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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. Days from his first Moscow summit, President Obama declared Thursday that former Russian President Vladimir Putin “still has a lot of sway” in his nation and needs an in-person reminder the Cold War is over.
On next week's trip, Obama will meet not only with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev but with Putin, the prime minister who hand-picked Medvedev as his successor. Said Obama: “I think that it's important that even as we move forward with President Medvedev that Putin understand that the old Cold War approaches to U.S.-Russian relations is outdated. … Putin has one foot in the old ways of doing business and one foot in the new.”
The main agenda item for Obama's meeting with Medvedev is to advance talks on a new strategic arms reduction treaty to replace one that expires in December.
In a wide-ranging, often lighthearted, interview, Obama also touched on various subjects. Jennifer Loven, Associated Press
The economy As the nation struggles with escalating unemployment, Obama said, health care reform and an increased focus on clean energy are two critical areas that can be exploited to boost the economy. “If we're weatherizing every building and home in America, if we are creating windmills and solar panels and biofuel facilities, that is a huge promising area not only for jobs here in the United States, but also for export growth.”
Guantanamo He said he's uneasy about his own proposal to indefinitely imprison some of the most dangerous terror suspects being held now at Guantanamo Bay. He called it “one of the biggest challenges of my administration.”
He stopped short of abandoning his tentative idea of continuing to hold a small number of detainees in other prisons after Guantanamo closes, expected to happen early next year.
But Obama said he has strong reservations about detaining people without bringing them to trial – a legal quagmire that dogged former President George W. Bush.
“It gives me huge pause,” Obama said. “And that's why we're going to proceed very carefully on this front. And it may turn out that after looking at all the dimensions of this that I don't feel comfortable with the proposals that surface on how to deal with this issue.”
Affirmative action In light of recent Supreme Court cases dealing with highly charged questions about the nation's racial progress, Obama said the high court was “moving the ball” away from affirmative action. But he noted that the justices had not foreclosed the continued use of racial preferences in hiring and college admissions, which he said he supports in some circumstances. In any case, he said, affirmative action is neither the panacea – nor the problem – that it's often made out to be.
Michael Jackson's death Obama called Jackson a brilliant performer – “I still have all his stuff on my iPod” – whose talents were paired with a tragic, sad personal life. “I'm glad to see that he is being remembered primarily for the great joy that he brought to a lot of people through his extraordinary gifts as an entertainer,” he said.
Tweens Obama revealed that Camp David had been invaded by about 20 girls to celebrate his daughter Malia's 11th birthday on Saturday. “There are 24 double-X chromosomes up in Camp David as we speak,” Obama said. “It's a little intimidating.”
Pie to die for Asked to let Americans in on a secret about White House life, the president chose the pastry chef and rued that “the best pie I have ever tasted” is a challenge to the first couple's self-discipline and waistlines.
