SCHIEFFER: Today on “Face the Nation,” an exclusive interview with Senator Barack Obama , the Democratic presidential candidate. The new financial bailout plan, the economy, whether he would meet directly with America’s enemies. Those issues and more. Where does Barack Obama stand? We’ll talk with him for the entire broadcast today. Then I’ll have a final word on a fine day at the University of Mississippi.

But first, Senator Barack Obama , only on “Face the Nation.”

And good morning again. Well, there was major news overnight. House and Senate negotiators have reached agreement on a massive plan to bail out imperiled financial markets. Here to talk about it in his first interview since his Friday night debate with John McCain is the Democratic presidential nominee, Barack Obama .

Senator Obama, welcome to the broadcast.

Let me just go over the main points of what this agreement contains. The core remains what the Bush administration proposed last week, but it will include greater congressional oversight, more taxpayer protection, and help for homeowners facing possible foreclosures.

Some of the highlights -- as originally planned, the government will provide $700 billion so the Treasury Department can buy troubled securities, hold them for a while, and then -- with the idea of selling them later. But unlike the original plan, the money will be phased in. The treasury secretary will get $350 billion in the beginning. Congress will then have to approve further increments down the line.

The plan would place limits on executive compensation to prevent officers of these troubled firms from reaping huge bonuses at taxpayer expense.

The government will renegotiate bad mortgages to help homeowners, and it will encourage the institutions, at the insistence of House Republicans, to buy insurance to cover some of these defaults.

It provides congressional oversight, as we say. The government would receive stock warrants in return for bailout relief, which would give taxpayers a chance to share on any future profits by the troubled companies.

All this is still very tentative. It’s still verbal, but the hope is the House can vote on it Monday, with a Senate vote coming later.

Senator, it’s still very complicated. We should stress this, it still hasn’t even been put down on paper, all of it. But I know you were talking with the negotiators through the night last night. What can you tell us about it, and can you support it?

OBAMA: Well, look, first of all, I think we have to understand that this was an urgent situation and is an urgent situation. And by the end of the week, I think everybody recognized that something needed to be done.

What I’m pleased about is that it appears at least-- and I haven’t reviewed the actual language-- is that some core principles that I’ve set forth at the beginning of this crisis were incorporated. The issue of making sure that we had strong oversight, the insistence that taxpayers share in the gains if there are any when the market recovers, the insistence that homeowners get additional relief so that there’s some reciprocity. If in fact we’re bailing out or helping banks, they in turn have to help rework mortgages for people who are potentially facing foreclosure.

And the final thing, the issue of executive compensation, making sure that taxpayer money is not going to pad bonuses or golden parachutes.

It appears that those principles have all been incorporated into the core agreement. And I’m going to be reviewing the language over the next day to make sure that those provisions actually stick.

Ultimately, I believe that we have to get something done. And so if I feel that those are meaningful provisions that provide some constraints on how the treasury operates and this is not going to be welfare for Wall Street, then my inclination is to support it, because I think Main Street is now at stake.

This could affect every sector of the economy. If the credit crisis continues or worsens, then suddenly small business people can’t make their payroll. You have large businesses who can’t sell corporate debt, which could bring the entire economy to a grinding halt.

The last point I want to make on this is we have to remember how we got here. Not so much to allocate blame, as to understand the choices that are going to face the next president. Unless we update our 20th century regulatory framework for a 21st century global financial system, then we’re going to continue to be vulnerable to this kind of situation, and I think the next president has to come in with a very strong package of reforms.

OBAMA: We’re going to have to fight off the lobbyists and the special interests. And, finally, we’ve got to understand that, contrary to what John McCain suggested at the beginning of this crisis, the fundamentals of the economy are not strong.

And some of the root causes of this crisis have to do with the day-to-day struggles that ordinary people are going through, with flat wages and incomes but constantly increasing costs.

That puts pressure on them to take out more debt, to use home equity loans, to try to refinance. It created an environment in which this kind of crisis potentially could occur.

SCHIEFFER: So, as it stands now, from what you understand about it, you will support this?

OBAMA: As it stands now, if the four principles that I laid out 10 or 12 days ago are, in fact, contained in a meaningful way -- the tax payer protection, the investor participation of taxpayers, the corporate, or the CEO compensation issues, as well as the homeowner assistance...