Transcript: Gibson Interviews Sen. Barack Obama on Bailout

Read Charlie Gibson's interview with Barack Obama on the bailout.

ByABC News
September 25, 2008, 3:25 PM

Sept. 25, 2008— -- The following is a transcript of ABC News' Charles Gibson's interview with Sen. Barack Obama on the proposed $700 billion bailout for Wall Street and the status of the first presidential debate, for "World News with Charles Gibson," Sept. 25, 2008.

GIBSON: Senator, what's the hang-up?

OBAMA: Well, I think that there's some core principles where we've made some progress. I'd insisted that we make sure there's strong oversight; I think we've seen some improvements there. I've insisted that we don't use this as a bailout for CEOs and they're not walking away with big bonuses. I think we've made progress there. I insisted that taxpayers should be able to get some upside, so if they've put money in, they can get money out. We've made progress there. And I insisted that homeowners -- that they are benefiting from a plan, as well, so that we can prevent some of the foreclosures and the declining home prices that we've seen. I think we made progress there. There seems to be a sense that we can move forward, but there remains some resistance among certain members of Congress, particularly in the House Republican Caucus. And what I suggested to the president and to Secretary Paulson is that they need to find out more specifically from those parties what it is that they want, because there needs to be a sense of urgency here, we need to get this done.

GIBSON: Well, at about one o'clock, the leaders of the banking committees walked out and said, 'we've got an agreement on principles, this is a bill that will pass both houses and the president will sign.' At four o'clock, you go into a meeting at the White House which is apparently pretty raucous and you walk out at the end and say there's no deal. What happened between one o'clock in the afternoon and four?

OBAMA: I think you're going to have to ask some of those who were objecting to core principles that Secretary Paulson had presented. I think the House Republicans, in particular, suggested that, although they recognized the urgency, they just are not clear that they buy this approach. So, the question I asked was, do we need to start from scratch or are there ways to incorporate some of their concerns? I think that, at this point, the president, the secretary of the Treasury, and those who are expressing some of these concerns have to provide some clarity. There is consensus on the part of Democrats that, as long as we are protecting taxpayers, helping homeowners, we're not bailing out CEOs, and we've got strong oversight, that there should be room there to get something done and get something done quickly.