President Barack Obama delivered his annual year-end news conference from the White House Friday, shortly before leaving for a Hawaii vacation for the holidays. 

Obama vowed that he will try to undertake an overhaul of the tax system with the new Republican majorities in Congress. He says the "devil is in the details."

He says the tax system needs to be simpler and fairer. He says some corporations engage in tax avoidance while others pay full freight. He also says he would like to combine tax changes with money for capital works projects.

Obama also addressed Sony Hackers, saying that the U.S. will respond "proportionally" to North Korea's punishing hack of Sony Pictures Entertainment at a place, time and manner "that we choose." The FBI announced earlier Friday that North Korea was responsible.

The president changed gears to talk about Cuba. He said it will likely be a while before Capitol Hill begins a debate about possibly lifting the trade embargo with Cuba, which must be done by Congress. 

Just two days before, Obama made the surprise announcement that he was moving to restore diplomatic relations with Cuba after half a century of Cold War acrimony.