>> coming up in just about 15 minute the 40us is back. a couple of votes tonight on bill december baited earlier, one on diabetes care, one as you can see about weather research. that coming up at 6:30. also a moment of silence on the house floor for the victims of the fort lauderdale shooting at the airport. tomorrow night, 9:00, we have live coverage as president obama heads to chicago and delivers his farewell address. he says he'll offer his thanks and review how the country has change over the last eight years and offer some thoughts about what's ahead. that's here on c-span at 9:00 eastern tomorrow, also on our website at c-span.org or listen on our free c-span website app. today's white house briefing featured a number of questions, one of which was about the president's speech. how much of the speech is

directed to those who are trying to rewrite this president's history, those whoties miss things like the fact that osama bin laden is no more, those who dismiss the fact that there's more effort to look at the issues of criminal justice reform, those people who also, i guess, don't like the inclusion of same-sex marriage. is this an effort to rewrite history and also focus on those people, the naysayers, on his accomplishments? mr. earnest: the president is primarily delivering a message to the american people. all americans. whether they voted for president obama or not. the president feels an obligation to talk about what he learned over the last eight year, what he's learned about the country what he's learned about governing the country and offer up his advice to the american people about the most effective way to confront the challenges that we see ahead.

so that's the -- that's the goal and the president certainly could give a long speech, reciting the many accomplishments of his administration but that's now -- not how he's choosing to spend his time tomorrow night. >> how long is the speech? it's almost sounding like a state of the union, you have drafts and rewrites is that something like that, would you equate it to that? mr. earnest: i would not, it will be shorter and much different. >> like half an hour less? mr. earnest: we'll try to give you some guidance on that. i'm serious too, the speech isn't finished yet. >> is this more heart or more policy? mr. earnest: i think what you can expect from the president is a heart felt expression of gratitude to the american people for the trust they've shown in m and a carefully considered

collection of thoughts. about the challenges that lie ahead and the most effective way for the united states of america to successfully confront them. i don't have a number to share ith you on that. a rumor that a putin meeting will take place. is this worrying? mr. earnest: president obama has melt with president putin on a number of occasions. president obama agreed to and participated in those meetings at a time and place of his choosing. and obviously the incoming

president will make his own determination about the appropriate location and appropriate timing of those meetings. >> the president-elect's son-in-law has been named senior advisor to the administration. we know for sure he's been one of the most influential voices during the campaign. does this raise any questions of -- what is the white house's reaction to this? are there questions of legal and ethical questions regarding -- because of the family ties? mr. earnest: i know there are a number of these kinds of questions that have been raised. i'll let the president elect select whomever he would like to have around him. what i can tell you is president obama and all those of us who serve on his senior staff here in the white house went to great lengths to comply with the strict ethical requirements that the american people expect. people -- the american people

expect people who are entrusted with so much authority. and president obama takes great pride in the fact that there has not been a major scandal over the eight years he's been in office. and at least some of that is attributable to the willingness of the people who serve in positions of authority, both in the white house and across the federal government, to not just abide by the ethical requirements put in place by the office of government and ethics, and not just abide by the letter of the law when it comes to ethics, but ail aspire to a higher standard. that is a standard set by president obama himself who, when he took office, essentially liquidated his assets and put them into treasury bills. i've noted on a number of occasions, that was not a particularly wise investment decision because this is a time when interest rates were being

slashed, but it was the right decision for the country. because it meant that questions about the president's potential motivation were put to rest because he didn't have a financial interest in these policies. rather his only interest was in the success of the american people, american middle class workers and the american economy. >> going back to the tomorrow event, just for some housekeeping, we know that vice president biden and the first lady and dr. biden will be there. will they be speaking or introducing? mr. earnest: they will not. >> thank you. so when the president talks what mightork ahead, his legacy organizations be thinking about, or what bill, is it that you t is

