Obama On Economic Crisis, Transition

Also Discusses National Security, Iraq, And His Cabinet In 60 Minutes Interview

(CBS)  Since Barack Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States 12 days ago, he has largely remained out of sight, getting high-level government briefings and conferring with his transition team. But he surfaced on Friday afternoon in Chicago, alongside his wife Michelle to give 60 Minutes his first post-election interview.

It covers a wide range of subjects including the economy, the ailing automobile industry, the government's $700 billion bailout program, their visit to the White House, the emotions of election night and the quest for a family dog. You'll hear all of it. But we begin with the president-elect and his thoughts about the new job.

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Steve Kroft: So here we are.

President-elect Barack Obama: Here we are.

Kroft: How's your life changed in the last ten days?

Mr. Obama: Well, I tell you what, there seem to be more people hovering around me. That's for sure. And, on the other hand, I'm sleeping in my own bed over the last ten days, which is quite a treat. Michelle always wakes up earlier than I do. So listen to her roaming around and having the girls come in and, you know, jump in your bed. It's a great feeling. Yeah.

Kroft: Has this been easier than the campaign trail?

Mr. Obama: Well, it's different. I think that during the campaign it is just a constant frenetic, forward momentum. Here, I'm stationary. But the issues come to you. And we've got a lot of work to do. We've got a lot of problems, a lot of big challenges.

Kroft: Have there been moments when you've said, 'What did I get myself into?'

Mr. Obama: Surprisingly enough, I feel right now that I'm doing what I should be doing. That gives me a certain sense of calm. I will say that the challenges that we're confronting are enormous. And they're multiple. And so there are times during the course of a given a day where you think, 'Where do I start?'

Kroft: What have you been concentrating on this week?

Mr. Obama: Couple of things. Number one, I think it's important to get a national security team in place because transition periods are potentially times of vulnerability to a terrorist attack. We wanna make sure that there is as seamless a transition on national security as possible. Obviously the economy. Talking to top economic advisors about how we're gonna create jobs, how we get the economy back on track and what do we do in terms of some long-term issues like energy and healthcare. And how do we sequence those things in a way that we can actually get things through Congress?

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The Obamas On Their Personal Transition
Obamas On Picking The Presidential Pooch

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Kroft: Are you in sync with Secretary Paulson in terms of how the $700 billion is being used?

Mr. Obama: Well, look, Hank Paulson has worked tirelessly under some very difficult circumstances. We've got an unprecedented crisis, or at least something that we have not seen since the Great Depression. And I think Hank would be the first one to acknowledge that probably not everything that's been done has worked the way he had hoped it would work. But I'm less interested in looking backwards than I am in looking forwards.

Kroft: The government has spent almost $300 billion out of the TARP program.

Mr. Obama: Right.

Kroft: Money that was set aside to help the financial industry. And nothing much has changed if you look at it. Nothing much has changed. It’s $300 billion. Why is that?

Mr. Obama: I think the part of the way to think about it is things could be worse. I mean, we could have seen a lot more bank failures over the last several months. We could have seen an even more rapid deterioration of the economy, even a bigger drop in the stock market. So part of what we have to measure against is what didn't happen and not just what has happened.

Having said that, there's no doubt that we have not been able yet to reset the confidence in the financial markets and in the consumer markets and among businesses that allow the economy to move forward in a strong way. And my job as president is gonna be to make sure that we restore that confidence.

[texasrambler]

I found Steve Kroft to be unprofessional in his interview with President Obama in one instance, his response to the president's breaking into laughter when talking about bailing out the auto companies and its unpopularity. He appeared to grow angry in response and, insultingly, asked the President if he were "punch drunk." I am a professional social worker now retired, with nearly 20 years' experience as an investigator for Child Protective Services in my home state of Texas. In that capacity I have interviewed literally thousands of people, children and adults, and never once found insulting the subject of the interview to be a productive interview technique. Mr. Kroft, I think, needs a refresher course in appropriate, non-arrogant, interviewing techniques. Perhaps his superiors can suggest some to him. I found President Obama's response to that one question to be rather odd, but otherwise harmless and found the bulk of the interview to be very informative. Mr. Kroft owes President Obama an apology for his rudeness.

Who is Obama''s eminence grise?

[tonykim42]

Steve Kroft, CBS News did not ask Obama how $150,000,000.00 donation from UAW to Obama%u2019s election
helped the big 3 auto industries to avoid their bankruptcy: The executives of 3 big auto industries have been
mismanaging their extreme resources last 30 years just like Obama had been taking
advantage of the honorable Federal Student Loan System till he decided to run for the presidency!

