator coming out and then turning and taking a much more serious note, talking about journalists, american journalists, who have lost their lives, james foley, steven sotloff, trying to shed light into the darkest corners, talking about the importance of the media especially in the world today. also talking about "the washington post" journalist in prison in tehran, whose brother is there. we'll wait for cecily strong to speak. let's get your reactions. >> in the words of the president, bucket. i like that. i thought it was edgy, it was biting, it was what a lot of it what i hoped another comic would do. he did a great job. i tho