>> part of tonight's special program looking at the trump cabinet. we will show you portions of confirmation hearing featuring education secretary betsy devos, scott pruitt of the epa and others beginning at 8:00 p.m. tonight here on c-span. >> check out our c-span classroom website. it's full of free teaching resources for c-span classroom members. the approved layout gives teachers easy access to ready to go resources for the classroom including short current events important highlight events in washington, d.c., constitution clips that bring the constitution to life, social studies lesson plans as well as on this day in history resources. our search function allows classroom teachers to search and filter by date, person, keyword, topic and grade level. bellringer's video clips of teacher favorites, short videos p with vocabulary and discussion questions that make the federal government and politics more accessible to your students. >> i love the bellringer's. i don't use them as actual bellringer's sometimes but i use them in conjunction with an activity we are doing that day. it's more like a wrapup. >> the new website is something that is fabulous. my students use it regularly. it's easy. they are right now working on clipping videos and making questions that they can design and turn to their own bellringer's. >> my favorite aspect is the deliberation phase. it's the perfectly set up, ready deliberation,m classroom discussion on a variety of topics that are current and relevant today. >> if you are in middle school or high school student, join thousands of your fellow teachers across the nation as a member of c-span classroom. it's free and easy to register at www.c-span.org/classroom and if you register now, you can request our classroom sized american presidents timely poster, a graphic display of the biographies of all 45 presidents. find out more at www.c-span.org/ classroom. president obama's former senior adviser, valerie jarrett, obama foundation as an unpaid adviser. she will help plan the obama presidential center in jackson park on the southside of chicago. the day of the announcement, she sat down for a obama foundation as an unpaid adviser. discussion at the city club of chicago about her years at the obama white house and the future plans of barack and michelle obama. this is about 45 minutes. >> ok, everybody, let's get started. valerie jarrett is the longest-serving senior adviser to president barack obama where she oversaw the offices of public she chaired the white house council on women and girls. throughout her tenure at the white house, she worked to mobilize elected officials, is -- business and community leaders and diverse groups of , advocates. she led president obama's efforts to expand and strengthen access to the middle-class and to boost american businesses and the economy. she fought to empower women politically and economically in the u.s. and around the world. she oversaw the administrations advocacy for workplace policies that empower working families , including equal pay, raising the minimum wage, paid leave, paid sick days, work place flexibility and affordable , childcare. valerie jarrett also led the campaigns to reform our criminal justice system and sexual assault and reduced gun violence. she has a background in the public and private sectors. she served as ceo of the habitat company in chicago, chairman of the chicago transit board, commissioner of planning and development for the city, deputy chief of staff for mayor richard m daley. she has also served as the director of numerous corporate and not-for-profit boards, including as chairman of the board of the chicago stock exchange, chairman of the university of chago. medical center board of trustees, director of the federal reserve bank of chicago. she has received numerous rewards and honorary degrees , including time magazine's 100 most influential people. valerie grew up in chicago. she received her ba from stanford university and her law degree from the university of michigan law school. just last week, she was appointed to the board of directors of chicago-based aerial investments. a little point of information on that. her father, dr. james bowman, was one of the original members of the board of directors. so the obvious first question is what is it like to be in your , father's seat? boy you are going , to make me cry at the beginning? first of all, good afternoon. i think i know almost everybody here. there is no place like home. so thank you very much for welcoming me back here. [applause] valerie: give me a second to compose myself. it is an extraordinary honor. my dad was one of the original investors. those of you who know john rogers, and if you started the company as a very young adult. i was one of the people who said, you're far too young to start this business. similarly to me telling someone else you are far too young to run for president. so much for my advise. my father believed in john and his mission. not only is he extra ordinary business person, but also a great civic leader here and around the united states and around the world. i am honored to join. >> after you finish telling than u.s. senator barack obama that he was too young to run for president, what did he say to -- what did he say to you? valerie: the story goes back further. i gave him my most incorrect advice when i suggested he not run for u.s. senate. those of you from chicago will note he had not that long before lost a congressional race. i said, if you run so quickly, then if you lose again, your political career is over. so i don't think you should do it. he said, well, i'm going to do it. and if i'm not