>> tell us what you are most looking forward to? just looking forward -- this is the first time i have .een the obamas are [inaudible]

[inaudible]

ms. constant milstein and mr.ian khan.

andhe honorable tony -- miss evan ryan. miss gayle king and ms. kirby bumpass.

the honorable tony keenan and --s kristen bartow loney bartoloni. >> ms. rachel godwin and the

honorable julius --. >> ashley biden.

>> ms. casey only -- a lens and mr. christopher costello.

the honorable and richard and mr. william davis.

ms. -- and mr. colin omara. >> mr. john byner and miss emily byner. >> mr. rick stengel and mrs. .ary stangl

the honorable jonathan winer and ms. libby lewis.

the honorable bill padudo and mr. frank padudo. mr. carl ray.

mr. johnny wright. >> the first one, i am so excited. i am glad to be here. oh god, i don't know. --ould probably have to say that was a lot of fun. >> what is the next step for

you? >> i don't know. i probably will do more beauty and fashion. it is all out there. thank you. what they say. [applause] -- [indiscernible] jarvis and mr. sean west.

mr. doug mills. .rs. catherine mills dr. paul boskin.

mr. rutherford seidel and ms. laura seidel. mr. john schulman. schulman.on the honorable melissa winter. mr. john surma -- joshua okun.

the honorable julia frye field. kula.annon mr. thomas brown.

mr. mill plant. mrs. robin smith. mr. fabbricio frera.

mrs. angela kennedy. mr. henry kennedy junior. mr. mark lander. ms. angela tomb.

sundar puchai. mr. charles ward. mr. michael lombardo. mr. james taylor. mrs. kim taylor.

>> we performed at a dinner for chancellor angela merkel. >> familiar. ->> what are you looking forward to? >> it is exciting to be here. >> thank you.

ms. cynthia friedman. mr. bill bone. mr. jim chanos. ms. cristal connors.

mr. michael pulls key. olski. mrs. tonya ploski. the honorable josh earnest. mrs. natalie ernest.

ms. burglary -- maria -- the honorable catherine russell. the honorable thomas donovan.

the honorable samantha power. the honorable cass son unstein. >> not a transnational threat. it is nice to celebrate that partnership. thank you. >> mr. david bradley. mrs. catherine bradley.

mrs. janet keller. ms. leslie ray. ambassador earth or in cousin -- ambassador cousin.

sejas.ador paul mr. khan and mrs. khan.

>> is the best thing in the world. thet of all, besides being first lady. -- think the best about it. she pushes the american designers. [indiscernible] >> amazing. she is classy. classic fashion. fashionmade american top.

something you would like to see her where that she could not wear as a first lady? super has not been glamorous or casual. she is talents. she should be just the way she is. what is the pressure like to design for her? >> you are nervous. easy, i know so the body. the colors. fox what are you looking forward to tonight? >> having fun with my friends. >> mr. conrad tribble. mrs. christina tribble.

chance the wrapper. -- rapper. mr. ken bennett. >> were you most looking forward to? >> i hope there is dancing. some music played.

i am very high -- i'm a great dancer. seriously.ery >> did you ever see a self at a state dinner? >> no, not at all. >> how do you feel? >> amazing. [indiscernible] this is ralph lauren. yeah, this is ralph lauren. >> do think you're treating donald trump fairly? no. [indiscernible]

-- plays up his strengths. thank you guys. i appreciate it. >> the honorable jeh johnson, secretary of homeland security. and dr. susan dimarco. mr. frank ocean.

>> first time at a state dinner? >> first time doing it. probably because my first time here. >> what was the thinking? [indiscernible] >> what are you looking forward to tonight? fundking obama if he had these last eight years. congratulating him also. >> did you ever see yourself at a state dinner? >> no, i didn't. >> a lot of your musicians are putting support behind hillary clinton. do you see yourself doing that?

>> concerts, probably not. concerts, probably not. >> other ways? >> maybe, i don't know. we are running out of time, i think. >> thanks so much. rurant.acqueline to ms. carutz.

