he is serving currently as the editor of white house history, the journal of the white house historical association. catherine is professor of history and director of the american studies program at st. joseph's university of philadelphia. she is editor of a companion to first ladies. anemic dried -- anita mcbride has contributed to one of professor sibley's most recent works. she has published extensively including books including the first lady, lawrence harding behind the tragedy and controversy and read spies in america, stolen secrets and the dawn of the cold war. susan swain is president and co-coo of c-span. she is moderator of first ladies, influence and image series. she directs programming and -- at c-span for three television networks and over a number of years has moderated and conducted on air interviews on a wide range of issues, susan tells us that she is not -- now currently covering her eighth presidential campaign. susan also heads up the publication of c-span books, the latest being first ladies. and our moderator, someone who needs no introduction but i will provide

we want to go to josh earnest at the white house briefing room. >> i have made clear that the white house will be skroop louse about avoiding even the appearance about these decisions. that's a posture that i won't change and it is a posture that speaks to the institutional responsibilities here in the white house which is preserving the independence and integrity. conducted by the department of justice. you raised a question about some of the decisions that were made to communicate information about the investigations to the ub lick. what's true is i don't have independent knowledge of how the decisions were made. i don't know what factors were considered. dating all the way back to july. when director comey announced the results of the investigation and spoke at length to the public about his decision not to prosecute secretary clinton. included in the news conference were rather harsh condemnations of the way secretary clinton handled the situation. director comey testified before congress at some length on camera under oath about the investigation. some of the testimony provided fodde

this is in the white house press briefing room. sitting down you see listed -- leslie stahl, cps, the woman sitting in the chair in the front is one of the white house stenographers who recorded everything that the president said in public, and it's kind of interesting that the government printing office publishes these massive volumes of books that is printed, everything the president is saying. if you are ever doing a study bookspresidents, those are valuable resource because literally everything they say is recorded and printed. then of course you can see some of the cutaway tv cameras. also, this is upstairs in the private residence of the white house. a lot of people don't get to go up there. the senior staff goes. i got to go. this photo is colin powell, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, briefing the president and senior staff. they're talking about the gulf war. invadedecall, iraq kuwait. president bush pulled together a world coalition to remove iraq from kuwait. this is camp david. it wasn't named after me. i do have a

in the white house there was concern about who they can trust within the white house to be acceptingthis information and even getting people on board. we saw, some years later, there was a real lack real lack of trust of the institutional processes in the white house with the fbi security files and all these things. there was some of that. in addition to starting late, there was a not understanding, not knowing, not trusting what the institution the presidency provided to them as well. it was very difficult. 2000 was difficult, but 1992 was pretty bad as well. >> we only have time, we only have four more minutes, so if you have a question, please keep the question and answer targeted >> can i hear more about the transition team and the folks that will be stepping into the roles. you just made a point about trying to keep those separate. i'm wondering what the transition is thinking. >> the transition. >> the transition team. >> well let me distinguish very quickly, the transition team is one thing. the campaign is a different thing. in my judgment, there ought to be a lot of continui

pomp and circumstance at the white house. what the first lady is going to wear, who is going to be invited. we talked about some of the folks that came through, 400 guests. first of all, let's talk about how you decide members of congress. talk aboutn so let's members of congress. what is the approach to how they decide? which members of congress should be invited? >> the legislative affairs office is great at the white house. as toave a lot of input who should be invited. we want to make it bipartisan, the same number of republicans as democrats. you put the invitations out. a lot of members are back in their home districts, campaigning or whatever. i didn't see a lot of members. >> nancy pelosi, of course. legislative affairs has a huge role. they are trying to get as many members of congress as possible. engagementof public wants to invite folks. it is a huge amount of compromise and debate. >> many names in the media. chuck todd. gayle king of cbs. what is the rationale behind inviting the media? shop puts a lot of effort

i am the white house executive chef. e state dinner tomorrow will celebrate our fall harvest and a lot of italian dishes that have been embraced in our american cuisine. as part of the canapes we will be passing, we will have smoked rainbow trout, roasted figs from california, some wonderful basil , crab cannoli, how much he from hawaii,- a dish from sweet and sour eggplant. we have some rosemary that came from the garden. our objective is to utilize as much as we have from our fall garden harvest. for the main course, we are doing a classic italian dish in aan american beef ancote.pe it is kind of a 10 minute diversion of the normal flank of a that -- version normal flank steak that would be praised for hours. we have a butternut squash and pumpkin finished off with a cheese from new york. for the first course, we are serving a sweet potato onion motif that has been garnished with a wonderful monterey jack and wenoma, california, have used a lot of wonderful all of oils that are part of sonoma county, california. i think