afraid of losing, then why are you? which was actually very good sound advice. he thought his opportunity was then so he decided to run. by the time he decided to run for president, i was like ok, all right. you're kind of young, but ok. let's try. the rest is history. >> how would you describe your experiences as advisor to the president over the last eight years? valerie: extraordinary. the best eight years of my life be able to be there from day one until the last day and have a chance to see our country come back from what could have been the worst economic crisis of a lifetime. certainly, it was in my lifetime. not since the great depression have we been on the precipice of the banks in a freefall and losing 750,000 jobs a month. to see us go from it unemployment rate down to 10 -- up to 10, down to 20 million five. people without health care. scaling down wars, figuring out how to grow and build a middle-class, it was an extraordinary experience. and there were some highs and lows, but i would not have traded it for anything. >> what was it like for that first day? valerie: stunning. that is all i can tell you. in fact, i will tell you a funny story. before we moved in, i was one of the cochairs of the transition team. we started working literally the day after the election preparing for the transition of power. i always give president bush a shout out and his team because they did everything possible to insure we could hit the ground running. they were cooperative. they volunteered as much information as possible. they really set the tone. it says a lot i think about democracy where we really ran a campaign against many of his policies, and yet he knew it was his responsibility to help us. the first time i went to the white house as part of the transition team, i went with mike, who is here who is now , with the obama foundation. mike was overseeing the organization of the staffing of the offices of public engagement. we go into the white house together and right before christmas and the decorations were up and it was just a twilight -- at twilight. we were petrified, to say the least. excited, exhilarated, did not know what we were going to encounter. just as we went to the checkpoint at the secret service counter, first of all, we were delighted they let us in, because who knows? [laughter] valerie i was more worried about : mike than myself. we go through the gates and are walking up and look at the white house and it is all lit up. so exciting. the cameramen who are around this place, one of the cameramen -- you will remember this, mike -- yelled out, welcome to the white house. we burst into tears. we stood there crying like babies. if you had asked me growing up what were the chances of my ever , working in the white house, even knowing or meeting the president of the united states, i would have been stunned. so that first day was overwhelming. the parade was going on in front of the white house. mike and i were trying to figure out where the bathrooms were. >> had you ever been in the white house before that day? valerie: i had been in there to -- two other times. i was invited as a guest when president clinton was president. and also my cousin worked for president clinton. i went to her goodbye party. but i certainly had not been around it away we explored and discovered it over the eight years we were there. >> if that was the first day, what was it like on the last day? calico did you hear that sigh? oh, my gosh. i was determined to be there on the last day. i wanted to just finish out this entire journey. people always joked and wondered , how did you last for eight years? it never occurred to me to leave early. that last day, it was bittersweet. i went over early, and they have a tradition where they fly a flag on the first and last day of the administration. and the people who oversee the white house deliver the flag to the president and the first lady. i watched that ceremony and it was quite powerful and emotional as you would imagine. i was there when president-elect trump and mike pence and there's -- and their spouses arrived. again, it is an indication of how hard you have to work no matter how you might feel about the outcome of an election. for a smooth and early transition. we tried very hard to do the same thing to the trump transition team as president bush did for us. but it was painful to see, for example, the house staff that we log on and on such personal terms, come down to say that final goodbye. there were a lot of tears. >> you have been described as president and michelle obama's first friend. what does that imply? what does that mean? valerie: we are really good buddies. i have known them 26 years. i was telling the story last friday about how i met them. solicit me a copy of her resume of michelle robinson when it was mayor daley's chief of staff. across the top, she wrote an .outstanding young lawyer no offense of being involved with the law firm." no offense. i thought my kind of person. , i wasn't too hot on law firm life either. ,i interviewed her. 10 minutes into the interview , i figured out i was to longer interviewing her. she was interviewing me. i made her an offer on the spot. the next thing i'm saying to her, why have you not accepted the offer? she said, well my fiancee does not think it is such a great idea. i said, what do you mean, your fiance doesn't think it is a good idea? said, what if he doesn't agree with something mayor daley does? who will be looking out for me? would you have dinner with the three of us? so i said, yes, and that was a really was decision. >> i take the dinner was not at valloy's. valerie: it could've been. that