Taking the questions, the rapidfire from a wide range. One of the things my predecessors have suggested is to sit down at a podium and pretend reporters ask you real questions to try to make sure you understand the depth and breadth of what will come your way on a daily basis. But its making sure you get up to speed on some hot button issues. Sit down with some of the key players who will be playing key roles in the administration to develop those relationships to get a better understanding of the issues and also, getting used to the rhythm of taking the incoming questions in the way they do at the podium. Host you talked to josh earnest. Any advice, anything you took away from that conversation and also touring his office and the west wing . Ms. Conway josh and the Communications Director were generous with their time and counsel. They shared with me some of the challenges they face and some of the ideas they had. And a lot of it was just me asking questions about procedurally what they have found works better than others in terms of timing, preparation, things like that. Its been 8 years since ive been in the white house. And so, it was an opportunity to really reacquaint myself with the size and scope of the offices, how people really sit in different areas that deal with the press. That was very helpful. Beyond josh and jenn, whether it is robert gibbs, jay carney, even marlon fitzwater, everybody who has held this job has reached out and offered their advice and counsel. It is a pretty humbling experience when you realize that you are in a club of 30 people who held this position. Host the biggest change from eight years ago social media. Twitter, instagram, facebook. How does that add to the challenge for you trying to communicate a message . Mr. Spicer i look at is it opportunity, not a challenge. When the Bush Administration left in 2009, there was no potus. There was no facebook page, no instagram. I think we go in both with the government assets that exist but obviously Donald Trumps own twitter handle and facebook and instagram, 50 Million People following, 19 million on twitter. That is a pretty powerful pool. That is why i said it is an opportunity. It is one thing just to be able to tweak the power in the movement he represents is a tool that nobody has ever had before to be able to reach people and such unique way. Host having spent time of the white house, you know how close the quarters are. How is that going to affect your interaction with west wing staffers . Mr. Spicer here at trump tower, it is a pretty, you know, closeknit group. Everyone knows each other really well, works side by side. I think that hemisphere will continue in the west wing. Host you grew up in rhode island. Do you remember when you first got interested in politics . Mr. Spicer yes. My teacher still there, phenomenal guy. Really inspired a lot of students. Some have gone on to do really important things, to understand the awesomeness of politics, the backandforth of ideas. Ive toiled in college putting up signs, in high school and then it went to college, my sophomore year i really got started taking classes in getting involved. I volunteered on congressional races at the time. My junior year, i volunteered at the state legislature. It was that kind of four or five years that i got an interest in politics beyond the theory and went into the practice by getting out in the field and helping out. Host i want to go back to that high school teacher. What was it about . Mr. Spicer it is not the material, it is the passion they have for it. And the ability to share that and inspire people and motivate you, and so different people have different things. Some people have math or a language. I think in this particular case, i enjoyed the way he presented politics. The campaigning, the backandforth, the idea of crafting and drafting and implementing a mission is a message is something that appeals to me. Host why Republican Party politics . Mr. Spicer that is a great question, especially in a state like rhode island. We have had some great mayors. We have had some good governors. And we had some good at the federal level. But i think part of it was my father had a very strong business sense, talking about regulatory aspect of taxes and how they affected the ability to do business and create jobs. I remember the institute of the luxury tax in rhode island, we are the ocean state. Sailing and boat building are crucial to Rhode Islands manufacturing base. It was aimed to raise money from rich people and it was a lot of the Little People who sold boats that lost their jobs. We used to be sort of a destination for boat building and manufacturing and that all went away. People started buying used boats or moving different places. I think watching things like that happen on an economic front and how it affects job creation really got me going. And then from social perspective, i grew up really believing in a prolife, profamily agenda. And i think the Republican Party conservative values much more fit my personality. Host brothers and sisters, one of each . What do they think about what their brother is doing . Mr. Spicer there are different parts of it. I think they are very proud of me. And what i have done and where im going to work. Sometimes they disagree on a particular issue or something i said or something that is in the Republican Party platform or whatever. So they are much less politically driven, but i think they are both very proud of the work ive done and where i have ended up. Host a lot of debate over thanksgiving dinner. Mr. Spicer most dinners end up with some kind of political discussion or issue discussion. Host let me ask you about your experience on capitol hill. You worked for the house budget committee. How do you apply that to the white house . Mr. Spicer i worked in the senate and in the house, 11 members of congress, maybe 10. But i think understanding two things the issues, whether it is the house budget committee, the environment and public works committee, government reports republican conference. Two things i think are important. One is the issues that were in front of us, the understanding that i now have because of the opportunity. But also the process and the way it works. And one of the things i think that is important about washington is, as they say, understand how the sausage is made. Understand how an agenda is implemented successfully. Knowing rank and file and how they operate i think helps build a narrative and drive a successful agenda that the president elect is putting forward. Host you also went to the Naval War College to study what . Mr. Spicer strategic studies. It is the war college, the navys version. Each service has a war college. So, looking back on history, understanding the various wars and