i am the white house executive chef. e dinner tomorrow will celebrate our fall harvest and a lot of italian dishes that have been embraced in our american cuisine. as part of the canapes we will be passing, we will have smoked rainbow trout, roasted figs from california, some wonderful basil , crab cannoli, how much he from hawaii,- a dish from sweet and sour eggplant. we have some rosemary that came from the garden. our objective is to utilize as much as we have from our fall garden harvest. for the main course, we are doing a classic italian dish in aan american beef ancote.pe it is kind of a 10 minute diversion of the normal flank of a that -- version normal flank steak that would be praised for hours. we have a butternut squash and pumpkin finished off with a cheese from new york. for the first course, we are serving a sweet potato onion motif that has been garnished with a wonderful monterey jack and wenoma, california, have used a lot of wonderful all of oils that are part of sonoma county, california. i think that'

now had that role in the white house. and before then there was a long time democratic and then before then she was at the clinton white house. you see people that went from bill clinton to obama to the clinton came pain that would have a role. and transition obama to trump. that would be completely different. i can't think of anybody. i was listening in the last panel and there could be more with a democrat to democrat or republican to republican transition. than different parties. and i deferred to them and has been part of transitions and if al gore had been elected president and after their initial bromance early in the campaign by the end of the administration there was so much tension in the fact that gore did not want clinton i think to gore's ever lasting detriment didn't want him campaigning for him and there would have been one where there was tension. but the most tension i have experienced or covered was from the clinton -- well, allegedly to dispute of this clinton to george w. bush where the staffers took the

we will leave it now and take you live to the white house where president obama will be welcoming therime minister of italy, matteo renzi, ma for his white house official state visit. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ they don't ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [background sounds] >> attention. [background sounds] [background sounds] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪. .. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ attention. holt. ♪ ♪ logo ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [silence] [silence] [silence] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states and this is michelle obama. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [silence]. [silence]. ladies and gentlemen, the national anthem of the republic of italy followed by the national anthem of the united states. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [silence] good morning. today is bittersweet for michele and i because this marks the final official visit and state dinner of my presidency. but, it's okay. we saved the best for last. so on behalf of michelle and myself, and on

job one is the selection of the white house staff. i really want to underscore at this point, for the first six months of a new administration, the white house is the locust of action. the white house staff is the locust of action. because however well organized the nomination an confirmation process is, it is in the nature of things slow. the departments and agencies are not going to be up to full strength and not be operating at full speed. so the white house is more important in the first six months than it ever is again. the white house staff has to be appointed first. and it has to be appointed quickly. here is a rule of thumb for covering a transition. if the transition is doing its job well, almost all of the white house staff will have been named by thanksgiving. and the transition that i was involved in, the clinton transition, got it backwards, spent almost two months focused on the cabinet, and the white house was almost an after thought. i speak from personal experience, because i got a call to come down to little rock on j

i was in the white house. . >> and also how that affected clinton's ability to accomplish other items like health care first down the road in his first term. >> well, the clinton '92 transition was transition. >> no, i agree. >> it was, however, a very useful case study. some would say object lesson. so what went wrong during the clinton transition? well, first of all, as i mentioned earlier, this enormous and lengthy focus on the cabinet with the white house as an after thought. that was backwards. secondly, not drawing a clear enough distinction between the campaign team and the governing team. it is always a mistake to bring your senior campaign people lock stock and barrel into the white house. third, and this gets to your point, the transition and the president elect did not do a good job of controlling the issue's narrative. president-elect clinton on november 16th of 1992, a day that will live in infamy, was asked the question based on what he would say in the campaign how he intended to handle the issue

all of the records that are created in the white house become records -- record of the country. that is what ends up at the presidential libraries. now, decision-making crosses lines. those federal agencies support house,k of the white that there is a separation in terms of the records themselves. thank you for your interesting presentation. he mened

