Michelle Obama on Larry King

by Christi Parsons

Barack Obama can admit when he's wrong, his wife, Michelle, told Larry King on CNN last night.

His mind can be changed? asked King.

"Absolutely," she said. "Hey, I change it every day."

Here's the full transcript:

CNN’s Larry King Live
Monday, February 11, 2008
Interviews with Michelle Obama

LARRY KING HOST: Tonight, could she be the next first lady and make history in the process?

Michelle Obama -- the private side of a public life. A revealing look inside her world with husband and presidential candidate Barack Obama.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELLE OBAMA: We can send this man to the White House.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Plus, Mike Huckabee hanging tough after weekend election wins.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is incredible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: But is that enough to seriously challenge frontrunner John McCain?

Answers next on LARRY KING LIVE.

Good evening.

We're in Washington tonight, on the eve of the Potomac primaries.
That's Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia.

And our special guest is Michelle Obama, the wife of the 2008 Democrat -
- would-be Democratic presidential candidate, Senator Barack Obama. The mother of two daughters, Malia and Sasha. And she's the Harvard Law-educated hospital executive.

Did you expect this?

M. OBAMA: You know, I don't think anybody could have expected this. I mean a year ago, although Barack announced with 16,000 people in the frigid cold in Springfield, I mean I knew this guy had something special to offer.
But, you know, where we are today is pretty amazing.

KING: Was he confident?

M. OBAMA: Oh, he's always pretty confident. Yes. I mean he wouldn't have taken this -- taken us down this path if he didn't think that he had a very good shot at it. And that's something that we talked about. I mean I looked at Barack as were making this decision and I said, do you think not only can you do this, but should you do this?

And he looked me in the eye and he said, yes. He said I can be a good president.

KING: Did you as, wives will sometimes do, try to put a damper on it?

M. OBAMA: Oh, of course. That's my job. But, you know, the thing that I -- we talked about were the practical aspects of the race -- you know, how would it affect the kids?

And we have a 9-year-old and a 6-year-old -- how would they feel about this?

How would we manage our lives to make sure that their lives stayed on track?

What would we do financially?

Those were the kind of practical issues that I wanted to walk through step by step and sort of know how we would handle this when we confronted it.
And when I got the satisfactory answers, I was ready to go.

KING: Did you think the public would take to him as it has?

M. OBAMA: You know, I...

KING: Because you only one race to go on...

M. OBAMA: Yes. Yes.

KING: ...plus local races.

M. OBAMA: You know, I was hopeful. I based it on what we had seen in his career in the past. And every race that Barack has run, he started out as the severe underdog, with people saying that he was too young and too inexperienced, he couldn't raise the money, he couldn't build the organization.
We heard that in his U.S. Senate run.

But what we found out was that if Barack could, through strong organization and building a grassroots effort on the ground, could break through the noise and speak directly to the people -- and once people got to know him, know his message, sort of see his heart, his sincerity, his authenticity, then, you know, that always trumped whatever doubts people had.

KING: So now, Michelle, you must give it some thought -- I might be first lady.

M. OBAMA: Go figure.

KING: Go figure.

You must think of that.

M. OBAMA: I have to. Yes.

KING: And what enters your mind?

M. OBAMA: I think wow, what an opportunity. What a platform that I'll have, potentially, to talk about a whole range of issues that could affect the country. What a privilege it will be to have the opportunity to speak to peoples' hearts, to be a part of moving this country in a different direction.

So I try to embrace the exciting parts of it.

KING: So you're ready for it?

M. OBAMA: I'm ready for it, yes.

KING: Ready to be the first black, first female first lady?

M. OBAMA: I'm who I am. I'm ready for it. That's who I am.

KING: Do you think there will be a lot of pressure on you if that happens?

M. OBAMA: You know, I -- I just think this is a pressure filled position. I think that anyone who steps up into this sort of level is going to find some -- some degree of pressure. I just don't think about it in those terms. I mean, it's in the same way that I don't think about what might go wrong. I've never spent my life sort of thinking what could go wrong, or else I wouldn't be here.

KING: OK.

what have you not liked so far?

M. OBAMA: About -- you know, I have to tell you, I'm one of these people who walks down every dark road before I take on a pretty ambitious process. And that's one of the things that I did. I sort of thought through all the things that could go wrong. So I kind of prepared myself. And what I found is that there hasn't been anything that I didn't expect to happen.

KING: You have not been surprised?

M. OBAMA: I haven't been surprised?

KING: By anything?

M. OBAMA: By the good and the bad. It's all part of it. And that's something that people should understand. I mean we're not new to politics.
We're new to the national scene, but Barack has been in the U.S. Senate for several years. He was in the state senate in Illinois for eight years.

