This has to be one of the coolest segments of an interview with a president EVER!
Q Let’s talk about this game today. You came out --- and most Presidents don’t pick a team -- you came right out and you said, look, I know the Rooneys, they’ve been good friends of mine, they endorsed me. I think you got the AFC championship ball --
THE PRESIDENT: I did.
Q So you said, other than my dear Bears, they’re closest to my heart. But I’m having a hard time understanding how you, of all people, wouldn’t associate with the Cardinals.
THE PRESIDENT: Underdog --
Q I mean, it is a Cinderella story, the team that came from nowhere to the big game –- the audacity of hope.
THE PRESIDENT: Not to mention the fact that Kurt Warner is close to my age. (Laughter.)
Q Right, exactly. How can you turn your back on the Cardinals?
THE PRESIDENT: I love Kurt Warner’s story. I love -- Larry Fitzgerald seems like just a wonderful young man. It’s a great story. But Rooney didn’t just endorse me -- that guy was out going to steel plants campaigning for me. Franco Harris was out waving towels at my rallies.
Q Do you have a Terrible Towel in the other room?
THE PRESIDENT: I do, actually, so
Q Are you going to be waving them at the party?
THE PRESIDENT: I’m not going to be rubbing it in, we’ve got some Arizona congressmen here and I may need their vote on the recovery package. (Laughter.)
Q Give me a score –- what’s the score going to be in this game?
THE PRESIDENT: You know, it’s tough to predict, but I think the Steelers are going to eke it out in a close one.
Q All right. Well, last year you predicted the Patriots over my Giants. I don’t have a question here, I just wanted to rub that in a little bit. (Laughter.)
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I’m still wondering how the guy made that catch.
Q The Hail Mary?
THE PRESIDENT: He has some Stickum on his helmet.
Q David Tyree.
THE PRESIDENT: He had Stickum on his helmet.
Q They just dissected that play in about a five-minute segment on the show.
THE PRESIDENT: It was one of the greatest plays in pro football history.
Q Let’s talk about the BlackBerry, all right? You got to keep it.
THE PRESIDENT: I did.
Q Can I see it? Do you have it?
THE PRESIDENT: You know, I didn’t bring it down here.
Q No?
THE PRESIDENT: No, it’s like Inspector Gadget -- you know, if you touched it, it might blow up.
Q I kind of envision that, it’s like Q in the James Bond -- did they give you, like, fingerprint recognition technology or something?
THE PRESIDENT: The works. The works. It turns into a car if I have to make a quick getaway. (Laughter.)
Q How many people have that email address?
THE PRESIDENT: A handful. Look, there are security issues involved, and so we’ve got to make sure that I’m not creating a situation where, you know, potentially people can comprise our system somehow.
Q But, like, world leaders -- can they contact you on that BlackBerry?
THE PRESIDENT: Typically, world leaders are going to be contacting me through the Oval Office. They know how to reach me there.
Q Sasha and Malia?
THE PRESIDENT: Sasha and Malia can always contact me.
Q Oprah?
THE PRESIDENT: Well --
Q Maybe. You’re not going to hook me up, are you?
THE PRESIDENT: Matt, do you want one?
Q No, I want your email address. (Laughter.) I want to communicate with you during the game.
THE PRESIDENT: I like your son, I might give it to him -- I’m not going to give it to you. Jack, he might get one.
