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Campbell Brown

Barack Obama Elected 44th President of the United States; Obama Speaks in Chicago

Aired November 05, 2008 - 00:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled.
Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states. We are and always will be the United States of America.

It's the answer that led those who've been told for so long by so many to be cynical and fearful and doubtful about what we can achieve to put their hands on the ark of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.

It's been a long time coming. But tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America.

A little bit earlier this evening, I received an extraordinarily gracious call from Senator McCain. Senator McCain fought long and hard in this campaign. And he's fought even longer and harder for the country that he loves.

He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine. We are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader. I congratulate him. I congratulate Governor Palin for all that they have achieved and I look forward to working with them to renew this nation's promise in the months ahead.

I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton and rode with on the train home to Delaware, the vice president-elect of the United States, Joe Biden.

And I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last 16 years, the rock of our family, the love of my life, the nation's next first lady, Michelle Obama.

Sasha and Malia, I love you both more than you can imagine. And you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the White House.

And while she's no longer with us, I know my grandmother's watching. Along with the family that made me who I am, I miss them tonight. I know that my debt to them is beyond measure. To my sister Maya, my sister Alma, all my other brothers and sisters, thank you so much for all the support that you have given me. I'm grateful to them.

To my campaign manager, David Plough, the unsung hero of this campaign who built the best -- the best political campaign, I think, in the history of the United States of America. To my chief strategist, David Axelrod, who's been a partner with me every step of the way.

To the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics, you made this happen and I am forever grateful for what you've sacrificed to get it done.

But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to. It belongs to you. It belongs to you.

I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn't start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington. It began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston.

It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give $5 and $10 and $20 to the cause. It drew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation's apathy, who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep.

It drew strength from the not-so-young people, who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on doors of perfect strangers, and from the millions of Americans who volunteered and organized and proved that more than two centuries later a government of the people, by the people, and for the people has not perished from the earth.

This is your victory.

And I know you didn't do this just to win an election. I know you didn't do it for me. You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime -- two wars. A planet in peril. The worst financial crisis in a century.

Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us. There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after their children fall asleep and wonder how they'll make the mortgage or pay their doctor's bills or save enough for their child's college education.

There's new energy to harness, new jobs to be created, new schools to build and threats to meet, alliances to repair. The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term.

But America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you, we as a people will get there.

(CROWD CHANTING)

OBAMA: There will be setbacks, and false starts. There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as president and we know the government can't solve every problem.

But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you especially when we disagree. And above all, I will ask you to join in the work of remaking this nation the only way it's been done in America for 221 years -- block by block. Brick by brick. Calloused hand by calloused hand.

What began 21 months ago in the depths of winter cannot end on this autumn night. This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change and that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It can't happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice.

So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other.

Let us remember that if this financial crisis taught us anything it's that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers. In this country, we rise or fall as one nation, as one people.

Let's resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned the politics for so long.

Let's remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House, a party founded on the values of self reliance and individual liberty and national unity.

Those are values that we all share, and while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress.

As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, we are not enemies but friends. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.

To those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote tonight but I hear your voices. I need your help. And I will be your president, too.

And all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces, to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of the world, our stories are singular but our destiny is shared.

And a new dawn of American leadership is at hand. To those -- to those who would tear the world down, we will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security, we support you.

And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright, tonight, we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth but from the enduring power of our ideals, democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope.

That's the true genius of America.

That America can change. Our union can be perfected. What we have already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.

This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations, but one that's on my mind tonight's about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She is a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing.

Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old. She was born just a generation passed slavery, a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky. When someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons -- because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.

And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America. The heartache and the hope, the struggle and the progress. The times we were told that we can't and the people who pressed on with that American creed.

Yes, we can.

At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot.

Yes, we can.

When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a new deal, new jobs, a new sense of common purpose.

Yes, we can.

When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved.

Yes, we can.

She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma and a preacher from Atlanta who told the people that we shall overcome.

Yes, we can.

A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change.

Yes, we can.

America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there's so much more to do.

So tonight, let us ask ourselves: if our children should live to see the next century, if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?

This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids. To restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace. To reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth that out of many we are one.

That while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts, and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people.

Yes, we can.

Thank you. God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: President-elect Barack Obama and the next first lady of the United States.

The -- he dug deep in those remarks. He tried to reach this moment. This is a moment that millions and millions of people will never forget. On this date, the next president of the United States has been elected.

