This
Sunday, David Gregory sits down exclusively with President Barack
Obama. This will be Mr. Obama's 11th appearance on the program, his
second time as the commander in chief. In the midst of fierce fiscal
cliff negotiations, we’ll hear directly from the president about where
things stand and whether a compromise is even possible. Plus, David will
talk with him about other key issues facing the country as he prepares
to begin his second term in office.
His most recent appearance was
on Sept. 20, 2009 in the Roosevelt Room of the White House. At the
time, the health care reform fight was center stage in Washington and
the President joined MTP to make his case for the overhaul. Watch the
full interview below.
updated 07/25/04
11:22:26 AM ET
MR. RUSSERT: But first, the man who will give the keynote address here in Boston
on Tuesday night, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate from
Illinois, Barack Obama. Welcome.
STATE REP. BARACK OBAMA: Thank you so much for having me.
MR. RUSSERT: What do you hope to achieve on Tuesday night?
STATE REP. OBAMA: What I'd like to do is talk about the vision the
Democratic Party has for this country. You know, I think that there's
enormous strength in the country, enormous resilience in the country,
but people are struggling, and as I've been traveling throughout
Illinois over the last 18 months, what I've been seeing are people who
are concerned about their economic security, concerned about their
ability to pay for their health care, their kids, sending them to
college, and if we can project an optimistic vision that says we can be
stronger at home, more respected abroad, and that John Kerry has the
message and the strength to lead us in that fashion, then I think we'll
be successful.
MR. RUSSERT: In 1988, a young man from Arkansas named Bill Clinton
gave a nominating speech. It went on for 33 minutes. At the 31st minute
he said, "In closing," and the place erupted in applause. How long is
your speech?
STATE REP. OBAMA: It will be less than 20 minutes, closer to 15.
MR. RUSSERT: Let me show you something that you said to the Atlantic
Monthly, which comes out tomorrow. "`Sometimes Kerry just doesn't have
that oomph,' [Obama] said, punctuating the thought with a tight-lipped
shake of the head and a clenched fist."
What does that mean?
STATE REP. OBAMA: Well, I think that, you know, early on in the
campaign, and this was an interview that took place several months ago,
you hadn't gotten a sense of John Kerry as the man, and I think this
convention is going to be consolidating the impression that we've been
getting over several months that this is somebody who's going to be
fighting for working families, somebody who has the strength to lead
internationally. This is somebody who has the life experience as a
soldier, as a prosecutor, as a lieutenant governor, and for two decades
as a U.S. senator, who is as well prepared as any candidate has ever
been to lead our country to the kinds of promise that I think all of us
hope for.
MR. RUSSERT: Is he too cautious?
STATE REP. OBAMA: I don't think he's too cautious. I think that
when you run for president, it takes some time to ramp up. And this is
somebody who historically has always hit his marks when it counted. And I
think what we're going to see at this convention during the next
several days is people really getting an impression of his strength, his
ability to lead, and I think that the viewers who are just starting to
tune into politics during the convention time, I think this is a
demarcation point where people can arouse themselves and say, you know,
"Let's take a look at the candidate seriously." I think they're going
to be very impressed with what they see.
MR. RUSSERT: Traditionally, the keynoter is a governor, a senator, a
congressman. You're the first state legislator in the history of the
party. The New York Times said this today: "Already seen as a rising
star within the party, Mr. Obama could win wide acclaim or dim his
fortunes."
Are you nervous?
STATE REP. OBAMA: You know, I used to play basketball, and if you
weren't a little nervous before the big game, you probably wouldn't play
a good game. So I think the adrenaline's going to be pumping, but I
think we're going to be well prepared. I'm very happy with the speech.
And what I'm going to be trying to do is tell the stories that I'm
hearing on the campaign trail about workers who are being laid off and
are looking for jobs that can support their families, about young women
and men who want to go to college, have the will, the drive, but don't
have the money. If I'm as eloquent as they are when they tell me what
their hopes and dreams are, then I think I'll be successful.
MR. RUSSERT: You wrote a book about your life, "Dreams From My
Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance." It's quite interesting.
Your dad was from Kenya.
STATE REP. OBAMA: That's correct.
MR. RUSSERT: Your mom was a white woman from Kansas.
STATE REP. OBAMA: Right.
MR. RUSSERT: They were married in Hawaii.
STATE REP. OBAMA: Right.
MR. RUSSERT: Your dad and mom named you Barack, which is Swahili for "Blessed by God"?
STATE REP. OBAMA: Right. Yeah. It's a typical biography for an Illinois politician.
MR. RUSSERT: But your dad left and you were two years old.
