layered such a bureaucratic compliance burden on the states and local school districts that you can hardly blame them for all of the administrative bloat that they have had to take on over the years just to comply with the department of education's paperwork command, and we have -- demand, and we have seen tremendous administrative bloat. just a couple stats we have seen since 1960's a 7% increase in the number of students enrolled in public schools across the country, but 84% increase in the number teachers andard mrtive staff. if you just -- and administrative staff. if you just look at a teacher, nonicher ratio, in 1960 there were 2.36 teachers for every nonteacher in a classroom. today it's one to one. for every school teacher you see in a district so much of that is that brewer ic compliance burden that's levied on school

district it's from washington. >> senator, thank you for your leadership on this. thank you for being with us. thanks for putting it all together and giving us these great ideas that we can turn into legislation. thank you all. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] [inaudible] >> the context here is that lee enjoys a reputation in the modern day as someone who counseled acceptance and resignation to

the situation. and that has always struck me as -- it's sort of a theory that doesn't add up in a sense. we know he was the most prestigious man in the south. we were told that he counseled submission. but we know in the end the south didn't simply submit to the political will of the north. that southerners, ex-confederates began to contest the northern understanding of the meaning of the war and the peace and northern plans for reconstruction and contest them through political means and extra legal means and violent means. and what i found is that in the eyes of confederates, lee was not a symbol of submission. was a symbol of a kind of unbowed pride and a kind of measured defines. >> rethinking grant and lee. saturday night at 10:00 eastern and sunday morning at 11:00, part of a three-day president's day weekend. on c-span 3's american history v. here on c-span, we're live in the east room of the white

house where president obama shortly will be signing an executive order raising the minimum wage for government contractors -- contract workers. it will get under way shortly. "the hill" writes about today's event, that the president will press congress to match the executive order with an equivalent hike to the federal minimum wage. the white house said on tuesday. according to a source familiar with this event, the president will appear alongside workers who are paid at or just above the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. the white house said earlier in a statement, quote, that the president is using his executive authority to lead by example and will continue to work with congress to raise the minimum wage for all americans by passing the harkin-miller bill. the bill would raise the federal minimum wage for working americans in stages to $10.10 and index it to inflation thereafter. also raising the minimum wage for tipped workers for the first time in 20 years. this is one of the executive

orders, one of the pieces of the president's state of the union from last month. so the president out shortly and expected to be, again, accompanied by a number of workers who will be affected by this executive order. meanwhile, news from new orleans just now from the associated press, and they say that a federal jury in new orleans has convicted former new orleans mayor on charges he accepted bribes, free trips and other gratuities from contractors in exchange for helping them secure millions of dollars in city work while he was in office. the jury convicting the former mayor of new orleans on 20 of 21 counts. that's from the associated press. so we're live here on c-span, waiting for president obama. it should get under way shortly.

>> here on c-span, waiting to hear from president obama who will sign an executive order raise the minimum wage for

government workers. meanwhile, up on capitol hill, the senate under way with a bill advancing a vote to advance the debt limit bill. yesterday in the house the house passed it by 221-201 and the extension of the debt -- suspension of the debt ceiling through march of 2015. so votes under way in the senate. you can follow that on c-span 2 and for some reaction to yesterday's vote, we spoke to marsha blackburn of tennessee on this morning's "washington journal." we'll show you some that have conversation as we wait for president obama. guest: we have got to do something about the out-of-control spending and i think it is fair to say that it's not a problem that has occurred just over the last few years. you can go back and look at the

government expansion during the times of l.b.j. and look at how our government debt has increased. now, the escalation rate during the obama administration has been unprecedented. we all know that. and he is putting more debt onto the books than any president in our nation's history. so time has come to just say, enough is enough. we have to do something about this. and to have a proposal where we were not going to get significant budget reforms was something that i could not vote i'm very comfortable and i think my constituents are very comfortable with a no vote. host: congresswoman, what was your reaction when you heard from the speaker yesterday that he had decided to attach nothing and that it was going to be a clean debt ceiling extension?

guest: this is what the democrats wanted. it is what the president had wanted. the speaker was having a difficult time getting a agreement on what could be attached through the republican house and if the democrats and if this administration want to spend more, then maybe it's time for them to own it. they are the ones who continue to want to boot up the debt ceiling and spend, even though we are borrowing between 30 cents and 40 cents of every dollar that we are spending. i'm one of those conservatives that favors a balanced budget amendment. i favor reducing what the federal government spends. of course i'm the one that -- i have bills that i offer every single congress that call for 1%, 2% and 5% across-the-board spending reductions and when the president was in the senate, he was against raising the debt ceiling.

now that he's the president, he doesn't want any strings attached and wants to be able to spend whatever he would like to spend without the consent or approval or the allowance of congress. i think it's wrong. guest: the -- host: "the new york times" reports in this morning. other papers as well. that it was mr. boehner who rised such high expectations around the debt limit. in 2011 he established what's become known as the boehner room. an increase was supposed to be offset by an equivalent spending cut, watt the -- was the boehner rule broken? >> it was -- guest: it was definitely there are no spending cuts with this. so if you're looking at in that regard, it would be. if you're looking at the fact that the democrats now own this issue and you've got a lot of house democrats who are from districts that do not want to see more debt incurred and put -- he books, so i think [inaudible] host: do you understand then what the speaker was doing,