see him carrying out -- mr. earnest: when the president is giving his speech tomorrow he's not going to have in mind -- >> i'm not asking you to tell me if it's in the speech, i'm asking you to tell me what it is if you know. mr. earnest: i guess it's hard to answer that question. the president intends to lay out his own view about the challenges facing the country and the most effective way for the united states to overcome them. i'll let the president speak at a later date about what activities he'll be engaged in after he leaves the white house. >> will he be swing big the obama alumni event? mr. earnest: we'll keep you posted on his schedule, i'm not sure what he'll be doing. >> on that february 2009 letter, how important for the decision back at that time or throughout was the o.g.e. process? did you learn anything new that made you reconsider a nominee? mr. earnest: at this point, i don't think i would say that --

off the top of my head, i can't think of a scenario. >> did disclosures about richardson come out in the o.g.e. letter? >> that's ancient history as far as i'm concerned. i guess what -- i think what i can tell you is that the standard that the obama administration lived up to was a standard of ensuring that o.g.e. ethics letter arrangement was complete before these individuals got hearing before the united states congress. >> it was more protocol, wasn't like you learned additional stuff. >> it's certainly possible that there was additional information that was unearthed as a result of those things, i think the more important thing here is not just the background vetting but also the arrange. s that are put in place to ensure that conflicts of interest are eliminated that is what the office of government ethics can verify, what can we do to make sure that this

individual doesn't have some sort of ethical conflict of interest or financial conflict of interest? the irony here is that a number of questions have been raised about the nominees put forward by the president-elect with regard to their financial conflict of interest. that's why it's particularly egregious that republicans in the united states congress who previously had so aggressively advocated for ensuring that these ethical arrangements were completed before the hearings were held are now agreeing to hold hearings for nominees that do have obvious financial conflicts of interest that have been widely reported even though they haven't undertaken the reasonable steps to deal with them. again, you know, coupled with the decision by house republicans to make their first act as the incoming majority in congress vote in secret to gut ethics regulations, it certainly has to arouse some concern among

those americans who voted to drain the swamp when they voted for president-elect trump. >> was it fast, do you remember any delays, buzz the -- was the process smooth? mr. earnest: those of us who worked in the communications officer would have liked to have seen this process move more quickly. but when you're trying to move a bunch of nominees through at the same time, in some cases, particularly in the kiss of the president-elect's nominees, some of them have extensive financial heldings. so i guess the point i would make is, it's worth the time to make sure that the kinds of ethical arrangements are in place to prevent conflicts of interest from cropping up. and given the fact that there were no major ethical standards in this administration, i think that's an indication that we sur pewed the right path. the right path recommended by mitch mcconnell eight years ago. now he and the rest of the -- rest of the republicans are poised to fold like a cheap

suit. >> sorry to step on your metaphor there. when you look at what the president is directly say, you guys have held back about giving direct advice, it is the president's view that no nominee should be heard before they have the letter from o.g.e.? mr. earnest: what the president has said is that is the standard we have mane tained and it served him and the american people in his administration very well as evidenced by the fact that in eight years we have not had a major ethical scandal in his eight years. >> to button things down, the declassified report, director clapper said there'd be a declassified version out early this week, but it came out last week. was that a decision made by the white house? >> no, it was made entirely by the authors of the report, the f.b.i., c.i.a. >> not made to preempt any

character saste the president-elect may have? mr. earnest: not at all. well, you'd have to talk to them about the timing but it was not affected by the white house. >> can we say president obama is -- mr. earnest: you can say president obama is the drafting process. he's working closely with his speech writers but it's apparent in the drafts that it will be president obama's words and no one else's. >> there was apparently a party here friday night. is there a chance for an on the record readout, we heard it lasted until 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning. mr. earnest: what i can confirm is the president and first lady had a wonderful time seing so many of their friends and everybody else seemed to have a nice time as well. >> what time did you leave? mr. earnest: that's classified. >> there are 11 days left in this administration. >> a reminder again, tomorrow night at 9:00 eastern, president obama live from chicago with his

farewell address he says he'll talk about his view of how the country has changed over the past eight years and offer some thoughts about what's ahead. president obama tomorrow night, 9:00 p.m. eastern, from chicago. with his farewell address here on c-span. c-span.org, and our c-span free radio app. just a moment away from the house coming back, a couple of votes tonight on the floor of the house. we'll have that for you momentarily on on c-span. the senate could be a late night. democrat saysing they may speak late into the night, into the morning, against republican efforts to repeal the affordable care act.