thanks. , go: randi weingarten ahead.ler: you are totally right -- guest: you are totally right. the reason, there are some who find what mr. trump says a loring, it is because it is our kids. we desperately want to have some magic bullet, some shiny new apple to say, if you just do this, everyone will get a great education. so charters became the shiny app, or the new toy, and sometimes people say that about vouchers. what you just said and you are so right, is that education is really hard. we have to do everything we can to help develop the skills and knowledge of kids, help them build relationships and critically think. help them learn resilience. should take and it is our responsibility for every child. if we could have a pluralistic and diverse environment, that will help kids. that point of brown versus the board of education. that was an opportunity for all diverse settings. what charter has done is some do a good job but most do exactly what the rest of schools in the community do. depends on so cold -- social ec

randi weingarten. welcome to the aft. i want to play a video message from former secretary of labor who wantsies -- solis it crystal clear her support for keith ellison. [applause] former hilda solis, secretary of labor. i am pleased to tell you that i am in strong support of keith ellison. our congressmen and some on her is chaired the progressive caucus which i was a member of when i served in the house for eight years. it has been a pleasure to know him and to know that he cares so ofply about all the concerns all of our citizens and residents in the united states. he has been one of those individuals who has worked so hard to gain so much support. in fact, i know that he is there with you now and aft with my good friend randi weingarten and those who support him. vote insnt to cast my support of him as well. come out and talk about the needs of immigrants and to talk about health care coverage and the disparities that exist among low income women. i know he will fight hard on the minimum wage. he will help the tech wo

and i want to thank president randi weingarten. thank you very much. although right now that the think is are all done. let's get to the meat of the issue. what we are doing tonight is not sexy, and it's not going to make the headlines in the newspapers all of the country but it is unprecedented for the democratic party and for the long-term future of our country and it is of enormous consequence. at a time as you all know when millions of americans are demoralized politically and are sick and tired of establishment politics and establishment economics we are gathered here tonight not only in this building but all of america to begin the process of transforming american politics and creating a government which works for all of the people not just the 1%. that is what we're here to do. the first step is to transform the democratic party from a top-down party to bottom-up party. to create a grassroots organization of the working families of this country will tell you having been all over this great nation of ours the incredible idealism encourage a milli

[applause] randi: playing with the live stream. randiaid, my name is weingarten, and i welcome all of you to our house. you are always welcome to our house, because this is the house of fight back and this is the house of fight for our communities. and so i am delighted to spend a couple of minutes before i introduce our next speaker, but i want to spend a couple of hinutes talking about keit and talking about why i personally endorsed him and why the entire labor movement has now endorsed keith ellison. [applause] for any of you who don't know ith, he is an organizer. he is a fighter. and the democratic party of which i am a member, and a proud member, needs that kind of fighter each and every day in each and every neighborhood and each and every community in america. reengage and rebuild our party to ensure that our is -- that's asset what keith and lead us to do. that's why i so impressed with him and am willing to follow him everywhere. you see that, because we need to get back to that trust and engagement. you saw what trump did. he found a way with a volume

i furthermore want to thank the afp and president randi weingarten for using their livestream throughout the country. randi, thank you very much. [applause] nator sanders: now the thank yous are over. we have to be polite. what we are doing tonight is not sexy, and it is not going to make the headlines in the newspapers all over the country. but it is unprecedented for the democratic party and for the long-term future of our country and it is of enormous consequence. at a time of low voter turnout , at a time as you all know when millions of americans are demoralized politically and are sick and tired of establishment politics and establishment economics, we are gathered here tonight not only in this building but all over america to begin the process of transforming american politics and of creating a government which works for all of the people, not just the 1%. [applause] senator sanders: that is what we are here to do. and in order to make that happen, our first step is to transform the democratic party from a top-down party to a bottom-up party. [applause] senator sanders: to create

also, the american federation of teachers president randi weingarten joins us from new york city to talk about the trump administration's education policy, and what effect the nomination of betsy devos as education secretary will have on the cabinet. and a discussion on what impact president-elect trump's recent conversation about the president of taiwan might have on u.s. -china-taiwan relations. live beginning at 7:00 a.m. eastern sunday morning. join the discussion. on tuesday, house speaker paul ryan joined the architect of the members of thed idaho congressional delegation for the official lighting of the u.s. capitol christmas tree. this year's tree is an 80 foot angle and spruce -- englewood spruce. the ceremony is 15 minutes. good evening, and welcome to the 52nd annual christmas tree lighting ceremony at the united states capitol. [applause] mr. ayers: i am stephen ayers, the architect of the capitol, and i am excited to serve as your master of ceremonies. first, i would like to extend a big thank you to the united states air force ceremonial brass band under the direction doyle

the chair recognizes randy wine weingarten of suffolks county. >> thank you, mr. president. i move that the secretaries be authorized and directed to file through the department of of state the certificates which we have signed with the president of the united states senate, the secretary of state of the state of new york, the new york state board of elections, the chief judge of the united states district court for the northern district of new york, the national archives, and the records administrator and the rare book and manuscript library of columbia university. >> i think you got it all in. thank you very much. thank you. the chair recognizes the honorable tom denapoly of nassau county. >> i second the motion that the certificates be filed in the manner so well described. >> thank you very much. it has been moved and seconded that we file the certificates in the manner described. all those in favor signify by saying aye. opposed. the motion is carried. the chair now recognizes the honorable carl hasty of bronx county. >> thank you, mr. president. i now move that the ele

