In an exclusive interview with ABC News,
President Obama spoke on a range of high-profile issues, including his
outlook for the on-going budget negotiations, whether the Chinese
government is behind the recent spate of cyberattacks against U.S.
companies, North Korea's nuclear threats, same-sex marriage, and the
conclave to select the next pope.
Obama Pessimistic About Grand Bargain Before Meetings With GOP Lawmakers
Before meetings with GOP lawmakers in the House and Senate today and
Thursday, President Obama signaled pessimism about the prospect of
reaching a grand bargain in the ongoing budget negotiations. He said
there is not an "immediate debt" crisis and that, ultimately, there
might just be too much space between the two parties to reach a deal.
"Ultimately, it may be that the differences are just too wide. It may be
that, ideologically, if their position is, 'We can't do any revenue,'
or, 'We can only do revenue if we gut Medicare or gut Social Security or
gut Medicaid,' if that's the position, then we're probably not going to
be able to get a deal," the president told me.
"That won't … create a crisis," he said. "It just means that we will
have missed an opportunity. I think that opportunity is there and I'm
going to make sure that they know that I'm prepared to work with them.
But, ultimately, it may be better if some Democratic and Republican
Senators work together."
Examining the Possibility of Restoring Some White House Tours
"What I'm asking them is are there ways, for example, for us to
accommodate school groups … who may have traveled here with some bake
sales. Can we make sure that - kids, potentially, can … still come to tour?" he said.
"But… I'm always amused when people on the one hand say, the sequester
doesn't mean anything and the administration's exaggerating its effects;
and then whatever the specific effects are, they yell and scream and
say, 'Why are you doing that?'" he said. "Well, there are consequences
to Congress not having come up with a more sensible way to reduce the
deficit."
Obama Publicly Declared for the First Time Chinese Gov't Behind Cyberattacks
"Well, I think [we] always have to be careful [about] war analogies.
Because, you know, there's a big difference between them engaging in
cyberespionage or cyber attacks and, obviously, a hot war. What is
absolutely true is that we have seen a steady ramping up of
cybersecurity threats. Some are state sponsored. Some are just sponsored
by criminals," he told me.
I asked him to clarify that some were indeed state sponsored.
"Absolutely," he responded.
North Korea's Nuclear Ambitions
I asked the president whether he believed North Korea could now make
good on its threats of nuclear action against South Korea and the United
States.
"They probably can't, but we don't like margin of error," he began.
But when pressed on whether it was really that close, the president rephrased his response.
"It's not that close. But what is true is … they've had nuclear weapons
since well before I came into office. What's also true is missile
technology improves and their missile technology has improved," he said.
"Now, what we've done is we've made sure that we've got defensive
measures to prevent any attacks on the homeland. And we're not
anticipating any of that. But we've seen out of the North Koreans is
they go through these periodic spasms of … provocative behavior."
I asked the president whether he believes such recent threats are more serious than previous threats.
"Well, I don't necessarily think it's different in kind. They've all
been serious. Because when you're talking about a regime that is
oppressive towards its people, is belligerent, has shown itself to
sometimes miscalculate and do things that are very dangerous, that's
always a problem. "
He 'Couldn't Imagine Circumstances' in Which a State Ban on Same-Sex Marriage Was Constitutional
Before the Supreme Court arguments on same-sex marriage
scheduled for the end of the month, I asked the president whether he
still believed that the issue was best left to the states, or whether he
thinks same-sex marriage was a right guaranteed by the Constitution.
"Well, I've got to tell you that, in terms of practical politics, what
I've seen is a healthy debate taking place state by state, and not every
state has the exact same attitudes and cultural mores," he said. "What I
also believe is that the core principle that people don't get
discriminated against, that's one of our core values. And it's in our
Constitution."
The president said he personally could not see a scenario in which a
state has a legal justification for banning same-sex marriage.
"What I believe is that if the states don't have a good justification
for it, then it probably doesn't stand up to constitutional muster," he
said.
I asked: Can you imagine one?
"Well, I can't, personally. I cannot. That's part of the reason I said, ultimately, I think that … same-sex couples should be able to marry," he told me.
Obama Rejected Concerns that a U.S. Pope Would Be Too Closely Aligned With U.S. Gov't
Turning across the Atlantic to the papal conclave happening this week,
President Obama rejected the notion held by some cardinals that a U.S.
pope would be too closely aligned with the U.S. government, an argument
frequently used against U.S. cardinals who might be considered
contenders for the papacy.
"I guarantee you … the conference of Catholic bishops here in the United
States don't seem to be taking orders from me," he said.
"I, my hope is, based on what I know about the Catholic Church and the terrific work that they've done around the world."
The full interview will air tonight on "Nightline," and will also be available on Yahoo! as part of our on-going newsmakers series.
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