Obama sets off White House metal detector

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WASHINGTON, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama set off metal detectors Friday as he inspected a gatehouse on his way back to the White House from a party at Blair House.

"I just wanted to see what it was like getting in here," Obama said. "I think I beeped a couple of times."

Obama shook hands with gatehouse guards at the Northwest Gate and talked football as he returned to the White House from a holiday party with National Security Council staff across Pennsylvania Avenue at Blair House.

As Obama walked through the metal detector, it went off. A guard told him his cellphone probably was the culprit.

Earlier, former U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., was spotted emerging from the White House.

Obama declined to answer shouted questions about the latest Republican tax cut bill.