>> hello, i am the last one. before we get to that, we want to get about tonight. here is giuliana, a former social secretary. from 2010-2011. we saw the guests coming in. how do you get an invitation? excitings the most thing. there is a lot of planning that guest listutting the together. it is a building wide endeavor. you work with the west wing. nsc.

different departments. and then some outside. other parts of the administration. you come up with a list. and then you have meetings upon meetings. people, fighting for their need to have somebody in. thes a fun thing to put list together. not fit in thed house. the state dining room, 200. 200 people plus their guests. >> when and how did he invites go out? >> there are calligraphers in the white house. master calligraphers. they get the list with addresses.

they find the address for them. goes right, they go out about six weeks ahead of time. >> what is required of you? >> rsv. rsvp. friend invites you to a state dinner. i would say, if you are invited to a state dinner, do everything you can to get there. ask to many people say they cannot make it? >> not very many. >> are they told to keep it a secret? not come outt did until an hour before the dinner. >> we didn't tell people to keep it a secret, but it is kind of braggartly. you probably do keep it under raps a little bit.

but you know a few months out to the country is going to be. to befriend we are going honoring. we will talk about some of the notable faces we saw coming through the east garden room. to show thet viewers what happened moments thewhen the president and prime minister of italy and their spouses dissented the grand -- descended the grand staircase. ♪ ♪

♪ >> the prime minister and president of the united states coming down the grand staircase. they will go off to receive their guests, one by one, and shake their hands. it was noted on twitter when the first lady came out, she is ersace. for such a. -- v

one view were, she is watching just to see flotus's dress. we will see that as we talk about the state dinner and the last eight years of the obama administration. i want to show you how the first statennounced tonight's dinner. she did it via snapchat. let me show you as she put out this video. stefaniphani -- gwen who is the entertainment put out this video via twitter. the first lady did it with a bunch of notepads. notes. talking about the date. she went on to announce it would be at the white house with a ali.t chef, mario but

this is how this was announced to the world. joining us is the former social secretary for the administration. the fondness for social media, announcing it that way. >> it is the great. i did two state dinners, mexico and china. we did it traditionally. snapchat is a great way to do it. i love it. firstresident is the president to have a blackberry. i think he still has one, i don't know. you can reach so many more people. it is a great way to mitigate -- with -- to communicate with everyone. >> people are excited about the pomp and circumstance at the white house. what the first lady is going to wear, who is going to be invited.

we talked about some of the folks that came through, 400 guests. first of all, let's talk about how you decide members of congress. talk aboutn so let's members of congress. what is the approach to how they decide? which members of congress should be invited? >> the legislative affairs office is great at the white house. as toave a lot of input who should be invited. we want to make it bipartisan, the same number of republicans as democrats. you put the invitations out. a lot of members are back in their home districts, campaigning or whatever. i didn't see a lot of members. >> nancy pelosi, of course. legislative affairs has a

huge role. they are trying to get as many members of congress as possible. engagementof public wants to invite folks. it is a huge amount of compromise and debate. >> many names in the media. chuck todd. gayle king of cbs. what is the rationale behind inviting the media? shop puts a lot of effort into who they want to see there. it is a way for them to see dinner and state ten have a part of the experience. been 13 of them, they have been able to spread it out. the >> surprising people showing up.

chance the rapper. >> his dad is a former colleague of mine, working with then senator obama. longtime chicago friend. great seeing him there. >> also, jerry seinfeld. one of the reporters said, you are not italian. why are you here? is there thinking about, let's think some people and think about our future? >> you saw a number of wonderful chefs. rachael ray. their friend, mario batali helping prepare the meal. read aty of ideas cross-section of america, really. comedian.n actor or

ultimately who gets the invitation. >> is the prime minister get to invite anyone? >> yes. his government leaders, leaders within his government. ,here are a few celebrities italian celebrities. they get to come, too. that takes up acer certain number of spots as well in the dinner. >> giorgio armani. tell our viewers a little bit about him. born in florence, 1975. arid, three children. married, three children. became the mayor of florence at age 34. 2014, he became the youngest prime minister of

