CQ Transcriptswire

SPEAKERS: WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY ROBERT GIBBS

MEREDITH VIEIRA, NBC ANCHOR

[*] VIEIRA: Robert Gibbs was Barack Obama ’s spokesperson during the campaign, and today becomes the White House press secretary. Mr. Gibbs, good morning to you. Congratulations.

GIBBS: Thank you. Good morning. How are you?

VIEIRA: I am great, thank you. Such a big day. I was talking to a lot of folks yesterday, expectations running very high.

When was the last time that you spoke with the president-elect, and how is he feeling about this historic day?

GIBBS: You know, I spoke with him last night. You know, he’s very calm. I think he understands the moment that he’s in and the moment that the country’s in, and he’s very anxious and excited to get started working on getting this economy moving again.

VIEIRA: And you’re not just press secretary; you’re also his confidante. Did you give him any words of advice?

GIBBS: No, you know, he doesn’t need much advice from me on a day like today. I think he understands, as I said, the moment in front of the country, the moment that he steps into.

You know, I think he’s very excited about his speech; he feels good about it; he’s got it in the books and it’s ready to go.

So, I think he’s just anxious to get started.

VIEIRA: Yet, he was still working on it last weekend. But you said about that speech, he is going to talk about responsibility and accountability. But given the difficult times that we are in, will he also address rebuilding confidence in the American public?

GIBBS: Oh, there’s no doubt about it, Meredith. I think he’s going to outline an address that challenges -- and the tough times that we face. But as Americans, we always rise to those challenges, both as a country and as a people; not as different political parties, but as one American people. He’ll lay that out today and give people some hope and optimism that there will again be brighter days here in America.

VIEIRA: Speaking about coming together, last night, he attended a bipartisan dinner for his rival in the campaign, Republican Senator John McCain . We now know that McCain has been helpful with Obama in terms of discussing foreign policy and even cabinet picks.

GIBBS: Right.

VIEIRA: How would you describe the current relationship between these two men?

GIBBS: Well, you know, Meredith, they got together right after the election. It was one of the quickest meetings between two opponents that we’d ever seen in history. I think they have a good working relationship. They talk well with each other. And I think -- Barack, I know, is very excited to have his counsel and hear his advice on issues ranging from spending and pork all the way to foreign policy. He values his advice and his counsel.

VIEIRA: In the interest of transparency, Robert -- which is a word that your campaign used frequently -- I was watching Oprah” yesterday, and when Jill Biden talked about her husband being offered either the secretary of state or the vice president, she was not ambiguous at all. She -- in fact, she reiterated it, although the campaign now says that he was only offered on job.

So, I have to ask you, was Hillary Clinton second choice when it came to secretary of state?

GIBBS: No. We’ve got -- we’ve put together a great foreign policy team. We’ve put together a great economic team.

I think Mrs. Biden was talking about the fact that Barack and Joe had sat down and talked about a number of ways that he could be helpful to this ticket. The way that we thought he could be most helpful was as vice president. That was the one job that President Obama offered him, and that’s the job he accepted. And we’re excited that he’s part of this today.

VIEIRA: Well, now Senator Cornyn of Texas has said he may try to block the confirmation of Hillary Clinton for secretary of state because of questions he has about foreign donations to her husband’s foundation. Are you at all concerned about her not being confirmed?

GIBBS: No, we’re not. And I think if people are really concerned about making sure that the country is kept safe and that we begin to engage quickly in the diplomacy that’s needed to bring peace to the Middle East, that Democrats and Republicans, common sense Republicans and common sense Democrats can come together and understand that she is the best pick for the job. And we certainly hope that that’s true for all senators.

VIEIRA: Do you assume that this confirmation will come through by the end of the week?

GIBBS: We’re very hopeful that we’ll have a great bulk of our cabinet sworn in very, very quickly.

VIEIRA: And finally, we are hearing that former Senator George Mitchell will be named as Barack Obama ’s Mideast envoy. Can you confirm that for us?

GIBBS: You know, Meredith, I don’t want to get ahead of where the president is on making some of these announcements, but I know he is anxious and he’s talked about this throughout the campaign and the transition -- really hitting the ground running and getting involved in and engaged in the diplomacy necessary to bring about the peace that we all so desperately seek in the Middle East and throughout the world. So, he’s anxious to get started, and we’ll have some announcements about that later in the week.

VIEIRA: And finally, the most pressing question: Is he keeping the Blackberry?

GIBBS: We’ll also have some announcements on that.

(LAUGHTER)

I know he’s -- he’s -- you know, he’s fighting with the lawyers and such to make sure that that happens. He finds it a real way of being able to keep in touch with family and friends.

You know, you get very serious work-related e-mails from him and you get some funny e-mails from him, too. So, it’s almost hard to imagine him not being able to do that.

VIEIRA: Well, I appreciate, Robert, you being with us this morning.

GIBBS: Thank you.

VIEIRA: And please, send the president-elect our very best.

GIBBS: I certainly will. Thank you, Meredith.

VIEIRA: Robert Gibbs, new press secretary for President Barack Obama .

END

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Jan 20, 2009 8:24 ET .EOF

Source: CQ Transcriptions

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