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President-elect Barack Obama today offered kind words for President Bush's work on AIDS in Africa in videotaped remarks to the Saddleback Civil Forum on Global Health.

At the Washington DC forum marking the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day, Obama said he "salute[s] President Bush for his leadership in crafting a plan for AIDS relief in Africa and backing it up with funding dedicated to saving lives and preventing the spread of the disease."

The president-elect vowed to "continue this critical work to address the crisis around the world."

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President-elect Barack Obama today offered kind words for President Bush's work on AIDS in Africa in videotaped remarks to the Saddleback Civil Forum on Global Health.

At the Washington DC forum marking the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day, Obama said he "salute[s] President Bush for his leadership in crafting a plan for AIDS relief in Africa and backing it up with funding dedicated to saving lives and preventing the spread of the disease."

The president-elect vowed to "continue this critical work to address the crisis around the world."

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Reviews are flooding in on President-elect Obama’s selections for his national security and foreign policy team but one in particular stuck out of the in-box – a statement from former President Bill Clinton, who was quick to laud the selection of his wife, Hillary Clinton, to be Secretary of State. Here’s the full text:

As an American, I am thankful that President-elect Barack Obama has asked Hillary to be Secretary of State and that she has accepted. As her husband, I am deeply proud.

She is the right person for the job of helping to restore America's image abroad, end the war in Iraq, advance peace and increase our security, by building a future for our children with more partners and fewer adversaries, one of shared responsibilities and opportunities.

She has already earned the respect of foreign leaders and diplomats through her work to promote human rights and the empowerment of women through access to education, healthcare and economic opportunity. And Americans know, from her leadership in the Senate on national security, that she will always put the security, values and the interests of our people first.

In her service to the people of New York and our nation, Hillary has demonstrated the knowledge, passion, resilience, and capacity to learn that our country needs at this critical time. She loves being a Senator from New York, but as she has in all the thirty-seven years I've known her, she answered the call to serve. I commend President-Elect Obama for asking her to be a part of a great national security team. America will be well-served.

Barack Obama will sit down with John McCain Monday for the first meeting between the former rivals since Election Day.

Obama-Biden transition spokesperson Stephanie Cutter released a statement early Friday morning announcing the planned meeting, which will take place in Chicago at Obama transition headquarters.

"It's well known that they share an important belief that Americans want and deserve a more effective and efficient government, and will discuss ways to work together to make that a reality," Cutter said in the statement.

She added that the pair will be joined in the meeting by Senator Lindsey Graham, a close friend of McCain who regularly appeared him on the campaign trail, and Congressman Rahm Emanual, who will be Obama's White House chief of staff.

When Barack Obama promised in his presidential acceptance speech to get his daughters a puppy, it set off a flurry of speculation, particularly online, about just what kind of puppy the family would bring to the White House.

Some observers have made the case for their favorite breeds, while others said the president-elect should seek out a mutt. Many argued that Obama should set an example by getting the dog from a shelter instead of looking to a breeder.

Obama addressed the puppy question in his first press conference as president-elect today. Noting that the debate over what sort of dog her should get had generated major discussion on his Web site, the president-elect jokingly called it a "major issue."

"We have two criteria that have to be reconciled," Obama said. "One is that [daughter] Malia is allergic so it has to be hypoallergenic."

Obama added that while many breeds are hypoallergenic, he would prefer to adopt a dog from a shelter. The problem?

"A lot of shelter dogs are mutts, like me," Obama said. "So whether we're going to be able to balance those two things, I think, is a pressing issue on the Obama household."

Barack Obama sat down for an interview with MTV's Sway that aired today, and one of the questions he was asked concerned a ban on sagging pants.

"Do feel like people should be penalized?" Sway asked.

"Here is my attitude: I think people passing a law against people wearing sagging pants is a waste of time," Obama responded. "We should be focused on creating jobs, improving our schools, health care, dealing with the war in Iraq, and anybody, any public official, that is worrying about sagging pants probably needs to spend some time focusing on real problems out there. Having said that, brothers should pull up their pants."

