Obama heading back to DC in rare vacation break

President Barack Obama is getting off the island.

In a rare move for him, the president planned a break in the middle of his Martha's Vineyard vacation to return to Washington on Sunday night for unspecified meetings with Vice President Joe Biden and other advisers.

The White House has been cagey about why the president needs to be back in Washington for those discussions.

Part of the decision appears aimed at countering criticism that Obama is spending two weeks on a resort island in the midst of so many foreign and domestic crises.

Yet those crises turned the first week of Obama's vacation into a working holiday. He made on-camera statements on US Military action in Iraq and the clashes between police and protesters in Ferguson, Missouri. He called foreign leaders to discuss the tensions between Ukraine and Russia, as well as between Israel and Hamas

"I think it's fair to say there are, of course, ongoing complicated situations in the world, and that's why you've seen the president stay engaged," White House spokesman Eric Schultz said.

Obama is scheduled to return to Martha's Vineyard on Tuesday and stay through next weekend.

Even though work has occupied much of Obama's first week on vacation, he still found plenty of time to golf, go to the beach with his family and go out to dinner on the island.

He also attended a birthday party for Democratic adviser Vernon Jordan's wife, where he spent time with former President Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton

That get-together between the former rivals-turned-partners added another complicated dynamic to Obama's vacation. Just as Obama was arriving on Martha's Vineyard, an interview with the former secretary of state was published in which she levied some of her sharpest criticism of Obama's foreign policy.

Clinton later promised she and Obama would "hug it out" when they saw each other at Jordan's party. No reporters were allowed in, so it's not clear whether there was any hugging, but the White House said the president danced to nearly every song.

KERRY WASHINGTON GIVES BIRTH TO BABY GIRL WITH HUSBAND NNAMDI ASOMUGHA

It's a girl for Kerry Washington and retired NFL player Nnamdi Asomugha.

A birth certificate released Friday shows the couple's daughter Isabelle Amarachi Asomugha was born around 5 p.m. on April 21 in Los Angeles. The parents haven't

announced the baby publicly. Washington's publicist Amanda Silverman said no statement was available.

Washington is the Emmy-nominated star of the ABC series "Scandal." The show's third season was cut short after the 37-year-old actress became pregnant.

Asomugha, a former cornerback with the Oakland Raiders, Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers, announced his retirement last year.

California Gov. Jerry Brown on Legal Pot: 'We Need to Stay Alert'

California Gov. Jerry Brown said Sunday that legalizing recreational marijuana could make states and the nation less competitive if too many people are lighting up. When asked if legalization was right for California, Brown, who just announced that he's seeking a fourth term, told David Gregory on NBC's "Meet the Press" that he wants to see Colorado and Washington — two states that have legalized pot — "show us how it's going to work." "How many people can get stoned and still have a great state or a great nation? The world's pretty dangerous, very competitive. I think we need to stay alert, if not 24 hours a day, more than some of the potheads might be able to put together," Brown said. He said that California has medical marijuana, "which gets very close to what they have in Colorado and Washington." California voted to legalize medical marijuana use in 1996. Brown, 75, who was interviewed remotely from San Francisco, also talked about California's historic drought, climate change and his political career. The Democrat said he expects former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to nab the party's presidential nod in 2016. "She's got more experience, both domestic and international," Brown said. "I mean, it's her nomination if she wants it, as far as I'm concerned."