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Obama Interview: Savannah Guthrie Talks to President Obama on NBC News

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NBC News' Savannah Guthrie sat down with President Obama earlier today. Below are excerpts. The full, exclusive interview will air on "NBC Nightly News" and will be available on msnbc.com.

The interview was part of NBC News' "A Woman's Nation," the week-long series examining the state of women in American life. 

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SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Sir, before we get to why we're here, let me ask you a couple news of the day questions. There's something of a public dispute among your advisors, so I'll let you have a chance to answer this. Are you intending to announce your strategy for Afghanistan before there's a settlement? Before the runoff election is settled there? 

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, I think we're still in finding out how this whole process in Afghanistan is gonna unfold. I thought that the steps that President Karzai took yesterday-- agreeing to the certification of-- a second round was positive. What we've said is that it is important to make sure that we understand the landscape and the partner that we're gonna be dealing with. 

Because our strategy in Afghanistan is not just dependent on military forces. It's also dependent on how well we're doing with our civilian development efforts. How well we're doing in stemming corruption. So, this is part of a comprehensive strategy, it always has been. And our basic attitude is that we are going to take the time to get this right. We're not gonna drag it out, because there is a sense that the sooner we get a sound approach in place and personnel in place, the better off we're gonna be.

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Can you envision--

PRESIDENT OBAMA: But we-- but we also want to make sure that we don't put resources ahead of strategy.

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Could you envision, however, announcing a strategy before the runoff is determined?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: I think it is entirely possibly that we have a strategy formulated before a runoff is determined. We may not announce it. 

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Obama on the Shriver Report headline, "The battle of the sexes, okay, it's over. Now it's the negotiation of the sexes:" 


PRESIDENT OBAMA: Today's Obama Family is obviously not typical. 
Five years ago, six years ago, though, we were having a lot of negotiations. Because-- Michelle was trying to figure out, okay, if the kids get sick why is it that she's the one who has to take time off of her job to go pick them up from school, as opposed to me? If you know, the girls need to shop for clothes. You know, why is it that it's her burden and not mind. Now, you know, what I tried to do was to learn to be thoughtful enough and introspective enough that I wasn't always having to be told that things were unfair. That once in awhile, I'd actually voluntarily say, "You know what? Let me relieve this burden on you. Let me make some sacrifices, in terms of how I'm using my time." But, you know, there's no doubt that our family, like a lot of families out there-- were ones in which the men are still a little obtuse about this stuff. And--

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: How are you obtuse?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: --need to be-- need to be knocked across the head every once in awhile, in terms of-- you know, making sure that everybody is treated fairly.

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Do you feel like you had to come to that recognition?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Absolutely. And look, the truth is that Michelle still had to make sacrifices of the sort that I did not have to make.

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