President Barack Obama Press Conference Video Talks About Aig Bonus Scandal

The President also answered a question about race being a factor in his role the first African-American elected to be the Commander-In Chief of the United States of America. President Obama responded that the focus on race only lasted "about a day" after he took office.

President Barack Obama showed a rare glimpse of anger during a nationally televised press conference at the White House last night when he was pressed over his slow response in the row over million-dollar bonuses to executives.

Obama told the journalists that the country and the world is going through an "extraordinary crisis" and appealed for patience as it would take time to turn around the ocean liner that is the US.

The president held the second prime-time press conference of his presidency after a difficult 10 days in which he has been forced on the defensive for apparently failing to anticipate the public backlash over the bonuses paid out at the insurance giant AIG.

In a press conference dominated by his handling of the recession, Obama was asked why, after being informed of the bonuses, he had waited several days to inform the public.

The CNN White House correspondent, Ed Henry, who asked the question, also suggested that the New York attorney-general, Andrew Cuomo, was doing a better job of dealing with AIG than the White House.

Obama gave a general answer and Henry again asked why he had taken a few days to tell the public. The normally cool and controlled president replied sharply: "It took us a couple of days because I like to know what I'm talking about before I speak."

The exchange was unusual, both because it is rare to hear US journalists ask Obama hard questions and rare to see Obama in a testy mood. Much of the rest of the press conference was so carefully choreographed, with a long opening statement, it seemed at times like an extended political broadcast.

Obama was taking a risk in holding a prime-time press conference amid mutterings of overexposure. It comes only two days after a 60-minute television interview with CBS and after days of campaigning on the road.

Added to this was a danger of alienating people resentful that American Idol, one of the most popular shows in the country, with an audience of 23 million, had to be postponed.

The aim of the press conference and his return to the campaign trail, is to reduce the damage caused by the AIG row and to sell his big-spending budget to the American people. Democrats and Republicans are lining up in Congress to cut back his $3.6 trillion spending budget. The longer he can hang on to his popularity, the harder it is for Congress to chop into his budget.

He acknowledged the public anger caused by the AIG row, saying "there was a lot of rage and fingerpointing last week and I was as angry as anyone.[GUARDIAN]

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