Its a special edition of this week. Obama in the oval. Our final interview with president obama. Eight years ago, he came to our studio for the first time. A president elect confronting an economic crisis, just days away from taking his oath. Does it feel like youre president already . No. Youre going at quite a pace . All the bells and whistles. As much as we are working hard in the next couple of weeks, i think that when youre actually in the Oval Office Making decisions, i think thats going to be different. This time, just days away from the end of his presidency, we came to the white house for his final sunday interview. An hour in the oval office to reflect on the last eight years and the donald Trump Presidency coming next. I met the president in the residence. Mr. President , thank you for doing this. As were walking towards your office, i have to think youre going to miss this short commute. I am. Its one of the biggest benefits of being president that you dont think about until you get here. I have never had to travel more than 30 seconds from home to office. And its because of that that i have been able to maintain really a family life that has nurtured and sustained me during this time. How long did it take for the white house the feel like home, though . You know, it it took shorter i think for us just because when you got little kids, and youre tucking them in its home. Its home. Right . When they when you open a door, and theyre in their pajamas and theyre you know, wrestling with you and asking you, you know, to read to them and stuff. It starts feeling like home pretty quick. Not to mention having a motherinlaw upstairs. And, and the dog. And now two. It it feels even more like home now because you have all the memories that were formed watching your kids grow up. You talk about the kids. I know you all were a little bit apprehensive coming into the white house. They were young. Was it a good experience for them . You know you dont know how it would have turned out if they had grown up in chicago instead in a more normal environment. All i can say is they have turned out to be terrific young women. We were concerned mostly about whether they would develop an attitude. How not, yeah. And they are you know sweet, kind, funny, smart, respectful people. And they treat everybody with respect. Thats not just the biases of a parent. We feel pretty good when we hear back from friends, cause they still have sleepovers and go to other folks houses. The parents say, malia is just so sweet. Or sasha helped to pick up the dishes. What is it that youre doing to they never complained about it . They complained about secret service has they became teenagers. And, secret service has done, you know, the very best job they could accommodating them. So it hasnt restricted any of their activities. But as you might imagine, if youre a teenager, having a couple of people with always on your tail. With microphones and guns always following you around, that can grate on them. They have handled it with grace. I give michelle most of the credit for how well they have done. I also just think they are graceful, good young people young women. This part of the white house is so iconic. This is my favorite. Yeah. This walk. It it doesnt matter what time of day it is. In some ways, i feel more attached to this walk even than the oval office. I believe that. Yeah, theres something about these steps and thinking about everybody who has walked here. And all the business thats been done here. And business gets done on this walk. Yes, exactly. And even when you go up this ramp and you think about fdr wheeling himself up. You know. Got a little cigarette holder in his mouth. And, it that that awe that you feel. That reverence that you feel for the place never entirely leaves. Well, thats one of the things i was going to ask you. Because i know you kept in touch with people by reading those letters every day. How did you keep in touch with the presidency . Its an interesting question. I i more than anything, obviously, the presidency is the people. And its been interesting the emotions in the last few months what you realize is that you may never have a team that is together in the same way under the same pressures and the attachments that you make to folks from your chief of staff down to its the ultimate bunker. It is. And the people here have been extraordinary. We had a a farewell dinner for some of how cool i was. I had trouble getting through just a few remarks because not only do you appreciate the sacrifices they have made and the hours they have kept and the soccer games they have missed and the birthday parties. I also had a lot of young people who came in here. This probably you know echoes with you in your own experience. You were young when you got here. Didnt feel like it when i left. Yeah. But now suddenly, you got members of your team who were 23, 24. They met their wives here or met their husbands here. And you have a lot of eightyear people, too. Yeah. And they start bringing in their kids. Who, you think should be babies and now are in second grade or something. And you have watched them grow up. But the concentrated interactions and experiences you have here, i dont think i dont expect you can duplicate any place else. Were about to walk into the oval office. And i was just wondering, the big gut check decisions did you make them in the oval office or up in the treaty room at home . Um, i think i, i made them on this walk sometimes. You know, there are times where, i would say the oval office, you use to gather the facts. The decisions, you probably make late at