because there's conservative group, the senate conservative fund, others that are putting petitions out there saying that the speaker needs to be replaced? guest: and we're going to see a lot of activity and conversation around this. and you're going to have a lot of groups who are going to call for different actions and they continue to weigh in and you've got groups on the left, you've got groups on the right and quite frankly i am pleased to see activism in the off the hill or the conservative or grassroots community having that kind of debate -- community. having that kind of debate is a very good thing for us and i'm certain that more people than ever will now be aware of what happens when you raise the debt ceiling. host: do you endorse the speaker? guest: i have supported the speaker and i have supported the republicans on our side of the aisle and certainly when we have elections where there's a republican and a democrat, i

support those. look, i realize i am more conservative than most people in my conference. and i appreciate that. i'm the most conservative female in washington, i am the third most conservative member of the house. now, there are lots of wonderful districts around this country where i am probably too conservative to be elected. and i realize that. but that's the good thing about a representative body. people are going to elect someone who reflects and represents their views. that is why we have diverse opinions in the house of representatives and hour in nation has been well served throughout our history by having a robust debate and a solid two-party system. host: to be clear, do you continue to support john boehner as speaker of the house? guest: i have continued to support speaker boehner. i did not support this action. and -- but i understand and

appreciate the situation that he was in. host: what, as a member of the budget committee, what would you have attached to this debt ceiling extension? guest: well, bear in mind, i'm the one that wrote the bill for the one-year delay of all things obamacare. and of course we have used components of that on the continuing resolution and other items that we've sent forward from the house. and i've appreciated the support of my colleagues in that. or, you ave put some know, i would have had those across-the-board spending cuts which there again, the budget control act and that 2% across-the-board cut, i support that. support delaying everything obamacare. i support putting a balanced budget amendment component in order to raise the debt ceiling. what you have to realize is

this is not fair to continue putting this debt on the books, the not fair. and we've recently had -- doug elmendorf who heads the c.b.o. before us to do a long-term budget outlook and you're looking at the next decade down the road, when you look at the c.b.o.'s analysis of where we are right now, of having about $800 billion a year just in interest. and what we have to be mindful we s every penny that borrow has to be paid back. for my grandchildren who are 5 and 4 years of age, is it fair to them and to their generation to make decisions that are going to cost them so much money in paying those pennies that we're borrowing that turn into dollars and hundreds and

thousands and millions and billions and now trillions of dollars to have to pay that back? and your viewers can go to my website, blackburn.house.gov and when you scan down on the right-hand side you're going to see the nation's debt clock. and see how it is ticking away. getting the debt under control is not -- it is not something that continue -- can continue to be kicked down the road. this is something that needs to be addressed. nd we need to stem as a budget committee and look at how we do it. we took some good steps yesterday and i would encourage your viewers to look at a couple of pieces of legislation that we passed out of the budget committee yesterday. one was to allow for biannual budgeting. and to move to a two-year

budget. you know, that would just be an incredible thing to bring some accountability to the budget process. where we put our efforts into budgeting one year and the next year we put our efforts on oversight and accountability. and bringing that transparency that needs to be brought to that process. host: congresswoman blackburn, real quickly before we let you go, the white house announced they were going to delay the employer mandate again. what is the implications of that? what will republicans try to do legislatively because of that decision? guest: first of all, the president does not have the authority to continue to do this pick and choose. and to say, well, through the rules you have certain leeway. this is now 27 and 28 in the number of delays that they have made. you've got close to 2,000 waivers that they have given.

and this is outside of the spectrum of their authority. the president has his job, to faithfully execute the laws that we pass. and for the way he is going about this, not coming back to congress, i think you're going to see the judiciary committee and committees like mine, energy an commerce, begin to take some actions. because this is not at the president's discretion. he is required to implement the laws of the nation and you're going to begin to see some accountability brought to bear on that process. host: congresswoman marsha blackburn, we appreciate you joining us on the phone this morning. your time, i know the winter storm caused you ge to get out of washington yesterday before it hit. so thank you for getting up early after a late night. guest: absolutely. thank you. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] >> looking live at the east room of the white house. president obama will be out shortly. signing an executive order

raising the minimum wage for government contract workers. some response from that from members of congress. nicki tsongas tweets that today the white house will raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 per hour. it's time for congress to follow the lead and raise it across the board. george miller from california saying, fact, raising the federal minimum wage to $10.10 would lift wages for 28 million americans. and he's talking more broadly about raising minimum wage. this would be for government contracts. president obama expected out shortly.

>> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states.

[cheers and applause] >> hello, everybody. thank you. thank you, thank you, thank you. thank you. thank you so much. everybody have a seat, have a seat. [laughter] welcome to the white house, everybody. i know you had to come here before you go buy some shovels and some salt. [laughter] it sounds like we may get a little snow. but i very much appreciate everybody being here. i want to thank first and foremost the workers who are with me here this afternoon. cheers and applause]

and i want to thank two champions for all hardworking americans. we've got secretary of labor here. [cheers and applause] he's in the house. right here. i didn't know where he was. and we've got outstanding congressman who is used to snow because he's from minnesota, congressman keith ellison. cheers and applause] now, it's been just over two weeks since i delivered my state of the union address and i said this year would be a year of action. and i meant it. over the past 14 days i've ordered an across-the-board reform of our job training programs, to train folks with the skills that employers need and match them up with good jobs that are ready to be filled right now.

