>> nbc news reports president-elect trump intends to name exxon mobil c.e.o. rex tillerson as his choice for secretary of state. that is according to two unnamed sources close to the transition process who say an official announcement is likely next week. he spent his entire career with exxon before becoming chair and c.e.o. in 2006. he was expected to step down sometime next year when he reached the company's mandatory retirement age of 65. the texas-born native has no diplomatic or government expense but reportedly has ties to vladimir putin. in 2013, he shared his thoughts on russia and its influence on the oil and gas industry speaking at an event hosted by the dallas/fort worth world affairs council. >> in his wonderful introduction, mr. hunt referred to your success in russia.

one of the members of our audience would like you to comment on the future of the russian oil and gas industry. >> russia continues as a nation to evolve its own economic structures, certainly its own legal structures. we have been there a very long time. we have been there for a lot of that evolution, and we have participated in it. i would be less than honest if i did not tell you i've been disappointed at the pace with which things have involved -- evolved, but it is a big country with a lot of complexities. they have huge, enormous natural gas resources. many of which are not even known to us yet, but we will find them. they will always be a very significant and important supplier of energy to the world. today, they are the largest oil producer, larger than saudi arabia. they had enormous gas resources. they had enormous potential to do more. they are limited only by their fiscal and regulatory

structures, the rule of law structures. russia hasnce in been quite good. it has not been easy. inentered at a time and put place contracts before their laws were even written. they were emerging from soviet era laws and regulations to the modern-day. they have always respected that contract. they could have changed it. they could have torn it up. they could have said not fair. they stuck with it. i have a lot of admiration for their leadership for having done that. as a result, we have been successful together. as they move forward, i think the only limitation is their ability to put the right legal, regulatory, fiscal structures in place to attract the significant investments required. nothing is done inexpensively there. the resources are huge. investments required are enormous.

you have to have those frameworks in place. their leadership is committed to that. it is how they traveled road to get there that is sometimes hard for them -- travel that road to get there that is sometimes hard for them. we have the same problem in this country. we know where we need to go. sometimes politically, we have a hard time getting there. in many ways, they are not that different from us. they will be significant in the future. i think their prospects are very good. like a lot of countries, there will be some highs and lows. but the trajectory i think will be up. >> you can watch more of that event with the exxon mobil c.e.o. online at c-span.org. a reminder, early next year, you can watch live, uninterrupted coverage of confirmation hearings for several cabinet positions on the c-span networks and c-span.org or listen on the free c-span radio app. >> follow the transition of government on c-span as

president-elect donald trump's alexius cabinet and the republicans and democrats prepare for the next congress. we will take you to keep events as they happen without interruption. watch live on c-span. watch on-demand at c-span.org or listen on our free c-span radio app. journal" live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. coming up, issues facing president-elect trump's national security team plus criticism that his cabinet has too many general. he will also talk about the heritage foundation's index of military strength which measures america's military readiness and current threat environments. also, the american federation of teachers president joins us from new york city to talk about the trump administration'samerica'sn policy and what effect the

nomination of education secretary will have on the department. the china's studies program director discusses what impact president-elect trump's recent conversation with the president of taiwan might have on u.s./china/taiwan relations. "washington journal" beginning at 7:00 eastern on sunday morning. join the discussion. >> in his weekly address, president obama discusses the affordable care act and encourages people to sign up for health insurance during the in current -- the current enrollment period. representative fred upton delivers the republican response pretty talks about bipartisan efforts to combat diseases through the 21st century cures act. president obama: hi, everybody. it's the most wonderful time of the year -- and not just because it's the holiday season, but because it's also open enrollment season over at

healthcare.gov. i know. that was a dad joke. but this weekend, i hope you'll take a moment to do something really important for yourself and your family: make sure you'll have health insurance for 2017. if you're not covered yet, now is the time to sign up. go to healthcare.gov and shop for the plan that's right for you. like most americans who get coverage through healthcare.gov, there's a good chance you'll find a plan that costs less than $75 a month. and while the enrollment period lasts until the end of january, as long as you sign up by this thursday, december 15, you'll be covered starting january 1. now, this doesn't apply to the roughly 250 million americans who already get insurance through the workplace, or thanks to medicare or medicaid. but here's what does. every american with insurance is now covered by the strongest set

of consumer protections in history -- a true patients' bill of rights. you now have free preventive care, like mammograms and contraception. there are no more annual or lifetime limits on the essential care you receive. women can't get charged more just for being a woman. young people can stay on a parent's plan until they turn 26, and seniors get discounts on their prescriptions. every american can rest free from the fear that one illness or accident will derail your dreams -- because discrimination against preexisting conditions is now illegal. and since 2010, we've seen the slowest health care price growth in 50 years. whether or not you get insurance through the affordable care act, that's the health care system as we now know it. because our goal wasn't just to make sure more people have coverage, it was to make sure more people have better coverage. that's why we want to build on

the progress we've made -- and i've put forth a number of ideas for how to improve the affordable care act. now republicans in congress want to repeal the whole thing and start from scratch -- but trying to undo some of it could undo all of it. all those consumer protections -- whether you get your health insurance from obamacare, or medicare, or medicaid, or on the job -- could go right out the window. so any partisan talk you hear about repealing or replacing it the affordable care act should be judged by whether they keep all those improvements that benefit you and your family right now. for example, one new study shows that if congress repeals obamacare as they've proposed, nearly 30 million americans would lose their coverage. 30 million. four in five of them would come from working families. more than nine million americans who would receive tax credits to keep insurance affordable would no longer receive that help. that is unacceptable. we can work together to make the

system even better -- and one of the best ways to do that is make sure that you're in it. so remember: sign up on healthcare.gov by this thursday, and your health insurance will be there for you when you wake up on january 1. thanks everybody, and have a great weekend. rep. fred upton: hey there, i'm fred upton, republican congressman from southwest michigan who helped lead the successful, bipartisan effort to find faster cures for families and patients suffering from tragic illness. the holiday season is one of joy. but, it's often a time for families to come together and reflect on loved ones lost -- taken much too soon by disease. we've all said too many early good-byes to folks that we hold dear. families robbed of a parent that will never get to see their kids' milestones. a child born without the gift of a future. every day, countless folks living vibrant lives are delivered unexpected diagnoses.

