when we think about lincoln, ronald white is absolutely top-flight. so i feel very good about the caliber of the minds and the stature of the people i interviewed about each of the presidents. i did not find a they all refer -- i did not find a biographer of every american president. this book is 500 pages as it is. if i found a biographer of every american president, it would be 1300 pages instead of 500 pages. i just identified who i thought with the most significant american presidents. the people who were the president at the most critical times -- herbert hoover -- nonetheless, he was the president when the great depression hit. and so, i found a major biographer -- nixon had two historian chapters. but i also made the decision not to interview a biographer for every american president because i thought that in 2016 we do not have this deep public fascination for the life of millard fillmore and so many of our presidents in fact were insignificant and so 500 pages is the length of the book and it is heavy enough as it is -- i will tell those of y

we think about lincoln, team, and harold hoser and ronald white are top flight lincoln historians. i feel very good about the caliber of the minds and the stature of the people i interviewed. each of the presidents, understand this book, i did not find a biographer of every american president. this book is 500 pages as it is. if i had found a biographer of every american president, it would probably be 1300 pages instead of 500 pages. i just identified who i thought were the 21 most significant american presidents. i didn't say best, because that's subjective. the people who were the president at the most critical times such that herbert hoover, who nobody regard as a great president, nonetheless, he was a president when the great depression hit. so i found a major biographer of every significant president, lincoln, fdr, theodore roosevelt and nixon, because he was so weird, had two historian chapters. i also made the decision not to interview a biographer for every american president. i thought that in 2016, we do not have this deep public fascination for the life of millard fillm

he was a veteran of the law including the title of assistant white house for ronald reagan. you worked for a legendary guy as a young intern myself. >> can't hear you. >> i can tell you about the epics but you'll have to reconnect to my ear. >> he can't hear us. >> i will just say this. i have been looking at the web site. >> okay. here is what we are going to do. hugh. i hate to do this. we'll bring down to audio. brief items, hillary clinton now leads the popular vote by 1.72 million. melania trump and ten-year-old son will be staying in new york at least through the school year and not moving with the president-elect to the white house. a new new yorker article and interview with david remnick, president obama was concerned about the election days before the election. we'll bring hugh back in properly electronically right after this. >>> i'm told we reestablished connection with hugh hewitt. you will never believe the lead-in talking about when you were assistant council. with that in mind should donald trump make the hire of his prepresidency and hire a man or woman to w

he's written dozens of books on lincoln and ronald white, who wrote three books on lincoln, his book a lincoln, "new york times" best seller during by 2009. i believe is the best biography of lincoln. so public sentiment, how do we get our arms around public sentiment. lincoln knew in his day he wanted to understand what the people were thinking the best way was to stay connected to the people who ran the local newspapers in each of the towns. he always made a point of stopping at the newspaper office talking to the publisher and editor and the reporter and so he could narrow the talk of their town. once he found out what people were thinking, he then could come up with the strategy to get their thinking to move in the direction of his vision and that certainly what he did as president by the way he approached, then he went very complicated and controversial issue of slavery during the civil war. now, obviously, the civil war was raging. it was a huge issue. and lincoln decided he wanted the issue an emancipation proclamation. first was issued right after september 22, 1862. that was

he's written dozens of books on lincoln and ronald white, who wrote three books on lincoln, his book a lincoln, "new york times" best seller during by 2009. i believe is the best biography of lincoln. so public sentiment, how do we get our arms around public sentiment. lincoln knew in his day he wanted to understand what the people were thinking the best way was to stay connected to the people who ran the local newspapers in each of the towns. he always made a point of stopping at the newspaper office talking to the publisher and editor and the reporter and so he could narrow the talk of their town. once he found out what people were thinking, he then could come up with the strategy to get their thinking to move in the direction of his vision and that certainly what he did as president by the way he approached, then he went very complicated and controversial issue of slavery during the civil war. now, obviously, the civil war was raging. it was a huge issue. and lincoln decided he wanted the issue an emancipation proclamation. first was issued right after september 22, 1862. that was

chief of staff in ronald reagan's white house. >> there's always chaos. >> what does the chief of staff do? >> staff, not chief. he's not elected the president is. his job is to make sure that everything is fully staffed before it gets to the oval office. no decision is an easy decision if it gets to the president. the hillary ad from eight years ago, who don't want to answer the phone at 3:00 in the morn g morning. the funny joke is, it's not the president, it's the chief of staff. you're usually the last person he sees at night before his spouse. and the first person in the morning. >> rahm emmanuel had a heavy hand. >> you are supposed to be making sure everyone's on the president's agenda, not their own agenda ah, what you're really focused on is making sure every option is staffed. and everyone adheres to the president. >> you think reince priebus is the best person for that job? >> yes. he's trusted, he's someone who can bring consensus, not necessarily just at the west wing, but on capitol hill. >> what kind of chief of staff does donald trump need. >> he needs somebody he has to

ronald reagan won white votes by 32%. in the final poll, trump was winning by the same 32%. that got him to 40% of the vote. there is a pathway through the midwest where these voters are concentrated and democrats are worried about defending iowa and ohio and michigan and pennsylvania. the picture is changing. a party winning 15% of the growing group of the population while depending on the shrinking group, that is a recipe for success. >> panel, stick around. >> the good news is we laid out what matters. the bad news is, it is only 15 minutes in the show. what we are trying to do is dig down on the issues. you know the campaigns are doing their deal. this morning, you will have the whole vote parade. we will have vice presidential nominee tim kaine to talk about how important this day is for him on the democrat side. on the republican side, we have a trump family member. his kids are the best surrogates. don jr. is with us this morning. >> now it is time for the voters to have their say. which states will decide this historic election? we have the battlegrounds to watch nex