i've directed the treasury to create something we're calling myra. kind of like an ira but it's myra. and that's a new way for americans to start saving for retirement and you can start with as little as $25, $50, and start building up a little bit of a nest egg. and get tax benefits for doing so. we've rallied the leaders of some of america's biggest high-tech companies to help us make sure that all of our kids have access to high-speed internet and up-to-date technology in their classrooms, so that they're learning the skills that they need for the new economy. we brought together business leaders who are committed to hiring more unemployed americans, particularly long-term unemployed who oftentimes are discriminated against. they're in a catch-22. they haven't had a job for a while and then the employer 'not -- employer's not willing to look at the resume because they haven't had a job for a

while. so the point is, i'm eager to work with congress whenever i can find opportunities to expand opportunity for more families. but wherever i can act on my own without congress, by using my pen to take executive actions, or taking up the phone and rallying folks around a common cause, that's what i'm going to do. [applause] and so, that brings me to the issue we're going to talk about today. after the worst economic crisis in generations, our economy has been growing for the past four years. and our -- [applause] our businesses have created 8 1/2 million new jobs. unemployment rass has come down -- rate has come down. but while those at the top are doing better than ever, corporate profits have been

high, stock market has been high, average wages have barely budged. so you've got too many americans who are working harder than ever before just to get by but they can't seem to get ahead. can't seem to make all the ends meet. and that's been true since long before the recession hit. we've got to reverse those trends. we've got to build an economy that works for everybody. not just the fortunate few. and we've got to restore opportunity for everybody. so that no matter who you are, no matter how you started out, no matter what you look like, no matter what your last name is, you can get ahead in america if you're willing to work hard and take responsibility for your life. all right? [applause] so the opportunity that i've laid out is going to help us do just that. part one of this agenda is more

new jobs that pay a good wage. jobs in manufacturing and exports and energy and innovation. part two, we've got to train the folks with the skills to fill those jobs. part three, we've got to make sure every child gets a world-class education. and part four, we've got to make sure that the economy rewards hard work for every american. making hard work pay off with economic security and decent wages and benefits is what we're about here today. it means making sure women earn equal pay for equal work. [applause] it means making sure workers have the chance to save for a dignified retirement. [applause] it means access to affordable

health insurance that gives you the freedom to change jobs or be your own boss and the peace of mind that it will be there for you when you get sick and you need it most. [applause] so if you know anybody who doesn't have health insurance right now. [laughter] send them to healthcare.gov, website's working. [laughter] sign them up. you can get health care for less than your cell phone bill for a lot of folks. but it also means that in the wealthiest nation on earth, nobody who works full time should have to live in poverty. nobody. [applause] not here in america. now, it was one year ago today, one year ago today that i first asked congress to raise the federal minimum wage.

a federal minimum wage that in real terms is worth about 20% less than it was when ronald reagan took office. 20% less. 1/5 less. so this afternoon i've inviolented some of the folks who -- invited some of the folks who would see a raise if we raise that federal minimum wage. they happen to join me here at the white house. and like most workers in their situation, they're not teenagers, they look like teenagers, some of them are very young looking. but they're in the -- they're not teenagers taking on their first job, they're adults. average age of 35 years old. a majority of lower-wage jobs are held by women. many of them have children that they're supporting. these are americans who work full time, often to support a family, and if the minimum wage had kept pace with our economic

productivity, they'd already be getting paid well over $10 an hour. instead the minimum wage is still just $7.25. and when congress refuses to raise it, it will lose its value because there's a little bit of inflation, everything else starts costing a little bit more, even though inflation's been pretty low, it's still costing a little bit more each year. that means each dollar isn't going as far and they've got a little bit less. so over the past year the failure of congress to act was the equivalent of a $200 pay cut for these folks. for a typical minimum wage worker. that's a month worth of groceries. maybe two months worth of electricity. it makes a big difference for a lot of families. now the good news is that in the year since i first asked congress to raise the minimum wage, six states went ahead and passed laws to raise theirs.

[applause] e appreciate that. you got more states and cities and counties that are taking steps to raise their minimum wage as we speak. and a lot of companies are doing it too. not out of charity, but because they've discovered it's good business. two weeks ago i visited a cosco store in maryland. cosco is a very profitable company. its stock has done great. it's expanded all over the place. but their philosophy is, higher wages are a smart way to boost productivity and reduce turnover. if employees are happy and feel like the company is invested in them, then they're going to do more for the company. they're going to go above and beyond. and when i was at cosco, i was

meeting folks who had started off at the cash register and now were in supervisory positions and had been there for 20 years and you could see the kind of pride they had in the company because the company cared about them. i even received a letter the next day from a woman who saw my visit on tv. she decided to apply for a job at cosco. she said, let me apply for a job at cosco. they look like they do a good job. so across the country owners of small and large businesses are recognizing that fair wages and higher profits go hand in hand. it's dwd for the bottom line -- it's good for the bottom line. and as america's chief executive, i agree. so, while congress decides what it's going to do, and hope this year, and i'm going to work this year and urge this year that they actually pass a law, today i'm going to do what i can to help raise working americans' wages.

so today -- [applause] so today i'm issuing an executive order requiring federal contractors to pay their employees a fair wage of at least $10.10 an hour. cheers and applause] this will make a difference for folks. right now there's a dish washer at randolph airport base in exas making $7.76 an hour. $7.76 an hour. there's a fast food worker right down the street making $8.91 an hour. there's a laundry worker at camp dodge in iowa making $9.03

an hour. once i sign this order, next year, as their contracts come up, each of them and many of their fellow co-workers are going to get a raise. and by the way, that includes folks who get paid in tips. they'll get a raise too. cheers and applause] tip wages have gone even even slower than the regular -- gone up even slower than the regular minimum wage. just as it's good for company as i cross the country, this will be good for america's bottom line. for contractors and for taxpayers. the opponents of the minimum wage have been using the same arguments for years. and time and again they've been proven jong wrong. raising the minimum wage is good for business and it's good for workers and it's good for the economy. puts more money in these folks' pockets, that means they've got some money to go shopping. which in turns means a business

has more customers, which means they may hire more workers and make more of a profit. and let's not forget, it's the right thing to do. there's a simple, moral principle at stake. if you take responsibility and you work as hard as these folks work, you shouldn't be living in poverty. not in america. we believe that. [applause] and this executive order will cover americans with disabilities. because this principle doesn't just apply to some of us, it affects all of us. [applause] so, i'm going to keep doing whatever i can to raise working americans' wages. and i would ask any business leader out there, any governor, any mayor, any local leader listening, do what you can to raise your employees' wages.

