BRIAN WILLIAMS, anchor:
Now we turn to other news, chiefly the
US economy
.
President Obama
held a news conference this morning at the
White House
. A lot of the questioning focused on unemployment and the very public show of anger building around the country. Our chief White House correspondent,
Chuck Todd
, was there.
Group of Protesters:
Where are the jobs? Where are the jobs?
CHUCK TODD reporting:
With growing disillusionment toward
Wall Street
and
Washington
as the backdrop,
President Obama
tried to show some empathy.
President BARACK OBAMA:
I think people are frustrated and the protesters are giving voice to a more broad-based frustration about how our
financial system
works.
TODD:
But he also defended the decisions he made to save the
financial industry
.
Pres. OBAMA:
I used up a lot of political capital, and I've got the dings and bruises to prove it, in order to make sure that we prevented a financial meltdown and that banks stayed afloat.
TODD:
And he responded to a question about why no one on
Wall Street
has gone to jail.
Pres. OBAMA:
A lot of that stuff wasn't necessarily illegal. It was just immoral or inappropriate or reckless.
TODD:
The goal for this press conference was to sell his $450 billion jobs plan, but the president spent much of his time explaining why he can't get it passed.
Pres. OBAMA:
So there may be some skepticism that I personally can persuade
Republicans
to take actions in the interest of the
American people
. But that's exactly why I need the
American people
to try to put some pressure on them.
TODD:
And he blamed
Congress
for the country's skepticism about
Washington
.
Pres. OBAMA:
Until they see
Congress
actually putting country ahead of party politics and partisanship, they're going to be skeptical, and doesn't matter how many times I preach to them.
TODD:
Minutes before the president entered the
East Room
,
House
Speaker
John Boehner
asked his own question.
Representative JOHN BOEHNER:
Well, Mr. President, why have you given up on the country and decided to campaign full time instead of doing what the
American people
sent us all here to do?
TODD:
While he didn't address the question directly, the president denied he was trying to pull a
Harry Truman
.
Pres. OBAMA:
If
Congress
does something, then I can't run against a do-nothing
Congress
. If
Congress
does nothing, then it's not a matter of me running against them. I think the
American people
will run them out of town.
TODD:
The White House
is pulling out all the stops to try to fix their economic brand these days, even using the
Clinton
card tomorrow.
Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton
guest-hosts the president's jobs council meeting,
Brian
.
WILLIAMS:
All right,
Chuck Todd
at the
White House
tonight.
Chuck
,
“ ”