President Joe Biden to appear on 60 Minutes, Sunday
President Joe Biden discussed the economy, the upcoming midterm elections and the war in Ukraine during an interview with Scott Pelley that will air Sunday on the 55th season premiere of 60 Minutes.
Mr. Biden also told Pelley about his efforts to avert a national railroad strike. Thursday, the president announced a tentative deal had been reached between the railroads and rail workers' unions after days of negotiations at the U.S. Department of Labor.
"We brought business and labor together," the president told Pelley in an excerpt of the interview that aired on "CBS Mornings." "One of the things that happens in negotiations, particularly if they've been elongated like these have, is people say and do things where the pride gets engaged as well. And it's awful hard to back off of some of these things. So, what we did was just say, 'Look, let's take a look. Let's take a look at what's happening.' You have a good deal being made for labor. Their income's gonna go up 24% over the next five years. They've worked out the health care piece, they worked out days off. They both sat down, in my view, and they were in the office today saying, 'Well, we finally figured it out. This is fair on both sides.' And it took that time to focus."
"The alternative was just not thinkable," Mr. Biden continued. "If, in fact, they'd gone on a strike, the supply chains in this country would've come to a screeching halt. We would've seen a real economic crisis."
The interview, shot at the White House, is Mr. Biden's first sit-down with 60 Minutes since being elected president. 60 Minutes cameras were also with the president on Wednesday as he toured the Detroit Auto Show.
60 Minutes airs Sunday night on CBS at 7:30 p.m. ET and 7 p.m. PT.