EDITOR'S COMMENT:

I encourage all of you to watch this outstanding and, at least for me, deeply inspiring interview...

--- David Sunfellow




TRANSCRIPTS:

Obama On Economic Crisis, Transition

The Obamas On Their Personal Transition

Obamas On Picking The Presidential Pooch

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OBAMA INTERVIEW SETS '60 MINUTES' VIEWERSHIP RECORD
thrfeed.com
November 17, 2008

Original Link

Barack Obama's first televised post-election interview gave Sunday night's "60 Minutes" its biggest audience in at least nine years.

The CBS News program was seen by 24.5 million viewers and earned a 6.4 preliminary adults 18-49 rating. That marks the show's largest viewership since 1999.

Veteran correspondent Steve Kroft interviewed Obama about a range of domestic and foreign policy issues in the show's opening 15-minute segment, then he spoke to Obama alongside his wife, Michelle, for two more segments covering how the election has impacted their family.

Obama said the government should help the U.S. auto industry and reiterated his plan to pull troops out of Iraq, though the president-elect largely refused to answer questions about his cabinet choices, saying only that announcements would be made "soon." Though Kroft asked significant issue-oriented questions, he also delved into territory that some viewers might consider frivolous -- such as the oft-discussed First Family's dog acquisition plans and college football.

"60 Minutes" has been on a ratings roll this season. Last week's episode interviewing Obama's top advisers gave the program its highest audience in a year. With Sunday's episode, the 40-year-old news magazine will likely be the most-watched program for the second week in a row. Even with the record-setting preliminary numbers, CBS expects "Minutes" to get even higher ratings tomorrow when the nationals are released (some time zones aired the lower-rated "The Amazing Race" during part of the "Minutes" hour)...