the way i was able to. theatty stonecipher on project on c-span's q&a. thenine republicans joined democrats in voting for the legislation. also, today, the white house released a report on the recommendations for changes to the nsa program. the panel calls for 46 recommendations, including ending the collection of telephone data and expanding oversight. outgoing federal reserve chair ben wernick he held his last

scheduled news conference today where he talked about the economic status program. here is a look. >> when we began the asset purchase program in december 2012, we've said we would continue purchases until the outlook would improve substantially in a context of price stability. since then, we have seen me in full cumulative progress. since we began, the economy has added about 2.9 million jobs and an employment rate has fallen by more than a percentage point to 7% and for comparison, when we started the program, many forecasters saw the implement rate staying near 8% throughout 2014. recent indicators have increased our confidence that job gains will continue. nonfarm payrolls have increasing at a pace of 200,000 jobs per month. restraint and signs

that households than he is picking up, we expect that kind of girl to be strong enough to support further job rains and further, fomc participants see moreisks having become balanced than until -- and that other -- rather than tilted unfairly. we have been purchasing $85 billion per month and longer- term treasury and agency mortgage-backed securities. starting in january and we will be purging $75 billion in security is a month, reducing purchases. it is important to note that come even after this reduction, we will still be expanding our holdings at a rapid pace. we will also continue to roll over maturing treasury securities and reinvest answerable payments on the federal reserve's holdings in agency debt and mortgage-backed agency mortgage- backed security's. holdings will continue to put

downward pressure on interest rates, support mortgage markets and make financial conditions more, date of. which in turn should promote further progress in the labor market and help move inflation back toward the committees objective of 2%. in the paceeduction of asset purchases reflects a belief that progress toward economic objectives will be sustained. if the incoming data wrongly supports the committees outlook for inflation, we will likely reduce the pace and further measured steps at future meetings. of course, continued progress is by no means certain. consequently, future adjustments will be deliberate and depending on incoming information. asset purchases remain a useful tool that we are prepared to deploy as needed to meet our objectives. abovenemployment still the normal rate which is estimated to be between 5.2% and 5.8%, and with inflation

continuing to run below the 2% on a term objective, highly accommodative monetary policy remains a probe it. to emphasize its commitment to provide a high level of monetary accommodation for as long as needed, the fomc today also enhanced his forward guidance. for the past year, the committee has said that the current low target range for the federal funds rate would be appropriate at least as long as the implement rate remained above 6.5%. inflation was expected to be no more than half of a percentage point above our longer-term goal and expectations remained well anchored. we have emphasized that these number's are thresholds, not triggers, meaning that crossing a threshold would not lead automatically to an increase in the federal funds rate but would indicate only that it was appropriate for the committee to consider whether the broader economic outlook is defied such an increase. with many fomc participants now projecting that the 6.5% in unemployment threshold will be reached by the end of 24 in, the

committee decided to provide -- and of 2014, the committee decided to provide guidance after the threshold is crossed. the committee now anticipates it will likely be appropriate to maintain the current federal funds rate target well past the time that the an appointment rate declines to below its .5%, specially if projected inflation continues to run below its 2% goal. and part, this expectation reflects our assessment a sonic competence a set of indicators that there will still be a substantial amount of slack in the labor market when the unemployment rate falls to 6.5%. this continuing job market slack imposes heavy costs on the unemployed and the under employed and their families and reduces our nation's productive capacity, war and ongoing highly accommodative policy.

last phrase of the enhanced guidance underscores, the prospects for inflation provide another reason to keep policy accommodative. that news see conference in its entirety right now on c-span 2 and tonight at 12: 25 a.m. eastern here on c- span. coming up, valerie jarrett sits down for a navy with politico. ther, a discussion on iranian nuclear talks. >> valerie jarrett was interviewed today with topics ranging from the 2014 budget deal, the administration second term agenda and planning of the president's presidential library. this is 50 minutes.

>> good morning, everybody. i am been white. thanks everybody for joining us, everybody on the lifestream, c- span -- if you're following us on twitter, you can send questions on twitter. started, i'll have one housekeeping item. please put your phones on vibrate or silent. i would like to thank the peter g peterson foundation. very much enjoy our partnership with him. here to say a few words is michael iverson. -- michael peterson.