the fleet. Theres multiple components to getting your masters degree there. Host why that, why did you pursue that . Mr. Spicer im a navy reservist. As part of our we are strongly encouraged to be promoted to the officer ranks. It was a great opportunity to learn, the Naval War College, a phenomenal institution, some really, really amazing professors there. The material is phenomenal. And i think it really allowed me to grow intellectually through studying the various aspects, not just the navy but the joint force, the military, and strategic and in. Part of the job of a press secretary is to process and departmentalize different issues and topics and figure out how you communicate that to the public. Host how do you approach that . Mr. Spicer the same way ive done it before. Ive been doing this for a couple of decades. Part of it is figuring out how to take a complex issue and synthesize it down to an effective narrative, and then what are those selling points that help drive the issue or policy that you are trying to sell or implement, whether it is the American People to get the votes in congress . Host you will also be white house Communications Director. Where do you draw the line . Mr. Spicer if you look at the way the Current White House is set up, i think they have done, they are a good model with jenn and josh. I think we will have a similar situation. The committee Occasions Team focuses a lot more on the logistics, the planning, wheres the message going, what are the events that will drive that, what are the pieces that go into driving a successful narrative and message . The press office deals a lot with the daytoday. The incoming press inquiries, whether from regional specialty or national media. And i think we have got a Phenomenal Team of people on both the committee tatian side and on the press side on the communication side and the press site to ensure whether it is the daytoday questions or the longterm communications planning, we have an effective operation. Host we have covered you at the university of chicago, but where is your head in terms of how you want to structure all of this and what if any changes you want to implement . Mr. Spicer from a staff standpoint we are ahead of schedule. We have got a lot of great individuals that have come in and are part of the communications team. We talked to people about being part of the department, the various departments and agencies and being key leaders and that in that. Just dealing with the press people. I think what i have done as gone back and do with the present elect has challenged everyone who is offered an appointment or position to in the white house or in the different secretaries, which is to go out and see if we can do a better job and deliver a better product more efficiently to the American People. Im looking at the entire process. I am talking to reporters, talking to my predecessors, im talking to outside stakeholders and reporters and individuals and asking them, what can we do better, how do we more effectively communicate . How do we bring in more people in the process so it is not just the Mainstream Media that has a lock on this . How do we bring in bloggers and talk radio and may be people who have not felt as welcome or cannot afford to have a correspondent in the Briefing Room seven days a week . And so what i think we are trying to do is bring more voices, more people into the process. Host you are also the father of two. How do your kids feel about their dad . Mr. Spicer they are excited, they are young, so they are not fully into with what is entirely happening but they are excited. They were up in new york a couple of weeks ago and got to walk around here at trump tower. They see donald trump go on air all the time and call it out. So, i think they are a little young to fully comfort hundred they are excited for the dad as my wife has been. The only reason i could do this job is because she has been so supportive. Host what is the biggest challenge, because donald trump is tweeting in the morning, up late at night. Keeping up with him is probably the biggest challenge. Mr. Spicer he does not stop. He is so driven about making this country better and helping unite the country, create jobs, spur Economic Growth. And you are right, he does not stop here he keeps going. I think the country is going to benefit from his energy, his enthusiasm, his ideas. Host how did you meet your wife . Mr. Spicer through a member of the media. She used to work at wjla, the abc station in washington. We had a mutual friend who thought we would be, who would connect, and she was right. So, we went out to an event outside of washington one saturday. And hit it off. Host she understands the challenges. Mr. Spicer she worked in the Bush White House, so she understands plus being in television, her background moving from station to station and the intensity of the news cycle and the experience she she is so excited and thrilled. It is unbelievably demanding on your time. And the family is important. And it is great to have such an amazing infrastructure to allow me to do this. Host what did you do in the Bush White House . Mr. Spicer assistant representative for media and public affairs. Host when did you first meet Reince Priebus . Mr. Spicer i met Reince Priebus probably a week after he got elected. I had been asked by some individuals who were helping him transition from wisconsin state chairman to rnc chairman after his election to the chairmanship and asked if i would sit down with him. I said i would. We pretty much hit it off day one. By the way, you want to talk about somebody else who works nonstop, Reince Priebus. Between Reince Priebus and donald trump, they wear you out. They both are just going 100 miles an hour 23 hours a day. Host how will he structure the white house . Mr. Spicer when you look at his job over the last six years at the rnc, he has been handsdown the most effective rnc chairman not just in modern history but i would argue throughout history. He understands, youre talking about running an organization with thousands of people during election season, right . Making sure they get paid, making sure they raise money, dollars in the campaign, members of congress. This is what he has been doing for six years. Balancing, setting priorities, getting things done. And despite anyones political background or you know, philosophy, you have to give reince credit for the way he ran that rnc. He founded 25 million in debt. He put a plan together, got the money raised, and then implement it by far the best data, digital and ground game any party has seen. Host most people predicted that Hillary Clinton was going to win. Was there a moment when you said donald trump was going to beat her . Mr. Spicer yes, Election Night. Host not before that . Mr. Spicer after 2012 when we thought we were going to win and we lost. I knew we had a path to win, i knew we had a movement when you see all those rallies, you saw people coming out and you wanted it so badly, you were just worried. You do not want to expose yourself to much after your sort of tried and not made in 2012. On Election Night when you saw those counties tourney that had gone for obama won after the other in michigan and pennsylvania, virginia, places that obama carried 53 , and they were going trump, you knew it was going to be big. Host what was it like in new york, for you . Mr. Spicer surreal. There is no other way to describe it. You are standing in the room with the next president and Vice President of the United States watching them learn that they have just become the next president and Vice President with their families. Here in our war room, a bunch of Campaign Staffer around, and a very small group, and to watch that moment happen is something that, you know, few people in history can say they did. Host do you think he thought he was going to win . Mr. Spicer yes, absolutely. He knew, look, donald trump does not do things he does not think he can be successful in. It is not in his dna. He makes a big new business deal and he gets on the phone to negotiate something. He does it with 100 focus on winning. He does nothing short of that. So, when he talks about bringing jobs home or creating Economic Growth or driving costs down, he is going to make it happen come hell or high water, he gets the job done. Host what kind of president do you think he will be . Mr. Spicer effective, successful. You look at what he did with carrier, lockheed and boeing he picked up the phone got those costs down. He is a guy that picks up the phone and asked for a meeting and gets it done. You saw it with the sprint deal, he has laid out a philosophy that a lot of job creators are saying that i want to grow more jobs and bring more jobs back and i want to manufacture more but he has inspired a lot of people from all lower around the company to be part of this american renewal. Host there are a lot of critics, a lot of naysayers. Do you Pay Attention to it all . Mr. Spicer sure. To be effective, you have to understand what people are thinking. Sometimes, it helps guide you. You can tweak a message because maybe you have not fully appreciated what everyone else is hearing. I think if you shut off the voices to the right, to the left down the middle, you cannot be as effective. Again, getting back to the president elect, i think weve seeing through various meetings he had, he met with people who were opposed to him, people who ran against him, but he wants the best and brightest people around him. He wants ideas and thoughts that will help implement his agenda and move the country forward. Hillary clinton said that she wishes him the best and that he will be a successful president for all americans. Host how does he do that . Mr. Spicer i think he continues to demonstrate that through his actions. And not just through his work. He talked about this starting at Election Night when he talked about wanting to unite this country and be a president for those who voted for him and those who did not. I think he continues to show that he is going to fight for this country he is going to fight for jobs. He is going to fight to unite the country and make us proud of his job as president , proud to be an american. Not that we are not already. But just, i think he wants to inspire people to go out and do what they can to serve this nation and make it better. You look at some of the people joining this cabinet, unbelievably successful. Stepping aside from a successful career because they want to be part of this movement and part of making this country even greater. Host have you had a chance to talk to your high school teacher, your mentor . Mr. Spicer i have, quite often. Host what has he told you . Mr. Spicer i told him a couple of times, i do not think i would be here without your inspiration. I think it is important to thank the folks who have got you where you are. It is not just now. He is someone that mailed a check in over the years and has provided continued counsel as my entire family has, but hell constant lycee, i saw you on this or i read this passage i think was really good. Sometimes he offers ideas and suggestions. But more importantly offers prayers and support. Host when youre not working, what does sean spicer do . Mr. Spicer when is that . I do not know when that time is. Like i mentioned, we have two kids. As much time i can spend with them and my wife, i do. Most of the time, it is cleaning up things trying to support my wife. Shes carrying the lions share of this. Time with the kids is the most crucial. Host we are coming to you from trump tower. And this backdrop is iconic. Donald trump said at this location by those escalators to announce. What do you think the first 100 days will look like . Mr. Spicer busy. He is going to hit the ground running. You ask about the person hundred days, i think the first 100 hours are going to be and the first afternoon the first 100 days. I think once he gets back to the white house and settles into the oval office, he is going to be guns a blazing right out of the gate. He wants to continue to fulfill that pledge that changes coming on day one, and i think you are going to see a series of actions on day one to show the American People that times have changed. Business as usual is over, change is here. Host excited, nervous, little bit of both . Mr. Spicer a lot of both. It is humbling and as i mentioned it is truly an honor when you think of what an opportunity this is an you are representing the American People. I grew up in a small state and a small town and the idea that you could be, have a position like this is something i could never have dreamed up. So, this is an awesome responsibility. But it is exciting, but it is a little bit there is nervousness because i want to represent the president elect to the best of my ability, make the proud that my team and i do on his behalf and i want the American People to be proud of this president and the successes he is going to have. Host sean spicer, thank you for your time. Mr. Spicer thanks, steve. Rep. Reed cspan is featuring inauguration day. We begin tomorrow with the Larry Oconnor show from washington dc. Watch that at 3 p. M. Eastern on cspan. Wants to welcome back the chair of the american conservative union. February 2225. A month after the inauguration. The president will be there . You trying to breaking news . Im confident theres a good chance he will be there. Year, the come last last minute we had a little bit of a problem. The last minute, but we have enjoyed having him five years before and we hope to have them