CNN

Obama is finding it difficult to give up his BlackBerry.

(CNN) - President-elect Barack Obama told CNN Friday he thinks he may be able to “hang onto” his BlackBerry after all.

In an interview with CNN’s John King, he talked about the privacy issues that threaten his ability to maintain normal communications – and his optimism that, unlike his predecessor, he’s going to be able to keep using e-mail after he enters the Oval Office.

Catch the full interview this Sunday on the premiere of State of the Union at 9 am ET.

Then there’s the BlackBerry.

“You like these,” said CNN’s John King. “I was just with you before this, and you had a couple of them. And there are a lot of people who say, because this will end up in the presidential library, because you don't have privacy any more. Your life's about to change Tuesday noon. You have to give this up.”

“Yes,” conceded Obama.

“You going to do it?” asked King.

“I think we're going to be able to beat this back,” Obama responded. “....I think we're going to be able to hang onto one of these. Now, my working assumption, and this is not new, is that everything I write on e-mail could end up being on CNN. So I make sure that - to think before I press ‘send.’”

Obama – who has held pre-inauguration off the record sitdowns with reporters and columnists from across the political spectrum, but not yet the journalists of the New York Times - also took an offhand swipe at that paper’s editorial page.

King asked Obama about recent criticism of his pick for Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner. “The New York Times, for example, has an editorial today saying, not the right guy for the job at this time of economic peril,” said King. “They say this controversy has tainted his ability to command respect and instill confidence.”

Replied Obama: “Well, you know, The New York Times editorial page has a lot of opinions, as does The Wall Street Journal editorial page, and some of them are better than others. This wasn't a good one.”

King’s full interview with Obama airs tonight at 6 pm in The Situation Room.

Read Paul Begala on Obama's quest to keep his BlackBerry.