Oprah 2011 05 02 President Obama And First Lady Michelle Obama

[Music] today all new never in 25 years have we ever welcomed a sitting president and first lady President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama what do you know for sure about marriage I understand you're also a basketball coach what has been the best moment you all had to share as a family watching Malia and Sasha beat the Pope Oakland would you say they're Republicans you admire what do you want your legacy to be next course one has landed in Chicago the presidential motorcade just pulled into our Studios on carpenter Street everybody in the building has been screened and cleared for what is an historic moment for our show so let's all just take this in for a moment in 25 years we have never had the leader of the free world a sitting president and first lady together on our stage and I am so honored that in these remaining days of the Oprah show they chose to be here please welcome home President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle [Applause] [Music] oh hi hi welcome it's so nice to be she's been having all the fun coming here so I said I'm gonna crash the party to the fact that you all said you would be willing to come it's such an honor for me and everybody who works here it's always nice to find an excuse to come home yeah does it still feel like home or does it feel like a place you used to live no it still feels like home are our closest friends are here families families here our house is here huh and the house is very clean cuz so when you when you let will you go to the house today not today you won't go by the house I'm gonna try to get back in time for dinner with the girls oh there's an expectation yes and he's got other stuff to do you know that's the president but it is when you're flying in though does it feel like oh we're going home yeah it does I did it's fun to fly over the skyline and you know it's still don't you think it's still one of the prettiest skylines in the world I think and so clean and so clean and before you came today you had a press conference about by the time this airs it will be all over the world that you outed the birth certificate you let us see the birth certificate it's confirmed again that you are born again once again in the United States why did you why did you wait so long though you know keep in mind what had happened this this came up about two and a half years ago and a half years ago and so we called up the folks in Hawaii and yeah the point first came up were you thinking I hope I was born here okay can I just say I was there that I knew I'd been born there I remembered it so it came up two and a half years ago and I didn't take it very seriously I thought well this is kind of a silly thing and but we still posted what the state of Hawaii provides which is a certification of live birth it's essentially a copy of the actual birth certificate and we posted that and we explained how there were a birth announcement and the you know Honolulu Advertiser back in 1961 and it seemed unlikely that my 18 year old mother had plotted at the time saying you know what I he's gonna be President so let's let's pay off the newspapers so we assumed that this this would just go and kind of go away and then it kept on building and I was amused by it we would joke about it I went and she was you weren't amused by what were you saw about it it's ridiculous all right so that the bottom line is this though two weeks ago a huge debate was initiated around where our budget needs to go and during the course of this major debate where I gave a big speech and the Republicans voted on their proposal the biggest news was this birth certificate certificate and and my general point is the we are living in a very serious time and and America has huge potential and opportunity to seize the 21st century we're only going to get there though if we have a serious conversation about the things that matter to people yeah jobs and gas prices and how do we bring down the deficit and how do we deal with all the changes going around the world and we can't be distracted by sideshows and as I said at my press conference carnival barkers who are going around trying to get attention do you think that there's a disconnection in general in terms of sideshows and carnival barkers I asked that of both of you well I think what's happened is that the line between entertainment and politics has blurred and so reality TV is seeping into how we think about our politics and you know when I am reading letters at night about families who are at risk of losing their homes or describing to me what it's like when you send out 16 resumes and you're not getting a response back and you're trying to figure out how to pay your bills it's not reality TV this is that's real and that's what we have to spend some time about you know in during the civil rights movement I remember there's this wonderful documentary called eyes on the prize and there was a phrase where we talked often about keeping our eyes on the prize do you think that the American people have lost a sense of what the prize is and therefore lost our focus I don't think that the American people have lost their sense of what the prize is but in terms of our collective political conversation I think we get distracted all the time yeah you know the the thing that I've always loved about my husband is that he's always been the person that can keep his eye on the prize in the midst of some craziness uh-huh and I think that's what makes him a special