STATE REP. OBAMA: Yeah. Yeah.
MR. RUSSERT: And you were raised by a white mom and white grandparents.
STATE REP. OBAMA: Yeah. Right.
MR. RUSSERT: What was it like being someone who was part African-American being raised by white parents?
STATE REP. OBAMA: Yeah. Well, you know, fortunately, I think, it
was in Hawaii, which is a state that is known for its diversity of
cultures. And as a consequence, I think I had the benefit of not having
some of the polarization that was taking place during the middle and
early '60s as a child. And it wasn't until I got older where I think I
had to grapple with some of those issues of identity. And I write about
it in the book, the fact that I went through an adolescent rebellion
that embraced some of the worst stereotypes of young African-American
men, and rejected school, dabbled in drugs, didn't focus on my future.
But, fortunately, I think that my family had such strong values, very
much Midwestern values, that I pulled out of that fun
k, and was able to
succeed in the future.
And part of the reason I wanted to write about this book was to
indicate that my story is not that unusual. There are young men and
young women all across the country who have enormous potential but don't
always have the second chance, and the helping hand that I had. And
that's what I think John Kerry and John Edwards are going to be talking
about during this convention.
MR. RUSSERT: Do you think the Democratic Party selected you in part
because they wanted to present an African-American young rising
politician?
STATE REP. OBAMA: Well, I think that John Kerry cares a lot about
diversity in the party. And I think that certainly made a difference. I
also think that the manner in which we won our primary in Illinois was a
hopeful sign, because the conventional wisdom was that I would get the
black vote and then a sliver of white vote, and instead we won in places
people didn't expect us to win, in suburban areas, in rural areas. And
it indicates that people are really ready for a message for change.
What they want is somebody who has a positive message, who has a tone in
their politics that says, "We can disagree
with the other side without being disagreeable." And I think that's
the kind of message that John Kerry is going to be projecting at the
convention during this week.
MR. RUSSERT: President Bush did not go to the NAACP convention...
STATE REP. OBAMA: Right.
MR. RUSSERT: ...but did go to the Urban League...
STATE REP. OBAMA: Right.
MR. RUSSERT: ...where he tried to give some advice to African-American voters. Let's listen.
(Videotape, Friday):
PRES. GEORGE W. BUSH: I'm going to ask African-American voters to
consider some questions. Does the Democrat Party take African-American
voters for granted?
Is it a good thing for the African-American community to be represented mainly by one political party? A legitimate question.
(End videotape)
MR. RUSSERT: Does the Democratic Party take African-American voters for granted?
STATE REP. OBAMA: I don't think the Democratic Party takes the
African-American voters for granted. Now, I'm happy that the president
spoke at the Urban League. I think he should have spoke at the NAACP. I
want Republicans to compete for the African-American vote. I think the
reason that they're not getting the African-American vote--it's not
because African-Americans aren't open-minded, it's because the Democrats
have consistently championed those issues, civil rights issues, voting
rights issues, concern for working families that are of greatest concern
to African-American voters. And I think
that speeches are good, but ultimately people want to see people
walking the walk and not just talking the talk. And that's what--when
you look at John Kerry's record and John Edwards' record, they represent
the kinds of policies that are of importance to African-Americans, and I
think that's the reason they're going to do very well in the
African-American community.
MR. RUSSERT: In the state of Illinois, 77 percent, three out of four, black children born are born to unmarried mothers.
STATE REP. OBAMA: It's heartbreaking.
MR. RUSSERT: What do you do about that?
STATE REP. OBAMA: Well, I think that some of it is just making sure
that African-American men have access to jobs. And, you know, there's
been the devastation as we lose manufacturing across the state of
Illinois that disproportionately hurts African-Americans, blue-collar
workers, who used to be able to support a family with an unskilled job.
That's no longer possible. So we got to have a base of economic
security within the African-American community and in other communities
in order to build strong families.
There's also the cultural component that I think I'm happy to talk
about when I'm in the community. You know, we have to make sure that
we're taking responsibility for our children, we have to make sure that
we're encouraging high achievement. And one of the things that I try to
avoid is this either/or approach to solving the problems of this
country. I think there are questions of individual responsibility, but I
think that there are also questions of societal responsibility that
have to be dealt with.
MR. RUSSERT: Bill Cosby, as you well know, was in Chicago a few weeks ago and talked about this.
STATE REP. OBAMA: Right.
MR. RUSSERT: Let me share that with our viewers and come back and talk about it.
STATE REP. OBAMA: Absolutely.
