Steve Kroft, 60 Minutes Interview With Barack Obama; How Did He Get It? WATCH CLIPS

Steve Kroft seems to have come from "no where" to get the Barack Obama exclusive for Sunday's '60 Minutes' on CBS. Sure, Kroft is a well-respected, highly-expereinced journalist on the only true "news" magazine left on network TV. But, one might have thought the first Obama interview would have gone to a cable newsie or an evening news anchor (Williams, Gibson or Couric). But.. Kroft? Here's is explanation to TVNewser.com
"We went and started working on a profile before he declared his candidacy," says 60 Minutes correspondent Steve Kroft of President-elect Barack Obama. "I can remember the first time we went to the Obama house, the little girls answered the door. It's not like that now."
Kroft is in Chicago finishing up the first post-election interview of the President-elect, which will air Sunday. He first interviewed then-Sen. Obama for 60 Minutes in February of 2007.
"I think that they were happy with the story we did, and I had a good rapport with the candidate," Kroft tells TVNewser. "And it was 60 Minutes. And as the campaign progressed, we were there at sort of every crucial stage.
"And they realized that it was a great opportunity for them, particularly at a time when they were concerned about getting the American people an opportunity to get to know the candidate."
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SUNDAY NIGHT UPDATE: OVERALL INTERVIEW
Kroft quickly dispensed of many important questions: the economy, the bailout, Iraq, the Cabinet, GM, etc. It felt a bit of a letdown. It felt like "let''s just get all of this out of the way early". While the interview as a whole allowed the Obamas to be real people. I really wanted to hear more substance about the plans for this country... substance that comes from reality for a President-elect and not campaign promises. It was great to hear and see more of the personal sides of the Obamas. But again, now is a critical time for action in the country. I watched the interview and had this nagging feeling that I just wanted more real answers, real substance. There were silly, basic questions like., "How has your life changed in the last 10 days?" Well... no shock. It's different. Give me better insight into what President Obama will do for me that George W. Bush has not.
Now... the first clip of the interview.


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HERE'S PART OF THE TRANSCRIPT FROM CBSNEWS.COM
On His Interaction With Paulson:
STEVE KROFT: Are you in sync with Secretary Paulson in terms of how the $700 billion is being used?
BARACK OBAMA: Well, look Hank Paulson has worked tirelessly under some very difficult circumstances…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. You know what we've done is we've assigned somebody on my transition team who interacts with him on a daily basis. And, you know, we are getting the information that's required and we're making suggestions in some circumstances about how we think they might approach some of these problems.
STEVE KROFT: Are they listening?
BARACK OBAMA: We'll find out. On Aiding The Auto Industry:
STEVE KROFT: The Congress has said there are not the votes in Congress to pass any kind of a relief package for General Motors.
BARACK OBAMA: For the auto industry to completely collapse would be a disaster in this kind of environment…So it's my belief that we need to provide assistance to the auto industry. But I think that it can't be a blank check. So my hope is that over the course of the next week, between the White House and Congress, the discussions are shaped around providing assistance but making sure that that assistance is conditioned on labor, management, suppliers, lenders, all of the stakeholders coming together with a plan -- what does a sustainable U.S. auto industry look like? So that we are creating a bridge loan to somewhere as opposed to a bridge loan to nowhere. And that's I think what you haven't yet seen.
On Reading President Abraham Lincoln:
BARACK OBAMA: I've been spending a lot of time reading Lincoln…there is a wisdom there and a humility about his approach to government, even before he was president, that I just find very helpful.
STEVE KROFT: Put a lot of his political enemies in his cabinet.
BARACK OBAMA: He did.
STEVE KROFT: Is that something you're considering?
BARACK OBAMA: Well, I tell you what. I find him a very wise man.
On The Challenges Ahead:
STEVE KROFT: Have there been moments when you've said, 'What did I get myself into?'
BARACK OBAMA: 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 in terms of moving-- moving things forward?" And I think that part of this next two months is to really get a clear set of priorities, understanding we're not going be able to do everything at once, making sure the team is in place, and moving forward in a very deliberate way and sending a clear signal to the American people that we're going to be thinking about them and what they're going through.

READER COMMENTS -- ADD YOURS BELOW
Anonymous said...
I thought the interview was very well done and I wish president-elect obama the very best wishes.I am praying for him and his family. God be the Glory.
Anonymous said...
I am so proud to be an American! Obama is a very well spoken man with great potential to do wonderful things! We dont expect a miracle worker...we do expect change! And I am sure we are all ready to roll up our sleeves and help make that change happened.
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