leader you know I woke up this morning I was thinking first of all excited that you were coming and I was thinking about every human being wakes up on the planet with the hope for that day to have as few problems as possible yeah you don't get that that you wake up and all of our problems become your problems how do you compartmentalize and categorize them in such a way that you can carry that burden because you still are first and foremost a human being who has this role that we elected you to as president United States but how do you do that well first of all I think it's important to remember that I'm not there alone yes now I've got this in cry will staff an incredible cabinet you've got people who don't get any notice they don't get any publicity who do great work there's a bunch of people in our government who are every day thinking how do we do a good job on behalf of our customers the American people and and I don't think they get your customer that's where you and our bosses and so that inspires me but you too and then I pray a lot like on your knees pray sometimes okay you know Abraham Lincoln said if if you weren't praying before you were president [Applause] [Music] do you play yeah we do we do every day we pray before our meals we trying to get the girls into good habits of being thankful and grateful so we we try to give back what we get because we know that there are a whole lot of people praying for us that we know everywhere we go it started with the economy and not with health care if you had to do it over well keeping Oprah I've got to tell you we did start with the economy remember the first thing we did was pass a Recovery Act that kept us from being in the bread lines kept us from going into a Great Depression it cut taxes for 95 percent of Americans it provided States with the assistance they needed to prevent layoffs of teachers and firefighters and police officers and then we also put people to work rebuilding our roads and our bridges all across the country so that was our first priority along with making sure that the financial system didn't melt down on Facebook when you had that big conference recently you were saying that these are the most tumultuous times that you've ever witnessed in your lifetime and we all know that the country has been through more difficult times there have been wars and and other challenges what do you think defines this as the most tumultuous what's happening is that there are these big global changes and the world is more integrated because of technology we know what's happening on the other side of the world instantly and that's a good thing and that's a good thing but what it also means is that if there is a problem one place it can move around the globe very rapidly so what happens in Libya suddenly affects oil prices here what happens because of a subprime loan in California can cause Iceland to be bankrupt and so you've got all these different forces moving very rapidly all at the same time have you been disappointed at how difficult it is to get things done it can be painful to watch but you know Barack was in the Senate for many years and I think he had a taste of how challenging it is when you work in a democracy and that's one of the beauties of our country we have a democracy which means I always tease people Barack is not a dictator and that's a good thing so he can't just go in and say healthcare Shelby and now let's go in and implement it it requires congressional cooperation and a whole range of cooperative actions that make our country great but it makes the process difficult and slower then I think many people would like but I think the alternative is is not something that we want as a nation we've made that decision we'll be back more with the president first lady when we come back coming up so you're officially running again in 2012 michelle has always had veto power I should use it more [Music] all new she walked away from the spotlight now her first TV interview in over five years superstar Shania Twain her childhood it was the first time I've witnessed the violence the double betrayal did you really want to die when this happened her twist of fate new love story and why she lost her voice what happened to that woman will you ever sing in public again tomorrow there are a lot of people who would want you to run for the presidency of the United States would you consider that well let me I just want to point out to everybody that she was deflecting attention off her yeah I was indeed yes they were trying to get her to run and once you say you know I'm gonna throw Barak under the bus you know from the official archives that was then Illinois Senator Barack Obama in 2006 we all know what happened next so you're officially running again in 2012 I am did you all decide together the michelle has always had veto power yeah over these kinds of decisions because the bird use it more did you ever consider not did you ever cook was there ever a doubt that you would you know this this is an honor and it's a duty and you know we take this responsibility very seriously and if if there are things that we can continue to do and I think this president has a lot more to get done then we let the American people decide the partisan politics of things could get very mean-spirited how do you intend to elevate this process what I want to do is make sure that it doesn't get personal and that the focus is on where the focus should be which is how to make the lives of the American people better even though there are differences that you