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Ann Compton? Hey, Ann. You sound surprised.

QUESTION: I am surprised. Could I ask you about race?

OBAMA: You may.

QUESTION: Yours is a rather historic presidency. And I'm just wondering whether, in any of the policy debates that you've had within the White House, the issue of race has come up or whether it has in the way you feel you've been perceived by other leaders or by the American people? Or has the last 64 days before a relatively color- blind time?

OBAMA: I -- I think that the last 64 days has been dominated by me trying to figure out how we're going to fix the economy, and that affects black, brown and white.

And, you know, obviously, at the inauguration, I think that there was justifiable pride on the part of the country that we had taken a step to move us beyond some of the searing legacies of racial discrimination in this country, but that lasted about a day.

And -- and, you know, right now, the American people are judging me exactly the way I should be judged. And that is: Are we taking the steps to improve liquidity in the financial markets, create jobs, get businesses to re-open, keep America safe? And that's what I've been spending my time thinking about.

Critics questioned why the president seemed days behind the populist anger over the $165 million that were distributed at the company bailed out with federal tax dollars.

Said Obama: "It took us a couple days because I like to know what I'm talking about before I speak."