He will become the 44th president of the United States and the first African-American president of the United States.

Joe Biden was there. You saw his 90-year-old mother. You can only imagine what she is going through right now. Both of the families were there. The Obama family, the Biden family.

And there you see Jesse Jackson, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, among the approximately 125,000 people or so estimated to be in that crowd in Grant Park in Chicago.

Along the lake they gathered there to celebrate this moment and they gathered there hours before they knew for sure that Barack Obama would be elected president of the United States.

This is a real historic moment. I don't think we can overemphasize how significant this is. I think it's the last time a president-elect had a night like this, really you got to go back to 1992, in November, when Bill Clinton became the president-elect because in 2000 when George W. Bush -- with hindsight won the election.

It took about 30 days for that recall and recount to take place so they really couldn't -- he really couldn't celebrate as Barack Obama is doing on this night as Bill Clinton did back in Little Rock in 1992.

So they're going to enjoy it. They're going to appreciate what's going on. And we are going stay on top of this story because how he did it is a story that we're going to share with you.

Our coverage will continue. We are here at the CNN Election Center. We're watching it when we come back.

ANNOUNCER: The coverage of AMERICA VOTES 2008 is sponsored by...

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: And welcome back to our continuing coverage. You've seen Barack Obama, the president-elect, speaking to a crowd of believed to be about 125,000 ticketed and non ticketed people in Grant Park in Chicago.

Truly, a remarkable evening. They're still a lot of ballot initiatives ahead that we are looking at as well as state -- Senate races as well as congressional races. An important Senate races, in particular, to look at.

But that speech, David Gergen, was it what you expected?

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Very much so. In fact, it was better than I expected because it had a real lilt to it in the end. It had the rhythmic quality and I think he told the story of the 106-year-old woman voting, standing in line and then telling -- and then have (INAUDIBLE) be through her life, sort of her life experiences and then using the "Yes, we can."

That was very much a rally speech. And then much of the rest of it was almost like an inaugural address and it wove those two qualities together in a very nice way, very gracious and it wasn't about him.

You know? A lot of these speeches of politicians are all about how I'm doing and how I feel. This was about us, about you the voters.

(CROSSTALK)

COOPER: And also watching Barack Obama on that stage, I mean, I remember him saying a couple of days ago when, you know, with him the highs don't get too high and the lows don't get too low, that there is this sort of -- this calmness which we've seen throughout this campaign, but we certainly saw it tonight on that stage. ROLAND MARTIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: The one thing that has stuck in my mind this entire campaign was that whenever you heard -- you're right, David. All the other candidates talk about what they wanted to do, it was always what I'm going to do as president. He consistently said, we, us, our. Anybody who's had a successful marriage they know it's not I, my, it's we, us, our.

And what he is doing in many ways -- I think about the story of Nehemiah rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem. The most important part of that, Nehemiah had the vision but then the people said let us rebuild. But what he is saying is, look, I can't do this alone. You are going to have to carry this cross as well. And by challenging the people, as well, they have to assume responsibility. That's very important in this age where we're looking just for one person to do all the work.

O'BRIEN: Earlier in the night, David, you quoted the mountain top speech from Martin Luther King and you heard those words. He basically took the text of the mountain top speech, he just squeezed it and pushed it and moved it a little bit.

It may be a year, or we may not make in it a term. But I promise you, we will get there as a people. Didn't say as a black people but as Martin Luther King said, as a people, we will get there. It was the exact same refrain that Martin Luther King gave on the speech he gave the night before he was assassinated.

COOPER: Let me talk to our panel over here, Hillary Rosen also joining us. Your thoughts tonight, we haven't talked to you yet?

HILARY ROSEN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I thought that he in some ways played down the historic nature of him being the first black president, and you know, he said this victory isn't the change we seek. It only gives us the chance to make the change that we seek.

And, you know, I was listening to that and thought for my biracial kids, this is very much the change we seek. And the work starts tomorrow but, you know, no one should underestimate how important this night was.

COOPER: But do you have no doubt that the work does start tomorrow? I mean, Barack Obama is well aware of the challenges this country faces.

PAUL BEGALA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Oh, absolutely. He is far down the road. Some of our other correspondents have said that. He's going to name his chief of staff tomorrow. He's going to get --

COOPER: Do we know who it is?

