Obama wants to meet with Clinton at a time and place of her choosing.

WASHINGTON–Likely Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) told reporters on Monday he told Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) that “once the dust settled” he wants to meet with her “at a time and place of her choosing.” He also personally apologized to her for the “offensive remarks” of his long-time friend, Father Michael Pfleger.

Below is the pool report from Washington Times reporter Christina Bellantoni.

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From: Christina Bellantoni

Sent: Monday, June 02, 2008 4:13 PM

To: Jen Psaki

Subject: Pool news

Sen. Barack Obama held an impromptu presser in Waterford after talking to workers from the Rite Aid distribution plant. Jen will send out full transcript, but news is that he talked about conversation with Clinton yesterday where he said he looked forward to meeting her at time and place of her choosing

Key quotes below.

Color etc. from pool report to come, perhaps after landing.

Obama:

“There are a lot of superdelegates who are waiting for the last couple of contests but I think that they are going to be making decisions fairly quickly after that.

“We feel good about the number of supderdelegates that we have been accumulating and my sense is that between Tuesday and Wednesday that we’ve got a good chance of getting the number that we need to win the nomination.”

“We want to stay focused on Montana and South Dakota”

Q – What doing to shore up super support?

“We’re doing a combination of things – Obviously we are reaching out to superdelegates who may still be undecided. the most important thing we can do right now is to make sure that not only we win Montana and South Dakota but also we show we’re competitive in critical swing states like Michigan … that’s why we’re here today.”

Q – Have you made any offers to Sen Clinton?

Sen. O:

The only conversation I’ve had with Senator Clinton was yesterday to congratulate her on her victory in Puerto Rico

I apologized once again for the offensive remarks … (of Pfleger)

I emphasized to her what an extraordinary race that she’s run and said that there aren’t too many people who understand exactly how hard she’s been working. I’m one of ’em because she and I have been on this same journey together, and told her that once the dust settled I was looking forward to meeting with her at a time and place of her choosing.

We’ve still got two more contests to go and I’m sure that there will be further conversations after Tuesday.

Q – Did she lay out time and place of her choosing?

Sen. O:

“It was a very general conversation at this point and as I said we’ve got two more contests I think she’s focused on those as am I.”