have with members of the Republican Party do you believe that their intent is also for the well-being and the good of the country absolutely yeah I think that it's very important to understand that we can disagree without questioning each other's intentions or our patriotism or citizenship or citizenship [Applause] would you say they're Republicans you admire absolutely absolutely they're Republicans I admire who were an office and out there certainly Republicans I admire from the past starting with a guy named Abraham Lincoln he was pretty good he was no Republican yeah my favorite president favorite president so tell me how it is you all remain connected to what's really going on you you speak so eloquently about what the American people are feeling and you wake up thinking about jobs for them and how their life is going how when you're living in the bubble that you're in and you both can see there is a bubble Wow when you're living in the bubble do you remain connection connected to ordinary people when your circle even the people who are in your circle now are also living in the bubble well there a couple of things one as I said I I get letters from constituents all across the country every night and I make sure to read them and I respond to as many as I can and the stories folks tell are just incredibly powerful so that makes a big difference and then I think having my mother-in-law in the house that helps cuz she's she escapes if you go out he goes out he stuff goes out so he goes good she goes uh she goes to CBS or ya know don't tell him where she go okay [Laughter] this is Robinson James feel like you're living in the bubble or can you get out of the bubble I can get out but I still feel like I'm living in the bubble it's a pretty big bubble although when she goes out and people come up and say aren't you miserable she denies it says people tell me that all the time all the time all the time but the other thing that's important is that we get out and for me I've tried to really get out in my new community Washington DC going into Anacostia southeast spending time with kids going into schools I always tell my staff I want to sit down with people when I'm at a military facility I don't want to just tour and get a shot I want to sit down off-camera talk to women talk to talk to our service members and those conversations help fuel you with with with the stories yes yeah so Hugh and Mrs Biden to become the voice for those people who had no voice yes public service announcement I saw so you know you've made it when you're on Sesame Street that's the Meester you know I've been on Sesame Street a few times all well man you mean Elmo we're like this really made it take take a look at this here on Sesame Street they sing well it's important to know the people in your neighborhood who are serving in the military because they and their families need our support you can reach out offer your time or just ask how can I help let them know that they can count on the people in your neighborhood after a while you think you're talking to people is it right back morning when you come back what do you know for sure about marriage and later I understand you're also a basketball coach [Applause] [Music] the president and first lady first time ever that's ever happened on the upper shelf 25 years I didn't think he surprised me with anything new particulars were almost you know almost to the end 17 shows left after you are known and now that both of you sit here what an i my grandmother is not turning over in the grade she got up and got dressed in the grey so we were talking about what it means to hold this office and everybody knows that you know there's the pump in the circumstance you get to live in the White House and when I interviewed you all at the White House for Christmas a year ago you were talking about him coming home in the helicopter so there all these benefits but at what sacrifice do you think what sacrifice has it taken on your I think one of the greatest sacrifices for people like us who like being with people isn't that it's the bubble we talked about it yeah I I can't go to Target and walk around I guess I could but it would really mess up everyone else's shopping experience yes you came to Los Angeles recently and everybody was like the traffic and the last time you came you didn't helicopter thank you yes no but but there's no doubt that's that's the toughest thing about the job is that you you can't do anything outside of the White House grounds that's spontaneous you can't get in the car and go for a drive you can't drive you can't you can't take a walk that is the single thing that I miss most is I used to be able to take Sasha and Malia over to the park mm-hm and swing them on a swing and decide afterwards we might go get some ice cream or stop by a bookstore and those kinds of moments that are so precious you forget how precious they are until you can't do them anymore yes one of our producers Andrea Wishon lives in your neighborhood still and she says she remembers you you taking the girls trick-or-treating right Joanne so now you can't do that anymore about the last time I went trick-or-treating I had one nomination yeah but I wore masks and nobody knew and it was a lot of fun yeah thank you every once in a while I'd take the mask off and go book to the kids brocco bomber so so I would like to ask what do you know you know in my magazine at the end of May I was talking about what I know for sure what do you know for sure about marriage being married now 18 years the it has to