He asks the press secretary "has he considered it", which she knows is a trap -- sooner or later the reporter can escalate it into her asking the President if he's considered it. And as soon as she asks him that, it will be factually true that he will have "considered it", since the thought of that as an option will have been in his mind. At which point the reporter can write the story he wanted to write, saying "the President has considered calling a lame-duck session of Congress..."