WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama said in an interview broadcast Sunday that because terrorists might try to attack the U.S. during the White House transition, selecting his national-security team is a top priority.
“I think it’s important to get a national-security team in place because transition periods are potentially times of vulnerability to a terrorist attack,” Obama told CBS’s “60 Minutes.”
In his first television interview since his historic election, Obama said he has spent the days since the election on short- and long-term issues, from doing “whatever it takes” to stabilize the economy, restore consumer confidence and create jobs, to getting sound health-care and energy policies through Congress.
The president-elect also said that as soon as he takes office, he will work with his security team and the military to draw down U.S. troops in Iraq, shore up Afghanistan and “stamp out al-Qaeda once and for all.”