is my mom's favorite restaurant. it really was the beginning of what i know would be a lifelong friendship. over the course of 26 years, they married, had two amazing children. we were involved with each other professionally and personally over the course of the normal institutes of life. out of that, you find out who you can trust. i'm sure everyone in your who has a friend that you made friends with 26 years ago, you have become pretty good friends. >> absolutely. reflecting back at this experience, what do you think were the greatest successes of president obama and his team? valerie: that is easy. number one, saving our economy. the fact that you now have millions and millions of people who have jobs who did not have them and who were at risk of losing them is very important. putting rules in place to ensure that the banks were not able to take risks with other people's money, to that degree, get too big to fail again. we wanted to make sure we did not repeat that tragedy again. so those rules are in place and i hope they stay in place. i am proud of the work we did around the affordable care act. still to this day confused about , how it turned into such a politically charged issue. what is wrong with wanting everybody to have affordable health care? i just don't get that. [applause] on the international stage, i'm proud of the fact we were able to strike a deal with a consortium of other countries to ensure that iran does not develop nuclear weapons. reestablishing the relationship with cuba i think is transformative. the fact that on the world stage i think president obama tried , hard to show that force is not the only way you solve big problems. that as complex as the world is, you really do need to use diplomacy. you should not be afraid to use force, but you should also use diplomacy. i think our reputation improved on the world stage. [applause] valerie we reduced our : dependence on foreign oil. amazing strides we made towards energy efficiency. one of the areas i'm concerned about policy going forward, we do have to that the climate -- recognize that the climate is changing. the fact that we were able to get nearly 200 countries to come together in paris and signed an accord not just government , commitments but private commit , because we do want to leave the environment better to our chilton and grandchildren than we found it. these are just a few of the many things i'm very proud of. >> we are proud you were part of that. how about the lack of success? what do you think rankled the president and someone like yourself the most? valerie: i will give you three. first of all, i deeply regret we were unable to get congress to back just the simplest of laws requiring universal background checks before we give people access to lethal weapons. [applause] valerie: why wouldn't you do that? we focus on the tragedy of sandy hook. it was certainly my worst day during the president's time in office. we heard the news, and in a couple of days later went to , newtown and participated in a memorial service for those who lost their lives so viciously. soon thereafter i came back home , to chicago with the first lady and attended the funeral of a woman who was murdered just a mile or so from where we live in north kenwood, oakland area. south kenwood. so whether it is a mass tragedy or one daughter, we can do better. so that is big disappointment. one another big disappointment was on comprehensive immigration reform. the president believes we are a nation of laws but we are also a , nation of immigrants. part of what we are a beacon of hope to the world and people are drawn to the united states this , is the land of opportunity. we should have been able to get congress with the bipartisan support we had to pass comprehensive immigration reform. that would've been a path to citizenship for many people in this country and who do contribute to our economy and our quality of life as well as provide opportunities for people who come here and enjoy our incredible institution. we have the best universities in the world. what we do after they get their degree? we send them back home so they can compete in another country. why wouldn't we want to keep them here? those jobs just create more jobs. i suppose the final one is one that is disappointing to me because it was one of my responsibilities. and that was to try to get criminal justice reform legislation through congress. the goal there was to reduce mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenders. are fullns and jails of people who either belong in facilities where they can get treatment for substance abuse or mental health challenges, or they deserve to of had a better education and they need a pack to diversion. and we need to be investing in people when they are incarcerated. finally, we need to be hiring them when they are released from prison and giving them that second chance so they don't go through the revolving recidivism door. the piece of that we did not get him was the piece that required congressional action. again, where we had bipartisan support. i tell the story that if anyone told me i was in the quantity of time i did with the general industries, jose that would not be. you know what? they were supportive of it and we had grover norquist, very fiscally conservative academic the right and the aclu on the and everyone in between. yet and still congress refused , to act. the good news is there is work going on all across the country, including a cook county, the state of illinois, cities, states, passing legislation. the vast majority of people who are incarcerated are at the state and local level. 2.2 million people are incarcerated. 