be a true partnership and and you have to really really like and respect the person that you're married to because it is a hard road I mean that's what I tell young couples don't expect it to be easy melding two lives and trying to raise others and doing it forever I mean yeah that's a recipe made for disaster so there are highs and lows but if in the end you can look him in the eye and say I like you and you know I stopped believing at love in first sight I think you go through that that that wonderful love stage but when it gets hard you need a little bit more okay I read in the New York Times the story that they're writing about your mother where she said that she always thought you would be a cross between Mahatma Gandhi and Albert Einstein and always had great expectations for you the question is are you surprised that he became president the United States knowing who you yeah I think growing up like we did no matter what your parents told you we never thought we you could be President no no way you know was up until the election night that I was like really actually pulled this off so I think you know I I think our our lives are limited in that way and I think one of the beautiful things that we will get from this presidency is that young kids now only know this man to be President of the United States so for so many they can see themselves so am I am am I surprised that he's doing a great job no I knew he was ready for this I always told the voters I said the question isn't whether Barack Obama is ready to be the question is whether we're ready and that still continues to be the question that we have to ask ourselves are we ready for change are we ready for sacrifice and compromise are we ready you know to really make the hard push because he's ready and that is not a surprise to me he has been consistent in in that regard so he has performed as I would have expected in the consistent behind it for pictures you see those pictures one of my favorite moments is that picture of you on the stage and Grant Park what were you saying in that moment mm-hmm I think she was saying I can't believe you pulled this off and what were you saying to her I said yeah how about that that's that's interesting very interesting you know the yeah I I will tell you though that obviously I couldn't have done anything that I've done without Michelle but you were asking earlier what keeps me sane what keeps me balanced what allows me to deal with the pressure it is this young lady right here and our two daughters because because when I come home no matter what I'm dealing with I know that I've got people there who not only do I love but whose company I just enjoy and who will bring me down to a level of basic humanity and humor and so will not go down a panel and make sure that I'm not taking myself too seriously even if I'm taking the work seriously and and so you know not only has she been a great first lady but she is just my rock and I count on her in in so many ways every single day we'll be right back [Music] next what has been the best moment you all had to share as a family all new bidding were so young black people white people willing to die for what was right 50 years later / reunites American heroes the Freedom Riders Congressman John Lewis face to face with the man including Lee beat him were you a member of the Ku Klux Klan the 12 year old who braved an angry mob I stand among heroes we owe them for the price they paid and the paths they laid for us Wednesday [Music] what has been the best moment you all had to share as a family since you became president in the United States a lot of our foreign travel yeah for me I think it's being able to watch the girls meet the Pope watching Malia and Sasha Obama and grandma and mama Kay meet the Pope that was pretty although I'd learned later I'd met with the Pope first apparently they were getting tired and they wanted to sit on the floor in the Sistine Chapel you know you have those moments girl get up get up girl apparently each time they saw somebody at a frock they'd say is that the Pope not yet not yet you'll know when it's the Pope how I know yeah although we've also had some times on during these summer vacations for example and you know you'll get these magical days where you know we're walking along some path we were actually hiking we were hiking and Malia and Sasha are running around and Malia started making up some song and then we came along this Inlet where I taught him how to skip rocks and there were some wild blueberries you know you have moments like that I felt normal and it felt normal and and as I said because sometimes we don't have that it feels that much more special and you have those days where you went while it's happening you say this is good that this this is worth it yeah what whatever else is going on seeing those two girls and my wife and us being a family so there's different stones it's one of your favorite memories out of all the things that we've done can't beat it I understand you also basketball I was I was a consultant and assistant basketball coach to our to Sasha's team this year that Reggie love who played a Duke my assistant we decided to have some clinics for the girls and so every Sunday we would bring Sasha and her teammates Joe Biden's granddaughter is a terrific Maisie as a terrific basketball player domain and and weed we bring them together and we'd have these clinics and we'd have these drills and then a couple of times when the regular coaches couldn't coach Reggie and I were the coaches and I was