to civilian life. health care journalist and author suzanne gordon to talk about issues facing veterans. be sure to talk about -- watch washington journal. join the discussion. president-elect donald trump visited washington dc today. he met with president obama at the white house and republican leadership on capitol hill. after their meeting in the oval office, president obama and president-elect trump talked to reporters. obama: we had an excellent conversation with president-elect trump. it was wide ranging. we talked about some of the organizational issues in setting up the white house. we talked about foreign policy, saidtic policy, and as i last night, my number one priority in the coming two

months is to try to facilitate a transition that ensures our president-elect is successful. and i have been very encouraged by the interest in trump wanted to work with my team around many of the issues that this great country faces. and i believe that it is important for all of us, regardless of party, and regardless of political preferences, to now come together, work together to deal with the many challenges that we face. and in the meantime, michelle has had a chance to greet the incoming first lady, and they had an excellent conversation

with her as well, and we want to make sure that they feel welcomed as they prepare to make this transition. most of all, i want to emphasize to you, mr. president-elect, that we now are going to want to do everything we can to help you succeed because if you succeed, within the country succeeds. donald trump: well, thank you very much, president obama. this was a meeting that was going to last for maybe 10 or 15 minutes and we were just going , to get to know each other. we had never met each other. i have great respect. the meeting lasted for almost an hour and a half. and as far as i have concerned, it really could have gone on for a lot longer. we really discussed a lot of different situations, some wonderful and some difficulties. i very much look forward to

dealing with the president in the future, including counsel. he explained some of the difficulties, some of the high-flying assets, and some of the really great things that have been achieved. so mr. president, it was a great honor being with you, and i look forward to being with you many, many more times in the future. president obama: thank you. thank you, everybody. we are not going to be taking any questions. thank you, guys. thank you. good rule. don't answer questions when they start yelling. come on, guys. come on, guys. let's go. [indiscernible] after the president and president-elect met, they

.et and answered questions let's look at that. >> president obama described the president-elect as excellent. i was wondering if you could tell us anything specific he told the president about how he plans to cover the country that led to [indiscernible] aboutad an opportunity speaking with president obama about the meeting. details that they will keep between the two of them. a couple of things i can share with you, the president indicated they had an opportunity to discuss policy and domestic issues. some of them came up in the upcoming trip overseas. the president described to the president-elect some of the

issues he expects to come up with some of our allies and other partners he will meet on the trip. there was an opportunity to talk about the issues in advance of some of the conversations he expects to have world -- with world leaders. there was also an opportunity for the two leaders to talk about staffing and organizing the white house. that is complicated business. expectedhite house is to be structured to deal with multiple challenges or even multiple crises at the same time. and the president-elect indicated a lot of interest in understanding the strategy of staffing and organizing the white house. obviously, that's something president obama has thought about extensively during his eight years in office. they spent a large portion of the meeting discussing the importance of properly staffing up and organizing a white house

operation. but look other than that, what , the president heard from the president-elect is a clear commitment to the kind of effective, smooth transition that president obama has been vowing to preside over for the better part of a year, and the president tends to make good on the promise in the 70 days ahead. >> did the president leave the meeting anymore reassured that president-elect trump will not try to dismantle all of the work that you and your colleagues have done over the last eight years? did he make any pitch for instance not to get rid of obamacare or policies? into all oft get the details of their meeting. i think that president obama came away from the meeting with renewed confidence in the commitment of the president-elect to engage in an effective smooth transition. that obviously is what president

obama believes, serves the american people the best. we're committed to doing what's is required on our part to make sure that that happens, and the president was pleased to hear a similar commitment expressed by the president-elect. >> do you know if the president got any reassurances from what plans he will pursue discussing the campaign about and trying to incarcerate hillary clinton? >> i will let the president-elect read out his end of the conversation. as i mentioned yesterday, the president was reassuring in the kind of town the president-elect conveyed in his election night remarks. as i mentioned yesterday, these were remarks the president-elect delivered not just to supporters in the ballroom but to the citizens of the country that were tuned into this historic election and also people around the world.

given the intensity of his remarks, it is notable he chose that kind of tone. we size similar tone in the oval office 30 minutes ago where he to indicating his commitment working closely with the outgoing administration to ensure a smooth effective transition. it does not mean they agree on all of the issues. they have deep disagreements, but what they do agree on with the smooth and effective transition, that is a good thing for the country. while president obama was meeting with president obama was meeting with president-elect donald trump, michelle obama was meeting with melania trump. there was this picture of them, noting the press was not allowed in. the white house posted its own photo. up on capitol hill, speaker paul

ryan met with president-elect trump at a republican social club. then he invited him the u.s. capitol to show where he will be sworn in on inauguration day. some footage from the capitol hill footage. craig kaplan. [indiscernible] >> governor pence, how was the meeting? announcer 1: house speaker paul ryan's office shared a video of

the tour live. let's take a look. [indiscernible]

>> thanks, everybody, thanks, everybody. thank you. thank you. thank you, thank you.

announcer 1: after meeting with speaker ryan, president-elect trump crossed the capital to meet with mitch mcconnell. they arrived at senator mcconnell's office.