i did a lot of disaster work for the white house. cnn was calling me to talk about hurricane matthew. there was the flooding in indiana, and then zika. you are never going to get bored when you write about this stuff. >> there was a great deepwater horizon movement. i can fix this thing. you guys let me do it. why don't you let me fix the way you do white house dinner parties? the state dinners, you have -- never works. >> the character in die hard, did you receive the movie die hard? thinks he can negotiate with terrorists. i know business. instead of a gun, i use a fountain pen. i'm really into diehard your when diehard three came out mentioned both donald trump and hillary clinton. there's one point where mclean is driving it gets cut off by someone in these who do you think you are, hillary clinton? shockingly sexist but also this assumption hillary clinton would be cutting someone off. the trump thing, governmental credibility. at one point the cops are saying everything you say, don't worry about it, and one of the kind of -- [i

now had that role in the white house. and before then there was a long time democratic and then before then she was at the clinton white house. you see people that went from bill clinton to obama to the clinton came pain that would have a role. and transition obama to trump. that would be completely different. i can't think of anybody. i was listening in the last panel and there could be more with a democrat to democrat or republican to republican transition. than different parties. and i deferred to them and has been part of transitions and if al gore had been elected president and after their initial bromance early in the campaign by the end of the administration there was so much tension in the fact that gore did not want clinton i think to gore's ever lasting detriment didn't want him campaigning for him and there would have been one where there was tension. but the most tension i have experienced or covered was from the clinton -- well, allegedly to dispute of this clinton to george w. bush where the staffers took the

the white house post a lot of photos on the white house flickr page. i think people in the media don't necessarily like it, but a lot of the users out there love it because you get to see a lot behind-the-scenes. so they are putting out thousands more images than we ever put out. very selective, put out two or three photos, and that would be it. maybe once or twice a week. whereas now, with digital, i think it is a daily occurrence. it has really changed. some of the press photographers are using the iphones as the primary camera on some of the campaign trips , because it is smaller and easier to get around, but they can also post it instantly. it is a dramatic change. i know when i worked on george p bush's campaign, it was dramatically different than when i worked on the other campaigns. on other campaigns, i would shoot film, and it would be 3, 4, 5 days before i saw anything. now it is instantaneous. i actually like it now better. y.ready -- alright >> good morning. my question is, when you were traveling with the bushes, were you shooting every si

arrival, thetico front door of the white house. is the guest of honor coming from before they arrive? they are coming from where they are staying. some folks stay at blair house. some folks might be staying at the italian ambassador's house. we couldn't drive through the north portico. it is exciting make it to drive right in. >> it is right across the street from the white house which is where the prime minister and wife are staying. they turn, the couple's turn and then they go back inside. where do they go from there? upstairs topside -- the private residence. they have a smaller reception in the home, what is the president and first lady's home. the leadership and both governments up there as well to mix and mingle for about 20 minutes. and then the colors are resented to the president. and then you saw them walk down the stairs. the colors? >> the flags of our countries. you go up and say, are you ready to receive the colors? they go down the stairs. >> what is the tradition behind this? what is the tradition behind this? >> th

back to the white house momentarily. the arrival of the japanese visitors from the .ast harriet lane in the blue dress. the japanese ambassadors. wonderful lights outside the white house that word -- that were taken out during the roosevelt rehab in 1902. the japanese were immensely popular in washington. people were driven mad by them. women gathered outside their windows. there said to become hysterical and huge crowds followed them wherever they went. grasp thefficult to amount of excitement they caused, both in washington and then later on a new york. things that i return to a great deal in my work is building. this is the library for the whole american people. this is the library of congress on the east front. in front of the dome of the capital. i'm interested in building methods. kids are interested, too. amause i build my works, i interested in process. to show how things are made because most people have no idea how anything is made. and in this case, made by slaves. this is deconstructed with the help of bill al

