those of us who believe the iran deal was the right approach, but it has refuted every sec. earnest: there was a suggesting iran would never sit down and negotiate this deal in good faith. was puts the sense that forward by opponents of the deal that iran was not actually negotiating an agreement. they were negotiating for time. they were wrong on that. critics said they would never live up to the terms. they were wrong about that. even the israeli military intelligence community that had significant doubts about the deal has confirmed that we have seen. iran has lived up to the terms of the deal. while iran lives up to the terms of the deal the united states is going to make sure we are fulfilling our commitments.

allies -- the present had the opportunity to talk about this. they shared that sentiment. the next administration will have to decide what they want to do. the risk of pulling out of that agreement are great. askingspeaker is president obama to sign a 10 year extension of the iran sanctions act. >> there has been a robust debate about the wisdom of this approach. if there is a bill that has passed by the congress we will take a close look at it. much of the rhetoric is advocates of the bill that want to give the president tools to impose sanctions against iran

were it necessary. the truth is the obama administration has significant authority to impose those kinds of financial penalties. this administration has repeatedly imposed sanctions against iran for ballistic missile program that extends guidelinesaccepted of the international community. their support for terrorism in the region. we have imposed sanctions because of their repeated and flagrant violation of universal human rights. these are tools the united states has. we have shown a willingness to use them. if congress wants to put more on

the table we will take a look at what they propose. we are not going to find a peaceful administration -- that would continue to successfully implement international agreement. >> can you tell us or remind us how president obama selects the recipients for the medal of freedom? sec. earnest: this is a process kennedy.y president the president every looks -- every year looks forward to this moment to acknowledge contributions of people, mostly americans, to the world and to the noted states. it is a rather distinguished group of individuals who are assembling in the east room of the white house to be recognized by the president with the highest civilian award the

president can offer. who weree individuals personally considered by the president. the president and his staff or consider a variety of candidates. alternately the president is the one who decides who is deserving of the award. there is no arguing the individuals who will be recognized today are richly deserving. andrew. >> let's go back to the question trump's prosecution of hillary clinton. foundationbout the of our democracy. do you believe his comments are eroding a core principle of democracy? sec. earnest: i -- there is ample opportunity for people to weigh in on this debate.

certainly many people avail themselves that opportunity in the two weeks leading up to the debate. i suspect comments today will give more people a reason to weigh in. i am not going to weigh in from here. the one thing i don't think i mentioned, there was an investigation. the investigation was led by independent officials of the department of justice and the director of the fbi. this is someone who served as a high-ranking official in the bush administration. he was somebody concerned -- confirmed by a majority of democrats and republicans when president obama appointed into the job. of hisselected because ability and long-standing track record of putting aside his

political considerations to focus on the law. after thesion evidence was presented to him is that no reasonable prosecutor would move followed with the case. he made the recommendation public. it was approved by the department of justice including the attorney general, herself with decades of experience conducting criminal prosecutions. is we do not need staffers and the next white to resolve the question about whether or not a prosecution should move forward. this decision was already reached by senior officials in a way that should resolve everybody's concerns about the potential for political interference. that thisimportant

long-standing tradition and principle that is the foundation of our criminal justice system is one that is not just upheld but carefully protected. raise the potential to questions about whether or not everybody is treated fairly. i did not mean to cut you off. >> the president has spoken a few times about the negative impact of partisanship and the need for a dialogue. [an audible] -- [inaudible] sec. earnest: i'm not going to comment. invited theama president-elect to come to the oval office.

i don't think i have the standing to criticize him for having a meeting with the president elect. the president was pretty blunt. he encouraged people in the united states to wait and see. i think that is what we will all be doing. >> the administration granted a license. encouragest: i you to check with my colleagues at the justice department. >> i need to know if the president would sign a continuing resolution through march. how do you see the budget being

done this year? sec. earnest: the american people, the american economy benefits from certainty. thepiece of certainty that federal government owes the american people an american economy is budget certainty. there is no reason congress should not be able to fulfill their basic responsibility to provide an annual budget and to do that on time, to put forward a budget consistent with a set of principles on the best way to govern the country. we are going to continue to advocate for the longest possible budget agreement we can get. congress is going to have to do a lot of negotiating to figure out how they are going to uphold their basic responsibility. waitey say they want to

until the next administration comes in. will you allow that to happen? sec. earnest: we will have to see what they put forward. if you and i were negotiating this out it would probably be resolved in 90 minutes. that is not the way our system of democracy works. there are a larger number of people involved. some are making decisions based on politics and not in the national interest. that makes the process imperfect , longer than necessary and sometimes yields outcomes that are not in the best interest of the country. extent see to what politics it affects this process but that is something i cannot judge in advance. announcementdeo donald trump made last night, he mentioned regulations, plans to