to work to raise the wages of citizens in your jurisdiction. they'll support these efforts. a majority of americans, not just democrats, not just independents, but republicans too support raising the minimum wage. [applause] t's the right thing to do. so that's something congress should keep in mind this year. there's a bill right now in front of both the house and the senate that would boost america's minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. just like i'm doing with this executive action. it's easy to remember. $10.10. $10.10. let's get that done. raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10, wouldn't just raise wages for minimum wage workers, its effect would raise wages for about 28 million americans. it would lift millions of americans out of poverty immediately. it would help millions more

work their way out of poverty without requiring a single dollar in new taxes or spending. it's the right thing to do. just last month 600 economists, including seven nobel prize winners, wrote the leaders of houses of congress to remind them that the bill before congress would have little or no negative effect on hiring. on jobs. so it's not going to depress the economy. it will boost the economy. yes. [laughter] it about will give more businesses more customers with more money to spend it. will grow the economy for everybody. so, yeah. he's excited about it. [laughter] so members of congress have a pretty clear choice to make right now. raise our workers' wages, grow our economy, or let wages stagnate further and give workers what amounts to another pay cut this year.

restore unemployment insurance for americans still looking for that job. or expose them further to hardship. [applause] members of congress, you can help people make progress in their own lives or you can hinder that progress. and every american deserves to know where your elected representative stands on this issue. so ask your senator, ask your representative in the house, do you support raising the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour? if they say yes, tell them, good job. they don't hear that that often. give them a pat on the back, give them a hug. let them know, way to go. that's the right thing to do. , they say no, be polite don't just yell at them but say, well, why not? ask them to reconsider siding

with an overwhelming majority of americans. encourage them to say yes. give america a raise. i'm about to sign this executive order. when you hear me talking about my pen and my phone to make a difference for middle class americans, this is exactly what i mean. i'm going to do what i can, congress should do what it needs to do. i will not give up on this fight no matter how long it takes. america deserves a raise. working families deserve to know more economic security in their own lives. we've got to create new jobs, bring the middle class, build new ladders of opportunity for folks working their way into the middle class, just like these folks are doing right here. there are millions of americans who could just use a little bit of boost. millions of americans outside of washington who are tired of the old, stale political argument or tired of folks just looking out for people who can afford big lobbyists and big

campaign contributions. there are folks out there who want to see us restore an economy that works for everybody. and get back to our founding vision of opportunity for all. so, i know you guys will work with me. but go out there and organize some more. thank you, everybody. let's give americans a raise right now. i'm going to sign this. [applause] inaudible]

cheers and applause] [applause]

[captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] >> president obama signs an executive order raising the minimum wage for federal contractors to $10.10 an hour. it's an issue he talked about in the state of the union address. the president will be traveling on friday to the maryland eastern shore. that's where house democrats are beginning an issues retreat . later this afternoon we will hear from house minority leader nancy pelosi about what's ahead at that retreat. she will brief reporters and we'll cover that live for you at 6:00 p.m. eastern. >> i think every first lady brings their unique perspective to this job. if you didn't, you couldn't live through it. i think to the extent that this feels natural to me at any level, and i would never have thought that living in the white house and being first lady would feel natural, it's because i try to make it me.

i try to bring a little bit of michelle obama into this. but at the same time respecting and valuing the tradition that is america's. >> watch our program on first lady michelle obama at our website, c-span.org/firstladies or see it saturday on c-span at 7:00 p.m. eastern. and live monday, we conclude our series with a special two-hour program looking at all the first ladies. from martha washington to michelle obama. [background sounds]

[background sounds] [background sounds] ♪ ♪

♪ >> and so the guest of honor has arrived. french president francois hollande greeted by the president of first lady from the north entrance of the white house. this is the seventh state dinner or official visit for the obama administration the first of the second term and later we will take you to the south on pavilion. it has turned into a springlike display of french culture and flowers and arts. but first we will take a look inside the state dinner as part of our coverage here on c-span2's. we will tell you what it's like to be invited to one of these exclusives upstairs and get some background on the role of first

lady's over the years and we will have a conversation with former white house social secretary giuliana smoot who served in the obama administration. as we continue to look at the scene from the portico entrance of the white house we want to begin with the perspective of james fallows from atlantic magazine. james as a national correspondent for the atlantic magazine you have attended three state dinners. what are they like? >> they are interesting and fun as you would imagine. usually at each dinner there's a sprinkling of journalists usually people that have had some connection to the country that is being invited. i've been to once for korea, for china recently and then for canada i guess because i'm from north america and is just interesting and fun. i think nobody can really not like these things. >> lets start the process at the beginning. you get the invitation. what is that like? >> it's a big heavy stark thing