KING: Yes, but that isn't the national scene, scene.

M. OBAMA: You know, it's just more of the same, except more people are watching. I think that if you're secure in yourself and you sort of know who you're and I think be this time we're in our 40s. Not to say we don't have anything else to learn but, you know, we're pretty grounded. And that helps you sort of, you know, handle all of the ups and downs of this kind of stuff.

KING: Is it hard being a mother and the wife of a candidates?

M. OBAMA: You know, I think it's hard being a mother a working mother in this society period. I mean one thing I say is that what I'm struggling with in terms of the balancing that I have to do to get through the day is no different than what any woman that I know is struggling with. In fact, I think that I can't complain because I have resources that most mothers don't have.
I've got my mother, who is staying behind, helping with -- me with my kids.
She's with my girls right now. And that gives me a level of peace.

But so many women out here, they don't have the resources. They don't have that informal support structure. They don't have health care. They don't have living wages. That's who I worry about.

KING: You have a backup system.

M. OBAMA: I have a backup system. And that's what we need to make sure -
- that's one of the things Barack wants to do, is to make sure that women and families have the kind of backup system that we have to sustain ourselves.

KING: Let's talk about the opponent.

Has Hillary surprised you?

You couldn't have known what would have happened on the other side.

M. OBAMA: No. No, but, politics is politics. And I think it's a competitive endeavor. And, you know, it's rough and tumble. I think that she has handled herself well in this respect -- I think that she and Barack, as he says all the time, were good friends and colleagues before this race, and they will be afterwards.

I think, you know, the job that we all have as Democrats is to come out of this thing united and ready to toward a common purpose.

KING: But there had to be days where you were a little ticked.

M. OBAMA: Of course. That's my husband. I love him. I don't want anybody to say anything bad about him. But, you know, I would also, you know, be foolish to think you would enter a race where you wouldn't hear somebody being critical of your husband. So I try not to take it personally.

KING: Do you ever look at it in the sense that it's you against Bill?

M. OBAMA: Oh, absolutely not.

KING: I mean he's first man.

M. OBAMA: Yes.

KING: You're first lady.

M. OBAMA: Well, but he's Bill and I'm Michelle. We're very different people.

(LAUGHTER)

M. OBAMA: But, no, I really focus on what's in front of me at the time.
And, really, when I go before a crowd, I'm thinking about trying to reach peoples' hearts. I mean really do, because I firmly believe that there is a fundamental difference in what Barack can offer. And inspiration is a part of that -- and the ability to connect and unite.

And that's sort of what I'm trying to do when I'm talking. I'm not thinking about Bill or Hillary. I'm not even thinking about Barack. I'm thinking about the people in front of me and what their pains the level of unfairness -- this gap of inequality that is happening with working folks out here, regular folks trying to make it.

So with that, I don't have time to focus on the competition.

KING: We'll take a break and when we come back, we'll ask Michelle about this man Barack and what, in her opinion, not only as his wife -- what makes him so special?

Michelle Obama is our guest.

This is LARRY KING LIVE.

Don't go away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

M. OBAMA: The next president of the United States, my husband, Barack Obama.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: OBAMA: We are one nation. We are one people. And our time for change has come.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: We're back with Michelle Obama.

OK, obviously, he's special. I mean his critics would say he's special.
His opponents would say it.

M. OBAMA: And I would say he's special.

KING: And you would say it.

M. OBAMA: Yes.

KING: What is it?

What does he have?

M. OBAMA: You know, OK, so there's my opinion as the wife. So I can share that. I mean he's a...

KING: Nobody closer than that.

M. OBAMA: He's a great orator. He's inspirational. He's brilliant, all of that.

But you know what?

He's a good man. He's, first of all, my best friend. He's a phenomenal support to me and the girls. I mean this is a guy who, in the midst of this race, hasn't missed a parent/teacher conference, you know. This is the stuff that I look at. He took the girls trick or treating. He came home for a day to buy the Christmas tree. He took me out for our anniversary. I mean, you know, he is just...

KING: Little things.

M. OBAMA: It's he's consistent. But he is consistent.

It's just his character, you know?

And there is a warmth and a sincerity and an authenticity. And he's also somebody who is not going to just tell you what you think you want to hear. He's always going to play it straight and tell you what he thinks. He's going to be honest with you.

KING: What affect do you think he's had on the way that Americans look at race?

We all know that Alma Powell discouraged Colin Powell from running for president because of fear something would happen to him because he would be the first black president.

M. OBAMA: Right.

KING: Do you think he's changed thinking?

M. OBAMA: Yes. I think he's moved the thinking ahead.

I mean, when was the last time that we've had a candidate of any race or of any political party that's won Utah and South Carolina and Los Angeles and Louisiana and Maine and Illinois?