. >> let me ask about what randi weingarten said talking specifically about donald trump's pick for laborretary. she slammed puzder saying he's anti-labor and anti-fighting for the little guy that donald trump promised he would fight for. you respond. >> yeah, so obviously that's not true. what i would say to randi and other people is actions speak louder than words. just the carrier deal is a vivid example of mr. trump, mr. president-elect fighting for the quote unquote, little guy. i think there's more to it than this. we are focusing on andy's background in the restaurant business but what you guys are missing about andy, he's a great macro economist and has a very very good understanding about the broader interconnectivity of the economy. we are focusing on things like minimum wages when we shouldn't be. what andy's going to be focusing on is wage increases for all americans. what andy wants to focus on is not only bringing jobs back into the united states, helping the administration on these trade deals which he has a native understanding of, but just making this society better for l

democratic national committee, vermont senator bernie sanders, and american federation of teachers randy weingarten speaking. see it live on c-span at 8:00 p.m. eastern. president-elect donald trump has offered montana congressman ryan zinke the job of interior secretary. he serves on the natural resources committee which has oversight of the interior department. earlier this year he asked the current interior secretary about the department's priorities. >> i'm sure we all agree, the importance of our parks. by looking at your budget, we all know you're behind. and i just got finished talking to the superintendent of yellowstone, i know the superintendent of glacier, i know how important it is, i grew up in the backyard. you and i have both toured the parks. on your budget it doesn't seem like you prioritized the infrastructure. if the infrastructure is so important on road maintenance, why isn't it at the top of the list on your budget as far as national parks? >> infrastructure and beginning to deal with the backlog is a very high priority in our budget. so it's in there not only in the discretio

my name is randi weingarten. i am the president of the 1.6 million member american federation of teachers. we have a second largest teachers union and the largest college union. i'm here today not just to thank richard, the splc, the other speakers, who all -- in big and small ways -- have been spending their adult lives fighting hate and bigotry while at the same time increasing opportunities, economic and educational opportunity, for americans. this is not an either/or situation. this is a both and situation in these united states of america. i appreciate whatsplc splc has now done because we cannot live in an evidence-free zone. during the campaign, donald trumps rhetoric and policy proposals pitted americans against each other and created a coulter of fear and division. unfortunately, as the other speakers have said enough this report demonstrates, we have seen a disturbing and unacceptable surge in hateful actions, all too often carried out in mr. trump's name, particularly in schools. and while, as the othe

in response, american of teachers president randi weingarten said -- "in nominating devos trump makesloud and clear that his education policy will focus on privatizing, defunding and destroying public education in america." if confirmed by the senate, devos could become the most into public school education secretary since the office of education was s established in 1867. the "new york times" notes devos helped turn her home-state of michigan into one of the nations biggest school choice laboratories -- and the result was disastrous. amy: the devoses have bankrolled their school deregulation and privatization efforts through a dark money group called, american federation for children -- a majoror contributor to the right-wing corporate education movement. they have also pushed controversial anti-union state legislation known as right-to-work, dealing a major blow to the labor movement, including teachers unions, in michigan. since 1970, the devoses have invested at least $200 million in various right-wing causes. devos's father-in-law is the co-founder of amway and her brother is eri

then randi weingarten on education policies and donald trump's nomination of betsy devos as educationstration. as always we will take your calls. you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter. "washington journal" is next. ♪ host: good sunday morning to you. today is december the 11th. here are some of your headlines. thetillerson is reportedly leading pick for secretary of state. some lawmakers are questioning the choice because of his close relationship with russia. for intoy is called whether russia interfered with the presidential election. labor unions are ready for a fight with the white house. that is the issue we are starting with this money. we want to hear from union members. what is your message for president elecna

vermont senator bernie sanders and american federation of teachers president randy weingarten also speaking at the event. that starts at 8:00 eastern tonight on c-span. >>> c-span, where history unfolds daily. in 1979 c-span was created as a public service by america's cable television companies and is brought to you today by your cable or satellite provider. >>> the center for american progress hosted a conversation recently about the future of anti-poverty policies under the incoming trump administration. we'll hear from journalists, activists and union officials about potential changes to social safety net programs. >>> hello, everyone, and welcome. i'm the vice president of the poverty to prosperity program at the center for american progress. president-elect trump campaigned on a pledge to make america great again and promised working families that he was on their side. unfortunately, he hasn't even taken the oath of office yet and it's becoming more and more apparent that his entire campaign was a bait-and-switch. he campaigned on creating good jobs but rather than propose real polici