undo to regulations he said for every new regulation that comes forward. does the white house view that as a warning not to go forward with unfinished business? sec. earnest: not at all. this administration pioneered a rather successful effort to do a review of pre-existing regulations already on the books when president obama took office. indicatesw data that the economic impact, the positive economic impact of that regulatory look back approval. there are a number of regulations taken off of the books that had an important material benefit for the u.s. economy. trumpet ministration is prepared to pursue the same kind of strategy my guess is i am

confident they will have different conclusions than we did but that is certainly an expected pursuit. >> what is your view of his mathematical equation? just on basis of math. sec. earnest: again. the president spent a lot of time over the last week talking much of governing may seem very simple on the surface when you are running for the job. it ends up being more complicated once you get into the job and evaluate the consequences for the actions you are promising to take. i suspect that may be true in the context of the incoming

administration's consideration. nice to see you. >> can we go back to iran. is the ministration considering new measures to bolster a nuclear deal with iran? in order to make it more difficult for a trumpet ministration to undo? idol have any actions to preview from here. the kinds of actions we have taken in implementing the deal of the kind that have had to go through an extended process. i can confirm that i do not anticipate any action being taken that were initiated after the election solely in response to mr. trump's victory.

any actions that are taken are the kinds of actions that have been the pipeline and are consistent with the upholding our end of an agreement that has prevented iran from developing nuclear weapon capabilities. in a way that has exceeded the expectations of the deal's harshest critics and enhanced security around the world. >> are you confident the trump team understands the role of russia and china? sec. earnest: you would have to ask them what their understandings are. obviously, we know that the kind of agreement that was reached is not -- would not have been successful without the constructive contributions of the russians and the chinese. i feel comfortable telling you if you ask them their governments will confirm they

are pleased with the benefits that have been enjoyed by the international community. the group called the national policy institute of whites are premised groups held a meeting ,n which we heard chants ts.-nazi chan what is the reaction that this is in the open? sec. earnest: more than a year you have heard me express some profound concerns about the haseme rhetoric that succeeded in infiltrating its way into our political process. that rhetoric is divisive. it has been contrary to our values as americans and deeply

concerning. the democrats and republicans around the country. i saw some of the reporting across the country. what i would say is the president's view is that it's not just the responsibility of people in elected office. to speak out against that kind of hateful rhetoric. it is the responsibility of everybody who was blessed with american citizenship. we have a responsibility to speak out and stand up for our values, and to stand up for our fellow americans, and that has of presidentore obama career in public life. he has set himself many times on the campaign trail the slogan

was not yes i can, it's yes we can. that was a nod to the collective responsibility we have as americans to advance the interests of our country change does not start from the top down. it comes from the bottom-up. all americans have the responsibility to remain engaged and be vigilant in defending the values that have served us for 240 years. optimisticnt is people of good faith and country,across the standing up against this kind of , it is after hate all critical to the success for rememberry that we just how much we have in common.

but at our core we share a commitment to a set of values that were endowed by our creator by certain inalienable rights and that we are all equal. we are not going to be judged by -- orlor of our skin our the way we worship god. we are going to be judged by our contributions to this country. those are principles that are worth defending. the responsibility to defend them is not just vested with people who are in positions of authority. it is vested with every single person who lives in united states of america. >> president-elect am ultra denounced racism in general but did not denounce his neo-nazi chants. what is his responsibility? sec. earnest: i will let him speak to what he thinks is whilst -- is most appropriate.

i don't think it is breaking the people who serve in this administration have significant differences with the style and tactics that were used by president-elect trump. those concerns have been well documented. the election is over. what we are focused on is prioritizing the smooth and effective transition. it does not mean those differences have gone away. point thean at some responsibility of people who work in the white house to prioritize the smooth transition of power, that institutional responsibility supersedes any strong concerns that i and others in the white house have

about the divisive rhetoric we have seen on the campaign trail and responsibility the president-elect has for commenting on it. >> the president-elect has responsibility to denounce those kinds of comments. sec. earnest: the smooth and power is ourf top priority. even though the feelings of people in this building about that kind of issue are intense. house have ahite reaction to the deaths of the four children. sec. earnest: our heart goes out to the families of those who lost children in that terrible accident. in some ways this is every parent's worst nightmare. responders and emts

that responded to the scene quickly and performed heroically to try to save lives and ease suffering, and to deal respectfully with the families who sustain this tragic loss just three days before thanksgiving. it is a terrible situation. the families of those children who were killed and injured are on our minds today. some have said there should be a federal mandate for seatbelts. sec. earnest: i'm not aware we have taken a position on this issue. i would expect that is a question experts at the department of transportation should consider. the experts who are able to evaluate those kinds of questions are the ones whose advice we should follow. ok.

