奥巴马布朗强调英美特殊关系

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"Where--where are the Brits? "

"We're over here."

"They're over there."

You never got the sense these two were going to be bosom buddies but when it comes to the economy, Gordon Brown is pushing for a meeting of minds. He is desperate to get US backing for his strategy to tackle the global recession.

"We've just been talking, Barack and I, about the need for proper supervision of shadow banking systems, of areas where there was, er, bank practices that were unacceptable, where remuneration policies got out of hand and weren’t based on long-term success, but on, uh, short-term deals. And these are the changes that we’ve already announced that we are gonna make. So we've learned from what's happened over these last ten years. Things have happened in every part of the world that we are having to learn about, as well. And you've got an international financial system that we've now got to show can be brought to work in the public interest."

This visit is the springboard for the all-important G-20 summit in London next month. Barack Obama will be flying in and what the US leader thinks and says will really matter.

"This is my third meeting with--with Prime Minister Brown and I’d like to think that our relationship is terrific. Um, and I am sure you won't dispute me, in front of me, anyway."

"I think that the prime minister has taken the helm of the British economy at a very difficult time. Uh, as he noted I've just come in recently. Ah, but I think that there are a set of shared values and shared assumptions between us."

And Obama stressed the importance of the US-UK dynamic[s] when asked about today's terrorist attacks in Pakistan.

"How do you think that the world community can support Pakistan?"

"Ah, Both, er, Great Britain and the United States share a deep interest in ensuring that neither Afghanistan nor Pakistan are safe havens for terrorist activity."

This trip is a major coup for Brown, he is the first European leader to grace the corridors of the Obama White House and the beleaguered Brit will be hoping a little of the Obama magic rubs off on him.

Michelle Clifford, SKY NEWS, Washington.

"Thank you guys. It's over."

"Thank you."

Glossary

bosom buddy [literary]: a very close friend

push [intransitive and transitive]: to try to persuade people to accept your ideas, opinions etc in order to achieve something:

meeting of minds: a situation in which two people have very similar ideas and understand each other very well

remuneration [uncountable and countable]:formal the pay you give someone for something they have done for you

springboard [countable]: something that helps you to start doing something

all-important: extremely important

take the helm: to start being in charge of something such as a business or organization

assumption [countable]: something that you think is true although you have no definite proof

dynamics [plural]: the way in which things or people behave, react, and affect each other

safe haven [countable]: a place where someone can go in order to escape from possible danger or attack

coup [countable]: an achievement that is extremely impressive because it was very difficult

grace [transitive]: formal to make a place or an object look more attractive:

beleaguered [usually before noun]: formal experiencing a lot of problems or criticism

rub off on: if a feeling, quality, or habit rubs off on you, you start to have it because you are with another person who has it