About an hour and a half after President Obama met Bernie Sanders at the White House, Obama endorsed Hillary Clinton for president. Today's announcement was ready to go in a pre-produced video.
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BARACK OBAMA: Look; I know how hard this job can be. That's why I know Hillary will be so good at it. In fact, I don't think there's ever been someone so qualified to hold this office. She's got the courage, the compassion and the heart to get the job done. And I say that as somebody who had to debate her more than 20 times.
SHAPIRO: NPR national political correspondent Mara Liasson is back here in the studio once again to talk about this latest sign the general election is on. Hi, Mara.
MARA LIASSON, BYLINE: Hi, Ari.
SHAPIRO: This endorsement was clearly done hand-in-hand with the Clinton campaign. Did the candidate herself say anything about it?
LIASSON: Yes, she did to our own Tamara Keith today in an exclusive interview when she talked about what she wants Obama to do for her in the campaign.
HILLARY CLINTON: I know he is raring to get out there and start campaigning, and I really look forward to campaigning with him.
LIASSON: That is the understatement of the year...
SHAPIRO: (Laughter).
LIASSON: ...Because President Obama is very popular with the part of the Democratic base that Hillary Clinton really needs to win over, and that is young people. Bernie Sanders just clobbered her with young people during the primaries.
Obama is also a popular sitting president whose approval ratings are hovering around 50 percent. And Clinton and Obama are going to start campaigning together very soon. They're going to go to Green Bay, Wis., on Wednesday, the day after the last primary here in the District of Columbia next Tuesday.
As to what role she envisions for Bernie Sanders — maybe a primetime speaking slot at the convention. She wouldn't say. She'd only say, we have a lot to discuss.
SHAPIRO: Bernie Sanders is still running though.
LIASSON: He is still running, and he was at the White House today and on Capitol Hill meeting with Democratic Senate Leader Harry Reid. He's holding a rally tonight in Washington, D.C. And the effort of the White House and the Clinton campaign and other Democratic leaders has been to get Sanders to exit the race without antagonizing his supporters so the party can unite.
Today Sanders didn't say anything about leaving the race. Up until now, he said he wants to stay until the convention. But he was very conciliatory when he emerged from the White House, and he seemed to be going out of his way to communicate to his supporters that he did not feel mistreated.
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OBAMA: What they said in the beginning is that they would not put their thumb on the scales. And in fact, they kept their word, and I appreciate that very, very much.
SHAPIRO: It seems that other prominent Democrats have moved on from the primary though. Their eyes are on Donald Trump.
LIASSON: Yes, that's right. Now that Clinton has beaten Sanders by every metric he has laid down for her — pledged delegates, votes cast contests won — now there's going to be a lot of other big, prominent progressive leaders who will join Clinton on the campaign to defeat Donald Trump — first and foremost Elizabeth Warren, who is as much of a hero to the left wing of the party as Sanders is. She is endorsing Hillary Clinton tonight.
Sanders then will have to decide what role he wants to play. He has a big role to play at the convention, designing the platform. He also has to decide if he will become a full partner to Clinton the way she did with President Obama eight years ago.
SHAPIRO: NPR national political correspondent Mara Liasson — thanks, Mara.
LIASSON: Thank you.
奥巴马总统在白宫同伯尼·桑德斯进行了长达一个半小时的会谈之后，表态支持希拉里·克林顿当选总统。总统今天的表态通过提前录制的视频宣布。
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巴拉克·奥巴马：我知道这份工作有多难做。所以我知道希拉里肯定能做好。实际上，我认为没有人比她更胜任美国总统这一职位。她有完成这份工作的勇气、同理心和决心。我是依据我和她辩论过20多次的经历来发表的立场。
夏皮罗：NPR新闻的国家政治记者玛拉·利亚森再次来到演播室，她将和我们谈谈总统大选的最新形势。你好，玛拉。
玛拉·利亚森：你好，阿里。
夏皮罗：显然这一支持表态是总统与克林顿的竞选团队携手发布的。那希拉里本人有没有什么回应？
利亚森：有，她今天接受了NPR新闻的塔玛拉·基思的专访，她在专访中谈到了她希望奥巴马在竞选中能帮她的事。
希拉里·克林顿：我知道他很少进行公开竞选活动，不过我真的很希望和他一起参加竞选活动。
利亚森：这是保守说法……
夏皮罗：（大笑）。
利亚森：……因为奥巴马总统在希拉里·克林顿需要赢下的民主党选民中非常受欢迎，那就是年轻选民。伯尼·桑德斯刚刚在初选中凭借年轻选民的支持冲击了她。
奥巴马是一位受欢迎的在任总统，他的支持率一直保持在50%上下。克林顿和奥巴马很快将一起出席竞选活动。二人将于下周三共同出席在威斯康星州格林贝举行的竞选活动，在前一天，也就是下周二将在哥伦比亚特区进行民主党最后一次初选。
至于她对伯尼·桑德斯的角色有何设想——也许是在黄金时间在代表大会上发表讲话的机会。她并没有说。她只说，我们有很多要讨论的事项。
夏皮罗：伯尼·桑德斯仍在继续参选。
利亚森：他仍在参选。他今天现身白宫，还在国会山同参议院民主党领袖哈里·瑞德举行了会谈。他今晚将在华盛顿特区举行集会活动。虽然白宫、希拉里竞选团队和其他民主党领导人一直在努力劝说桑德斯退出竞选，但是他们并没有激怒桑德斯的支持者，所以民主党可以团结在一起。
今天，桑德斯并没有表示将退出竞选。到目前为止，他仍希望能坚持到召开代表大会的那个时候。他离开白宫时很平和，看上去他在特意向他的支持者表明：他并没有受到不公平对待的感觉。
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奥巴马：他们一开始就表示不会影响结果。而且他们也遵守了承诺。我真的非常欣赏这点。
夏皮罗：不过看起来其他杰出民主党人的焦点已经不再是初选了。他们现在都在关注唐纳德·特朗普。
利亚森：没错。现在克林顿通过完成桑德斯制定的各个指标而击败了他，这些指标包括宣誓代表票、赢得选票比赛等，接下来将有很多杰出的进步派领袖加入克林顿的竞选团队，共同击败唐纳德·特朗普，首先要提到的是伊丽莎白·沃伦，她对左翼来说是和桑德斯一样的英雄人物。她今晚表态支持希拉里·克林顿。
桑德斯必须决定他想扮演什么角色。他在代表大会上要扮演一个重要的角色——设计平台。另外，他还要决定是否成为克林顿的合作伙伴，就像8年前希拉里和奥巴马总统做的那样。
夏皮罗：以上是NPR新闻的国家政治记者玛拉·利亚森带来的报道，谢谢你，玛拉。
利亚森：谢谢你。
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