night, at least i do. Im kind of a night owl up there. But there are times where you think you have made a decision but during that walk where youre announcing the decision you have to make sure that you youre prepared to live with it. Because, as you know, george, a lot of these decisions are not the outcomes are uncertain. Those Big Decisions are dwindling in these final days of obamas second term. But he has responsibility and power right up until the inauguration on january 20th. We sat down in the Oval Office Friday afternoon right after the president was briefed on the deadly airport shooting in ft. Lauderdale. And just minutes after the Intelligence Community released their report detailing how russia interfered in our president ial election. This Intelligence Report came out on the russian activities. The declassified version. Pretty stark opening senses. Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered an influenced campaign. We further assess that putin and the russian government developed a clear preference for president elect. President putin was trying to elect trump . I think the report is very clear. Number one, the russians sought to interfere with the election process. That the cyberhacking that took place, by the russians, was part of that campaign. And that they had a clear preference in terms of outcomes. What what i have repeatedly said is that you know, our intelligence communities spend a lot of time and effort gathering a lot of strands and a lot of data. There are times where, they are very cautious. They say, we think this is what happened. But were not certain. Saying high confidence here. This time, theyve got high confidence. And having seen some of the underlying sources. And information that theyre basing this on, i stand fully behind this report. What does that tell you about what president putin is trying to do right now . I think back to 2012, mitt romney talked about russia being the number one geostrategic threat. You kind of dismissed him. In the second debate. Did you underestimate Vladimir Putin . I dont think i underestimated him. I think i underestimated the degree to which, in this new information age, it is possible for misinformation, for cyberhacking and so forth, to have an impact on our open societies, our open systems, to insinuate themselves into our democratic practices in ways that i think are accelerating. So part of the reason i ordered this report was not simply to relitigate what happened over the last several months. But rather to make sure that we understand this is something that putin has been doing for quite some time in europe. Initially, in the former satellite states where there are a lot of russian speakers. But increasingly in western democracies. There are going to be elections coming up amongst our nato allies that we have to Pay Attention to. I anticipate this kind of thing can happen again here. And so in addition to the report assessing what exactly happened, what we have also done is to make sure that the department of Homeland Security and our intelligence teams are working with the various folks who run our elections. And, one of the things that i have urged the president elect to do is to develop a strong working relationship with the Intelligence Community. I think its important that congress, on a bipartisan basis, work with the next administration looking forward to make sure this kind of influence he met with the Intelligence Leaders this afternoon. Praised their work at the top. Still didnt seem to accept their conclusions. Fully. Talked about russia, china. Other countries. They made no assessment on whether this affected the outcome of the election. He said clearly it had no effect on the outcome of the election. What do you think . I think there are a lot of factors that go into an election. The bottom line is that donald trump is going to be sworn in as the 45th president of the United States of america. And its not necessarily profitable to sort of try to untangle all the different factors that went into it. The issue here is you have i think the clear example of how if were not vigilant, Foreign Countries can have an impact on the political debate in the United States in the ways that might not have been true 10, 20, 30 years ago. In part because of the way news is transmitted. And in part because so many people are skeptical of mainstream news organizations that everything is true and everything is false. Nothing is settled. Everything is contested. In that kind of environment, where theres so much skepticism about information thats coming in, were going to have to spend a lot more time thinking about how do we protect our democratic process. And as i have been saying for years, were going to have to spend a lot more time on cybersecurity. One of the reasons i ordered a commission. Bottom line this time Vladimir Putin got what he wanted. Well, look. I think that what is true is that the russians intended to meddle. And they meddled. And it could be another country in the future. It could be another election where you know, the, the alignments between republicans and democrats are different than they were this time. And who a foreign country prefers. Thats why i hope that this does not continue to be viewed purely through a partisan lens. I think there are republicans, as well as democrats, that are concerned about this. The two things we need to do, george. Number one, we have to spend a lot more time, energy, resources on cybersecurity. And it makes what makes this difficult is because its not just a government problem. Its a private sector and government problem. There