Meet the Press, NBC, TranscriptNovember 9, 2008
MR. TOM BROKAW: Our issues this Sunday: The nation elects Barack Obama its 44th president.(Videotape)PRES.-ELECT BARACK OBAMA: It's been a long time coming but tonight, because of whatwe did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America.(End videotape)MR. BROKAW: And the transfer of power now begins. How will this new administrationtackle the many challenges facing this country? We'll ask our exclusive guest, a close, longtimefriend of President-elect Obama and the co-chair of his transition team, Valerie Jarrett. Then:(Videotape)SEN. JOHN McCAIN: I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not justcongratulating him, but offering our next president our good will and earnest effort to find waysto come together.(End videotape)MR. BROKAW: After a long, hard-fought election, can the two parties come together on thecommon challenges? Joining us, the House Democratic whip, Congressman James Clyburn of South Carolina, and former chairman of the Republican Party, Senator Mel Martinez of Florida.Plus, we'll have the insights and analysis from presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin; Newsweek editor and author of the new book "American Lion: Andrew Jackson and the WhiteHouse," Jon Meacham; and Chicago Sun-Times columnist Mary Mitchell.But first, the transition is under way, of course, and with us for an exclusive interview, the co-chair of the transition team, Valerie Jarrett.
Welcome to MEET THE PRESS, Ms. Jarrett. Nice to have you with us.MS. VALERIE JARRETT: It's a pleasure to be here, of course; an honor to be here.MR. BROKAW: You're really very well-known in Chicago, but our national audience may not be as familiar with you. So we have prepared what we call a MEET THE PRESS version of a baseball card. We're going to tell our folks out there watching a little bit more about you. Wedid not put a White Sox or a Cubs insignia on it. We know that you're probably a White Sox fan,given where you live.MS. JARRETT: South Side, White Sox.MR. BROKAW: South Side. You were born in Iran because your father was a doctor over at thetime, at the time. Your parents were both socially active in causes. You went to StanfordUniversity, where you got a degree in psychology, and twin that with a law degree from theUniversity of Michigan. That's a good combination, coming to Washington. A single mother toLaura, who is attending Harvard Law School. She's now in her second year. CEO of TheHabitat Company in Chicago, which is a big development company. You worked for Mayor Richard Daley as deputy chief of staff in Chicago. You hired Michelle Obama in 1991, and shesaid before she took the job she wanted you to meet her fiance, Barack Obama. And you werefinance chairman for Obama in his 2004 Senate campaign. And he says he does not make amajor decision without checking with you first. So that's something that I know that you're very proud of and that puts you in a very important position there.Let's begin by talking about the transition. What are the priorities during this transition time for your team and how you work through the many challenges that are ahead of you?MS. JARRETT: Well, we hit the ground running first thing Wednesday. Wednesday, President-elect Obama--it feels so good to say President-elect Obama--pulled together our team and we began to lay out the framework for how we want to move forward. As you would expect, boththe economy and national security are top priorities. Friday, President-elect Obama brought inhis advisers--people such as Paul Volcker and Bob Rubin, Governor Granholm, Mayor
Villaraigosa from Los Angeles--trying to bring together a group of people--Warren Buffett--tohelp focus on the economy. So we will be looking to be efficient transparent, bipartisan. Wewant the American people to understand the transition and how we're moving forward. And inthe days and weeks ahead, President-elect Obama will be making announcements as he makesdecisions.MR. BROKAW: What's the working model? Are you going to try to be a shadow governmentor just a very interested spectator off to the side?MS. JARRETT: Well, it's a good question. There is one president at a time. President Bush isstill the president. He's graciously invited President-elect Obama to the White House tomorrowto begin their conversations of the transition. So we respect that. He will be the president untilJanuary 20th. However, giving--given, really, the daunting challenges that we face, it's importantthat President-elect Obama is prepared to really take power and begin to rule day one. So wewill be working closely with his administration. We're reviewing the agencies now. He will bemaking key personnel decisions. He gets national security briefings every day now as well, buthe will not be the president until January 20th.MR. BROKAW: One of the things I've been told is that your team, led by John Podesta, whoworked for President Clinton in the White House, has gone back 50 years to study other transitions, hour by hour in some cases. What are the biggest lessons that you've learned fromthat study of past transitions?MS. JARRETT: Well, that it's important to get going quickly but deliberately, and being verycareful, being very thorough in our analysis. As you know, several transitions don't start to makeannouncements until as late as December. President-elect Obama's already announced thatRahm Emanuel will be his chief of staff, so he's now an integral part of the transition. Beingcareful, being deliberate, being thorough and being decisive.MR. BROKAW: At the same time, you're dealing with an economy that no one knows where it'sgoing except that it's in big trouble and it seems to be slipping ever deeper into trouble. I wasalso told that you're not prepared to name a Treasury secretary until you have a better sense of
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Transcript, Meet the Press November 9 2008
Meet the Press, Transcript, November 9, 2008
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