>> going back to the fbi, you said that you do i want have enough or white house doesn't have enough independent information to criticize or to come out with a position on comey's letter. but what do you say to the american people? the white house doesn't have information on whether it was appropriate or not. the american people are left with questions of what to believe. there is both calls on both sides of the aisle asking director comey to release more information. do you feel the american people don't have a right about this probe? they are going to be voting booths right now and next tuesday. >> this is a legitimate question for you to ask and these are the kinds of questions that are carefully considered in the didn't of justice right now. and given the institutional responsibilities that are vested here in the white house, and i just don't have a recommendation to make. it is important for them to make these decisions consistent with with their to be precise here. it is important for the officials in the department of justice and fbi to make these decisions. and the officials a

a flu doesn't care if a democrat or republican is in the white house. it needs to be able to step above the fray in dealing with it. you have to make sure you use the twitter account wisely the entire time not just when there's a disaster. >> thank you, guys. >> i want to say one more thank you to julianna for a lovely event. >> everybody should buy a book. you should also buy a book for your friends, great christmas gifts. >> and thank my wife tammy who couldn't be here tonight. [applause] [inaudible conversations] >> here is a look at some books that are being published this week. john jay college professor completes three volume series on the life of eleanor roosevelt which includes the first lady's life through world war ii, the death of president roosevelt and eleanor roos -- roos velt -- roosevelt's own death in 1962. richard snow recalls the creation of the union army's iron battleship the monitor and ushered a new era of airfare. in black scare reports on life in the ukraine after russia's annex of crimea. and first black regiments to fight in wo

all the records that are created in the white house become the country. that is what ends up at the presidential libraries. the decision-making crosses lines. agencies support the work of the white house but there is a separation in terms of the records themselves. >> thank you for your presentation. you mentioned their shakedown of the reconnaissance aircraft. the puebloe pdb for which occurred in a relative timeframe and also probably less thought of in that time but mentioned in the 1990's the shootdown's of reconnaissance aircraft over siberia which were numerous. pdb gave report age way it was compared to the pueblo but the pdb was very cursory in its treatment in any way if parallel or comparison. >> you mentioned an incident in the 1990's? >> [inaudible] >> i cannot speak to unreleased pdb's. can't answer your question, i'm sorry. >> i want to know, was president to have first president daily briefings with a cia definitely.yes, david peterson was tasked to brief him when he was vice .resident he wanted that continued after he became president. , yo

the race for the white house >> the race for the white house cut through the corridor tomorrow as both candidates come to cedar rapids. more onto mars campaign visit in just a minute. >> first we have new numbers race is in iowa. take a look at these numbers. they showed republican donald trump and democrat hillary clinton in a dead heat in the hawkeye state. that is a huge swing from the simple a month ago that showed trump with a seven point advantage in iowa. >> there are 50 states voting for president. both major party candidates will spend time in cedar rapids on the same day. it all gets underway tomorrow afternoon when hillary clinton holds a rally at newbo city market. the event gets underway after 1:00. then less than six hours leaders donald trump will appear blocks away. he will hold a rally at the empty theater at seven tomorrow night. this is trumps first event in cedar rapids in three months. >> an update to tonight's breaking news out of new york where a plan caring republican nominee for vice president indiana governor. mike pence slid off the runway. time of the landin

with general election strategy and whatnot at the dnc and doing of that with david seemus in the white houseicials they were not doing anything, they were completely neutral. not true, turns out. and look at this from the mook e-mail as well. he said it's completely credible for the white house to say that she is their pick over at the dnc. we agreed she should be our first choice for now unless we think of someone better. the whole pound robby mook pulling the strengths with dnc staff, who will be over there with the white house's blessing and backing. bottom line, bernie sanders, call your office. this suggests they were working against him behind the scenes and hillary clinton, let's face it, needs the sanders supporters to not be angry and get out and vote for her in the days ahead. >> what else are we learning from he memo from one of bill clinton's top aides? >> doug band. he is now out and he was writing this in 2011 because the context of this, chelsea clinton blown the whistle and learned that doug blabbed had conflicts of interest and was using her father, bill clinton, to help dru

she felt it was her fault. >> there were some tough times in the white house. health care initiative. the white water investigation, the impeachment proceedings. what was the hardest moment for you in the white house? >> when my daughtfather died an bill's mother died in the same year. the tragedies that make a hole in your heart because you know and care about them, a family member, those were the hardest. the others, of course, had their difficulties as well, but it was the loss of my dad and my mother-in-law that were really tough. >> so hillary clinton went back to her roots. advocating for children, women, and veterans. she became an ambassador of sorts for her husband. it was september, 1995. >> no one had any idea what she was going to say. >> hillary clinton travelled with her chief of staff to china for the united nations concerns on women. >> there were expectations that she probably would tread lightly and not say a whole lot that was news making. >> but those expectations were wrong. >> we are the primary caretakers for most of the world's children a

