naj as the featured entertainer. president trump is not entertaining the event, making in the first in more than three decades to skip the annual gathering. c-span recently spoke with jeff mason about the president's decision. he also shared his views on the relationship between the press and the executive branch. you have seen the end of one administration and the start of a new administration. from your standpoint, what have been the biggest challenges? >> they are the biggest interlocutor, and we started with the new trump administration. i think the biggest has been this adjustment. a new president comes into the white house with new priorities, and less experience, in this case, in dealing with the press, and new ideas.

we have had significant tensions. that is not a surprise. but we also developed a good working relationship with president trump's press team, on behalf of the press corps. there were certainly some battles that i did not expect to find, like the press moved out of the press room that was floated at the beginning, but we had a discussion about that, and we are still there, and the pool is flying on air force one, and that is all good things. host: between the west wing and the white house, why is it so important to be in that location? >> it is important to be there just to be present when things happen at the white house. we are right there. if the president has a meeting with a foreign leader, we are right there. if there is something last minute where they need the press, and the press pool sees something, we are right there.

being at the white house shows the transparency that is detected by the constitution, by the first amendment, i coming through the gates of the white house to shed light on what the administration is doing. these are all things protected by the first amendment, and to be able to fulfill those responsibilities, the best way is to be in that press room, so close to where the president is doing his work. host: as you know, this situation between the press and the president is not new. mr. mason: you are right. for decades, longer than that. that is an inherent part of the relationship. it is hard for me to compare this to lots of other administrations where, myself, was not a correspondent. but this is partially driven by the fact that president trump has said in some of his tweets and public remarks critical

things about the media, but it is our job to continue doing our job, regardless of the type of criticism that comes from the president of the united states, and despite that not insignificant tension. we have worked hard to develop a good working relationship with his team. host: one of those tweets, "i will not be attending the white house correspondents dinner," from president trump. mr. mason: we did not have a warning that that was coming. we knew that it was a possibility that the president would decide not to come, and the conversations i had with sean spicer about it was telling the date of the dinner, and, of course, the president is invited to the dinner and would have been welcome. making the decision not to come, and he can speak, but we will have the dinner, and that is why we are talking today.

host: and we will be covering the dinner. why do you think he will not be showing up? mr. mason: the reason he gave is because of the relationship between the press and the white house and president trump. they have not been covered to their liking. there are president's going back to george washington, as you said, who do not think their coverage had been to their liking, and that is just part of the gig, really, when you are presidents of the united states. i understand that there are criticisms. and addressing mistakes when they make mistakes, but it is our job to provide robust and sometimes critical coverage of the white house and the president of the united states, and that is not connected to the dinner. i think it is too bad the president decided not to come to the dinner for whatever reason, but as i said, we're going to have the dinner. we are going to highlight the importance of the first amendment at that dinner. host: one person said the biggest issue is not the

president skipping the dinner but members of the presidential cabinet and the white house staff. he called that unprecedented. mr. mason: i think that is unprecedented. the only one they can speak to. i think it sends a signal that is unfortunate to the american people, and as i said before, we have worked really hard to develop a constructive relationship with this white house, and that is something we could have showcased if they had come, but it is up to them to make that decision, and it is up to us to continue doing our job, and we will do that, and we will do that at the dinner, as well. host: 2700 people at the washington hilton. how did that all come together with the headliner? mr. mason: it is a big production, again, to get that many people in the room and you have the entertainment plans, and i certainly had a lot of support for that. it is a privilege and also a lot

of work as president of the correspondents association to be in charge of that. looking for a headliner, i was looking for someone who would not roast the president in absentia, and i thought i found someone who could do that very well. host: you also said you want to look for highlighting the amendment -- first amendment. how will you do that? mr. mason: we will have a banner on this stage. we will have it in our video production and talking about it in our remarks. it will be mentioned, as well, and i am very happy to say that some will be there, who's worked for the washington post is a shining example of good

journalism and the protections provided by the first amendment. host: presumably, at least three more dinners with president trump. how does the association move ahead in subsequent years? mr. mason: that is a good question, and that will be up to my predecessors. we have sent the signal that the president is welcome at our dinner. his staff is welcome at our dinner. it is possible even when there is tension to have a good and at least constructive, working relationship with staff and with the president himself. that is something we care about and are working towards. even as we continue to provide robust coverage of this white house, as we would regardless of who is president of the united states, and that is what we will continue to do after the dinner and in years to come. host: as president of the white house correspondents association and white house reporter for

reuters, thank you. announcer: the white house correspondents dinner is this saturday. we will have live coverage beginning at 9:30 p.m. eastern here on c-span. announcer: check out our c-span classroom website at c-span.org/classroom. it is full of free teaching resources for c-span class remembers. the improved layout gives teachers easy access to ready to go resources from the classroom, including short current events videos that highlight current events and washington, d.c., constitution clips that bring the constitution to life, social studies lesson plans, as well as on this day in history resources. functiorh allows you to search and filter by date, person, keyword, and grade level. our bellringer's video clips are favorites. they are short videos paired

with vocabulary and discussion questions that make the federal government and politics more accessible. >> i love the bellringer's. n conjunctionem i with an activity that we are doing that day, as more of a wrapup. >> the new website is just fabulous. my students use it regularly, and it is so easy that they are right now working on clipping videos and making questions that they can design intern into their own bellringer's. >> probably my favorite aspect is the deliberations page. it's a perfectly set up, ready to go classroom deliberation, classroom discussion on a variety of topics that are current and relevant today. announcer: if you are a middle school or high school teacher, join thousands of your fellow teachers across the nation. it's free and easy to register at c-span.org/classroom. and if you register now, you can request a free classroom sized american president timeline poster. the graphic display of the

biographies of all 45 presidents. find out more about it at c-span.org/classroom. announcer: c-span, where history unfolds daily. c-span was created as a public service by america's cable and television companies and is brought to you today by your cable or satellite provider. announcer: with the first 100 days of the trump administration approaching, c-span takes a look cabinet,esident's which includes the seniormost appointed officials in the executive branch. we begin our program with attorney general jeff sessions, who was announced as the nominee on november 18, and confirmed by the full senate 52-47 on february 8.after working for a number of years as u.s. attorney for the sohe