>> thank you and welcome. missionrson foundation is to raise awareness and accelerate action on america's long-term fiscal challenges and we believe it is essential to stabilize our long-term debt in order to create a growing economy today and for future generations. in our view come up the nation on a sustainable, predictable fiscal path is a central part of an overall plan to improve economic opportunity because our faces a realk threat. we have seen in congress a rare bipartisanship on fiscal issues. it is an important step in the right direction. i guess today knows a great deal about working in divided

government. for the past five years, she served as senior advisor to bear valerie,sident obama thank you so much for finding time in your schedule today and i look forward to hearing your thoughts. once again, thank you for being here. >> i would like to welcome valerie jarrett to the stage. >> good morning, everyone. thank you for joining us. happy holidays, everyone. my first question to you is does president obama have the authority to fire dan snyder and get us a new owner? >> no, he does not, unfortunately. [laughter] >> i want to talk about the

budget agreement in little bit and the fact that it doesn't include one big democratic priority which is the extension of unemployment insurance benefits, which will expire at the end of the year for a lot of folks who are among those who are long-term unemployed. has a proposal to extend that for three months. what is the white house position on a proposal? >> we strongly supported and we think it will be bipartisan. think of all those families around the country that will benefit rider on the holiday time. the good news of the budget overall, of course, finally we are able to see congress doing their job and coming together and it isn't a perfect budget, but it is a good budget and we are delighted. it looks like it will pass. we will have two years of certainty that we know is so important to the business community and the american people.

>> you think you can pass both houses in the senate? >> we do. it looks like from senator harry reid's announcement he had the bipartisan support for it. we are hopeful that we will galvanize people. >> let's talk about the relationship between the -- part of your roles to be a liaison for the white house. this happens sometimes in my area when wall street ceos come out of the white house, they say that they want to talk about certain issues. ceos at tech companies want to talk about nsa eavesdropping and policies that they believe are damaging to their bottom line. you guys just wanted to talk about healthcare.gov in the white house. was there a disconnect in that event between the ceos'agenda and the white house agenda?

>> not at all. i invited the ceos to that meeting and we made it clear that it was going to be a two- part meeting. we would talk about health care and improvements we've made to the website, and then we would have a broader conversation about technology generally in the federal government. that could use a substantial amount of improvement. we wanted to know about things we can do to encourage technology to go more smoothly than our initial rollout dead. that was the first part of the conversation. that was done before the president came into the room. we had a constructive back and forth. he said, i know you have been talking about the website and

you have suggestions for what you -- we can do, i want to have an ongoing discussion about technology. people of the time with the president was focused on that issue. i do not think there was a disconnect at all. >> in terms of where this white house is right now with the rollout of health care, and there has been a problematic approval rating for the president, and you're bringing in people to help, what do you think the white house can do to get its message back together and to get the president's approval rating back up? what will it take to get back on the offensive? >> we will roll up our sleeves and work harder. we have never been driven by daily polling. we have been driven by why the president is here and what he

wants to do to grow the economy. he gave them towards speech a few weeks ago on inequality. he wants to grow our economy and create jobs. it begins with improving the way. we are providing training for people who have lost their jobs, people who are coming out of school and to need to be prepared for the jobs of tomorrow. we are focusing on immigration reform as a part of our agenda. we have a very robust agenda. that is what we do every day. >> if we look back on the second obama term, what will people say it is about? what will people remember about the second obama term?

>> he made great progress in terms of the economy. and people care about their jobs. doing a job? do i have the ability to raise my children and send them to college? can i retire with dignity? all of those things that people wonder. when we came into office and the president was elected, we were losing 750,000 jobs a month. we lost 450,000 jobs in the last month of the prior -- we lost 4 million jobs in the last six months of the prior the space administration. administration. we have had over 8 million jobs. that is a terrific start in the right direction. the unemployment rate is down to 7.0%. we have a lot of work to do. growing the economy is a big part of the second term agenda. we would like to look back and say, when you look at the office, the stock market is improving, people's 401(k)s are coming back. manufacturing jobs are improving all across the country.

we are seeing growth in all of the sections. that is a big part of it. immigration reform is a big- ticket item. we were heartened to see a bill that was approved by the senate and we believe there is momentum growing to get a bill passed in the house. that will be important as well. the president announced the climate action plan, making sure we're doing everything we can to protect our environment. it is also an opportunity for growth and jobs. for the first time now, we are actually exporting more than we are importing. that is so important for our energy plan. it makes the u.s. more globally competitive. we have a lot to get done. most of it is centered around the economy. then we need to have the successful implementation of the affordable care act. we had a rough start, that is true.