it's the call of the white house to do it. ut one other point i want to underscore, what judy and i have been talking about that donald trump complaints so much about the press did not have the scrutiny during the primary that he's having now and he is the gop presidential nominee having not gone through the kind of standard vetting that because he wasn't taking it seriously as he should have during primary. so he was only getting now what in a routine time he would have gotten further reason why he should not have no complaint about the press. john: there were predictions, judy, that that would be the case and predictions along the same lines for john mccain, john mccain was a beloved figure when he was sort of the republican maverick but once he became the nominee the press started beating up on him. >> yes, it happens when you get the nomination of your party. i think you have to expect that. now, i can remember some of the stories about john mccain that appeared on the front pages of new york times and other prominent paper

are arriving for tonight's final state dinner at the white house. ime minister, matteo hisi, will be arriving with wife shortly. on the guest list, some notable faces you may see, josh earnest from the white house, along with many members of the president's cabinet, along with business leaders, members of congress, at the close -- italian-american herself -- will be there. people of the media -- gil kane, rachael ray, chuck todd will be also went to funny, who will be the entertainment tefani, -- also gwen s who will be the entertainment tonight, will be there with her boyfriend, blake shelton here we will show you some of those arrivals you're coming up on c-span, but in the meantime, we talked withly the ambassador to the united states from italy about preparations for tonight's state dinner, and also about who this prime minister is. take a look. ambassador, how did the state visit, about with the italian prime minister? event that important shows the special relationship between as lee and the united states. and the relationship between president

what should the size of the white house be in the white house staff? i don't have an opinion about that. i have found the most important thing is what you said which is relationships and is it collaborative or not. there is also perspective that you may not have. we think as we run our departments that we have a relatively decent handle on what's going on in our department but there are many that thengs going on president is trying to balance. >> can we keep going? >> [indiscernible] >> ok. i have more questions. madam secretary, you said policy is driven by budget. in the last several years, we have not seen a budget passed by congress. how does that affect policy? i don't really see budgets eating past the way they used to. >> that was my question as well. [laughter] >> what's the impact of congressional legit dysfunction on the impact of your agency? >> it's a huge challenge. likefunny way, often shared services we are trying to implement to run our organization more efficiently and more effectively get more value for the taxpayer. it's not that muc

wilson moved the day they left the white house in 1921. the home itself was built in 1916, and the wilson's acquired in december 1920, and decided to remain in washington, d.c. this home is a time capsule. it basically takes us back about 100 years ago, and allows us to see the way the world was then. we sometimes have the illusion that people in history were very much like us, only they were dowdy clothes, or something. but actually that wilson's lived in an era when americans thought differently about themselves, about america's role in the world, when society was very different. the artifacts in this house open the door into that world, and i would like to help us do that today by looking at a couple of the artifacts in this home that tell the story of america's involvement with world war i. we are now almost 100 years from the date when the united states entered the war, in 1917. i observe often that history is studied in eras and epics, but it is lived in hours and days. this is very true with the wilson's and world war i. we associate

so here is the white house's statement today. the tape. >> as far as creamer is concerned with all those visits here to the white house in particular, i'm wondering is that a reflection of the ethical standards of the obama white house that a guy like that who at least according to the videos admittedly these videos are in some dispute in some circles, seems to be suggesting voter fraud, a person who is a convicted felon, who is often frequent visitor here at the white house. >> i think at this point i would urge extreme caution in drawing conclusions about anybody's character based on a few hours of having looked at this video. >> all right. that's a nonanswer, of course. and the question was lodged by a fox news correspondent because the other press doesn't cover this. so, based upon that, i mean, it's pretty embarrassing, the guy was 300 times. and he was in the president's proximity more than 40 times. we don't know what that was. he obviously had entree. >> he should have totally condemned it, called it out, and said, you kn

they had knew the white house like we did because they visited so often. hen i wrote my book and wrote my schedule, after 9/11, the weekend after 9/11 barbara and jenna came home to the white house and i knew she wanted to be with their dad and wanted to be with us. they felt great insecurity off at the university of texas and university of yale after the attacks and they wanted to be there with him. and then i noticed that a few -- a month and a half after that our childhood friends from midland, texas, came and i knew that those boys, you know, men that we knew as boys, wanted to be with george. that they just wanted to be there with him. and i think that is really -- no one talked about war. you know, that wasn't a conversation. the conversation was, we just want to be with you. and i think that's really important. i think that's the way the children are too. they don't want to -- you don't want them to be worried about decisions their ther makes. you know, you want them to just feel the security and love that every parent want their children -- mrs. oba