back in the days protocol like something you think of from -- downton abbey. you check in with social secretary to find out the details of when you're supposed to be there and what you can and cannot bring with you and what kind of i.d. and then you show up in plenty of time early on. usually you take a taxi to one of the social gates of the white house and perceived in through the clearance which now i think is more intense than it used to be after the renegade group tried to get into i guess an indian state dinner. >> after clearance you walk into the white house and then what? >> you go through this corridor to the east wing. there are pictures of all that have, and you make your way to the receiving line. you're announced by military guests. each person coming in has this announcement. mr. presently announce this person coming in. there is a kind of if you are in the less famous bottom group as

we always were going to these things you have the sense that everyone is listening to the announcement. is it going to be yo-yo ma or some other famous person and then there is a category of people who are not famous that they announce. you come in and meet new meet the president of the united states and the first lady and the visiting president and his or her spouse and then you move on and mix and mingle. the brush with celebrity is part of coming to the receiving line. >> is certainly a festive evening but is it one with some added stress? >> i am sure there are people who have stressed that for me personally i found it just enjoyable because the most recent one that my wife and i went was for then president of china hu jintao about a year into the obama administration. we have been living in china for the previous three or four years so we thought it would just be interesting and fun to receive the present of china who has never greeted the people in

china. and to see other people who are involved in this whole world of u.s.-china affairs. i am personally find it fun more than stressful. maybe my wife is spending more time on clothing and hair than i was. >> the reception has concluded and you go to the state dining room. how do you know where to sit in what is that like? >> depending on the size, dinners have a larger and smaller groups of attendees. the big ones have several rooms out there so you check your table to see where you are going to be and you cannot help doing an assessment of how does this table stand? they try to be careful of sprinkling out the famous people in the table so nobody feels he or she has a bad seat. you go there and you are seated in their name cards at each place of course. there are menus and wine usually american at least the ones i

have seen. for the french president i don't know whether it's a gesture of franco-american amity but they will sprinkle in french wines are champagnes but then you spend quite a while just talking with the people at your table and other places and finally they have somebody who tells everyone to sit down to maximize their schmoozing time. >> what is the obvious like in the white house and the state dining room? >> long ago i worked for jimmy carter when he was the president. i was a speechwriter and i never got to attend the state dinners as a guess guest. i was under a lot of stress trying to make the toast but the ambience for the guests i think as far as i can tell it's just fun. people are almost universally excited to be there. i'm not trying to make this sound silly but it would be deal dishonest to say people don't enjoy this because there are a lot of usually well-known people there. they have common interest generally for the visit and it

is always interesting just to see the five and the body language of the american president and his spouse and the foreign leader, what they are like and how they carry themselves. the vibe is a positive one. >> how important are these dinners for american diplomacy and how to heads of state view their visit at these events? >> i think they can be very important. for example when the chinese leader at the time i believe it may have been hu jintao in his early stage came during the george w. bush demonstration there was kind of the chill in the u.s. chinese relations so he got a lunch rather than a dinner. he started his visit in seattle not in washington d.c. so that was a sign of the cooling of the relationship. hu jintao came in obama's early time and had a state dinner and was taken seriously in china as this was a sign of amity. from the u.s. point of view it's a celebration. on the seat receiving end of the

calibration that the u.s. can give to indicate its degree of warmth or coolness to a visiting partner. >> for those who will never be invited to a state dinner give us a sense of the sights and sounds and what you are looking at, what it feels like and how it comes across that you can't capture on television. >> i will try to give a quick panorama. you get out usually by taxi because there's no place to park on the east side of the white house which is the social wing where the first lady and eventually the first gentleman will be based. you walk through there and something inside the white house people may not recognize, it's full of these excellent pictures usually pictures of whoever's the current incumbent. there has been controversy about the white house official photographer pete souza anopoli singh opportunities in the obama administration. you walk through this long-haul that has historical memorabilia and all these interesting large photos of current presidents

going around the country. you see a lot of military people, u.s. military and occasionally some of the foreign ones wearing their dress outfits with medals and the receiving line, there is a kind of, everybody is looking as if he or she is not excited but you can tell that they are going through the lines. the most impressive display i have seen of coolness under challenge was when during late in the clinton administration in 1998 my wife and i got to go to a dinner for the korean president and right in front of us was a famous korean conceptual artist who is having some kind of i don't know whether he had -- coming in with a walker and was very unsteady. he was immediately in front of my wife. as he was shaking hands with president bill clinton my wife about 3 feet behind this korean artist in his mid-60's or so his

trousers fell down and he was wearing nothing underneath them. on a think live feed tv at the time you had a completely bottom half of an older korean gentleman with bill clinton looking every second into his eyes as the man's assistant pulled up his trousers. uchitel the korean president was not amused by this one little bit but bill clinton acted as if ,-com,-com ma he was taking it all in stride. the next person bill clinton greater was my wife so he had a raise on his eyebrows as to what just happened. usually things are more control than that. the other time i had seen something unexpected was during the chinese dinner early in obama's time. somebody started ringing out his smartphone to take pictures and suddenly everybody was doing it. you have the ceo of soft india had the pms from china and

michelle quan who are starting to take pictures and jackie chan was at our table taking pictures with a smartphone. i don't know that it then done at state dinners before but when someone started doing it they'll started doing it taking pictures of the president obama and hu as they were working the crowd table by table. >> finally as you remember the evening of entertainment how did the night conclude and what do you remember? >> so it's, this also is very interesting in the calibration of the signal that the president of the united states at the time. what i remember most vividly was the chinese state dinner where was essentially a celebration of american jazz. i believe as herbie hancock and several other great american jazz singers or instrumentalists. president obama said to the visiting chinese that culture is

part of our connection and we would like to highlight something that's an important part of our culture and then i believe the famous chinese pianist got up there and played with herbie hancock. that was a sign of cultural connection so it's one of the ways like the opening ceremonies of the olympics anymore condensed form that the united states can give a signal of what part of its cultured want to highlight and i thought that wal with the chinese and american attendees. >> james fallows of the atlantic magazine thanks for adding your perspective to tonight's coverage. >> my pleasure. >> you were looking at the scene from the bookseller which is on the ground floor of the white house. we will continue to watch as many of the nearly 350 guests arrive arrive for tonight state dinner gather. they will then head up to the state floor including the blue room which is where the obamas at this hour grading the president of france.