we have redoubled our efforts to get it going. we are hopeful that over the course of our second term, there will be millions of americans who -- whose quality of life is greatly improved because of the affordable care act. if you are he had insurance, it should be strengthened. you should not have to worry about being discriminated against insurance companies. we have preventive care available, particularly for women. whether it is coming in for annual services or contraception without a co-pay, many of the benefits have kicked in. by the time the president leaves office, -- think of the 40 million people, many of whom have never had health insurance and they don't have to worry about that. today we invited in a group of moms to come talk about how or the affordable care act is to them. they have children with predicting conditions who could not get insurance before. -- with pre-existing conditions

who could not get insurance before. some of them have young adults who are currently on their insurance. one mom was going door to door and knocking on doors, encouraging people to sign up. we have a lot to do. >> i assume that an increase in the minimum wage will be part of the approach towards the issue of addressing economic inequality. can we expect to see the minimum wage raised? where would you like to see it? >> i believe it should happen. the president announced in his state of the union as a big priority. you have mentioned a couple of weeks ago. we have a lower minimum wage in most developed countries. we all know that it is good for the economy. there's been some issue of whether or not that is true. economists are convinced that it will grow the economy. people feel more secure. if you put more money in their pockets, they will go out and spend it. we think it will help.

we cannot tell you what the exact rate will be. we know that there is i never to raise it to $10. we think that is fair and reasonable. >> have you passed the worst part of the health care issues? is the website working? are we beyond the crisis mode of health care reform and implementation into a better keyword -- period? >> we receive feedback from the technology folks, and after they heard the presentation, the feedback that they gave was that he had done everything they would have done once he came in to try to fix the site. we're seeing that people are not just going on the website, they are signing up and that is happening with increased velocity. our opportunity is to spread the word about the benefits of the affordable care act and how important it is for people to

sign up. i will go ahead with an interesting story about a small business and the impact of health care reform on small businesses. they could surprise small business owners in a few months when they are trying to sign up and their premiums are going to be a lot higher. what is your response to that? is it a problematic thing for small businesses? >> small businesses are not subject to the aca. we also have tax credit that should help defray some of the cost. we had a group of small businesses come into the white house a few weeks ago talked about the benefits of the affordable care act. some of them have already receive rebate checks from their insurance companies because the companies were not spending enough money on care. they were getting money back. it will be very positive for small businesses. the burden is on us to get the word out about the benefit and tax credits that are available.

>> i wanted to talk about the budget. presumably if the budget deal passes the senate today and is signed into law, and presumably we do not have fights on the spending bill next year, we will have to raise the debt limit at some point between february 7 and march if the treasury is to be believed. >> the treasury is always to be believed. >> sometimes we can split the difference between those two. the treasury always want to think this guy is about to fall. that the white house believe that we are past fiscal crisis mode. can you stick to the line that we will actually not negotiate over the debt limit when many previous debt limit bills have passed of other measures in them for debt reduction. will that make it easier for work publicans -- republicans to tolerate an increase?

>> last time it was totally avoidable. we put the government to a shutdown mode that affected so many families. we were right at the brink of defaulting for the first time in our nation's history. people all over the world count on the united states. and credit -- the united states's full faith and credit. we were in a frozen mode. we were not spending and not investing. we were waiting to see what would happen. that is not good for the economy. it is encouraging that these businesses get so involved in the process. they are trying to help educate them about the impact something like that might have on the economy. i hope that the debt ceiling will be raised. i tried to remind people that raising the debt ceiling is simply fulfilling the obligations that were approved in the budget. it is not as though -- the

opportunity to have that debate is as you are going to be budget office. it is the same as a credit card. when you run up a credit card, you have to pay the bill. it is not appropriate to try to use that as leverage. let's just pay our bills on time. >> there will be no negotiating on the debt limit whatsoever? >> we have a lot of twitter questions coming in. one has to do with the trade deals that i presume would be a big part of the obama agenda in the second term. this one regards the transatlantic trade partnership. but should financial services be a part of that? the europeans want it to end. why not include financial services in order to get it passed? >> they would be included in terms of access. that is an important part of this. what we have been saying is that

terms of regulations, the treasury department is leading that initiative. access will be included in the regulatory component will be driven by the treasury department. they are down separate but parallel paths. >> what are the prospects for implementation of all the trade deals in the second term? will you give the authority to fast-track these things? can we get those two deals done? >> the president definitely supports giving the authority to congress. that helps set the parameters for negotiations stop as you know, that would require another boat. -- it would require an up or down vote. we strongly support that. we think we will get it. we have had a strong support of outrage -- outreach. we want to protect our workers and open up opportunities for the u.s. we were able to get both south korea, panama, colombia.

