Quotables

‘I can walk and chew gum at the same time.’

Chris Christie, governor of New Jersey, in response to a question about whether he might run for president in 2016, which if he wins reelection could fall in the midst of his second term as governor.

‘This is the most closed, control-freak administration I’ve ever covered.’

David Sanger, veteran Washington reporter for The New York Times, on the Obama administration’s lack of transparency and crackdown against some government officials who speak to the press. Washington Post reporter Dana Priest told the Committee to Protect Journalists: “People think they’re looking at reporters’ records. I’m writing fewer things in e-mail. I’m even afraid to tell officials what I want to talk about because it’s all going into one giant computer.”

‘$178 million’

The amount of money the U.S. State Department is spending on an embassy compound under construction in Benin in West Africa. The department is also planning to spend $130 million to build a new embassy compound in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania.

‘I needed a little more time to fully run the show into the ground.’

Talk show host David Letterman, 66, on CBS’ extension of his contract for his late-night show through 2015. Letterman has been with CBS for 20 years.

‘This is excruciatingly embarrassing for the White House and the Department of Health and Human Services. … I hope they fire some people that were in charge of making sure this thing was supposed to work.’

Robert Gibbs, former press secretary for President Obama, on the bungled rollout of Obamacare in early October.