>> [indiscernible] >> really, really beautiful. >> [indiscernible] announcer 1: the meeting lasted about an hour. president-elect donald trump briefly spoke to reporters on his way out.

vice president-elect pence left many 30 minutes before. >> what is the first priority on day one? what is it going to be? donald trump: people will be very, very happy. we are going to go strong on immigration, border patrols. we will be strong on health care, jobs and bigly jobs. >> [indiscernible] donald trump: thank you, everybody. >> [indiscernible]

announcer 1: after walking mr. trump to his motorcade, majority leader mitch mcconnell gave his thoughts on the meeting. [no audio] >> we had a good discussion about the transition and issues that we obviously agree on and to get going early. >> [indiscernible]

announcer 1: while president-elect donald trump was visiting washington dc today, hillary and bill clinton took their dogs for a hike in chappaqua, new york. this shared by someone who ran into her on the hiking trail. congress returns next week. on the agenda, legislation to extend government funding past the december 9 deadline and working out differences of house and senate bills to provide aid to flint, michigan after water was contaminated by led. and development research and .hores -- cures the house returns november 14. the senate november 15 on c-span2. with donald trump elected as the

next u.s. president, melania trump he comes the second foreign-born first lady since louisa catherine adams. learn more about the influence of the presidential spouses from c-span's book first ladies. it is a look into the personal lives and influence of every presidential spouse in american history. it is a companion to the well-regarded tv series and features interviews with 54 of the nation's first ladies historians, biographies of 25 archivalies and photos. first ladies, published by public affairs, is available wherever you buy books and available in paperback. call posted in an analysis and policy implications. this focuses on president-elect trump's domestic policy agenda. it is 45 minutes.

>> thank you, david. it is great to have everyone here. to discuss one of the least presidential candidates, making the rounds of town, preparing for the transition, and our thoughts are on how he can turn his promises into policy. it is a gray are, because much area.s was about -- gray maybe we can put flesh on the bones with this. joining me to the immediate left, linne erickson, vice president of social policy at third right. to her left gary jackson, managing director at the lindsay group.

to his left elaine denmark. end, brian wilde, policy director at brownstein, hyatt, garber and shrek. there is something that the donald trump put out, called the contract with the american voter . there are interesting similarities. it is a sheath that talks about unilateral things a president can do and legislative things. there are curious parallels with the contract with america. >> right, right. i served as the director of the contract. to 1994, itnk back was a presidential election. , the 20 orgingrich so of them that were crazy enough to think the republicans could take the house decided you

needed something to port forward . this was before tweeters and facebook and the internet. it was an insert in the tv guide. here are the 10 things we are going to do and hold us to account for this. behind them with legislative language. the senate guys that we were crazy, because there was no way we were going to win. and the white house took it as a big joke. it wasn't well known around the country. what it did all of a sudden, republicans grabbed washington, and that became the agenda of washington. there is this moment where you and president clinton had to remind the country, i am still president, i am still relevant in this whole process. at the end of the day, the vast majority, 80% of the contract passed into law in some form or other.

for washington, the most important thing to be looking at about what the new president wish list is and what is going to be the focus, it is right there, black and white. it is a contract with the american people. >> the point is made that you cannot underestimate the power of a new president in setting the agenda, and the big twist is whether the new president, and we learned this with the current occupant, whether he does what he wants to do or what the american people want to do and the order comes in, let's talk about that. what is your guess on what happens when donald trump comes in and what he wants to do? i think everybody is underestimating how much it. is that a table -- how much experience is that the table right now. he is new to d.c., but he is an

executive and knows how to manage things. you have mike pence, who is a qualified vice president with a deep amount of relationships and experience. as advisors you have newt gingrich, who has managed a 100 day agenda before, and from all intents looks to be managing working hand in glove with ed fuller, which against him the entire operation of heritage. while it might not have the intellectual might that it used to, it has the network and experience of staff. , the leadership is, you have paul ryan, who may not have the most leadership experience, but he is a staffer at heart, and an incredible staffer. he never really stopped being in that role.

when you take off the mantle of leadership as the head of the republican party off of him, and let him maneuver as a staffer, i think he's going to really fit the mold almost perfectly. and then you have mitch mcconnell, who is a master of the dark arts of negotiation. [laughter] understands not just big but smalllitics, picture politics is what motivates an individual senator to make an individual decision. i think you have an amazing team accidentally and intentionally is in place to move very quickly. i think that we are also forgetting the thousands of staffers that are going to fill the administration, and where they are going to come from. we will see, but my guess is they will come from dc, and the whole the senate and the house.

>> i think you are probably right, because there's nowhere else for them to come from, for the people who want to do those jobs. my question is, how much overlap is there between the agenda that the establishment republicans have, who has been here for a very long time, the agenda that president trump has, and the people's agenda that they voted for him. i have heard over and over again on the campaign trail, things that are in absolutely in opposition to what many of the folks you just named think we should do with this country. if he decides he's going to lock arms with the establishment carryicans in d.c. and out that agenda, i'm not sure the voters think that is what they were asking for. that certainly would create lt in a and -- tumu country that was clearly asking for change, not more of the same politics. >> to follow up on that point,

there is a great deal of talent in the republican party and a great deal of experience. the question is, what kind of relationship does president trump form with these people?he just went through a campaign where basically, for almost an entire year, he was at work with much of the republican party. war with much of the republican party. the combination of being at war with your own party and the experienced people in it, and the combination of being a little bit used to doing whatever you want to do without the constraints that are imposed by the constitution, and the separation of powers, i think has a lot of people wondering, how will president trump react to this? every president finds himself in a weird situation, where all of a sudden, the world seems to revolve around them, and there's all the trappings of power. there's two fighter planes that accompany your jet everywhere. is all the military, etc.

at the end of the day, you have to beg, borrow, or plea for your agenda, even with come as many presidents have discovered, even with the relatively friendly congress. question notis a really about is the talent there. this is a question about, what does donald trump do in the transition from a business executive to a political executive? they are two very different things. that, maureenon dowd, a fabulous writer -- i don't necessarily agree with what she writes -- but she made a really important observation about this. washington, however you want to describe all of us in our establishments left and right, andy political infrastructure