(Videotape, July 1, 2004):
MR. BILL COSBY: Hey, men, let me tell you something. Your dirty
laundry gets out of school at 2:30 every day. It's cursing and it's
calling each other niggers as they walk up and down the street. They
think they're hip, they can't read, they can't write, 50 percent of
them. They take it into the candy store. They put themselves on the
train and on the buses and they don't even care what color or what age
somebody else is. It's about them and their cursing and grabbing each
other and laughing and giggling and going nowhere. And the book bags
are very, very thin 'cause there's no books in them.
(End videotape)
MR. RUSSERT: Very strong language.
STATE REP. OBAMA: Right.
MR. RUSSERT: Do you agree with it?
STATE REP. OBAMA: I understand the basic premise that Bill Cosby was
talking about, and I think he's right about it, which is what I just
spoke about, that there's got to be an element of individual
responsibility and communal responsibility for the uplift of the people
in inner-city communities. And, you know, the best example I think is
an education. He mentioned the issue of the book bags are thin. One of
the things that when I speak to parents, I say, "I'm going to insist on
making sure that we've got decent funding, that we've got enough
teachers, that we've got computers in the classroom, but unless you turn
off the television set and get over a certain anti-intellectualism that
I think pervades some low-income communities, our children are not
going to achieve."
MR. RUSSERT: That's what Cosby said. It's the parents. He said
they're buying their kids $500 sneakers but won't spend $200 for Hooked
On Phonics.
STATE REP. OBAMA: Well--and I think that it's legitimate for public
figures to talk about these issues. It's not a function of being liberal
or conservative. I think it's just common sense. We have to also hold
our government accountable for making sure that we've got the kinds of
support that parents and children need to succeed, and that's one of the
things that's going to be focused on I think at this convention. John
Kerry cares about the values of America. He has faith in communities
and their ability to work to better themselves, but he also knows that
government has a role to play in making America strong.
MR. RUSSERT: But mothers and fathers should be accountable and responsible for their children.
STATE REP. OBAMA: Absolutely.
MR. RUSSERT: Let's me turn to the war in Iraq. Do you believe that it will be a central issue in this campaign?
STATE REP. OBAMA: I think it's going to be important. As I travel
around the state, one of the things that is striking is that this is the
first war I think since the Vietnam War where every community,
particularly in rural areas and in downstate Illinois, are directly
affected. They've got reservists, National Guardsmen, the sons,
daughters, uncles, aunts of people who are over there for 18 months.
They don't see an exit strategy. I think they're deeply troubled in
retrospect about how we got into the war, and I think that one of the
most important things that John Kerry is going to have to offer is the
ability for his
administration to be able to set a new tone, re-establish the kinds
of relationships with our allies that allow us to internationalize the
reconstruction process, make sure that Iraq succeeds and allow our
troops eventually to get out.
MR. RUSSERT: In 2002 in October, you gave a speech at an anti-war
rally and said this. "
What I am opposed to is the attempt by potential
hacks like Karl Rove"--the president's political adviser--
"to distract
us from a rise in the uninsured, a rise in the poverty rate, a drop in
the median income - to distract us from corporate scandals and a stock
market that has just gone through the worst month since the Great
Depression. That's what I'm opposed to. A dumb war. A rash war. A
war based not on reason but on passion, not on principle but on
politics." You seem to say that George Bush took a country to war, lost nearly 900 Americans, 5,000 wounded and injured on politics?
STATE REP. OBAMA: What I think is that it was an ideologically
driven war. I think that George Bush was sincere and is sincere about
his desire to maintain a strong America, but I think there was a
single-mindedness to this process that has led our country into a very
difficult position. It's a consequence of that single-mindedness that
we did not create the kind of international framework that would have
allowed
success once we decided to go in. And I think that John Kerry is
going to be establishing those relationships that allow us now, looking
forward, to execute in Iraq and make sure that we are respected abroad
and succeed in the difficult but now bipartisan process of making sure
that we have a stable Iraqi government.
MR. RUSSERT: But you're not charging that President Bush sent men and women to die for political reasons?
STATE REP. OBAMA: No, I don't think that's the case. As I said, I
think that this administration is sincere but I think it's misguided.
MR. RUSSERT: You also said this:
"...I also know that Saddam
possesses no imminent and direct threat to the United States, or to his
neighbors, that the Iraqi economy is in shambles, that the Iraqi
military a fraction of its former strength, and that in concert with the
international community he can be contained until, in the way of all
petty dictators, he falls away into the dustbin of history."
The nominee of your party, John Kerry, the nominee for vice
president, John Edwards, all said he was an imminent threat. They voted
to authorize George Bush to go to war. How could they have been so
wrong and you so right as a state legislator in Illinois and they're on
the Foreign Relations and Intelligence committees in Washington?