the wto also had a big announcement recently. they were able to provide additional security through the trade agreement. trade is a big part of the president's attempt to grow the economy. and i think we will be successful in it. >> it is amazing to me that we are you talking about the presidential library for president obama, but there was a big story in the new york times. >> we are not talking about it. you are talking about it. [laughter] >> and we will continue to talk about it. the story is, as you know, he was trying to take control of that project as something that he might be able to work on post-obama presidency. it is a key part of the white house agenda. you would like to be in charge of that. i am interested in your reaction to that. and where will it be?

weird chicago will it be? -- where in chicago would be ?>> -- where in chicago will it be? >> you cannot believe everything you read, even if it is in the new york times. i have a very full plate. i will not have a big role in the library. we are all extremely busy. who knows where it will be? i am from chicago and i love chicago, but it will be where the president decides the best place is for it to be. life is he actively raising money for? >> he is not raising any money for whatsoever. our goal to grow the economy, create jobs, grow our manufacturing and get people educated. he has a lot to do. the library is in the absolute embryonic stages. i would have to say that "the new york times" these was inaccurate. >> let's talk a little about wall street and wall street relationships with the white house.

we talked about this recently and there was a magazine area about it. there have been consistent complaints from the industry that they come and meet with you and they talk about financial reform and that reset -- deficit reduction and a number of issues and then nothing happens. there is constant carping from folks in the industry that you do not understand that. the president comes out of bashes you. what have you done to improve the relationship between the financial services industry and the white house? >> let's go back to when the white house -- the president took office and the economy was on the brink of collapse. we were entering the worst depression in a long time. people all over the country were losing their homes, their jobs. we were losing and it was very important that the president acted swiftly and decisively to right the ship.

that required us to put rules and regulations in place to that taxpayers never had to come in and bail out wall street. as i traveled around the country and talk to so many people, or was a lot of frustration. the president wanted to make sure that he righted the ship. those circumstances created inevitable tension. we had a clear idea of what those rules should be. there were points of contention and debate. dodd frank was passed. we are in a different place now in terms of the economy and the rules of the road, but also in terms of -- the president's agenda in going forward, whether it is corporate tax reform, broadening the base and lowering the rates, manufacturing, working on skills, and all of the issues that i described, i think there is a complete alignment of interests with wall street.

i hope all of you were shopping on small business saturday. i did in my own neighborhood. it is a great way to support small businesses. the first lady has an initiative to try to encourage people to higher veterans. we have done a terrific job of hiring our veterans and encouraging other people to do the same. there is an enormous alignment of interests and opportunities to help grow the economy and make our country stronger together. i should also mention one of my other favorites, and that is goldman sachs has a trigger program for small businesses. they also have 10,000 women all over the world helping their businesses. when i did small business

saturday, i walked into a store and the woman tells me she is part of these golden business -- goldman sachs small business program. we want to support a partner with these programs. there are plenty of initiatives that are being driven by wall street companies. >> tell us about your role in the white house. people know you very well, but some others don't. stories have been written from time to time that suggests that you play a shadow chief of staff role. decisions can be made during the course of the day, but then they get reversed in some way after you have gone and spoke into the president. i wonder if you could talk a little bit about exactly what your role is in advising the president and speak to this idea that you are somehow the shadow chief of. -- staff. >> i'd share the white house -- i chair the white house council on women and girls. we hope to improve the lives of women and girls. we want our girls to grow up on an even playing field. we want more women to enter the

workforce. we are looking at ways of helping support families through the workforce. that can be equal pay, a range of issues. i also oversee the office of intergovernmental affairs. that is the relationship that we have with all of the elected officials. our marriage, our governors, our -- mayors, our governors, our state legislators. the final office a oversee is the office of engagement. we address a full range of constituencies, including the is this community. in addition to being a senior adviser to the president. people presume, because i am a friend of the president and the first lady, for 22 years, we do compartmentalize.

