Transcript of CNBC’s Barack Obama interview

Harwood: Are you confident that you've gotten over this brief period of controversy over the choice of Leon Panetta to head the CIA? And how much difficulty do you anticipate trying to codify your commitment to end the notion that the United States tolerates torture?

Obama: Well, first of all, I have not made an official announcement about Leon Panetta. When I do, I'll have something more to say about it. I can say that Leon Panetta is an outstanding public servant with impeccable integrity, somebody who's worked on national security at the highest levels and if I were to select him, I think he would do an outstanding job. There is a broader question and that is how do we rebrand, reset our intelligence operations? There are some extraordinary people who have done great work in the CIA, in our Department of National Intelligence, and I want them to get all the tools that they need in order to perform effectively. And I also want to make sure that all of those folks who are working so hard to provide the best intelligence to our national security apparatus, that they're not operating under a cloud in which policies are made, they are put in the cross-fire, and they end up bearing the blame as a consequence of us maybe not living up to our highest values and ideals.

Harwood: Do you expect it to be difficult and complicated to affect that change?

Obama: Yeah.

Harwood: I think some things should define what exactly is and isn't torture?

Obama: Well, let me give you an example. I think that there's some things that shouldn't be difficult. I'm saying that we abide by the Geneva Convention. That shouldn't be difficult. We helped design the Geneva Convention. We pushed it through, and it has served us well. I think that Guantanamo, I'm going to close. How we do that is not simple because we have people who have been detained there, many of them who actually may be dangerous. We should have tried them in the first place, but now, because of the circumstances that have existed over the last several years, it's more difficult because some of the evidence against them might be tainted in terms of how it was obtained. So we've got to do very careful reviews of how we do that. But my broad commitment: No torture, that we abide by rule of law, that we abide by our constitution, that we live up to the Geneva Conventions. Those things are designed not just to feel good about ourselves, they're designed to make sure that we continue to communicate that we have the moral high ground, that America lives up to our standard. That is going to benefit us over the long-term and make us safer.

Harwood: Last question. Florida plays Oklahoma tomorrow in the, what's widely regarded as the, national championship game. You've talked about the need for a college football playoff. Do you think Utah, which finished undefeated by defeating Alabama, has a good a claim as either of those schools to be the national champion?

Obama: I think Utah has a pretty good claim. They're undefeated. And Florida and Oklahoma both are well ... (unintelligible). I think USC, which had a great Rose Bowl, beat Penn State pretty badly. They've got a pretty good claim to being number one. Florida and Oklahoma, I think, both have a claim. Texas, at this point, has got to feel like, `Well, we did OK, too.' I think — I think a football playoff system makes sense. I've spoken about this quite a bit, and I think if you look at knowledgeable sports fans, they agree with me. But, you know, I've got to pick and choose my battles. I probably am going to be spending more time focusing on creating three more — three million more jobs.

Harwood: Thanks so much for joining us.

Obama: I had a great time, John, thank you.

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