I mean, you know, he's touched on every element of this country -- every race, every political party -- Republicans, Independents. And I think, you know, he is uniting people not around race, but around hope. And I say this race is just the rejuvenation of hope.

KING: So you think...

M. OBAMA: Hope makes a comeback and...

KING: ...they don't see black when they see him...

M. OBAMA: Well, I think they're...

KING: ...they see just Barack?

M. OBAMA: I think there are people who see it. But, you know, the thing that I've always found and what makes me hopeful, especially when I travel around places like Iowa and places where there are not that many black folks, is that, you know, where I connect with people is around values. It's around the stories of my upbringing, you know, growing up in a working class background. Seeing my father get up and go to work every day and just be happy that he could provide his family with a decent living. I mean that's all folks want.

And when you tell those stories, when Barack shares his upbringing and the values he was raised on -- the notion that you treat people with decency and respect even if you don't always agree with them or don't know them -- you know, people hear that. And it reminds them of who they are and who they hope to be. And that transcends race.

But that's not to say that race is not a factor. It still plays a significant role. We have -- we still have work to do and I think people recognize that.

But what we see in this race is that people want to be in a better place and they're ready to work for it. And that gives me hope.

KING: When you were a small, little girl, wasn't it one of your dreams to see the first female president?

M. OBAMA: You know, I have to honestly say no. That's -- you know, and -
- because that wasn't even a possibility for me. I mean the truth is, when I was a little girl, the thought of a woman or an African-American being president was the furthest thing from what could be possible. So it's only now that I am seeing, in this race, these two phenomenal candidates that I know, as some have said, that we now can move beyond those issues and we can go for who we think is the best candidate.

KING: Are there some women who might say step aside and let there be a woman first?

M. OBAMA: Oh, of course. You know, there are women who feel like, you know, this is...

KING: Your chance.

M. OBAMA: ...this is -- right. Exactly. I understand that, but I don't agree with it because, you know, I come to this thing as a mom. And I'm really worried about the country that we're going to hand over to our kids. And I know deep in my heart that we need a leader that can unite us across so many lines.

And I just think, in my heart of hearts, that Barack is the only person in this race who can do that. And that transcends into these other issues of who's first and whose turn it is.

KING: Do you have any doubts about him?

M. OBAMA: Absolutely not.

KING: Absolutely not?

M. OBAMA: Not in terms of his character. I mean this is what is true.
Barack is going to mistakes. But, see, the beauty of Barack making mistakes is that he's not going to be so stubborn that he can't admit that he's making mistakes and he can't look at another way of approaching things.

I mean, I think that's all people want. I mean, to the extent that people are angry with the current administration, it's just that you feel like folks sometimes view leadership as stubbornness. And you don't want to admit when you've made a mistake. And I think most Americans understand that if you want leaders to take risks and reach for, you know, grand achievements, that sometimes they're going to stumble. But you want to know that that know that they'd stumble and that they're ready to correct their mistakes and move forward. And that's something that Barack is able to do.

KING: Can his mind be changed?

M. OBAMA: Absolutely. Hey, I change it every day.

(LAUGHTER)

KING: We'll be right back with Michelle Obama.

Don't go away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

B. OBAMA: The rock of the Obama family. The closer on the campaign trail. Give it up for Michelle Obama.

M. OBAMA: Today, we can do something amazing. We can elect my husband.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OPRAH WINFREY: Are you the one?

Is he the one?

Is he the one?

Is he the one?

I believe he is the one -- Barack Obama!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: It was on this program some months ago when I asked Oprah Winfrey if she was going to endorse anyone or get involved in politics. And that's where she announced that she would endorse your husband.

What has that meant?

M. OBAMA: You know, I -- first of all, I adore Oprah. She's more -- and the more you get to know her, the more you realize that she's just a great intellect.

What she's done is that she has a broad reach. Now she can't -- she doesn't convince people. I think Americans are smart enough to want to make their own decisions. But what Oprah has offered is access to a broad base of her supporters. And what that's given Barack the opportunity to do is to just try to speak to them. So she's opened up more doors, but he's had to walk through them.

KING: Have you gotten close to her?

M. OBAMA: Yes. Yes, I would consider Oprah a friend -- Oprah and Gale.
Both are just terrific women.

KING: You know Senator John McCain, obviously.

M. OBAMA: Yes, I do.

KING: He serves in the Senate.

M. OBAMA: Yes, I know.

KING: What do you make of his candidacy -- if he gets it?

M. OBAMA: You know, I think he has served this country in just a tremendous way. And I don't think you can do anything other than respect his years of service. So, you know, I think that Barack will relish the opportunity to expand upon their differences, but I know he'll want to do it in a way that retains a level of respect and dignity in the race. And I look forward to it.