i assure you that when he goes home to the residence, he is not interested in talking about jobs. when you guys go home, you talk about your families, your movies, scandal, my favorite tv show. >> all i talk about is my job. [laughter] >> you should go home and talk about other things. there's a perception that somehow i might be trying to lobby for a position. it is not what we do. but that is just not what we do in our free time. >> in a beginning relationship with them, how you got to know them in chicago? >> well, 1991,'i was mayor daleys deputy chief of staff, and i was recruiting staff for the mayor's office, and somebody sent me a resume of michelle robinson, and i still remember this. at the top of the resume, it said really it, terrific, is not want to be in a law firm

anymore, and i had left a law firm, so that rang a bell, and i brought her in, and what was supposed to be a 20-minute interview went on for about 1.5 hours, and at the end of the interview, i said, would you like the job, and i should have asked the mayor first, and she wisely said, well, i should thought about it, and i called her again, and she said, i was talking to my fiance, and he was not all that excited about it, and he is a community organizer, and he wants to know who is this person that would be looking out for me, and would you have dinner with us, and i had dinner with the two of them, and you know the rest. >> what was he like, your first impressions of him? what did you take away? did you say, i know this guy is going to be president?

>> of course, from the very start. i said, i see it in his eyes. no. but they both had this passion for public service, and they were very early in their careers. he had just finished law school and was beginning to write his first book, and she was just two years out of law school, and i could see how much they loved each other, and they were holding hands at the dinner table, and i liked the way he listened to her, and he would ask a question, and i would answer, and he would be looking at michelle's reaction to how i was answering the question, and we talked about our life journey and where we thought we would be, and what was clear to me was that they were completely motivated by public service, and whether it would be in the nonprofit arena or in politics or in government. i was not at all sure back then, but i thought they were old before their age preowned i told them that at the time.

they seem like old souls, very grounded, very real, very authentic, and they have not really changed. they have grown, but they have not changed. >> and the future, you thought it would take you on stage for the breakfasts. >> i knew that one day i would aspire to be right here with all of you, absolutely. >> i want to talk about the post-obama presidency. >> this is making me sad that we have three more years to go, and you're already talking about post-obama. >> yes, and there are questions about what they will do after, and he will be young when he leaves the white house. a question about where he goes and where you go. will he stay in washington? or do they go back to chicago? what is the thought process on where to live afterwards? >> i do not think they have made up their mind. i think they said that sasha

would have a lot to say about that decision, because the family has made a lot of sacrifices for him to follow his dreams, and so she would have a heavy role in that decision- making, so i am not sure. >> are you committed to seeing out the last three years of the term, or could you see yourself moving on before the end of the second term? churning out the lights at the white house? >> i have had the best job that i probably will have. i serve at the pleasure of the president, and it feels amazing to say that, and i will be there as long as they will have me. >> i wonder if you can tell us that there would be a few people down the road that would be surprised about who he takes counsel from, who he reaches out to, who we may not know about? >> see, there you go. i do not think so. i just think it is up to him to talk about who he takes counsel from, and i will say this, is that he reads everything. he probably reads morning money. i do not know.

>> i would hope. >> how could he not have that on his ipad application? in all seriousness, he talks to a wide range of people. one of the characteristics he has that i respected that he listens most closely to those within me disagrees, and he pushes them to explain their positions to make sure he is making the best decision, and he and he has done that throughout his life, and he knows the stakes here are extremely high, and every decision he makes, every decision is an important one, and he wants to make sure he has thought it through. >> with the folks in capitol hill, it has been that the white house is too in sealer -- insular and that, in general, he does not do a lot of socializing on the hill. you hear this from folks in new york. we want to keep it focused on the external relationships that he has with folks on capitol hill.

has that inhibited in any way his ability to get stuff done and to avoid the kind of crises that we have seen over the last few years, that he does not have those kind of strong ties? >> first of all, i think he does, and he does a great deal. i think the fact of the matter is if we want to be just very blunt here, certain members of the republican party, particularly in the house, were not looking to forge a relationship with the president. that, they determined, was not in their short-term political interests. what was in their interest was opposing everything that he did, and they were trying to hold up the last continuing resolution and the debt ceiling, tying it to repealing the affordable care act, they knew it was not going to work, so their own leader, the speaker, said, what do you mean you knew it was not going to work? why would you try that strategy? loving relationships with people

-- building relationships with people who do not want to have a relationship with you and move the country forward, what they talk most about is what they are against. tell us what you are for. i think back in 2000 11, if it -- in 2011, if it had just been up to the speaker and the president, we would have had that grand bargain. i think in 2012 if it had been up to the speaker and the president, we would have had it. -- we would have been able to cut the deficit further. but the president has cut the deficit in half over the course of his term in office. so we have made progress, and the contentiousness has not stopped us moving forward, and he will continue to reach out and work with members of congress on both side of the aisle. and coming back again to where we are today, i think he is quite heartened to see we have a deal that were last for two years and provide some certainty, and i believe that is good for the american people and good for the economy, and we expect it to lead to some job creation.

