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March 24th, 2009 at 6:21 pm

Obama Press Conference Video, Photos 3-24-09

President Obama online town hall March 26, 2009

President Barack Obama scheduled his second prime time Presidential news conference on March 24, 2009. See full Obama press conference video, transcript and photos here.

The Presidential prime time press conference is but one of several television appearances President Obama has made in recent days. He was on CBS 60 Minutes on March 22, 2009.
and prior to that he was on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, as the first sitting President ever to appear on the program.

**UPDATE: Full video is after the jump.**

Watch Obama press conference live online at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. via the live streaming video. Thereafter the full video and photos will be posted.

With this string of appearances, Obama seeks to convey reassurance to the American people about the worsening economic crisis and to address widespread concern about the Federal bailout of banks, the AIG bonuses, and actions that the Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner has been taking, some of which have brought criticism. He has expressed full support of the Treasury Secretary, famously saying during his 60 Minutes interview that he would not accept his resignation, “Sorry, buddy, you’ve still got the job.”

For more on the 60 minutes interview, including photos, see: Obama 60 Minutes Video, Photos 3-22-09 and 60 Minutes: Obama on AIG Anger Recession, Challenges.

With his second prime time presidential news conference, Obama is seeking to outline the plans his administration has to further the economic recovery. Presently he is also pushing Congress to approve his proposed $3.55-trillion federal budget which will mean a deficit of more than $1 trillion. The budget includes spending in a diversity of areas including health care, energy, and education.

More photos and Obama Press conference video below.

The White House has released some of the Presidents prepared remarks.

Regarding the budget:

“We invest in the renewable sources of energy that will lead to new jobs, new businesses and less dependence on foreign oil. We invest in our schools and our teachers so that our children have the skills they need to compete with any workers in the world. We invest in reform that will bring down the cost of health care for families, businesses, and our government.”

And generally of the economy, President Obama says:

“We will recover from this recession. But it will take time, it will take patience, and it will take an understanding that when we all work together; when each of us looks beyond our own short-term interests to the wider set of obligations we have to each other — that’s when we succeed. That’s when we prosper,” the president will say according to excerpts released by the White House.

Source: President Obama Holds Second Primetime Press Conference

Obama will be making his first trip to Europe since becoming president, next week to attend the G-20 at its summit in London where he is expected to make a global commitment to restore stability in the world economy.

Mike Allen of Politico discusses the dynamics of a Presidential news conference from the reporter’s perspective, noting that of the 160 reporters seated, “somewhere between 12 and 20 correspondents” will have a chance to ask questions.

The unspoken contest playing out under the East Room lights: The president wants to deliver a message – in this case, reassurance on the economy and a plug for his budget – and not get tripped up by issues he considers extraneous, or that might overshadow what he wants to say.

Reporters have the opposite incentive: They want to “make news” by getting the president to say something he hasn’t said before, or wasn’t prepared to say – which, by definition, is not his message.

Source: Reporters war-game Obama questions

Photo credit: White House