ExCel press conference

Playbook highlights:

“SOME OF THE CONTAGION DID START ON WALL STREET” – In a free-wheeling 50-minute news conference at the ExCel Center in London, President Obama shows he’s a master of the format, giving looooong, thoughtful answers that are impressive even to skeptics. A taste:

PRESIDENT OBAMA: I'm going to call one foreigner -- (laughter) -- actually, I'm the foreigner. That's why I smiled. One correspondent not from America. And then I will -- (loud commotion) -- we're not doing bidding here. (Laughter.) But I also want to make sure that I'm not showing gender bias. So this young lady right here -- not you, sir, I'm sorry.

Q Hi, Mr. President.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: How are you?

Q Thank you for choosing me. I'm very well. I'm from the Times of India.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Wonderful.

Q You met with our Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh. What did you -- what is America doing to help India tackle terrorism emanating from Pakistan?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, first of all, your Prime Minister is a wonderful man.

Q Thank you. I agree. (Laughter.)

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well --

Q I agree.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Did you have something to do with that, or -- (laughter.) You seem to kind of take -- take credit for it a little bit there. (Laughter.)

Q Really proud of him, sir.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Of course. You should be proud of him. I'm teasing you. I think he's a very wise and decent man, and has done a wonderful job in guiding India, even prior to being Prime Minister, along a path of extraordinary economic growth that is a marvel, I think, for all the world.

IN CALLING ON CBS NEWS’ CHIP REID, who lost his dad during the trip, the President said: “I'm going to call on my last American correspondent, Chip. And, Chip, my heart goes out to you.

Q Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. President. I appreciate that.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: I just heard about that.

CBS WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF CHRIS ISHAM writes, in an internal e-mail: “Chip Reid's father passed away shortly after he arrived in London to cover the president. While Chip at first planned to return home, his mother and wife, Nina, insisted that his father would want him to continue on the president’s historic trip. In a note to us today he said ‘My father was my hero and I’m here to make him proud.’ A family memorial is planned once Chip returns home. In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to: Charles Henry Reid, Sr. Memorial Fund, Hanover Presbyterian Church, 1801 N. Jefferson St., Wilmington, DE 19802-4709.”

Full transcript at WhiteHouse.gov