>> and is he done with the idea of entitlement reform? talking about the fact that deficits have been cut in half, and as michael knows well, the long-term picture is nowhere near as rosie. you have a more challenging situation. does he not want a part of his legacy assuring that both of the programs, social security and medicare, are solvent for the long-term, and are there specific things they would be willing to do in the second term to ensure that? >> well, he very much clears about the security and strength of social security and medicare, absolutely, and his budget reflects those priorities, and he is going through the budget process again. just because we have the certainty of a budget does not mean we have given up trying to look for new ways of streamlining our processes. the president had a jobs counsel that made a series of recommendations, important recommendations, which we are implementing. they do not require congress,

but they provide the opportunity to streamline. one of the things that came out of both the jobs council and the export council is something as simple as could you expedite the processing of visas from countries that have folks who want to come here, but it takes so long, and i was looking at some statistics last night, and what the state department has done has been just transformative. just take one spot in brazil. it used to take 140 days to get a visa, and now, it takes two, so just think of what that does for tourism. i mention that as a very small but important example of things we can do but are within our control. president obama has done a look back at all of the regulations. sometimes it was not so much one regulation, it was the cumulative effect of a series of regulations, many of which were outdated, so the president has instructed all agencies as well as the independent agencies to do a look back and see what we can get rid of.

it improves the bottom line of business. streamlining. -- streamlining our permitting process. we have examples of long infrastructure projects, for its, for example, where we have cut years off of the permitting process simply by looking at opportunities to streamline, and i think it is important to not just focus on legislation we have passed but what is in our control. >> this gets to the question of the role of john podesta and his use of executive orders on particular agenda items. his seems to be specifically on the environment. tell us about, first of all, what do you envision podesta's role to be in the white house? >> he will have a senior role. he is sadly leaving. he has been with the president since the beginning of his time in the senate, and it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to eat, and john does have an enormous amount of expertise as having been a former chief of

staff, and the areas he cares a lot about our energy and climate change, and just his role as senior advisor, i think he has a tremendous reputation around the country, and he was in the commission with me after the president's first election, and we welcome him to the team. he is going to be terrific. >> and what can you do with the environment and climate change with executive order in the coming year that will not require congressional -- >> well, we are going to look at it will series of steps, and i want to disclose to you what we are looking at, and what we will be looking at john to come up with new ideas, as part of what we have to do is each they come in and say, ok, what is our approach going to be today? this is the hand we are dealt, and let's try to move the agenda forward with what we have and shuffle the deck and bring in some new folks. one person you may know is back, and he has already in just 1.5 weeks, i think it has been, made a tremendous difference, and that is the nature and art of it.

>> a political magazine piece today suggested that the white house is not running on fumes, but people are tired and have worked really hard, and they have lost some folks who have left, as he mentioned, and john podesta might want to bring in some new folks, but what do you make of that characterization, that there is a bit of a burnout factor now and that you need some infusion of energy? >> well, i think you always need an infusion of energy, but that does not mean folks are burned out. do some folks grow tired, sure they do. maybe it is the circumstances of their life. i am there every day, and the energy and enthusiasm and desire to come up with new ideas is as much there today as it was on the first day, and we will. it is just natural in the course of five years. how many people in this room have changed jobs in the last five years? the president did that with his cabinet, and we are thrilled to have jeh johnson. just this week.