>> mr. richard winter and mrs. alexandra winter. ms. christine lagarde. ms. krystal a. connors. the honorable charles schumer and ms. irs's line shah. [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] mr. and mrs. kevin f. o'malley. the honorable michael nutter mayor of philadelphia and mrs. nutter.

the honorable david l. cohen and mrs. cohen. the honorable debbie wasserman schultz and mr. stephen schultz. ms. juliana goldman and mr. mike gottlieb. the honorable stephanie rollins

blake mayor mayor of baltimore and mr. kent blake. mr. samuel hynes and ms. stacey mills. ms. alexandra stanton and ms. donna stanton. [inaudible conversations] the honorable kevin johnson mayor of sacramento and

ms. michelle lee. >> i'm really excited. this is my first state dinner. for my wife and i to big treat. i have learned to french phrases. >> go ahead. >> i can't remember. thank you. the honorable paul ryan and mrs. ryan. the honorable chuck hagel,

secretary of defense and daughter ms. ellen hagel. mr. dan barber and brother mr. david barber. ms. mindy kelling and guests ms. jocelyn leavitt.

[inaudible conversations] the honorable nancy pelosi and daughter jacqueline kelling. >> this is my daughter jack wayne. she is from texas. [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] attorney general erik holder and mrs. holder.

>> i'm glad to be here. we have a great relationship which i'm sure will be made better by this dinner. spanish. >> thank you. ambassador to the united nations and ms. cass sunstein. [inaudible conversations] mr. and mrs. peter bashar.

mr. and mrs. james roosevelt junior. [inaudible conversations] the honorable karen bass and ms. barbara jordan. >> i've been to paris and i love it and i'm very honored to be here today. >> the honorable lives sure when randall and jeffrey randall.

>> i was responsible for europe in the first term. [inaudible conversations] >> ms. mary j. blige and mr. can do isaacs. >> it's a surprise. it's going to be fun though. i don't know. excuse me? my last name is french.

the reverend al sharpton and ms. asia schott. >> i have been practicing my french. [inaudible conversations] the honorable jennifer palmieri and james flatts. [inaudible conversations]

mr. and mrs. arnie sorensen. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

most of the guests have arrived in you are looking at the scene from an area known as the so a number of french connections on display tonight. you have a chance to talk to julianna who served as white house social secretary. we'll also get to your calls and comments as well. some background on this, what is the seventh state or official visit by -- dinner by the obama administration. the location for tonight's dinner is the south lawn pavilion and it's being turned into a monet-inspired gala

which is in honor of the french president. there will be 350 invited guests. and you saw a moment ago reserve the balance of my time -- ago r&b singer mary j. blige. and some background on u.s.-french relations, the last state visit by a french president was back in 1996 during the clinton administration. french president jacques chirac. and the last official white house dinner was with the french president sarkozy who lost his re-election to francois hollande who is coming stag at tonight's dinner which we'll talk about later. francois coming stag to tonight's dinner and we will talk more about that later but first a rifle which is part of the pomp and ceremony in the news conference that took place between the two leaders but it began shortly after 9:00 this morning on the crisp cold winter morning but temperatures

in the 20s. no rain and no snow and one of the photographs released by the white house earlier today shows the president french president hollande with the french flag. here is more from the south lawn this morning at the white house. [background sounds] ♪ ladies and gentlemen the president of the united states and mrs. michelle obama. [applause] ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ [background sounds] [background sounds] [background sounds]

>> ladies and gentlemen. [inaudible] ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

[applause] [background sounds] [background sounds]

[background sounds] >> mr. president the honor guard is prepared for inspection. ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ [applause] ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [applause]

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

[background sounds] [background sounds] [background sounds]

>> thank you. [background sounds]

[background sounds] >> good morning everybody. that's the extent of my french. [laughter] few places in the world warmed the heart like paris in the spring. this morning we are going to do our best with washington in the winter. [speaking french]

>> france is america's oldest ally and in recent years we have deepened our alliance. today on behalf of the american people and michelle and myself it is a great honor to welcome my friend president hollande and his delegation for their first state visit to united states, in fact the first state visit by a french president in nearly 20 years. [applause] [speaking french] >> yesterday at monticello we reflected on the values that we share, the ideals at the heart of our alliance. here, under the red white and blue and the blue, white and red

we declare our devotion once more to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. [applause] [speaking french] >> for more than two centuries we have not only proclaimed our ideals, our citizens have led to preserve them from a field in yorktown to the beaches of normandy to the mountains of afghanistan. and today we are honored to be joined by two extraordinary men who were there those historic

days 70 years ago. i asked them to stand, proud veterans of d-day who are here in attendance today. [applause] [speaking french] >> so it's no exaggeration that we stand here because of each other. we owe our freedom to each other of course we americans also thank our french friends for so much else, this capitol city designed by l'enfant our statue of liberty a gift from france