Neither Steve Kroft, CBS News did ask Obama how Obama%u2019s life time taking
advantage of the honorable Federal Student Loan System helped the executives of Fannie
Mae & Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers, Bear Sterns and AIG to avoid their taking advantage
of the Washington for the duration of their organizations!

Nor Steve Kroft, CBS News did remind Obama how %u201CThe drop hollows the stone,
not by its force, but by its frequency%u201D.

[rcjonesy1]

Kill the bear market, invest in the future of energy, and help president-elect Obama push the Pickens Plan through congress!

We need American Energy Independence Now!

[lalabradle]

i see mr. change is filling his cabinet with the same tired garbage that have destroyed our country. with a citizenry stupid and gullible enough to think he represented change we have no hope. have fun eating your ipods and flat screen tv''''s you idiots.


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Posted by jizzumjim at 10:00 AM : Nov 19, 2008
+ report abuse

Sorry, but the team that he is putting together came from the Clinton administration which is one of the better admins we had. It is also said that he is the most organized president-elect in history. Whether you agree or not, be it lack of experience or whatever he''s backing himself with the best professionals in the fields necessary to get this country back on track.

[lalabradle]

People are more sick of what goes on in urban areas then they truly are racist. For example, In almost all urban school districts more money is spent per head on each child then in their nearby suburbs. The country has spent trillions on poverty and yet nothing seems to improve.

I submit that many people you think are racists are primarily just sick to death of the Urban areas in the country and the continued problems they have. I know I am.


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Posted by CPelzar at 03:52 PM : Nov 17, 2008

They may be getting more money per head in the urban schools, but they are not putting the money back into those schools. A lot of schools here in California are overcrowded and some don''t have enough books or desks to go around. It is ridiculous. Yeah, somebody is reaping the benefits, but it''s not the kids.

[lalabradle]

Okay, for one, we have had nothing but white presidents and our world is not better for it. Obama is going to bring this country together under all Americans. He is going to change the way that this country deals with all Americans. And for those of you who want to talk about your forefathers and their vision for the U.S., their vision did not include all Americans, only white Americans. If Christianity was part of that vision, black people would not have been slaves. Let Obama get in the White House first. All of you who feel the need to accept what Al Qaeda has to say about him are the ones who do not want him to succeed. The GOP and its followers can overlook the mess that their white president has put us in, yet they have nothing but negativity for a black man, an American who hasn''t even began his term yet.

[mae66-2009]

Flobby2,

It is not, as you say, "entirely inaccurate" to call Barack our first black President. Even if you consider him to be bi-racial (half-black, half-white), he is still part black. So, how could it be "entirely inaccurate" to say that he is our first black President? It would only be "entirely inaccuate" if he was not black at all!

Anyway, I find it interesting that people like you want to now try to distinguish between people that are "totally black (both parents are black)" and people who are "half black (one parent is black and the other parent is white)"! Before now (before Barack won the Presidency), most people considered anyone who is half-black and half-white to be "black". Now, all of a sudden, people want to make this "bi-racial" distinction!

He says that his race is "black"! And, that is good enough for me! Because, like Barack said, "Racist people don''t look at a bi-racial person on the street and say, "There goes a bi-racial person, they say, there goes a black person"! I agree with Barack! Why is it when it is looking at black people (including bi-racial people who are part-black) who have done something negative, people consider them to be totally black, but if a black person who is bi-racial has done something positive, they are consiered to be bi-racial?

[olivia4441]

When millions of Americans as well as billions of people world-wide woke up the morning after Barack Obama was elected President, they probably expected the dawn of a new age. Sorry to disappoint all you Obama-kool-aid drinkers, but America''s enemies still hate us and do so regardless who occupies the White House.

This morning our friends from Al-Qaida posted a message on militant websites aimed at persuading Arabs and Muslims to not believe that Obama''s election will change U.S. policies. While I have sounded the alarm bell that an Obama Presidency will weaken America and be detrimental to the State of Israel, my argument that our enemies hate us because of our freedom and tolerance, regardless of our leadership and policies, stands proven.

If Islamofacists had any goal besides destroying America and the Western World, they surely would have embraced Obama''s opposition to the war, determination to remove our troops in Iraq and his sympathy for the Palestinians. Instead they decide to insult him with racial epithets, calling him a "House Slave" in Arabic and referring to him as a "House Negro" in the video subtitles.


NOTHING CHANGES, BUT YOUR AGE.

[olivia4441]

jizzumjim: I concur. A sad country with their head so far up their sorry A-- it is almost funny.