we are going to see an infusion of new people, and that is what keeps this and allows you to move the agenda forward. >> we are getting some good twitter questions, and you can send them to us at the hash tag "morning money." banning contractors from discriminating on sexual ideas and gender identity. a legislative approach that you support, if it is not successful, would you advise the president to do this by executive order? >> we want to keep the pressure on congress to act, just as we have been doing on immigration reform. the difference is that this would cover all employers, and we do not believe there should be discrimination against people in the lgbt community, just like there should not be discrimination against women, just as there should not be discrimination against people of

color, and the best way to do that is through the legislative process. the executive order would simply be for government contracts. we want to see the whole thing. we do not want to create the impression that by doing that, you have satisfied the commitment to equality. the president believes in it in his heart, and he believes that equality means equality for all, so let's keep the pressure where it belongs, on congress. >> here is another one that says your advertising sign-ups on the exchanges after the december 21 cut off date. the question is, does that mean you are anticipating further deadline delays? >> it is december 23, i think. >> somebody on twitter got the date wrong? how can that possibly be? [laughter] >> we are encouraging people to sign up, but you will still have coverage 30 days thereafter. the normal period ends in march, so, no, we are not anticipating further delays. we are trying to get people as much time as possible, but that

after january 1, we will be heavily marketing through the end of the year. >> one more question on twitter. how much political capital is the ministration willing to spend now that negotiations are nearing the end game, and i do not know what they mean by political capital, but -- >> the president has made it very clear that he wants tpa to pass, and he will work hard to get all of the trade agreements passed, but he will work to get the best deal possible. we do not just what a deal for the sake of a deal. we want to make sure that they are with our values and protect workers, and that is very high on the president's agenda. he just had a meeting this week with his economic advisers and the national security adviser to focus on our trade agreements. >> you obviously socialize a lot with the obamas, and you celebrated your birthday with them.

happy birthday, by the way. >> thank you. >> the business going on with the white house, what is the social relationship with them? >> just stuff, just like you do, just stuff. >> he is the president of the united states. >> at, you know what, he is also a father and a husband and a friend, and i think people lose sight with the fact that he is human. spending time with family and friends, that is what he also likes to do. it is grounding. he always talks about when he goes upstairs and has dinner with the girls, they are not interested in his day. they are interested in their own day. he spent a lot of time talking about their days and what is going on. i have known them since before the children were born, so i have seen them grow up him and he has seen my daughter grow up and get married, so we talk about the same things that everybody talks about. >> tell me a little bit about when you look back after the second term is over, we talked a

little bit about agenda items for the second term, the overarching theme of what the eight obama years were about, the accomplishments that were made, how is history going to remember president barack obama and his influence on the country? >> well, this story has yet to finish. i am not going to write off the last three years, and i obviously do not have a crystal ball, but i think people will remember he came in at a time when we were experiencing the worst economy since the great depression and through a lot of hard work and effort, we made an enormous amount of progress, and he provided opportunity, equal opportunity for so many people out there who just want a little break and who were expecting government to not give them a handout but maybe a hand up, maybe create an environment that is conducive to investment and growth. he wants the united states to be globally competitive. we are still the greatest country on earth, but you cannot

rest on your laurels. you have to constantly work to keep that competitive edge, and at the same time you tighten your belt and get your fiscal house in order, you have to continue to invest in energy. you have to invest in innovation and technology and education. you have to figure out ways to constantly retool ourselves to make sure we are competitive. there was an article out a few months ago about the top airports in the world, top 25, not one in the united states. how can that be? how can that be? because we have not invested in our infrastructure, so galvanizing support for that is around the country and moving that forward is what we are going to do over the course of the next three years. >> does he talk about -- he obviously came into office saying he would change the tone in washington, and we have moved past an era of bitter partisanship to one of functional governance. that has not happened. obviously, he is not entirely to blame for that.

what does he say when you all talk about how successful he has been? the fact that he has not been able to do that to create this new climate in washington of functionality, is it just purely a matter of intransigent republicans, or are there things he could have done openly to bring to fruition what he promised in the campaign? >> well, it takes two to change a relationship. anybody in a relationship knows that. it was a great frustration to them. he was not just trying to change the tone for the sake of changing the tone. he was trying to change the tone in order to create a environment an environment that is functioning for the american people. confidence in his leadership, but he also has limits to what he can do without a partner in congress, and i think what we have seen is this constant determination to work against the agenda instead of trying to figure out where is the common ground, and when did compromise become such a bad word?