11 million cycle through our jails on an annual basis. there is important work that can be done outside of federal government. >> thank you. could you describe president obama's management and leadership style? and as a follow-up to that did , you ever tell him know about something and what was his , reaction? valerie: i will start with the first one. that is easier. his management style is -- first of all, it takes the long view. there were a lot of decisions he made as president that might not materialize and come to fruition for years on end. i think part of the challenge when you are an elected official , by necessity, you tend to focus on the election cycle. there are certain things you can do right after you are elected that you can't do in an election year. your moment for bold change its limited. he always managed to say let's take the long view. there were people who encouraged him not to go forward with the affordable care act. they said we will say that for later it will erode your , popularity. his point is, what is the point of being popular unless you're going to do bold things? [applause] valerie: if you think about it, the legislation was contested twice where the lawsuits what -- when all the way to the supreme court. it was important we had that runway because it takes a while to get it done. i wish we had had four more years to have it firmly as part of the fabric and then it would , be harder to unravel. although, we are finding it was hard to unravel, anyway. it is a consultative piece of business. he takes the long view. he is a very good listener. many of you in this room know him. he is intellectually curious. he has high emotional intelligence, and he gives you his undivided attention. whether you were the most junior person in the room or his chief of staff he always wanted to , hear what people have to say. he treated people working in the white house, i know kelly washes here, he would appreciate this having served in the commerce department, that he wanted to know as much as he could before he made a decision because the president's decisions are pretty important. so you want to be informed and you want to make intellectual decisions. we used to -- or he's to joke with us and say why don't you , bring me some of the easy decisions? that is what your staff does. you get the tough ones, the ones that keep you up at night. i think it is important to note that he was very, very inclusive in his decision-making process. and then he was not afraid to make a decision. he did not just admire the problem and enjoy the conversation. the whole point was to drive it to a conclusion so we could move on to the next one. he was very patient in that process. i mean, not necessarily patient with all of us, although he never lost his temper. goodness does, i'm sure we gave him reason to. but he always had that kind of even temper. if he did not have all the information he needed, he did not make the decision. he would send us back and said i want you to answer these five questions and then i will make the decision when i am ready. the other big strength is he considered diversity of strength. he surrounded himself with a whole range of people who came from different perspectives than he did, so that he listened most closely to those with whom he disagreed and that improved his decision-making as well. >> sounds like his style is different from the current white house. [laughter] valerie: let me get to the other question, which was what happens when i would say no. first of all, you don't just say no. you say this is my opinion. back to the management, people who were on his team felt so good about the process, the decision-making process, that in the end when he made a decision you often could not remember , where you started on this and end up in a different place because it was one that was intended to get by. when you are running the country and you need some and people to implement your decisions it is , good to include them in the process along the way. it makes implementation a lot more smooth and easy. >> you and your colleagues the other night, you said in an interview that when you worked for mayor richard daley, that you were terrified. kelly: yes, we were. [laughter] valerie: he is the mayor of the city of chicago and we were still kind of young and thrilled to have these incredible positions that he had given us. he believed in putting women into high-powered positions. we were really very happy to be there and thrilled to be back, and he scared as a bet. it is true. it is true. but to finish the story that susan and i were telling, we told this in the context of being in his office very early soon after she was appointed corporation counsel. at that point i was the commissioner of planning and development will stop we love to tell the story because it says so much about him and says so much about culture. and that is, we were sitting there, supposed be paying attention to whatever the topic of the meeting was and neither of us were paying any attention at all. we kept looking at our watches. finally he says, what is it that you all want to do that is more important than what we are doing right here? i looked at susan and when it is moment of truth and i said to him, the halloween parade starts in 20 minutes. it is 25 minutes away. breath because, who knows? we did not know what he would say. what he said was what are you , doing here? the relief we felt to have our as -- we were both single moms and we'd knew if we did not show up at the parade, there would not be a parent there. we go flying down lakeshore drive at 100 miles per hour and -- i know, exactly. and