italy. name, thethe demolition man, for his out oldess to toss programs. he has been called a progressive. the president refers to the changes he is willing to make. he has the nato alliance. the military cooperation. the trade. is that, how much of it is policy when the white house is thinking about, who should we invite? >> that is the majority, that is how they decide what country to invite and what state heads should be honored and invited with a state dinner and state visit. along with that comes the arrival ceremony. nsc determining

that, as well as the state department. made, it becomes an administration wide effort to make sure we are showing the friendship. >> i want our viewers to take a look at the administration and the countries they have chosen to honor. india's prime minister. that, the president of mexico, china. and then germany, south korea. the u.k., france, japan, china, canada. the nordic leaders were all invited. singapore and then italy. singapore was just august 2. what you make about the turnover? fabulousthinking, this

social secretary, she has had four this year. about as much as we have had. i think we probably worked through a lot of the kinks. not that there are kinks. arestaff at the white house true professionals and can help you get through anything. did the approach to state dinners change over the years? >> they have fun with it. celebrating and honoring a good friendship and diplomatic ties. it is going to have entertainment, wonderful food. they want to have lightheartedness.

tonight, we are celebrating a accomplishment's. >> speaking of entertainment, here is an article. sons --phani and her meetstefani and her sons the president. this is his 13th. he also had an official visit for the pope. compare that to george w. bush, who had 11 state dinners. clinton, who had 28. what do you make of those numbers? fors that is a lot of work president clinton social secretaries. i think is a difference of style. i don't think it indicates a whole lot. years, it does take a lot of effort. it is a building wide endeavor.

month, i don't know how many that was, that is a lot of work. ask how many staff, staff working on it? >> everybody. everybody is there. clearly, today was perfect. it is nerve-racking. you have butterflies in your stomach. what it was like, here we go again, wanting to make sure everything was perfect. months intions start advance? >> three or four. you bring up the guest list, where you want to do it. 200 people. if you want to bring in a guest

li,f, like mario nbata sometimes white house chef is the person that does the dinners. the florist has to design which colors to use. the seasonality of these. some of the desserts are going to be pumpkins and apples and things like that. that goes into it, too. july, let'saugust, think about how it will be october. >> we will show our viewers the state dinner preview. yesterday. the chef speaks. the current social secretary

said they were working over the weekend. today have volunteers that help them out? >> not during state dinners so much. you are probably putting the tent up. we had a tent. i remember having to be there. making sure it all went ok. they were very accomplished. >> what about the cost? italy, the first dinner, cost $1 million. compared to singapore, which 203,000. of 3000 -- $ department pays for the state dinners. they are a true partner.

she held my hand through it all. it models how many folks you invite, if you do a tent, that tends to be more expensive. very based on the number of folks that are there. >> people remember it because of the white house crashers. when you took over in 2010, what changes were made to make sure that did not happen again? >> the state dinner for india was beautiful. the chef, marcus samuelson, it was wonderful. that was beautiful. it was a shame we had crashers come in.

it was a matter of making sure we communicated very clearly and the list, made sure we knew every person on the lists. a few little tweaks here and there. >> a lot of fretting about that? >> a little but fretting. secret service is in charge of this evening? >> they are wonderful, they are great partners. they will make sure everything goes smoothly and unobtrusively. >> for the guest list, do people have to supply their social security and all that sensitive information? >> you have to order a government issued id. on an airplane. you have to get your social security number, date and place of birth. you are checked in by the secret service and then one more time on the east side of the building. you go through, make sure there

is nothing on your person. dinner, there are some interesting leaders honored at the dinner. protocol when a leader comes by themselves? >> i think they held it -- handled it perfectly. you got annexed receipt. an extra seat. there were celebrities he got to sit between. i think it worked out perfectly. >> honoring the nordic countries. what would the logistics be like? >> i would have been kicking,

saying are you sure this is a good idea? was aeat about it, it group of countries we do have close relationships with. it was wonderful to have them altogether. the issue is, when anybody has a dinner party at their home, you want to make sure you have their dietary restrictions right. you have to make sure that is the case for all of the leaders. it can be different and time-consuming. that is where the protocol office helps us. >> what are they telling you? how do they prepare you? placey have systems in for a long time. they work with the honored , saying, what does he not like?