it's a cycle that repeats itself over and over and over. life changes in an instant -- and hope seems just out of reach. whether it be alzheimer's, lupus, ms, cancer -- you name it. so, three years ago, we had an idea. that we could do better. that we needed to do something and transform our health and research system to effectively fight disease in the 21st century. but we knew the first step had to be doing something that congress doesn't do enough of: we had to first listen. and then we engaged. we solicited input. we drafted. we listened some more. it was an inclusive, unique, transparent process that crisscrossed the country, engaging experts in every related field, from pioneering research institutions like the university of michigan and the mayo clinic, to government, to private industry, and everything in between. and most importantly, we listened to patients. what we learned was staggering.

the gap between biomedical innovation and our regulatory process was widening. of the 10,000 known diseases -- 7,000 of which are rare -- there are treatments for only 500. we needed to change the conversation and restore urgency to boosting research and innovation. and working together, we have with 21st century cures. science and biomedical innovation have made incredible strides over the last two decades. mapping the human genome, new biomarkers, and personal health care apps have all offered opportunities to find new treatments and cures. but the way the f.d.a. and the n.i.h. apply these new innovations to our regulatory process has lagged behind. these agencies and the rules and regs that they produce affecting the discovery, development, and delivery of lifesaving drugs and devices also desperately need

modernization and innovation. they need a game-changer. and now we have it. the house and senate have passed this bipartisan legislation which will ensure our health system can keep pace with incredible advances in science and technology. we break down regulatory barriers and expedite the approvals for safe drugs and devices coupled with billions for more research, including the beau biden cancer moonshot. we also provide critical funding to the f.d.a. so that they have all the tools they need to ensure the safety of these news drugs and devices. a former head of the national cancer institute and f.d.a. has called this "the most transformational biomedical legislation in the past 40 years." he's right. but this package is not just about cures. it also includes valuable resources to fight the opioid epidemic that's impacting every single community and delivers landmark mental health reforms

that will make a real difference helping families in crisis and treating mental illness rather than incarceration. treatment, not tragedy, was the overriding theme of mental health reform. yes, this is one of the most important and impactful bills we will enact this congress. patients aren't interested in debating the timelines, the failure rates, the size and costs of conducting clinical trials. they just know that despite the promise of scientific breakthroughs, they can't get the therapy that might save their lives one day. that is why we need 21st century cures. we are on the cusp of something special. a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform how we treat disease. president obama will sign this legislation into law next week and his help was critical in getting this new law enacted -- so we say thank you, mr. president.

a new day for medical research is on the horizon. a new day of hope for patients and their loved ones. we needed to do better. and with 21st century cures, we will. thank you and have a blessed holiday season. bringsy weekend, book tv you 48 hours of nonfiction books and authors. here are some of our programs this weekend. today at 7:45 eastern, the journalist explores the question of what the term "better off" means to americans today in her book, "the new better off." >> it does not matter how much money in your bank account. you could fly to the cayman islands and lived there theoretically, but if you care about america it does not matter what your bank account is. you are vulnerable to this government just like every other person in every other socioeconomic bracket. i think wealth for less into

thinking we can buy our way out of suffering. >> at 9:00 eastern, megyn kelly latest bookher late which accounts her life and career as a journalist. >> adversity is an opportunity to grow and become stronger. if i had had no adversity in my had parents who kept me in a protective bubble for 45 years, how do you think i would've handled the past year? >> sunday at 9:00, the harvard business school professor looks at white-collar crime in his book, "why they do it." he is interviewed by the former director of the enforcement division at the securities and exchange commission. >> the question is, why do i never need to worry about them? many of them without remorse would steal a couple of hundred from my account. i think that is the fundamental

difference in terms of these crimes. you can do some devastating things and not have that gut feeling of actually doing harm. booktv.org for the complete weekend schedule. >> we have a special webpage to help you follow the supreme court. go to c-span.org and select supreme court near the top of the page. on the page, you will see a quarter of the court this time. click to see all of the oral arguments covered by c-span. you can find recent appearances by many of the supreme court justices or watch justices in their own words, including interviews in the past few months with justices. there is also a calendar for this term, a list of all current justices with links to see all of their appearances on c-span,

as well as many other supreme court videos available on demand. follow the supreme court at c-span.org. on c-span, "the communicators" is next with craig silliman from verizon. been year-end tax preparation advice. later, president obama and the first lady host the 20 16th kennedy center honorees at the white house. >> c-span -- where history unfolds daily. in 1979, c-span was created as a public service by the nations cable companies and is brought to you today by your cable or satellite provider. 's generalilliman counsel and executive vice president of the verizon corporation. what does that mean.

craig: i have responsibility for all of our legal function, public policy function, and security function. host: describe verizon as a business today. craig: it is a great question. verizon has changed quite a bit. we have more network businesses. business and our enterprise business. we have also expanded pretty significantly into internet of internet-video and content business. we have acquired aol, a plan to acquire yahoo!. we have acquired connected vehicles. ucs