Like Father Like Son for Luke Russert

By Nikki Schwab, Washington Whispers

If his dad were still around, there would be a fight: Which Russert, Tim or Luke, would land the first interview with Barack Obama? Luke Russert, 23, was obviously taught the right ropes because he's already in there fighting with the big shots for a one on one with Obama. While he interviewed Obama during the campaign, Russert, like every other journalist in Washington, wants another. "I think the list of who wants interviews goes quite long, and being 23, I might not be as important as a Brian Williams or a Charlie Gibson or a Katie Couric or whoever gets the lucky first sit down," he says. "I thought it was really interesting that his first sit down was with the Arab network and the message it sent to the world and to young people."

Russert's focus as a reporter since he started working at NBC in July has been on youth issues, but his biggest question for Obama would be on something that won't affect his millennial generation for quite some time. "If I could ask him one thing right now it really would be what he is going to do specifically with the issue of entitlement reform." That's right—he wants to know what the president plans for Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. "It's not a sexy issue," he admits. We spoke to Russert after he moderated a panel discussion on youth engagement at George Washington University this week.

TV is just his second job. He also cohosts XM Radios' 60/20 Sports with James Carville. This being Super Bowl week, he gave us a prediction: Arizona. "They are on something that's amazing—it's that 'me against the world' mentality," he suggests. "And that's really hard to beat."

See more of our interview with Luke Russert here.

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