STATE REP. OBAMA: Well, I think they have access to information that
I did not have. And what is absolutely clear is that John Kerry said,
"If we go into war, let's make sure that we do it right. Let's make
sure that our troops are supported. Let's make sure that we have the
kind of coalition that's necessary to succeed." And the execution of
what was a difficult choice to make was something that all of us have to
be concerned about. And moving forward, the only way that we're going
to be able to succeed is if, I think, we have an administration led by
John Kerry that's going to allow us to consolidate the relationships with our allies that bring about investment in Iraq.
MR. RUSSERT: But if you had been a senator at that time, you would have voted not to authorize President Bush to go to war?
STATE REP. OBAMA: I would have voted not to authorize the president given the facts as I saw them at that time.
MR. RUSSERT: So you disagree with John Kerry and John Edwards?
STATE REP. OBAMA: At that time, but, as I said, I wasn't there and
what is absolutely clear as we move forward is that if we don't have a
change in tone and a change in administration, I think we're going to
have trouble making sure that our troops are secure and that we succeed
in Iraq.
MR. RUSSERT: We can't withdraw the troops immediately?
STATE REP. OBAMA: I don't think so.
MR. RUSSERT: At the Chicago convention in 1996, you said something
that caught my eye.
"Chicagoans, [Mr. Obama] says, have grown
especially jaded watching the Democrats raise cash for this month's
national convention in Chicago. `The convention's for sale, right,'
Obama says.
`You got these $10,000-a-plate dinners"--Gold--"Circle
Clubs. I think when the average voter looks at that, they rightly feel
they've been locked out of the process. They can't attend a $10,000
breakfast.'" "`They know that those who can are going to get the kind
of access they can't imagine.'"
A hundred and fifty donors gave $40 million to this convention. It's
worse than Chicago, using your standards. Are you offended by that,
and what message does that send the average voter?
STATE REP. OBAMA: You know, I think that politics and money are a
problem in this country for both parties. And I don't think there's any
doubt about that. One of the things I'm proud about, though, is that
when you look at John Kerry's record, what you know is here's a person
who is consistently voting on behalf of what he thinks is best for
America and the country. I don't think a convention changes that. I do
think that the more we as Democrats can encourage participation from
people who, at this point feel locked out of the process, the stronger
we are. One of the strengths of our party has always been the fact that
we are closer to the average Joe, the guy who is trying to make a
living, the guy who's trying to send his kids to college and pay his bills. And
if we are actively reaching those folks and talking about the policies
that we have to make this a stronger country, to make us more respected
abroad, then I'm absolutely confident that we'll do well in November.
MR. RUSSERT: Is it possible to do that? You've raised $10 million
in your campaign. Won't those high-roller donors all have access to you
more than the little guy?
STATE REP. OBAMA: You know, one of the things I'm really proud of is
that our base of donors is mostly made up of people who gave us 25, 50,
$100 contributions. We've got about 15,000 people who contributed to
this campaign through a grass-roots effort. And so I feel very
confident, and I've got an eight-year track record in the state
Legislature to back it up, that when I vote on issues, and when I'm
listening to my constituents. What I'm looking for are the people who I
think need the most help and deserve the kinds of support that
government needs to provide them.
MR. RUSSERT: Are you going to be a liberal Democratic senator? The
Republican leader in the Legislature in Illinois said that you're to the
left of Mao Tse-tung.
STATE REP. OBAMA: Yeah. That was a little overblown, particularly
since I had co-sponsored about five bills with the guy. You know, the
rhetoric of Washington has filtered down into the state legislatures
across the country, but I'm really not somebody who's comfortable with
liberal-conservative labels. I think what the American people are
looking for are common-sense solutions. I think they want to get beyond
a lot of slash-and-burn politics.
I think one of the most encouraging things about John Kerry's
campaign is the degree of hopefulness, reflected in his choice of vice
president. I think he's got a story to tell about how we want to make
sure that every child in America can tell the same story I tell or the
same story you tell or the same story John Kerry tells. Which is that
this country remains the greatest on Earth, not because of the size of
our military or the size of our economy, but because every child can
actually achieve as much as they can dream. And that is what is most
exciting about this convention: thinking about how we can make that happen for more kids.
MR. RUSSERT: Barack Obama, we thank you for your views. We'll be
watching Tuesday night and we'll be watching your campaign between now
and November in Illinois for the U.S. Senate.
STATE REP. OBAMA: It was a great pleasure. Thank you so much.