BEGALA: I think it is one of the deals as Toobin says about the Supreme Court, those who know are not talking and those who are talking don't know.

COOPER: I'll assume that means you know but you're not talking.

BEGALA: This is a carefully-planned operation from day one. It has been for the campaign. It's been for the transition.

DAVID GERGEN, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: That's a dodge.

COOPER: You can say you're dodging. You don't have to pretend.

BEGALA: Does it look like I'm dodging?

COOPER: Your body is actually contorted.

BEGALA: There have been lots of rumors going around Washington and I have heard some of them.

COOPER: Do we know over here? Gloria?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hot rumors.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: I'll put this --

COOPER: Please, go ahead.

BLITZER: -- to Paul Begala rather bluntly. Rahm Emanuel, the congressman from Illinois. Look at that camera right now and tell us whether or not he is going to be the chief -- White House Chief of Staff.

BEGALA: I do not know. I do not know. Last time I checked no offers had been made. My guess is sometime in the next day or two, probably tomorrow, Senator Obama is going to pick his chief of staff. There have been other names that have been mentioned but I don't want to get it all on that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- to break that story.

BEGALA: I can't because it wouldn't be accurate, I don't think anything has been offered as far as I know, the last time I checked with several of the people that have been talked about. But I think what's impressive about this speech if I can get back to that as an old speech writer, his tone was sober, serious, almost even somber.

Some of it because of the loss in his family, you could see that in his heart and etched in his face but I was really impressed. I mean, it is easy for a politician on victory night to get them screaming, right. He hushed that crowd and he got them thinking and feeling and he reached out, I think, wonderfully to those Americans as he said whose votes I did not win but whose support I need or something like that.

It was wonderful. It was a terrific speech but what I liked about it, is that it wasn't triumphant at all. I think this is a man who understands the burden that he's about to assume.

COOPER: I thought it was also interesting the crowd at this event compared to the McCain crowd, and perhaps as the difference between the crowd whose candidate has won and the crowd whose candidate has not. They cheered John McCain when his name was mentioned. There were boos at the other event when Barack Obama was mentioned.

BEGALA: It's no fun to lose. Yeah, some of the crowds at some of the rallies for Palin particularly have been pretty offensive. I did not think that was offensive tonight at the Biltmore, you're there, you're hoping your guy wins, I understand that. They were expressing their disappointment. McCain handled it like a real pro.

ROSEN: But the fact that Barack Obama was so clear about pointing out to people that I want to be your president, too for those who support I have not earned.

That says something not just about the kind of campaign he's run but how he expects to govern, and you know, we have learned a few things about his administration, Paul was being circumspect about it but a chief of staff like Rahm Emanuel should that be the case, since many of us have heard that's the case, is somebody who also has been a member of congress. He's quite partisan.

But he knows how to get things done and I think the key thing that Barack Obama said tonight was, we want to get things done. And it's going to be hard. And I'll be honest with you when I can do it and I'll be honest with you when I think that we are in trouble. And those key moments of being smart about how to make things happen, I think, is really going to be the essence of this presidency for a while.

COOPER: The crowds are still there in Grant Park. I want to go to Candy Crowley who has been following this campaign as long as anybody. Candy, your thoughts not only on this victory for Barack Obama tonight, but also on his words tonight.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's interesting to me that he really did take much of what he said on the campaign trail here, but this wasn't a campaigner that came out here tonight.

This was a man ready to be president. His demeanor was different. He really sort of took the moment -- I don't know if you noticed the music but it was very regal sort of presidential music. The setting was that. There was no rally feel to it at all.

This was a man who definitely came out here wanting to be the president as he's just been elected to do, and I think back to February of 2007 when I was in Springfield as he announced to a very changed man, as well. Just in how he handles himself and what he talks about and he came out as president. He really did. I think that's the speech we saw tonight even with the yes we can. You heard it was a yes, we can as opposed to that kind of way he did it in the rallies.

So this was taking what he talked about and putting it in presidential form, if you will. I also think that so much of this campaign played to peoples' hopes. You know? That he gave them a chance to hope again. Anybody at any rally would tell you that. And I thought this was the somber night to say, we can still get there and we are going to get there, but let's not think it's going to happen tomorrow.

And I think if you remember when we had the off year elections in '06, everybody thought the war would stop the next day because the Democrats were put into control. And I think this was very much Barack Obama trying to say, steady now. We won tonight. But this is serious stuff we're about to face and it's not going to happen overnight.