and something many americans are especially grateful for, new orleans and the french quarter. [laughter] [speaking french] >> mr. president like generations before us we now have the tasks not simply to preserve our enduring alliance but to make it new for our time. no one nation can meet today's challenges alone or sees its opportunities. more nations must step up and meet the responsibilities of leadership and that is what the united states and france are doing together. [speaking french]

speak to our french friends, i say let's do even more together for the security that our citizens deserve, for the prosperity that they seek and for the dignity of people around the world who seek what we declared two centuries ago those inalienable rights, those sacred rights of man. [speaking french]

president hollande, members of the french delegation we are honored to have you here as one of our strongest allies and closest friends. welcome to the united states. [applause] [speaking french] >> mr. president, dear barack, dear michelle, ladies and gentlemen it's cold in washington. [laughter] you are right. but it's a beautiful day, a great day for our american friends. and i will speak in french because i am obliged to do that for my country.

[speaking french] >> translator: we are received here my delegation and myself and i'm particularly touched by this perception by the president of the united states. [speaking french] >> translator: we are always united by a history from the beaches of normandy and as you said each of our country knows

what it owes to the other, it's freedom. [speaking french] >> translator: yesterday we ran monticello thomas jefferson's residents a great american statesman once ambassador to france who remains one of the most beautiful symbols of the ties that unite us. .. and i show present american

veterans who fought in the second world war with an award and i'd like to pay tribute to these men. [speaking french] [speaking french] [speaking french] >> i wish to demonstrate the fact france will never forget the spirit of sacrifice shown by the nameless heroes to left

their home to liberate by cou country and theirs. we will pay tribute to them to remember the normandy landing. i hope you will join me on the 6th of june 2014, 70 years after the landing. [speaking french] >> our two countries hold universal values. values that we write together the universal declaration of rights. [speaking french]

>> we stand together to fight terror. france and the united states stand side by side to make the values prevail. we stand with the united states to address the threats of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and chemical weapons. together to solve the crisis faced by the middle east. together to support africa's development. and another to fight global warming and climate change. [ applause ]

[speaking french]

>> today, we stand united and we have built a modal of friendship. a friendship that is the best recipe for a better world. a world such as the one that was dreamt by thomas jefferson and law fay et. it is about an alliance that will enable us to make the world a better, safer and more humane place. [speaking french]

[ applause ] >> mr. president, i am proud to stand here. you are a great man of the united states of america and you represent the united states of america. a country where everything is possible for who wants it. a country devoted to freedom and quality. long live the united states. long live france. long live the franco-american relationship. [ applause ]

>> mr. president, this concludes the ceremony. [marching band music playing]

>> one of the highest honors for a visit head of the state is a state dinner. on this day, a crisp clear

morning in which the president talked about springtime in paris and winter in washington, d.c. they are hosting their seventh dinner for a special guest like this. the dinner is taking place in a tent on the south lawn. this is continuing coverage by the french president. a chance for you to join in on the conversation as the social secretary for obama and was responsible to organizing two state dinners for the president of china and mexico. our phone lines are open. those of you in the eastern and central time zone and there is the number for those of you in the mountain and pacific time zones. state dinners have a relatively

new phenomenon. we are continuing our series on first ladies. the final program is taking place next monday on president's day. we will be releasing a new poll on now americans view america's first ladies. heather foster is a presidential historian and has written a number of books on the first ladies. i asked her about the early dinners and how they have evolved since the civil war >> we didn't have anything resembling state dinners during washington because who was coming? we had great big oceans and no heads of state were coming for dinner like now. state dinners were larger dinners for who was in town.

the congressman, the court, and a lot of diplomats and that was the extend of a state dinner. they had rental houses that were large and couldn't accommodate the people we have now. if they had 30-40 for dinner that was considered large >> what changied during and aftr the civil war? >> before the civil war, entertaining at the whitehouse started through dolly madison. she liked to entertain and was a wonderful host. they lived in the whitehouse and she put it on the map. dining at the whitehouse at big important dinners was the expense of it was born by the president as a matter of fact.

this is important to remember. there was no budget for official entertaining until the coolidge administration. the president and first lady were given a salary and they took care of those expenses themselves. >> can you give some specific examples of what first ladies brought to the fwin dinners and the diplomacy in the state house? >> the role of the first lady was an evolution. it was determined by the first lady herself what she wished to do. dolly was hands-on and warm. elizabeth monroe, her successor, was more aloof.

elizabeth said i am not going to return calls which made her very, very unpopular. and a lot of the women in washington decided they were not going to come. so a lot of the monroe administration dinners were stag affairs. when jackson and van buren were in the whitehouse they were widowers. so they had substitute first ladies who didn't do very much in the way of official entertaining. they were young girls at 22-25 years old. they didn't have that kind of experience. the one first lady who really started entertaining very nicely was another substitute first lady harriet lane who was acting

first lady during the bucannon administration. she had a bit of experience and ent ent entertained graciously. she was in charge of the guest list, seating plans and who was coming and who would be there and who would be introduce and how. mary lincoln didn't entertainment because there was a war going on and show was morning. after the civil war, entertaining got to be better >> as we moved into the 21st century, to t-- what changed in

terms of the role of the first lady? >> transportation was a big factor in what changed. it didn't take six weeks to cross the ocean. you could do it in one week now. and after president wilson was the first president to leave our shores and go abroad. i think haft went abroad briefly but it was wilson who went abroad and that is when heads of state were coming to the country. during that earlier period, the

diplomats were like quasi. they were representing their governments. they were treated royally. i think the first head of state came during the grant administration. and then during roosevelt's administration, he had the brother of wilham who put on a grand affair for him. and the mood of the whitehouse and oplence increased a lot. >> any examples of a mistake at a state dinner and how a first lady handled that? or a faux pas. >> they with well loved and kept in the protocol loop of who is to go where and everything. but the one story i love the most is the sad story, if you

want a sad story, i will tell you one. this is about nelly taft who was first lady in 1910 and about three months in she had a stroke at 48. she had aafacia. she could not read or watch and her mouth drooped and she could not be seen in public. she is a very active first lady and wanted it like crazy. she was very ambitious. a man named buck painted a beautiful picture. nelly helped prepare a state dinner but couldn't attend.

