Obama Says Clinton Recognizes 'Carelessness' in Private Email Use

CHICAGO, IL - Reflecting on his presidency, President Obama spoke with "Fox News Sunday" at the University of Chicago where he talked with Chris Wallace about the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server, his efforts to defeat the Islamic State and Merrick Garland's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Obama told Fox there would be, "no political influence in any investigation conducted by the Justice Department, or the FBI, not just in this case, but in any case," referring to the investigation into Clinton's use of a private email server while she served as secretary of state. He further said, "there's carelessness in terms of managing emails that she has owned, and she recognizes.”

In the latest batch of emails released by the State Department the number of messages that were deemed classified rose to over 2,000. The issue of the judgement Clinton exercised in using the private email server has been a topic that has been brought up over and over again as she campaigns for the presidency.

While she has admitted that the use of the private email server was not the best choice she has said it was allowed by the State Department. When asked in a CNN/Univision debate in Miami about whether she would quit the race if she were indicted, she responded, "Oh, for goodness, it's not going to happen. I'm not even answering that question." White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters in January the decision to indict Clinton would be in the hands of the Department of Justice but, "based on what we know it does not seem to be heading in that direction."

Obama emphasized during the interview that Clinton has not jeopardized American's national security.

Talking about his efforts to combat terrorism, Obama called defeating the Islamic State his No. 1 job. He also defended his actions after the Brussels terror bombings when he attended a baseball game in Cuba, saying it has been his view consistently that the job of terrorists is to get societies to change who they are and the message he has communicated is, "You can't change us." He talked about productive approaches to defeating terror saying comments like "carpet-bombing the Islamic State" and "banning all Muslims from the country" are not productive methods. 

When asked if he might pull Merrick Garland's nomination to the Supreme Court, Obama said, "absolutely not." He said Republicans would not have the rationale to reject Garland once he goes through the confirmation process.

In a second clip of the interview released by Fox, Wallace conducted a lightning round with the president. In the so-called lightning round Obama said his best day in the White House was the day healthcare reform was passed. He said his worst day in office was when he traveled to Newtown, Conn. after the Sandy Hook school shooting.

Image Credit: Renee Schiavone