COOPER: Candy, we'll be talking to you throughout this evening. A lot of coverage ahead, also check out cnn.com for the latest political news. We're still getting results in from various states, various ballot initiatives also a lot of important senate races and house races, as well. Lots to talk about, stay tuned.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: And so the transition to power has now started. Barack Obama will get ready to become the next president of the United States. Throughout this month of November, December and then January, leading up to January 20th, he'll have an opportunity to try to organize a smooth transition to become the 44th president of the United States.

And we already know that the current president, President George W. Bush, has promised to do everything he can to make sure this is a smooth transition and that Barack Obama and Joe Biden, the next vice president of the United States, will get everything they need to make sure that this process goes forward smoothly and on time.

It's not going to be easy but we're told he's going to start as early as tomorrow getting things going, the new president-elect. Bill Schneider is watching all of this over at voter analysis and you are coming up with the numbers how he managed to put this all together -- Bill.

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Very much, Wolf. This was a victory for the youth vote. They called this a victory for the new America and that's certainly what young people were voting for. Let's take a look at the country as a whole.

Look at voters who are under 30 years old. Two thirds of them, 66 percent, voted for Barack Obama. Let's go one age category up, 30 to 44-year-olds, how did they vote? A little less, 52 to 46 for Obama. What about 45 to 64-year-olds nationwide? They split 50 percent Obama, 49 percent for McCain.

The one group of voters who did not support Barack Obama and they were the holdouts were seniors who voted for their fellow senior, John McCain, he got 53 percent of the senior vote. Obama just 45 percent. So the older the voting group, the less support for Obama the more support for John McCain. It is true, Wolf, this was a victory for the young Americans.

BLITZER: Bill Schneider looking at all the numbers for us, Bill, thanks very much. And so the transition to power will begin. We are told tomorrow it will begin with president-elect Obama naming a transition team and we're told that John Podesta, a former White House chief of staff under Bill Clinton, will be among those leading in this transition together with Valerie Jarrett, another top adviser to Barack Obama as well the senate chief of staff, Peter Rous, as well. All right, we're watching all of this.

I want to show you what we know right now with 76 percent of the popular vote now officially in, 48 percent for John McCain, 51 percent for Barack Obama. He's ahead by almost 4 million votes. 76 percent of the vote now and if it stays above 50 percent, he would have a majority going into the White House.

On the electoral vote right now, still four states that we cannot yet project a winner. Alaska, they haven't closed their polls. They close their polls at 1:00 a.m. here on the east coast. But right now, Barack Obama has 338 electoral votes to 156 for John McCain. Much more than the 270 needed to be elected president of the United states.

We'll take a quick break. CNN.com, you can get all the latest information on all the senate races, the house races, the governors' races, ballot initiatives and a lot more. We'll update you on what we know right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: And welcome back, our coverage continues. We want to talk about the transition to power a little bit. Gloria Borger, you've been working on this. This is something the Obama campaign has been working on now for many months.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: For many months, since last May, and Obama himself got very involved in this after the Democratic convention, I'm told. There are three things they know they need to do very quickly, first of all their White House chief of staff as we have been talking about. Secondly, their economic team and then their national security team. Those are the sort of three things --

COOPER: The same economic team that we've been seeing Barack Obama surround himself with --

BORGER: Could be. Some of those names.

COOPER: I guess, or do we not know?

GERGEN: We don't know that. I think people are encouraged by the kinds of people he's had around him and the names circulating for treasury, Tim Geithner, head of the New York Federal Reserve is a person who commands respect I think across the board and is only 47 years old. Larry Summers is another possibility.

Some talked about Paul Volcker coming in for a brief period of time or possibly coming in some kind of counselor role. But this is one of the first times I can remember when the secretary of the treasury is going to be almost as important as the secretary of state. ROSEN: Right. And there's a question because there's a big summit in mid-November now that they may put off naming their economic team so they don't interfere with the G-20 summit.

GERGEN: Yeah, exactly. But to go to -- they do plan -- he's been eager to get to the governing phase. And Ed Rollins was saying earlier tonight, that on Election Day, he was having an hour-long meeting with somebody about homeland security. Somebody came in to have a really serious conversation about that so I think he has been doing a lot more looking forward to this -- tomorrow than anybody really knows.

COOPER: How does that transition work in this country of ours?