nerve-racking they would take these games so seriously absolutely just chill just relax so this is a question that Wynn and I think every person who has been able to do better than their parents in life is faced with this question when you are raising children and you are so you have access to everything and you are successful in your own life how do you raise children who have their own sense of ambition a sense of kindness a sense of grace how do you manage that goes especially in the world you all are in you go back to the basics I mean I hear my parents and his mom voices ringing in our heads turn off the TV you you have you know you've got chores to do in this house and it's you got to get creative in the white house giving kids chores because you know they don't understand why do I have to make my bed you know it's like you have to learn how to make a bed you have to I really would like why do I well you know and when we have the conversation about why so when you're in that situation it's you we have real discussions about responsibility and you know not taking anything for granted and not having a bunch of grown-ups doing stuff for you when you're completely capable of doing it yourself and being able to take care of your own business when you're older and you're not living in the White House forever you're going to college maybe you'll get married and you better know how to make a bed we have those discussions and I mean Malia and Sasha they have set their own alarm and woken up on their own and gotten ready for school on their own since they were five since they started school the start of school yeah and they still do absolutely I heard you on the gyal king show the other day say that Malia was gonna have to start doing laundry and I am really yeah I mean first of all what else does she have to do and it gets done and then what you know it's cuz they they have limited TV time and computer time so and they they spend time with their friends but there's still a lot of time to learn something that's productive and grandma still does her own laundry at the White House so she's gonna be in charge of laundry duty cuz I don't do my laundry I know how to do my laundry yeah learn that lesson she made do my laundry but Malia my Bush again she has to learn how to do that and if you know I don't want her to be 1516 and be that kid sis I've never done laundry before I don't I don't even want to I I would cringe if she became that kid I don't think that's gonna happen I think that you're doing an amazing you too but you're doing an amazing job of raising them they're still so themselves so themselves would be right back more the president the first lady [Applause] coming up what do you want your legacy to be [Music] did you see Oprah yesterday Oprah wasn't on now you'll let it that underwear thing out won't you opera it's Oprah what would Oprah do [Music] [Applause] that's good you'll have a lot to tell Oprah [Music] I'm still you know I don't look nervous - I know no you look good I'm doing okay you're looking good well I was I was a little nervous because as I was saying just the very idea of you being here and what this office means what's very interesting I was saying to my staff before that you all were here before I think this is your third time on the show and people weren't putting on mascara and stuff it's the office yes and and and I'm always mindful of that then you know I'm a temporary occupant and it is an extraordinary privilege and I just have to make sure that I'm doing the best possible job not only on behalf of the American people but also on behalf of our history and all the previous occupants of this office and when the next person comes then you know they will be inheriting the these enormous responsibilities but also a great honor but if it's temporary if you're elected to a second term what do you want your legacy to be you know the American people are so hard-working they're so responsible they are so interested in doing the right thing and for the last decade or so they've lost that sense that as a consequence of their hard work they're able to get ahead I mean wages and incomes that flatlined I think there's been a general sense that the American Dream for too many folks is slipping away what I want is people to once again feel like if I'm out there working hard and doing the right thing opportunities right there for me to grab and I think it is I think this is the greatest country on Earth it will continue to be the greatest country on Earth but I want everybody to feel in their own lives day to day that opportunity is right there in front of them do you feel confident that you can accomplish that when we live in a world of distractions where people throw stones before you can barely get your policies out or address III think we still have work to do on our politics our politics is too splintered it it trivializes has that been one of your biggest disappointment yeah that I have not been able to change Washington's tone as much as I thought you could I I thought I could and and probably now do you think was overly optimistic no I still think I can I just think it takes more time keep in mind part of the reason it became hard was that the the economic crisis created enormous stresses and strains on everybody and it's harder for us to listen to one another and to give each other the benefit the doubt and to work together when people are you know under extraordinary stresses and strains but I do think that we can still change our tone we'll be right back [Applause] [Music] if