it was a big affair. there was a little room adjoining the state dining room. before the dinner, she comes down to this little room and she is dressed in her beautiful downton abby outfit with jewelry and hair down. and they had a table for one prepared. she sits outside in this little room adjacent to the state dining room and they left the room ajar is little bit so they can here what was going on. that is a beautiful story >> foster is joining us from virginia. she is the author of a number of books. thanks very much for joining us. >> you are very, very welcome. thank you for having me. >> tune in monday for the final

look at the first ladies influence and image. julianna smoot is here. she is a veteran of state dinners. >> i am excited to be here. >> let's get to the guest list. steven cobert. eric cantor. david stern the former nba commissioner. paul ryan. julia dryfus and 350 people invite fork invited for the dinner tonight. >> that is exciting. >> how do you get an invite? >> it is a long process. we get the dirfferent departmens

with the whitehouse together, nscs is a part of it, and it is a building wide planning section. we start meeting three months out with weekly meeting to figure out who we can invite, figure out what the day and dinner will look like >> last year the president was scheduled to have a state dinner were the president of france because of the nsa that was postponed. today that came up and the president made a point that france is our longest ally. there is a picture from the white house of the presidents yesterday in the home of thomas jefferson and he served as a u.s. envoy to france.

as we look at the history of the relations, how is it determined we will have a state dinner for the president of france and what is involved in the decision making progress? >> the country decides what country they would like to honor and what leader they would like to have. and then it goes into the process of figure out a date. it is hard to figure out a date in your family. imagine across the globe and figure out how to make a date that will work. that is figured out first. and then you go from there. >> the other story that is getting a lot of attention is the french president is here by himself because of the separation from his long-time girlfriend. who is seated next to the president since he is coming

alone? thelma goldman and steven coburt is next to the first lady. >> i think that is a good idea. it will make the president feel more comfortable and those are good dinner partners for the president and first lady >> i want to share with you a tweet and you can join in with the #cspan chat. bill king says you are a c-span junky when you are watching a state dinner over olympic coverage. they are taking a trolley attend on the south lawn. it is being called a monet spring festival. what -- but -- there is a winter

approaching soon. >> the whole building, the whole staff, really go all out to host the guess and do everything they can to make it a beautiful ev t event. we have a wonderful flourrist a the whitehouse and the chef are wonderful. >> give us a sense of what is happening right now? the guest have arrived. we know earlier when the president and first lady greeted the president they went to the blue room and that has monroe furniture. as the guest are moving from one location to the other, what is happening and taking place? >> it is a lot to move a group of 350 people from one place to

the other. there are cocktails and orders being passed around and folks are getting out to the tent where they will be seated >> i want to share what sally quinn wrote back in 1975. she said when putting together a guest list, you had to be sure to invite people that should be invited and don't invite the people that should not be invited and soothe the ones who should be but can't. >> it is building wide effort where you come up with a lot of names of folks you want to have invited to this very special occasion. so folks might be called from the list because, you know, it is a small veneue.

350-person dinner party is big. if it were inside, it would be limited to about 200-250 dinner. so you think about you and you get to bring a guest, it is really 150. >> you get a phone call from someone you know and they say i want to come to the state dinner. you put together one for the chinese head of state and mexican head of state. what do you tell them? >> if it is somebody i know we will say we would love to be able to accommodate you, let's see what we can do. when you are invited to a state dinner you should do everything you can to attend.

we can try to make accommodat n accommodations but it is hard to do. we can make a list of ongoing folks we would like to invite. >> if you get a last-minute cancelation, what do you do? >> there are folks that might drop everything to be on a plane if you want to invite them. we tend to do that. >> this is a mix of administration, members of congress, eric cantor, nancy pelosi and some famous people like steven coburt. >> and bradley cooper. >> of course. >> it is a really great group. i love we have democrats and republicans attending which i think is so wonderful. that is such a testament to how

this is a non-partisan event and it is as a great american tradition and people come together and celebrate. >> mary jay blige and the performer tonight. how does that come about? >> the performers are people that the president and first lady enjoy. and we talk to the honored guest staff to see if there is anybody they would like to hear from or listen to on their i-pod. you go from there and back to the process of availability. >> our phone lines are open for the eastern and central time zones. and for those of you in the mountain and pacific time zone it is on there. 350 people is a lot of china and

silverware. how is that determined? >> there is staff at the whitehouse that has been there for many years. they know if i say i would like to use the regan china and they will say me might not have enough. or if the decor is hot pink you probably don't want to use red. not that we use hot pink. but they will help you figure out the china, and what linens look the best. >> there is a storm expected to hit washington, d.c. on thursday. what do you do if the weather doesn't cooperate? >> that is the most stressful thing. i can imagine departments were doing a weather call on the phone. luckily it was a beautiful day but i