Obama discusses Lohan, Blackberry on 'View'

Video: Obama talks family, politics on 'The View'

Open in new window

2. Closed captioning of: Obama talks family, politics on 'The View'

   Advertise | AdChoices

   >>> daytime viewers get to see president obama in a whole different light. the commander ? in chief visits with all five ladies of nbc "the view" in an episode that airs today. we'll get the scoop from courtney hazlett who was at the show taping yesterday.

   >> i was, indeed. we'll tease you with this, there was something interesting that cory wore after you fill us in on how the president did.

   >> a lot of people are going to be criticizing president obama for going on "the view." the first time the sitting president has made an appearance on a daytime talk show . smart to the political pundits but from a cultural standpoint it was exceedingly important for him to sit there with there ladies of the view for the better part of an hour and answer their questions. people in the audience before the show started said that some of them scheduled their vacations around this. some of them delayed going on vacation, one woman even said that she was missing her son's swimming championships because she wanted to see the president because these folks are seeing the president in a form that is most accessible to them. might comes as a shock to people not everyone likes to tune into a press conference and not everyone watches cable news and this is a way for him to get himself out to a huge population. he answered a lot of fun questions, but serious ones, as well. one was from barbara walters . a ritual about the rose in the thorn before bedtime saying what was good about the day and the last month and barbara walters turned the tables on him and asked him that question.

   >> in the last month, what has been the rose and what has been the thorn?

   >> well, in the last month the rose has to be a couple of days we took in maine with michelle and sasha and malia and we went on bike rides and hikes and, you know, the girls are getting old enough now where they're not quite teenagers yet so they still like you but they're full of opinions and ideas and observations and it's just a great age.

   >> so, that was an interesting insight into the president's life and his family. there are also questions, the burning question about chelsea clinton , would he be at the wedding? no, he won't be at the wedding. he wasn't even invited to the wedding, he said. +t$e also said, do you know who snooki is? he said, no, i don't know who that is. he didn't know about melg gibson, but he was able to talk about serious things. they asked him about the wars going on in iraq and afghanistan. he said, listen, i want people out of afghanistan by the end of the month and this is why we need to be in iraq. it's fantastic when a president can mix sentiments so the take-home message was one that people felt comfortable listening to.

   >> sitting on that couch is not easy.

   >> it's not easy.

   >> they don't pull any punches. real quickly, you wore what on your feet?

   >> i was hoping maybe i spoke long enough to avoid this. i wore flip-flops. i had to take the subway and, hey, isn't that hawaiian formal wear ? flip-flops are hawaiian formal wear .

   >> thank you for the very latest entertainment news you can logon to scoop.todayshow.com.

   Show transcript