you have to critique yourself on the past two and a half years [Music] does he handle stones being thrown better than you yeah absolutely no he does I mean who you see that this is this isn't pretend I mean he is a calm mature rational character I think he's a lot funnier than people think I think you know what a guy I some of the stereotypes are kind of strange to me but I think that you know when you run into slim Miriam characterized as aloof that's just that I'm like who who are you talking about yeah yeah this is the guy who's coaching it roll around on the floor and being silly and dancing his bad dances I mean it's that yeah but he is but he is calm and I hate that because I was reading last week I didn't mean to interrupt no no I was reading when I was reading the article about your mother yeah the story of your mother and in that story they talked about you being taken from Hawaii after you were born there and taken to Indonesia at six years old and somebody who was with your mother witnessed kids calling you names and calling you out of your name because of the color of your skin and your mother said oh let him be he's used to it and I was wondering if growing up with people making fun of you because of the color of your skin gave you a thicker skin for all the things that you're dealing with now I don't it's hard to to figure out how exactly they ended up the way you ended up some of its temperament I'm you know we see it in our daughters because Malia's temperaments more like mine and Sasha's is more like Michelle's and that's just the way they showed up they have different personalities so so some of it's that I have no doubt that some of it is the fact that I had a lot of changes when I was when I was young a father not in that home moving around quite a bit oftentimes being an outsider in a place where there weren't a lot of african-americans or or having an unusual name James yeah so so all those things I'm sure contributed and and and some of it though I also think just has to do with the fact that as I get older it's easier to keep things in perspective that story I was telling you about being up in Maine skipping stones those are the things I know I will remember and you know all the other stuff is just throwing stones throwing stones if you had to critique yourself though cuz sometimes times criticism is valid if you have to critique yourself on the past two and a half years I think that in the first two years we were so busy just trying to solve problems that sometimes I forgot that part of leadership is being able to tell a story about where we're going oh and what we're doing we did that very well during the campaign oh we projected a vision of where America needs to go and then we got into the governance of it and I'm trying to get this bill passed and we're trying to make sure that the stock market recovers and we're doing this and we're doing that and all those individual pieces made sense in my own head and to our teams but sometimes we forgot to be in a conversation with the American people where we said you know this is why we're doing it this is where we need to go and and that is that's more than just communications it's more than just PR it has to do with us being in a collective conversation about who we want to be as a country where do we want to go and I think there have been times that do you think you lost connection well it's not so much personal connection with with people it's losing that thread that helps people see the eyes on the prize the eyes on the press and there have been times where I've lost that we'll be right back [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] 25 Oprah has said many times that when she was first auditioning for a job she tried to imitate me hi there my name is Oprah Winfrey I was on The Today Show then and she sat the way I sat and she looked down in notes and so forth and she got the job so I had said that I am totally responsible for Oprah's success totally but often you talk and you write about the things you say you know for sure well I think whatever you do on your own new channel will enrich people's lives and whatever you do will enrich your own life for you have never stopped learning and so you will be successful my courageous friend this I know for sure if anybody could has never been on the show I would just say one thing you don't walk into a show you walk into a Cathedral of generosity and I've done a lot of TV in my law life and there's nothing like that I'm inspired by how strong she will be parents in trying to get the truth the bravery of saying we have to look at everything and see if we can learn something from absolutely everything even the things we can't bear to look at you know the Everest of humanity and heart and help that you created on this earth in the past 25 years and I will only say that the only thing that I know it is going to be as powerful as that in the world the next 25 years welcome [Music] thank you for being here thank you for well look at the Oprah you know you are a great friend of both of ours but I just want you to know that you have changed this country and in unimaginable ways and it just has to do with what folks were just saying yeah you've got a big heart and you share it with people and nobody knows how to connect better than you do and so we are just blessed and grateful to have you in our lives [Applause] [Music] you

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Length: 42min 55sec (2575 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 26 2018