KING: What do you hear about the super-delegates?

M. OBAMA: You know, I think a lot of people, more and more, I'm hearing, that they don't want this race to be decided by super-delegates. I mean they want the voters to decide.

And -- but our focus is one state at a time. Every delegate counts.
This is a close race. We don't take anything for granted so...

KING: I arrived in Washington today from New York, coming from L.A. Do you know ). And the first thing you hear is rumors. And one of the rumors is that if McCain is the nominee, he might choose Condoleezza Rice as a running mate.

M. OBAMA: Oh, I hadn't heard that.

KING: How would that strike you?

M. OBAMA: Ooh, I have...

KING: Does that add to the intrigue of this race?

M. OBAMA: I have no idea. You just enlightened me. I haven't had time to even ponder.

KING: That's just a rumor.

M. OBAMA: I -- you know, I have no idea.

KING: It's ponderable.

(LAUGHTER)

M. OBAMA: It is ponderable. I will have to ponder that and get back to you.

KING: We'll all ponder it.

(LAUGHTER)

KING: It's just a rumor, folks. This is Washington -- it thrives on it.
You live here, you know it's right.

M. OBAMA: I don't live hire.

KING: You never moved here?

M. OBAMA: No. No, we stayed based in Chicago, because that's where my work is.

KING: So where does Barack live?

M. OBAMA: You know, he commutes back and forth. He has a little apartment here. But, you know, he's trying to get home as much as possible.

KING: Really?

M. OBAMA: Um-hmm.

KING: So you never lived in the...

M. OBAMA: We've never lived here. I mean that's one of the ways, in my opinion, that I've been able to keep our kids grounded and focused, that they've never been pulled out of their lives and therefore they...

KING: Do they go to a regular school or a private school?

M. OBAMA: They go to a private school that's affiliated with t University of Chicago, where I -- I work right around the corner. I've got great access to them, which, you know, you need when you're basically doing it all.

KING: Would they go private here, too, I guess?

M. OBAMA: You know, we haven't thought about that so.

KING: Who's going to -- what's going to happen tomorrow?

M. OBAMA: Tomorrow Barack is going to do well because everyone who is listening is going to go out and vote for him. But we don't take anything for granted. I mean, what I tell people is Barack is the underdog until he's sitting in the Oval Office. I mean, because when you're the agent of change, when you're the candidate that's really pushing against the establishment, I don't think you can ever take anything for granted.

I am snake bitten. I am superstitious. I don't claim victory until it's over and I want people to go out and vote.

KING: No prediction -- Maryland, the District of Columbia?

M. OBAMA: Hey, no. I don't...

KING: Virginia?

M. OBAMA: No. I think that we need voters to be focused on this. We need folks to turn out. Whether they're voting for Barack or not, what we say is you've got to get out and vote. But, obviously, if you're voting, we want your vote. And we just keep working hard, reaching out.

KING: John Edwards -- did -- Barack didn't meet with him today, did he?

M. OBAMA: No, they didn't get a chance to meet. I think it's...

KING: Do you know when they'll meet?

M. OBAMA: No, I don't know. I haven't spoken to him today. So hopefully I'll see him tonight.

KING: What did you think of his campaign?

M. OBAMA: John Edwards?

Oh, I think he ran a tremendous race. I mean from that -- you know, I think that's where he and Barack are similar, in the sense that they are focusing on the plight and the gap that's being created by -- between, you know, folks in the upper echelons and regular folks. You know, he's built -- he built a great relationship with labor, one that Barack has built, as well. I think the constituencies are the same.

So I think John ran a tremendous race.

Elizabeth Edwards is somebody who I admire and respect, as well.

So, you know, we are hoping that their supporters, as well as John, will be -- will see the alignment of interests and we can work together.

KING: Do you think this race could go to Denver...

M. OBAMA: Yes.

KING: ...without a nominee?

M. OBAMA: Yes. It's possible. You know, anything has been -- haven't you -- over this year, nothing was predictable.

KING: What's not possible?

Right, what's not possible?

M. OBAMA: So I think we have to prepare for everything.

KING: Are you prepared, if possible, to lose?

M. OBAMA: Oh, yes. Yes. I don't want Barack to lose, because I think that there are so many people who have built up expectations. And they know that something different is possible. And, you know, you just don't want to see that loss of hope. And I don't think people will go there. I think people are ready for something different. But, you know, as I say, I prepare for everything -- mentally and emotionally. So I'm ready for the highs and I'm ready for the lows. But I'm also ready to work with my husband in the White House, as well, and lead this country to a different place.

KING: The last time we met was at the convention.

It's great spending this time with you.

M. OBAMA: Thank you so much.

It was an honor for me. I really appreciate it.

KING: Michelle Obama.