has to be a lot more cooperation. That was a key recommendation of this commission that i got a report from just a few weeks ago. And the second thing we have to do is to make sure that all of us think about how we approach our elections and our democracy. Not only to secure them from vote tampering. Also to make sure that we understand when propaganda is being churned through the system. And one of the things, ill be honest with you, george. One of the things im concerned about is the degree to which we have seen a lot of commentary lately where there are republicans or pundits or cable commentators who seem to have more confidence in Vladimir Putin than fellow americans because those fellow americans are democrats. That cannot be. Does that include the president elect . Uh, well, what i will say is that um and i said this right after the election. We have to remind ourselves were on the same team. Vladimir putin is not on our team. If we get to a point where people in this country feel more affinity with a leader who is an adversary and views the United States and our way of life as a threat to him, then were going to have bigger problems than just cyberhacking. You have talked to president elect trump now several times over the course of the transition. What have you tried to impress on him about the job . Well, as i have said before, the conversations have been cordial. Hes been open to suggestions. And the main thing that i have tried to transmit is that theres a difference between governing and campaigning. So that what he has to appreciate is as soon as you walk into this office after you have been sworn in, youre now in charge of the Largest Organization on earth. You cant manage it the way you would manage a family business. You cant manage it the way you would manage a senate office. I was a senator before i became president. And so, you have to have a strong team around you. You have to have respect for institutions and the process. To make good decisions because you are inherently reliant on other folks. So, when i talk to him about our intelligence agencies, what ive said to him is that there are going to be times where you have raw intelligence that comes in and in my experience, over eight years, the Intelligence Community is pretty good about saying, look, we cant say for certain what this means. But there are going to be times where, uh the only way you can make a good decision is if you have confidence that the process is working. And the people that you have put in charge are giving you their very best assessments. How has he impressed you . Uh, you know, he is somebody who i think is very engaging. Gregarious. You like him . You know, i have enjoyed the conversations that weve had. Hes somebody who i think is not lacking in confidence. Which is i think some say that about you, too. Well, thats what i was saying. Its probably a prerequisite for the job. Or at least you have to have enough craziness to think that you can do the job. Um i think that he has not spent a lot of time sweating the details of, you know, all the policies that does that worry you . Well, i think that can be both a strength and a weakness. I think it depends on how he approaches it. If he if it gives him fresh eyes, then that can be valuable. But it also requires you knowing what you dont know. And putting in place people who do have the kinds of experience and background and knowledge that can inform good decisionmaking. And, look, i im i think its fair to say that he and i are sort of opposites in some ways. Voters often do that, dont they . Yeah. But um so lets say im on the policy wonk end of the spectrum. As much as i can dive into a briefing book and really work to master various subjects that come before my desk, im still not an expert on a huge amount of the stuff that we work on. But i do make sure that ive got people who are experts that are helping me make the best decisions possible. And if you dont have good people, and you dont have a good process, and you dont have at some level, the basic reverence for this office and an understanding of the the incredible responsibilities and obligations, then i think you can get into trouble. Youre also not much of a tweeter. He was on a tirade this morning. Sent out a lot of tweets early this morning. Clearly, according to him and his people, hes going to continue to do it behind that desk. Good idea . On the one hand, information is moving quick. I or the way in which people consume information is changing so fast. Clearly this worked for him. It gives him a direct connection to a lot of the people that voted for him. Uh ive said to him, and i think others have said to him that the day that he is the president of the United States, there are world capitals and Financial Markets and people all around the world who take really seriously what he says. And in a way thats just not true before youre actually sworn in as president. More of my Oval Office Interview with president obama when we come back. We talk about how hell engage the battles to preserve his legacy. Especially owe bah ka kair. His toughest decisions in h the white house. How heel feel about the moment on Inauguration Day when power passes from him to president trump. Ah. Still sick, huh . Ill take it from here. Im good. I just took new mucinex clear and cool. Ah whats this sudden cooling thing happening . Its got a menthol burst. You can feel it right away. Wow, that sort of blindsided me. And it clears my terrible cold symptoms. Ahh this is awkward. New mucinex clear cool. Feel the menthol burst. 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