if he hates carrots, there will not be carrots. you find out these things ahead of time. and if you are a vegetarian, we will make sure you have a vegetarian plate. >> we will talk more about the arrangementsal coming up. let's talk more about what we saw earlier. arrival, thetico front door of the white house. where is the guest of honor coming from before they arrive? they are coming from where they are staying. some folks stay at blair house. some folks might be staying at the italian ambassador's house. we couldn't drive through the north portico. it is exciting make it to drive right in.

>> it is right across the street from the white house which is where the prime minister and wife are staying. they turn, the couple's turn and then they go back inside. where do they go from there? upstairs topside -- the private residence. they have a smaller reception in the home, what is the president and first lady's home. the leadership and both governments up there as well to mix and mingle for about 20 minutes. and then the colors are resented to the president. and then you saw them walk down the stairs. the colors? >> the flags of our countries. you go up and say, are you ready to receive the colors? they go down the stairs.

>> what is the tradition behind this? what is the tradition behind this? >> that is a good question. you are coming into our country's home. the white house, the people's house. also in their personal quarters, their private quarters. the marine band plays, sometimes, healed to the chief. -- hail to the chief. what happens next? receivinge doing the line. i would imagine, the four of them would stand in the blue room. the guests would be announced.

into theake their way tent on the south lawn. when do the toasts take place? that would probably be coming up shortly. i don't know how they are getting down to the tent. it is a beautiful day so women do not have to have their heels sink in. all kinds of logistics to move that many folks from the building down to the tent. i saw that before at the mexico state dinner, to get folks down. ,any of the ladies attending

they will be making their way gingerly. a lot of people waiting to hear what she will be wearing. that is something we talked with the fashion critic for the washington post. take a listen to what she had to tell us. obamabe the michelle style. her state dinner style. i think when she dresses for grand state occasions, the thing that distinguishes her sensibility from that of the first lady is it is much more rooted in a contemporary hollywood idea of what is going on. by that i mean, she is not

wearing anything revealing. ofre is a certain kind modern edge to it that taps in what we are used to seeing coming down the red carpet. less regal and more glamorous. >> has it changed over the last eight years? be, inwalk has gotten to some ways, a little more relaxed if that makes sense. when i think back to the first state dinner for india, the dress is gorgeous. shebang.he whole she looked wonderful. dinners, whenter she wore a dress by curling a inarera -- by carol

herrera, there was an in for melody. it felt more like glamorous sports where. >> what do you think the impact has been on the role of first lady but also, some have called them diplomatic art? the first thing is, we all want to be proud of the people in the white house. in that way, we want to be proud of their hospitality. we want them to put their best foot forward. the notion of fashion is something that is embedded into

their culture. areher part of it is, these momentous moments. house that is a norm s. into thely puts them public vernacular in a way red carpets do not but puts them in the history book. it lends a certain gravity to what they do. a certain gravity to the american fashion industry is food,s important as the the auto industry. all of the other things that go into creating that state dinner. >> how does she go about choosing her dress and choosing the designer? >> when we paint each other's my sense is the

first thing is she wears what she wants. she wears what she feels comfortable in. i think there is some attention country beingm honored. an effort to a knowledge that directly by working with the designer who has that sort of ethnicity in their background. sometimes it is just a matter of paying tribute to a particular owerr or flour that is -- fl that is important to that country. >> last year, you wrote, she chose a vera 7 it was a diplomatic clarification. can you explain? i'm trying to remember what the dress looks like. the black mermaid-style

dress. >> right. it was a beautiful dress, red. fromd been designed alexander mcqueen, a british fashion house. vera wang is a -- well-known chinese-american designer. criticismhad gotten from the american fashion who felt that this is one of those occasions opportune american design and to wear a dress by an american designer. industry felt she had missed an opportunity.