she felt guilty, it was her fault. >> there were failed times in your career in the white house. the hardest moment for you in the white house? >> when my father died and when bill's mother died in the same year. the tragedies that make a big hole in your heart because you lose somebody that you know, you care about, a family member, those were the hardest. the others, of course, had their difficulties as well but it was the loss of my dad and my mother-in-law that were really tough. >> so hillary clinton went back to her roots, advocating for children, women and veterans. she became an ambassador of sorts for her husband. it was september 1995. >> no one had any idea what she was going to say. >> hillary clinton traveled with her chief of staff to china for the united nations conference on women. >> there were expectations that she probably would tread lightly and not say a whole lot that was news making. >> but those expectations were wrong. >> we are the primary caretakers for most of the world's children and elderly, yet much of the work we do is not valued, not by economists

does the white house have any position on that? are you concerned that now you have -- you have more kind of accusations going around about fbi probes? >> look, as i mentioned before, you know, the white house has not been briefed on the investigation has the department of justice and the fbi were conducting into secretary clinton's e-mail system. the white house has not been briefed on even the existence of any investigation into the activities or habits of the republican nominee. these are all questions that should be directored to the department of justice and to the fbi. okay? >> thanks, josh. going back to -- senator reid's letter. he basically accused the fbi director of potentially violating the hatch act and you've said that you believe that director comey is a man of integrity and in the letter that senator reid sent, he said that he once believed that director comey was a principled servient. what is your reaction to that? >> the hatch act should be directed to the office of special counsel. an independent agency filled wi

now let's go to the white house. on the morning after the inaugural festivities, a tired and maybe slightly on over president and vice president get to work. there are plenty of new people around them who work for them. most of them however are in military uniform. they open the doors, fly the helicopter, man watch and the guns that sit on top of the white house. these new employees do not actually do is talk to the president. in fact, on that first morning after the inauguration, the people most likely to talk to the new president are the same ones who have been talking to him for the past two years. his close campaign advisors. there will be some new faces. every morning the cia sends over someone with a briefcase handcuffed to his wrist to present the president's daily briefs, a compilation of the most sensitive goings-on collected overtly and covertly around the world by america's spies. some of these spies are undercover and are probably the only federal employees who don't walk into an office on the morning afte

house and senate races. c-span, where street -- where history unfolds daily. >> the prime minister of italy was in the u.s. for an official visit that included a white house state dinner in his honor. that is next on c-span. been our road to the white house coverage has donald trump and hillary clinton campaigning in ohio and angelina and pennsylvania with their vice presidential running mates. president this week, obama and the first lady held a state dinner for the italian prime minister, and was in the u.s. and his wife for an official event. this was the 13th and final state dinner for the obama administration. next, highlights from the event. it is two-and-a-half hours. >> guests are arriving for tonight's final state dinner in the white house. minister matteo renzi will be arriving shortly. josh earnest from the white house along with many of the members of the president's cabinet, along with business leaders, members of congress, nancy pelosi will be there. people of the media, rachel ray, chuck todd and others. jerry seinfeld and glenn stephani will be there. with blake there shelton. these are people who got the coveted in -- invitation. th

kevin cork has the latest from the white house. the who is didn't get a heads up neither did anyone at the state department or anyone at the hillary clinton campaign so i guess it was at face value operation secret. right? >> yeah. at face value. i think it would be fair to say a lot of people around here skeptical about that. the white house saying all the rights things, we learned about it in the press just like the rest of you guys itch find that hard to believe but does beg the question what did directyear comey find out that made him ultimately eat a little crow perhaps and open the investigation involving secretary clinton. you may recall, back a few monkeys oohing he said she was extremely careless but not reckless and proclaiming the bureau would not indict clinton. today i decided to ask the president at he was making his way over to marine one issue shouted a question and said do you have any reaction to he reopening of the case. he didn't say word but his spokesman had plenty to say. the principal deputy white house pres

