Security team, economy top priorities for Obama
WASHINGTON - President-elect Barack Obama said in an interview broadcast yesterday that since terrorists might try to attack the United States during the White House transition, selecting his national security team is one of his top priorities.
"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," Obama told CBS's "60 Minutes."
In his first television interview since his historic election, Obama said he has spent the days since the election on short- and long-term issues, from doing "whatever it takes" to stabilize the economy, restore consumer confidence, and create jobs, to getting sound healthcare and energy policies through Congress.
The president-elect also said that as soon as he takes office he will work with his security team and the military to draw down US troops in Iraq, shore up Afghanistan and "stamp out Al Qaeda once and for all."
While investors are still reeling, Obama said the economy would have deteriorated even more without the $700 billion bank bailout. Re-regulation is a legislative priority, he said, not to crush "the entrepreneurial spirit and risk-taking of American capitalism" but to "restore a sense of balance."
"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," Obama said. "And my job as president is going to be to make sure that we restore that confidence."
While "we have the tools," the president-elect said not enough has been done to address bank foreclosures and distressed homeowners. "We've got to set up a negotiation between banks and borrowers so that people can stay in their homes," Obama said. "That is going to have an impact on the economy as a whole."
Obama credited Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson for trying to remedy "an unprecedented crisis" the country hasn't seen since the Great Depression.
"Hank Paulson has worked tirelessly under some very difficult circumstances," Obama said. "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."
The president-elect confirmed reports that he intends to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, and she he would step up efforts to capture or kill Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
On a personal note, Obama said he has lost some privacy since being elected, including not being able to take a walk in his Chicago neighborhood.
Michelle Obama, who appeared with her husband, said she hopes the White House "will feel open and fun and full of life and energy" when the family moves in. 