President-Elect Barack Obama announced the nomination of former Senator Tom Daschle as his secretary of Health and Human Services and also as director of a White House office on health care reform. He nominated Jeanne Lambrew as the deputy director. 

President-Elect Obama also spoke about financial aid to the automotive industry and the arrest of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. In answers to several questions on the governor’s arrest he said that he never spoke to Governor Blagojevich about replacing him in the U.S. Senate, nor had his transition staff been involved in any deal-making about the Senate appointment.