kevin cork is at the white house tonight to tell us how. >> don't boo, vote. >> reporter: even as president obama implored the democratic nominee supporters to stay focused on her, the white house was increasingly focusing its campaign energy down ballot. >> patrick murphy, when he is your united states senator, he is going to be doing his work. in fact, unlike his opponent, he actually shows up to work. >> reporter: so confident of a clinton victory in november, the white house's core message has changed from i'm with her to i'm against them, as in gop candidates running for congress. he cut tv ads as well as radio commercials. white house officials acknowledge it but they caution reading too much into it. >> the president is not just guarding against but warning against complacency. i recognize how that can be confused for trying to run up the score. the president understands the stakes of this election. >> reporter: high stakes and down ballot drama. the vice-president's visit to nevada, it's a cross-country strategy to boost democratic odds of recapturing congress while protecting the o

her and says, now, hillary, the park service is not going to come mow this yard. ♪ >> she settled on this house in the quiet suburb of chappequaw, 300 miles away from the whitel few months of her president's term she was not there at all. it was extremely unusual. >> but necessary. >> the question was how do you go from the white house to running in new york state? you didn't live in new york state, you didn't represent new york state. >> clinton had to convince new yorkers she wasn't an outsider. so she went on a listening tour of the entire state. >> good morning. >> all 62 counties. >> this notion of listening first, understanding people's problems first, and then kind of explaining what you thought the solutions might be, really just worked powerfully. >> oh, i'm not in a campaign yet. >> i think they even have flies in arkansas. >> her opponent, mayor rudy guilliani, hit her hard on everything. >> kind of the way clintons play politics in the name of uniting when they really divide is sad. >> then guilliani dropped out for personal reason. her opponent cake out swinging. >> happy to when you give me signed letters. >> right here, sign it right now. >> w

he will have potentially a tiebreaker from the white house. what is his role in the minority? do you see him remaining as a republican leader? do you see him moving on? a lot of people are wondering what the future holds. >> i haven't talked to him about that my expectation is that his unique gifts of leadership will be all the more necessary regardless of where they end up if donald trump happens to win the white house or hillary clinton is president or we are at 50 or 49. senator mcconnell has worked harder than probably any leader in history who is aggressively focused on making sure we did everything that we can. fors a tremendous leader figuring your way through adverse consensus. the other thing you cannot forget is to your pseudo--- from an inverse of be the election this time. versus eightocrats republicans. >> will happen with november 9 novemberill happen on 9? notdonald trump doesn't win getting behind him or helping a prop up the top of the ticket, what do you foresee in terms of potential backlash post donald trump at the gop establishment who he has along the way

he is pitching his idea to the white house and the white house is taking note. >> jadiann: he says it's his mission to make a better >> reporter: this is jacob, grooming his 3 d. printing craft ahead of the final white house science fair and while his creations got him to the white house he set hits sights beyond it with a pitch. >> hi to practice it in the car while i was in the car flying to d.c. i practiced it so many times that when i was at the white house i almost forgot it. >> we should have a kids advisory group that starts explaining to us what is is working and could help us shape advances in stem education, that was' jacob's idea. we're going to follow up on that. >> reporter: won't you know it that's what they did. maybe summed up best by jacob himself. >> it was exciting to hear president obama took advice from a child. >> that's you why are smarter than me. so -- [laughter] we infact have formed a science advisory group. >> reporter: friday marks advisor meeting bringing 11 of the brightest young minds in the country to one table. even astronauts are improvemented. among t

the race for the white house in a few moments. ilitary offensive against isis terrorists in mosul. isis is striking back south of mosul in kirkuk, where they've launched attacks on government buildings. those militant attacks come as the losses mount for isis in and around mosul, the second largest city in iraq. a key tart get in the fight for iraq. nick paton walsh joins us. what's the latest? what are you seeing from the ground where you are? >> reporter: this attack on kirkuk, very much a typical tactic of hitting an unexpected area. kirkuk held by the peshmerga launching many of the attacks against mosul at the moment trying to take the plains around that key city off isis. the kirkuk attack, coming at dawn, used a number of different assets positito attack that cit still ongoing. able to get pictures on live kurdish television giving people the idea isis can strike at will. still not upsetting the applecart of the main campaign, that continues to push ahead. finding stuff resistance. we ourselves saw how drone used to spot pes