we get up there as these little darlings are coming out of their costumes. you can see them looking through the crowd for us and we were there. we were there because mayor daley gave us permission to go. and he not only gave his maggieion, but he and supported leading by example, putting family i think that first. model served well. we both worked in the white house to encourage her junior staff who had children to be sure to take care of your family and that you can be in a high-powered position but still , be a good parent. [applause] >> i understand halloween was his favorite holiday. valerie: what susan said last friday, the best excuse in the world if you had to get out of a meeting was parent-teacher conference. we had a lot of parent-teacher conferences. [laughter] valerie: he was great. >> there are so many women that he appointed to meaningful positions. he obviously recognized talent and energy and creativity. yourself, susan, we could name many others. is mayor daley a strong feminist? valerie: yes, absolutely, unequivocally. i think he has raised his children to feel the same way. to feel like you can compete on an even playing field regardless of gender and that you should be very mindful of supporting working families. so, yes i think he was. , he was amazingly supportive of each of us. >> how close did you come when president obama gave up his senate seat -- valerie: i knew you were going there. >> to city clubs? we always like to probe and find certain things out. how close did you come to making a decision to strike out for that seat? you were quoted as saying the dissuaded you. could you talk to that? valerie: sure, why not? it is just us, right? i had not been asked about that much, but susan and i talked about it again last week. i did think sears leave out throwing my hat in the ring. my family and closest friends were all supportive of it. i thought it would be great to be a u.s. senator, a principal do my ownl come and thing. they were all for it. what the president ultimately set is, look, i know you, i know the senate because i've been here, and i know what i want in the white house. i think you'll enjoy the executive branch more and you will feel more as if you're infected be greater in the executive branch with me, with a portfolio you described of issues i had cared passionately about for a longtime compared to joining the senate. wake was he right. ,-- boy, was he right. i am very glad i did not join the senate. those who did work in the senate or in the house, it is extremely frustrating. there are so many people who are putting their short-term political interests ahead of what i think is the greater good and what is the greater good for our country. if you talk to our u.s. senators, they will tell you it is really, really frustrating. i think they do an amazing job and i'm glad they're fighting for us each and every day, but i think i made the right decision to be in the executive branch. >> how frustrated would you say that president obama became over merrick garland and the refusal to give him a senate hearing? valerie: on a scale of one to 10, i would put it at about 52. it is ridiculous. look, he is elected for a four-year term. as far as i am concerned, that four-year term ended january 20 of this year, not one year earlier. it is the first time in history where you had a vacancy during an election year that was not filled. the last time there was a vacancy was for justice kennedy when he was nominated by reagan. i would mention vice president biden was the chairman of the judiciary committee. the democrats gave judge kennedy a hearing and he was confirmed almost unanimously. i think unanimously. that is how it is supposed to go. you give a hearing to the president of austria's the money. you do it in public so the american people can see for themselves how those questions are answered. if i were you, i would get some input from your constituents and then make your own judgment. but to simply say because we're in an election year we're going to strip the president of the power he has to make an appointment? it is unheard of. not only is it unheard of, then you ended up with a court that was split 4-4. we all know this is a group of a lot of business and civic leaders, the certainty the supreme court can give you by having a national law is important. you all don't like uncertainty. if you're operating in multiple states, you can imagine right now you could have different circuits coming to different conclusions, and then that is the law in those circuits until the supreme court makes the ultimate decision. so it is bad for business. it provides a lack of certainty to everyone. it is not the reason why our democracy created the supreme court. pretty ticked off about that. >> take that to the bank. [applause] valerie: and i'm done yet. what i should have led with is there is not anybody i know that was not appointed to the supreme court with better qualifications. he is the chief judge of the d.c. circuit, served there for 19 years. in all of the time that you beingof his appointment held up, i never heard a single republican on the judiciary committee or in the senate say he wasn't completely qualified for the job. >> absolutely. valerie: i am done now. officeking of elective would you consider a run in the , future for an elective office? valerie: i don't think so. >> ok. valerie: i don't think so. that was very sweet for that. i think i am on a different stage of my life. you never say never. i said i would never work for the federal government and then what did i do? i worked for the federal government. that is because i was very frustrated and