wondering, and a post-9/11 world heading into how all-american holiday, concerned the president may be about potential terrorism. sec. earnest: the department of homeland security issued an chronicling the kinds of protections people should take and the vigilance that is still in place and our international security infrastructure. the truth is three and 65 days year, whether there is a holiday they are going to great lengths to keeping the american people safe. sometimes vigilance is heightened around the holidays because we know in the past organizations have sought to use those holidays as a platform to carry out an act of violence. the department

of home security. the president will get a briefing about the current threats and all the steps being taken to mitigate and counter those threats. that response is something that is evident to the public in the form of additional deployment or other security personnel. there are steps there taken that are unseen to the public the critical to adapting to the current threat environment. the expectation is those necessary steps are being taken but he will be updated before the holiday. >> as democrats do their post postmortem. -- there postmortem. they're looking for people who may leave the party going forward. will the vice president have a role after his role? sec. earnest: vice president biden is revered by democrats in

all 50 states. in large part because of his remarkable service to this country. that not surprising to me as senior officials in our party look for leadership moving forward they consider somebody as accomplished and effective as vice president biden. i have not spoken about his interests in assuming this responsibility. he already has some plans on the books for his post administration line. i don't know if there is an opportunity for him to do something like this. it is not surprising his names among those mentioned. >> i wonder how active you expect the president will be trying to move the party forward? if there are concerns about his personality and name being associated that may keep younger talent from emerging. sec. earnest: the president had opportunity to talk about this

over the weekend. one of the president's priorities for his post white house life after he takes a break and the phils his promise to take his wife on vacation will be to think about what the democratic party can do to cultivate young talent? what can we do to make sure people have the skills and passion for these issues? in largeesident's mind part that passion is already there. thisnk we have seen passion manifest. what can we do to channel that energy in a way that yields positive outcomes? outcomes that are consistent with those passions as they are expressed? making sure they have the skills, the knowledge to engage in public debate in a

constructive way is some thing the president expects to spend time on. the president is mindful of the unique status that he has for this generation of americans. he inspired a young generation of americans to be engaged in country.ning of this you make an important point. responsibility for the next generation to step up and assume more responsibility, and not just rely on being by ansed or inspired extraordinary political talent like president barack obama. at some point they will have to assume the mantle on their own. as aed to spend some time party. the president will spend some time as a former president, to

engage in inspire young people across the country. it does stop being about party politics. there are plenty of young republicans who feel passionately about a range of issues. not all of which are in alignment with the agenda president obama has put forward. but some of them are. they are supported of the idea we need immigration reform. plenty understand that putting strategy like a strategy at the transpacific partnership is good for the u.s. economy. those are just a couple of examples where having more passionate voices of young people on the republican side, even if they are not voting for democratic candidates, they are contributing to the national conversation in a way that makes our country a better place.

president approaches this as somebody who is a proud democrat. supportive ofall success in our country. he can engage and inspire and motivate young people on the other side of the aisle. he would relish that opportunity. [inaudible] can you expect why he wanted to award 20 more medals sec. earnest:? it is simple. the president was aware of some more deserving awardees. anybody who has had an opportunity to look through the red -- list would acknowledge these are extraordinary people who have made extraordinary

nottributions just in united states but around the world. >> c-span's washington journal live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. coming up wednesday morning, an analysis of donald trump's infrastructure proposals, its challenges and the current state of u.s. infrastructure. then, washington examiner national security and defense reporter jamie mcintyre on president-elect trump's national security agenda and his decision to choose michael flynn as national security advisor. morning.urday join the discussion. >> follow the transition of government on c-span. republicans maintain control of

the u.s. house and senate. we will take you to key events as they happen without interruption. andh live on c-span on-demand. listen on our free c-span radio app. coming up tonight on c-span, today's white house medal of freedom ceremony. a look at the challenges of running a technology firm's legal department. a conversation with some of federal governments top technology officers. next, president obama awards 21 people with the nation's highest civilian honor at the medal of freedom ceremony at the 2016 class includes bill and melinda gates, kareem abdul-jabbar, bruce springsteen, and thence scully. th