He continued: "You are walking by your mother, your grandmother, your underwear is showing. What's wrong with that? Come on. There are some issues that we face, that you don't have to pass a law, but that doesn't mean folks can't have some sense and some respect for other people and, you know, some people might not want to see your underwear — I'm one of them."

On Monday, both the "Evening News" and "Early Show" will broadcast an interview with Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama. One question from the forthcoming interview appeared on the Evening News Sunday night, and it concerned reports that Obama's aunt lives in the U.S. illegally. Here's the full exchange:

Katie Couric: You have an aunt who's been living in this country apparently illegally, and your campaign says any and all appropriate laws should be followed. So would you support her being deported to Kenya?

Barack Obama: If she is violating laws those laws have to be obeyed. We're a nation of laws. Obviously that doesn't lessen my concern for her, I haven't been able to be in touch with her. But I'm a strong believer you have to obey the law.

House Republican leader John Boehner uttered what the Associated Press called "a vulgar expression" Wednesday while discussing Barack Obama's voting record in Illinois.

While campaigning for John McCain, Boehner said Obama's failure to vote yes or no 129 times while a state lawmaker – opting instead to vote "present" – meant he was a "chickens---."

Boehner said that quality was the last thing America needed in a president.

"The point that Boehner was making was that Barack Obama has consistently avoided making tough decisions and taking tough votes, and voters need to know that," Boehner spokesman Jessica Towhey told AP. She said the Republican wasn't actually calling Obama the term, which Boehner used while speaking to about 100 people in Ohio, mostly Republican college students.

Obama voted present about 3.5 percent of the time as a state senator.

"In Congress we have a red button, a green button and a yellow button, all right. Green means 'yes,' 'red' means no, and 'yellow' means you're a chickens---," Boehner said. The comment resulted in the loudest applause of the event.

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On a conference call this morning, Obama campaign manager David Plouffe told reporters that his campaign is expanding advertising into three states in which few expected the Democratic nominee to be competitive: North Dakota, Georgia, and John McCain's home state of Arizona.

McCain has represented Arizona in Congress for 26 years, but recent polls have shown Obama by just the low single digits in the state.

Pressed on why the campaign was advertising in the three states when other battleground states remain tight, Plouffe said the polls were close enough to justify the effort. “We’re just going to give it a go in the last 4 days and see how close we can get it,” he said, adding that the campaign's push in the three states would not detract from its efforts in more traditional battlegrounds.

We wrote about the two spots now set to air in the three states, "Rearview Mirror" and "Something," yesterday. Check them out here.

"Something," which Plouffe referred to as a "positive closer," will be airing in Arizona. He said "Rearview Mirror," which links McCain to President Bush, will air in the other two states because "we've seen movement" there. He cited "highly encouraging" early voting numbers in Georgia and noted the campaign has organizations in all three states.

The Obama campaign would not release the size of the advertising buy.

On a conference call this morning, Obama campaign manager David Plouffe told reporters that his campaign is expanding advertising into three states in which few expected the Democratic nominee to be competitive: North Dakota, Georgia, and John McCain's home state of Arizona.

McCain has represented Arizona in Congress for 26 years, but recent polls have shown Obama trailing by just the low single digits in the state.

Pressed on why the campaign was advertising in the three states when other battleground states remain tight, Plouffe said the polls were close enough to justify the effort.

“We’re just going to give it a go in the last 4 days and see how close we can get it,” he said, adding that the campaign's push in the three states would not detract from its efforts in more traditional battlegrounds.

We wrote about the two spots now set to air in the three states, "Rearview Mirror" and "Something," yesterday. Check them out here.

"Something," which Plouffe referred to as a "positive closer," will be airing in Arizona. He said "Rearview Mirror," which links McCain to President Bush, will air in the other two states because "we've seen movement" there. He cited "highly encouraging" early voting numbers in Georgia and noted the campaign has organizations in all three states.

The Obama campaign would not release the size of the advertising buy.