you're in local government and he filled the federal government is so far away and their programs are not tied your reality, and part of what we try to do -- when derek was in the white house as well, we tried to ensure that our programs were being tailored to the needs of the community. a different phase of my life. i do want to continue to be a force for good. we just made public today that i'm signed on to be a pro bono advisor to the obama foundation . and i am very interested in what it can do. [applause] my day: so it is not job, but it is something i'm very passionate about. i think the president and the first lady and her team, and others who may be here, are committed to making it not only a beacon of hope and an engine of -- economic engine in chicago buthe south side, where -- for the country and the world. they are less interested in the library part of it than they are in the center and the foundation, which is not looking to the past and all he did as president, which is important and educational and historic, but to the future. and how can these two extraordinarily talented people who are still very young, have an impact and use that as the epicenter for how they developed a platform for engagement with all of you and many, many more to solve some of the big problems that are left unsolved here in our nation and around the world. so that will take up a good bit of my time. i am passionate about it. we invite everybody here to participate. civic engagement is something you do not get hired to do. hopefully, it is something you're born recognizing it is your responsibility to do as a citizen. >> i think we all appreciate your commitment to that. remember, mike, she said it is not her day job. ok. ella: it is not my full-time job and is what i said. i'm looking forward to working with mike. he is terrific. he has made a big impact since arriving back home in chicago. we have lots of big things to do together. >> many of us were impressed with the president's wife, with michelle's activities during the last presidential campaign. do you think she could be a candidate to run for public office in the future? valerie: i think it's safe in saying no. i think she considered being the first lady of the united states -- also an unpaid job where you work really hard -- a great platform to be a force, whether it was her efforts around let's me to remove children obesity or the work she did with dr. biden and the military families to help support them, or her reach higher, inspiring young people to go to college. a big piece last year, there were 100 million girls around the world, adolescent girls, who are not in school and we know , that staying at school is the best indicator of economics success in life. this is where she felt how shall he about the subject and where she thought she could help move the needle. that work will continue. throughthem will sort where the issues are that they want to devote the rest of their lives do, and as i said earlier, that will be focused in their own bomb a center. i think that is where her work will occur. i don't think she will be running for office. >> one of the questions that was submitted to us, democratic voters and activists have watched as the senate, the house of representatives, and the presidency have slipped away to the republican party. what do you think it will take right, what appears to many, to be a sinking ship? valerie: i don't think our ship is sinking. in fact, i am still very optimistic about our country. part of it is that i now get to spend so much time outside of washington. when you do, you see the amazing transformation happening across our country. different metric points. i think what it is going to take is, for example, the 43% of the people who did not vote in the last election getting engaged. i don't just mean when there is a presidential election. it is really important to your alderman is, who is on the county board, and who the mayor is, and who the governor and the state legislature is. one of the areas where eric holder is spending time is on this whole issue of redistricting. we have gerrymandered our lines in such a way the american people are not getting their fair voice. my optimism comes from the opportunity and potential for civic engagement. when the american people decide they want to get involved and elect people who they think represent them and turn out to vote, then that is when things will change. i am hoping that happens soon. [applause] valerie: and we want to create, i think -- part of what the president obama -- i keep saying president obama because it is confusing, so i think what president obama is really interested in is creating a mechanism by which young people can find out the best practices to run for office. i meet people across the country who are interested, but they don't know where to begin. they want to get cynically involved, but how do you do that? engagementmmunity and civic engagement is a way to pull into the obama center, not just people in the united states, but around the world who are the young leaders and who are the ones we should all be nurturing and encouraging to run for office, and then supporting them when they do. we need a strong bench. i think as a party, the democratic party does not have the bench we should have. >> you have to build a farm system. a couple of last questions. this is from charlie gardner, trustee at roosevelt university. he would like to know what changes -- valerie: hey, charlie. i did not see him. >> he is hiding behind his wife. what changes should be made to improve obamacare, and is there any chance of a bipartisan group merging to make those