he cannot just say, my way or the highway, so i think that is a backdrop, and maybe i am just an internal optimist. we were able to come up with an agreement, oath parties coming together, both parties in the ordinary course doing their jobs, and, you know what, my guess is when people go home for the holidays, they will get a lot of encouragement from their constituents, because that is what the american people expect, and hopefully in the new year, we will have a new day. >> does he think that perhaps pushing through health care reform on purely partisan vote does not go well for the relationship with congress, and subsequent to that, helping republicans in the 2010 elections, or was getting health care done so important that it just did not matter that it was going to really enrage a lot of

republicans and create this very difficult climate for subsequent years in the administration? >> i think the climate began on day one. it was, we all know, through stories that have come out, it was clear that from the very beginning, the republicans were determined to see what they could do to try to undermine his presidency, and when i say the republicans, not all of the republicans, but enough to create a real headwind that we had to go up against, and people forget, but in the course of the legislation, working its way through, there was an enormous amount of outreach to republicans. many of the ideas that republicans suggested were incorporated in the budget in the hope that it would be a bipartisan vote, but in the end, it was not. but in the end, does he believe that this affordable care act is going to dramatically improve the quality of life for americans? absolutely, absolutely, and he will look back on that, and not even look back. every single day, he gets people

who write him letters who say it has already touched their lives in a very important way. that is a big thing. >> i will talk little bit about second terms in general. they have not been very successful in memory. george bush had the iraq war to contend with, which really limited his ability to be effective in the second term and kept his approval ratings at 40% or below, and the president is about where president bush was in his second term, and he does not have an iraq war to come back from, so he is apparently in better shape to right the ship, with the possible exception of bill clinton's second term, despite being impeached, and second terms have been kind of a graveyard for presidents. does he have a vision on how to avoid that second term curse and to do the things you say he wants to do? >> absolutely. my goodness. you do have a rather bleak view about a second term. the president's energy and

determination to work hard and to find those common grounds and to figure out what we can do either through our own initiatives or in partnership with the private sector is as robust today as it has ever been, and so every day he is in office, it is a privilege for him to serve, and he is not giving up just because it is hard. we always knew it was hard. i do not know why people think they should be easy. change is extraordinarily hard, and what you want to have is a leader that has that resilience, notwithstanding the fact it has been tough at times to keep wanting to get act up, and remember who is there to serve. people are counting on him and counting on congress and counting on people who have taken this pledge of public service, and we all need to do right by them, and that is what gives them the energy to keep going every day. >> all right, i want to thank valerie jarrett for joining us. >> thank you. [applause]

> [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> richard trumka is interviewed thursday by mike allen can you can see a live starting at 8:00 a.m. eastern on c-span 2. on the next "washington journal," tom coburn talks about federal spending and why he thinks it's too high. of "the brandon arnold andonal taxpayers union" area code or look attached reform in light of congress passing the tax agreement. a -- recent survey under under how federal employees view

their jobs. live atton journal" is 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. thursday, examining mexico's energy sector and the decision to open it up to foreign investment. that is live at eight: 30 -- 8:30 a.m. eastern on c-span 3. then senator john mccain speaks about lyrical terminal in the ukraine. -- about a lyrical turmoil in the the ukraine. move towas a deliberate simply end with a controversy. always the perspective of the musharraf government. she was the one that stood out,

say hello to the crowd. she was responsible. protected have been and there was no protection. they say that there was a formation of the lead force of policeman that would usher her into the rally where she was killed. that wasn't there. we saw video and pictures. we saw no box formation, no you lead force police protection -- note the lead force police forcetion -- no elite police protection. >> the national inquiry into the death of the former pakistan prime minister and is your

bhutto. bhutto.ir >> online, we want to hear what your favorite books were in 2013. throughout the month, join other readers to discuss the notable books published this year. go to the tv.org and click on book club to enter the chat room. >> c-span, we bring public affairs events from washington directly to you, putting you in the room at congressional hearings, white house events, briefings and conferences and offering complete gavel-to-gavel coverage of the u.s. house, all as a of the service of private industry. we are c-span, created by the cable industry and funded by your local cable or satellite provider. i you can watch us in hd.

>> coming up on c-span khmer first lady's series feature ellen and edith wilson. later, outgoing federal reserve chairman ben burning key explains plans to ease the federal reserve's economic stimulus. >> this is the woodrow wilson house in washington, d.c., the home of our 20th president and first lady edith wilson. after they left the white house in 1921. you will be seeing more of it over the next two hours as we tell the story of the two first ladies, ellen and edith. >> ellen and woodrow met in their 20s and their love for each other was reflected in passionate letters. to help guide his career from academia to politics, he set an