ROSEN: They get a set of offices, they get essentially an office building in Washington and they set up a government in waiting. And one of the things they're thinking about doing, Anderson, if they understand from studying past transitions that everything you do early on in a presidency gets magnified. You don't want to make the mistakes that Bill Clinton made. So they're thinking of doing some executive orders right away. Right out of the box.

GERGEN: You mean for January.

ROSEN: For January when he becomes president and they're thinking about that now in transition. How would you do that?

COOPER: What are the mistakes that Bill Clinton made that he wants to avoid?

ROSEN: Appointments, all of his -- David can tell us about them. But a lot of his appointments that got rejected by the congress. Also, they have to think about whether they do an economic stimulus package in a lame duck session. Whether they do a small one and what they do about the economy when he takes charge. They don't want to kind of make any little mistake just becomes a big mistake and becomes how you can govern, right?

MARTIN: He also doesn't want to appear like he's not ready for prime time. A lot of the criticisms of Clinton was, oh, he's has too many young people around him, they're not experienced in Washington, what's going on. Obama who's extremely methodical, who's very deliberate. He wants to bring it across that I am an absolute leader. I am in charge. And so, I don't think you are going to see a lot of the bungling. I mean, when they vet, they're going to vet because he's going to say we can't afford the mistakes.

GERGEN: Two things, Anderson, that are very different about this transition than from the Clinton transition or any other. The time of crisis.

And he's a sitting senator. So that there's going to be a lame duck session coming up of congress coming back. What's the role of a president-elect who's also a sitting senator in that situation? Normally presidents try very hard not to be a quasi president or a co- partner to the incumbent during the transition. Obama is going to be under an awful lot of pressure to begin making decisions during the transition. Almost as a quasi president. Hank Paulson as treasury secretary is opening up offices in the treasury for people to come in from Obama's team and be there for him. And the office space that Gloria talks about, it's the general service administration, the general office building place.

They have rented for the winter, no matter who it was, 100,000 square feet of office space and that's going to be available and that's what they hope to open tomorrow at noon.

COOPER: We have to take a short break, I want to get to our other panelists. While we have a lot more, also check out cnn.com for all the latest on politics, you can see the results of the races that we are still following coming in from around the country. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back to the CNN Election Center on this historic night when Barack Obama, the senator from Illinois, has been elected president of the United States. He will be sworn in on January 20th, 2009. Right now, his major mission is to make sure there is a smooth transition and Valerie Jarrett is joining us from Chicago, one of his senior advisers. Valerie, congratulations to you. Well, I'll put it bluntly. How excited are you?

VALERIE JARRETT, OBAMA SENIOR ADVISER: I am pretty excited, as you can tell tonight, it has been an extraordinary night here in Chicago. But it's an extraordinary night for our country. I'm so proud of Senator Obama and what he's accomplished with so many people helping him along the way. I think it says a great deal about our country that we can elect Senator Obama to be president-elect of the United States of America.

BLITZER: I know he was really nervous about a jinx. I interviewed him last Friday he told me he was nervous about a jinx but he's preparing for a transition for some time. John Podesta we know has been working, giving him briefing papers and we're told you'll be involved in helping him during this transition as well. Walk us through the process.

JARRETT: Well, you know what? We'll be -- this is what we're actually going to do. We're going to celebrate tonight. This is an extraordinary victory. And it's a time for us to come together and appreciate how far we have come. And in the days ahead, you will be hearing more directly from Senator Obama, president-elect Obama, I should say, about the steps that he'll be taking to get prepared to lead on January 20th.

BLITZER: What does this mean to you personally as someone who's known Senator Obama for a long time?

JARRETT: It is hard to find the words to explain what this means to me. Of course I've always known he was an extraordinary person, somebody of great intellect, judgment and temperament that was even keel and a kind, decent person, this core decency that I've appreciated him over the 17 years that I have known him and also known Michelle.

But to see our country come alive the way it did, the energy and the enthusiasm, and the so many people across our country who've become involved in this campaign, this campaign was really never about Barack Obama, it was about the American people and the fact that they were willing to come together and work so hard to make this day happen just makes me feel like only in America could this happen.

BLITZER: All right, good point. Valerie, get some sleep tonight. Go ahead and celebrate because you have to work hard starting tomorrow in this transition.

JARRETT: Thank you.

BLITZER: Thanks very much Valerie Jarrett congratulations to you, once again.