changes? valerie: i will answer the second question first. i have no idea because of the toxicity in washington. i think if there were a will to do it, they could do it. i think they can move away from this repeal, which is just a political win they're looking for. [applause] valerie: when you say repeal, keep in mind, it is not just the 20 million people who have health insurance through the exchanges, it is the people who benefited from the expansion of medicaid in 31 of our states, 39 of our states. it is the people who benefited from knowing that insurance companies can no longer discriminate against them if they have pre-existing conditions. you know, and my age most of us , have some sort of pre-existing condition. looking around this room, your age, too. [laughter] i met moms before the aca was passed to worrying about whether or not they could afford to get their children the achievement are women who can now go in for preventive care without a co-pay. we tend to put ourselves last, and there is no excuse. you can get that annual checkup and you don't have to worry about lifetime or annual all caps. there's a lot to the aca they did not get the attention that i thought it deserved. but if you say, let's repeal it, i was a team a why? the question you pose, what do you do to improve it? the exchange is healthier. part of what would have helped is if the republicans had helped us market the younger people. as you know, you want to have a reasonably healthy pool because that makes the numbers work. young people think they will live forever. it is hard to get them to buy insurance. marketing it better and getting a better mix of the pool would have helped. perhaps we should've had a better subsidy to encourage people to participate and help the insurance companies and tell -- until the pool was healthy enough that they were not pulling out of the markets. we did see companies plot of the markets because in the short run, they were losing money. in order to keep them there for a longer run, he might have required a deeper subsidy. i think there are ways which the aca could have been improved. it covers wanted at a sensible conversation on the merits, they could come up with solutions. i did not think the plan that was proposed by the republicans that would have dumped 24 million people over 10 years off of the insurance plans was a good solution. but there certainly could be ones that would work. >> thank you. this is from tom mcelroy. tom, where are you? valerie: all the way in the back. that's good. t-rex he wants to know all of the work that your team to to structure a smooth transition, it appears that the current administration has ignored that or chose not to act. how do you really feel? valerie: thanks, tom. our job was to do the very best job we could preparing as many transitions -- both documents and in person meetings as possible, so that they had the benefit of what we learned over a years. then it is up to them to choose how to go forward. elections matter. they have consequences. i can't tell you that we accepted everything president bush's team told us. we didn't. each new administration is free to make their own decisions. so all i can comment on was what my job was, and that was to work very hard. we learned a lot over eight years. we try to put it in an intelligence form, the need transfer it over like a baton. then it is up to them. >> there are a couple questions that we have, but we won't have time. i'm just curious, the girls, beha and melia, they seem to incredible. valerie: a tribute to their care and and or hardware, too. correct mrs. robinson. valerie: a gem. she is wonderful. i think if you're to as the president and first lady what truly made a difference -- susan is nodding. there is nothing like having your mom right there helping out when you're are living in this completely different world than the world we lived in in chicago. i was a single mom and i know i could not have made it without the help from my parents. having her there, having the continuity, having another adult there if the two of them had to be out of town, knowing there were someone there the girls loved deeply and sincerely who only had their best interests at heart right there living under their roof was absolutely essential, and made a huge difference. >> we did not even ask about the dogs. [laughter] valerie: they are just precious. adorable. somebody asked me if the president and first lady were taking their dogs with them when they left the white house. i said, you obviously don't have dogs. of course, they're taking the dogs with them. [laughter] >> is there a book of the future? yes, i hope so. i hope i have the discipline to write it. i've a lot to say, as you can tell. next when you do write it, will you come back your? valerie: i just might do that. thank you very much. >> don't leave yet. we have to thank you. [applause] we just have a couple of items valerie:ss will step oh, good. to thefetime membership city club of chicago. the famous city club mug, often imitated, never duplicated. [laughter] valerie: thank you very much. >> if we could ask you to close your eyes and pick out one of these business cards out of here. it is for our drawing. valerie: what do they get? >> normally, it is a trip to the islands. blue, stony, or goose. but something a little different today. $200 maggiano gift certificates. valerie: can you accept it? course. not a public official. we're going to pick out another name. what to pull out another one? valerie: yes. ethics and what have you. we don't want to get him in trouble. carrie daniels. dlz business development. [applause] thank you so much. >> carrie, if you will jesse jack. -- one of everybody our board of governors, last but not least, anthony. let's everybody give valerie jarrett a big round of applause. [applause] eloquent thank you very much. