10:15 p.m. EDT September 25, 2014  WASHINGTON — President Obama will sit down Friday for another 60 Minutes interview with Steve Kroft.

The interview to be aired Sunday on the CBS news magazine show comes amid increasing concerns about Islamic State militants and airstrikes in Syria against the group, also known as ISIS or ISIL.

In a stroke of timing, Kroft will speak to Obama the day after Attorney General Eric Holder announced his resignation following six years at the Justice Department.

The White House session comes about 40 days before midterm elections that will set the tenor for Obama's final two years in office.

Obama and Kroft have a long history. The veteran 60 Minutes correspondent was the first to interview the president after the 2008 election and questioned Obama after the killing of Osama bin Laden, among other interviews.

Obama didn't put up 'much of a fight' to keep Holder

WASHINGTON — Eric Holder, one of the most loyal, liberal and controversial members of President Obama's administration, said Thursday he would retire after nearly six years as attorney general.

Obama formally announced the resignation at the White House, calling Holder "the people's lawyer" and praising him for his work on civil rights.

He championed gay rights, voting rights and a rethinking of drug policies. He clashed with the news media over leak investigations and congressional Republicans over probes into misconduct in the Obama administration. Liberal critics said he wasn't aggressive enough in prosecuting financial crimes.

"I hope I have done honor to the faith you have placed in me, Mr. President," Holder said in an uncharacteristically emotional speech.

Holder's resignation was his own decision, but Obama accepted it "without putting up much of a fight" because of how long the attorney general had served, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Thursday.

Earnest acknowledged that Holder's tenure had become increasingly difficult, saying the attorney general had "confronted a large number of issues — many of them very complicated, some of them maybe controversial." He said Holder has "certainly put in his time in a way that he can be proud of and a way that the country has appreciated."

The attorney general told top Justice Department staff and members of Congress of his plans Thursday morning.