the election to hillary clinton. he said he will no longer defend him and will no longer campaign with him and will focus on keeping control of the house. understand, the whitelost and they must maintain the congress to fight hillary clinton agenda. there was -- think the g.o.p. nominee will have something to say about this? scheduled to peek live in this -- speak live in this hour. >> a fresh wikileaks headache for the clinton campaign. thousands of e-mails released from the account

restricted inbe the white house? can he say that he does not want to have a set of reporters following him around the press pool? when obama leaves the white thee, somebody represents newspapers, radio, and tv. when he goes out to dinner, we are there. can he say that he is not going to do that anymore? he probably could. we are worried about all of those small things every single day. >> what about clinton? how has her access been? >> we do not hear about it. she is not focused on it. clinton has not gone along with the media since she was the first lady. she is not talking about it every day, but it would not be a priority for her. access wouldn't be a priority. on the campaign trail, we have pushed for more access to get on the same plane with her. to give you perspective, both candidates, regardless of the , allowed a protective pool. the reporters get to travel with him or her, no matter what. if history gets made, we are there to witness the history and neither candidate has done that. they are not doing it. bot

these groups are not that big in the white house. the idea there are thousands of people. >> there are 1700 actually. >> omb and all the council's >> but we would deem the -- deal with the senior personnel. they would pick up the phone if there were issues if you have the relationship efficiently we could also leverage our staff for the benefit of communication. >> day you thank you drove policy from your department or that was driven from the white house quick. >>'' first of all, i came in the middle of the housing crisis there was a lot going on. i was extremely involved with a lot of policy issues of mortgage modifications with the homeowners and the sba i called the white house and reversed issues on budgeting, that actually ended at being unpopular for the administration but thought that was important for the integrity of the administration. >> a problem for you to be overly involved and suffocating the white house staff? [laughter] that zaps the policy-making of her own agency? and discourages them to drive away talent quite. >>

first, you don't roosevelt was the most bellicose man ever to occupy the white house. second, theodore roosevelt was the best parent ever to occupy the white house. and third, his favorite child was his last, his youngest son quentin. these three contentions form the combination upon which fate did not smile. let me begin with some evidence about roosevelt's bellicosity. these of the first two paragraphs of the golden lad. it was 1897. it was time. actually, for theodore roosevelt it was passed time. he wanted the spanish-american war to begin. actually, he wanted any work to begin. -- war to begin. it was like eating the right foods, getting enough rest, getting enough exercise. yes, that most of all, exercise. and roosevelt more than most people is the value of exercise. no national life is worth having, he said in one of his many encomiums to combat, if the nation is not willing when the need is a rise to stake everything on the supreme -- of war. to pour out his blood, treasures, tears like water rather than to submit to the loss of honor and renowned. the washingto

calls out donald trump in this election and she talked about what it's like to raise children in the white househat she and hillary clinton have had this unique experience of living in the fish bowl of the white house, hillary clinton used to do home work with chelsea over fax when her husband was running and michelle obama did the same thing. she would make sure she was home for dinner with them so they both know what this existence was like and that's a powerful image for voters to hear. >> dana, what about gloria's point bringing up the rigged talk and saying well, they're just trying to keep you home? >> well she was explicit about it, this is coming from the first favor first lady reminding voters that that kind of talk is not new and that people in the 1950s and '60s and before that went through tough times in order to get the right to vote so that kind of imagery and reminder is powerful given who the messenger is but who the audience is, she's in north carolina but detective be for any one of the urban areas in these battlegrounds states where she is trying along with her husband, the pr

american service members promised bonuses to re-enlist and serve at war, now being told to give the the white house and the pentagon now weighing in. >>> caught on camera, the dramatic moment as three cousins are ambushed in a hail of gunfire. tonight a manhunt for a shooter on the run. >>> mid-air emergency on a transatlantic flight. crew members struck with a mystery illness. the pilot forced to divert. what happened? >>> and swipes online. as holiday shopping fast approaches, a new alert about where credit card fraud is soaring and how to right now. >> announcer: from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >>> good evening. exactly two weeks from election day, the center of gravity in this contest tonight rests in florida, where both hillary clinton and donald trump battled for votes today. for trump, behind in virtually every poll, the path to victory starts and ends in florida. he himself calling it a must-win. poll released over the weekend has clinton ahead by three points. today clinton tried to force her advantage by targeting early voters the