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2017] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> the federal communications commission is meeting this morning in washington and net neutrality protesters stop the meeting at one point. here is a look. -- >> on the screen, you could see the fcc chair singing along with those net neutrality protesters do know morning meeting at the fcc, and there will be a news conference after the meeting to talk about the future of net neutrality and other issues coming before the fcc. we will have that news conference at 12:45 eastern. president trump is meeting with italy's prime minister, the first time the two have met. they will be talking about the upcoming group of seven industrialized nations meeting in italy next month. italy is also a member of nato and the two leaders will hold a joint news conference at three: 45 eastern. we will have live coverage. tonight on c-span part two of our special program this week looking at the trump cabinet. we will show you portions of confirmation hearings. here is a brief look at vermont senator bernie sanders questioning epa nominee scott pruitt on the causes of climate change. first, betsy devos, education secretary nominee. >> i've only got one question today. us to it so difficult for figure out how to focus on outcome versus to get so hung up on process? >> senator, i think that is a very good question. i think we could have a very robust debate in this room about that. but i think that human tendency is,o protect and guard what because change is difficult. and yet we see the fact that there are millions of students who are simply not hitting the opportunity -- getting the opportunity for an equal education. and we tried to tinker around from the top. ittry to fix things, but becomes more about the system, i'm afraid, than it does about what is right child. >> do you believe that climate change is caused by the emission , by carbon emissions, by human activity? >> senator, as i indicated in my opening statement, the climate does contribute it in some manner. >> 97% of the scientists who wrote articles in peer-reviewed journals believe that human activity is the fundamental reason we are seeing climate change. do you disagree with that? >> i believe the ability to measure with precision the impact on climate is subject to more debate on whether the climate is changing or human activity contributes to it. >> why you're not certain the vast majority of scientists are telling us that if we do not get our act together and transform our energy system away from fossil fuel, there is a real question as to the quality of the planet that we are going to be leaving our children and our grandchildren. >> that is part of tonight special ogram looking at the trump cabinet. we will show you portions of confirmation hearings featuring education secretary betsy devos, scott pruitt, and others. that is tonight at 8:00 eastern. night, congressman ken buck of colorado also a member of the freedom caucus, discusses his book "drain the swamp: how washington corruption is worse than you think." >> when you arrive in d.c. and you have the surroundings that i have described earlier, you get very comfortable in that situation. and you don't want to give up those comforts. the way to continue to earn those comforts is to spend more money and to grow government and to not solve problems, but to create programs and take credit for those programs, whether they are efficient, whether they are effective, to take credit for those programs. and so many of the members of congress are here -- it is the best job i've ever had, the highest paying job they've ever had, and a job they don't want to give up. so their realtor and is more important than the actual problem solving that needs to go on in d.c. >> what sunny 99:00 p.m. eastern tv."span2 "book >> this week and on american history tv on c-span3, saturday at 7:00 p.m., georgia tech history professor emeritus gregory nobles about the influence of early 19th-century ornithologist, naturalist, and painter john james audubon and how he helped pioneer citizen science. >> the artistic work, of course, but also his fieldwork. he was very, very good at what he did, and he did it with no binoculars, no field guides, no iphone apps. and the proof, i think, is in the painting. >> at 8:00 on lectures in history, allen gil will on abraham lincoln, his views on slavery and the dred scott u.s. supreme court decision. >> what is he saying? there is now no restraint, not even the restraint of popular sovereignty, on taking slaves into the territories. >> sunday 10:00 a.m., opening ceremony of the american revolution museum with joe biden, david mccullough, the museum's president and ceo michael quinn, a journalist and author took the roberts. >> it is my hope this beautiful museum helps inspire you to become active and involved citizens in this very great country, because history has its eyes on you. >> at 8:00, talking about first lady florence harding and the new presidents she created as first lady. >> she had been in hospitals. she had heard kidneys operated on. she had been in dire straits medically, so she could relate to the kinds of things they were going through. it was interesting because out of this veterans cause came the veterans bureau, right? the first time the u.s. actually had a bureau, what we would call the v.a. today, for veterans. >> for a complete schedule, go to c-span.org.