reagan white house a couple years ronald reagan compromised on everything, he was willing to, if he because he wasn't going to let perfect be enemy of the good i expect same thing from donald trump after all he is the guy that i wrote "the art of the deal" i think he knows that he can't just get congress to do everything exactly like he wants, and i think he will be willing to work to try to get good results, and not let the perfect be the enemy of the good. >> sounds like irexpecting success from this administration. >> i am. >> in terms of getting things done. >> the country can't stand for not to be successful. >> yeah, governor good to see you. thank you so much, sir. >> thanks, maria. >> haley barbour there coming up next is donald trump -- take a look whether historic white house victories could sea world widely rise of populism walmart beth big on black friday unveiling game plan for the holidays, back in a mini♪ ♪ usa, usa ♪ ♪ before starting, you should be tested for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur... ...tell

. >> sunday night on "q" and "a," historian, ronald c. white talks about the life and career of the 18th u.s. president, in his late debt book "american ulysses." >> he vconvened a meeting of african-american pchlts he said, i look forward to the day when you can eat in a restaurant and ride on a train regardless of every other person. that day must come. it took 90 years for the day to come. grant was the last american president to hold those kind of views. >> sunday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span's "q" and "a." >>> we're live this morning as civil rights leaders urge president-elect donald trump to denounce racism and acts of hate and bigotry. the southern poverty law center is hosting this briefing, set to start in a couple of moments live from the national press club. >>> we're live from the national press club as a group of civil rights leaders are holding a briefing to urge president-elect donald trump to denounce racism and acts of rate and bigotry hosted by the southern poverty law center. a couple of minutes away from the start.

exactly the same margin ronald reagan had among white voters without a college education in 1984. it got him to 59% of the vote. it's a very different country. can he squeeze out one more victory with that coalition? sure. in the long run, is that where you would place your chips in a diversifying society? i'm not sure. >> but abby, since everybody agreed after 2012 that the key to winning was the hispanic vote and that republicans weren't doing it right, that was what was in the autopsy. that's what donald trump said himself in various media outlets. he said what you need to do is treat them with kindness and make them feel included and like productive members of society. why didn't he do that this time around? >> how things change. it could very well be because donald trump realized at some point that his most likely path would be going through this sort of white working class vote, and he really doubled down on that. and it required him to really throw that other ideology out the window. the problem is, as ron has said as nauseam, there are not enough people, there are not enou

ronald reagan was in the white house and everyone knew that one or the other was likely get the next supreme court seat. justice scalia was walking through the parking garage of the court, and two u.s. marshals stopped him at the elevator. they said, i am sorry sir, we are holding this elevator for the attorney general of the united states. scalia pushed past them, stepped into the elevator, jammed the button, and as the door was closing, he said, you tell him, bob corker doesn't wait for anyone. [laughter] [applause] sen. cruz: that is a true story. the rest, as they say was history. shortly after justice scalia's passing, members of the senate were invited to submit into the congressional record statements commemorating his remarkable career. i am sure that the federalist society crowd here can see the irony in a request to supplement the congressional record, of all things, with praise for justice scalia. given his sterling sense of humor, i suspect he would have rather enjoyed learning about that request. we're talking about a man who waged a 30 year war against legislative histo

ronald reagan was in the white house and everyone knew that one or the other was likely get the next supreme court seat. justice scalia was walking through the parking garage of the court, and two u.s. marshals stopped him at the elevator. they said, i am sorry sir, we are holding this elevator for the attorney general of the united states. scalia pushed past them, stepped into the elevator, jammed the button, and as the door was closing, he said, you tell him, bob corker doesn't wait for anyone. [laughter] [applause] sen. cruz: that is a true story. the rest, as they say was history. shortly after justice scalia's passing, members of the senate were invited to submit into the congressional record statements commemorating his remarkable career. i am sure that the federalist society crowd here can see the irony in a request to supplement the congressional record, of all things, with praise for justice scalia. given his sterling sense of humor, i suspect he would have rather enjoyed learning about that request. we're talking about a man who waged a 30 year war against legislative histo

this is what it looks like outside of the white house. a tradition started by president ronald reagan. >>> officials in oklahoma still assessing damage after a big earthquake hit over the weekend. this was a surprise. it was a measured 5.0 quake that hit in cushioning, oklahoma. three dozen buildings have cracks in what the being described as substantial damage. no injuries reported. >> i swear it looked like the sealing was going to colps me. the walls were shaking and the ceiling was moving. >> scientists have linked oklahoma increase in earthquakes to the undergrounds disposal of wastewater and oil and gas production. >>> still ahead, another reason to get a good night's sleep. >>> a new break through for the possible search for the vaccine we're heading into the >>> we are heading into the remains the same, always watch your kids around water. a valley family dealing with an unthinkable tragedy after their 4-year-old drowns in a pool. linda williams is live with the story. >> reporter: what a tragedy, kari. saturday morning, this litt

first was when ronald reagan was elected to the white house in 1980. optimism ensued which coincided with the end of the great bear market in bonds, one that saw interest rates climb all the way to 14%. now, at the time few on wall street believed that a former actor turned politician could really make a difference at a time of national gloom. almost mourning for america. that's the m-o-u-r-n-i-n-g kind. reagan turned into the good kind of mourning although you could argue he had some help from fed chief fred volcker. i think the reagan analogy has some heft. even if reagan had actually been the governor of california while trump's a political neophyte, albeit one who spent decades running a real estate empire, in retrospect, reagan was needed by of a malaise, a crisis of confidence. in this latest election, i think many people in states that went democratic four years ago voted for trump because of a similar sense of national economic malaise. even though the numbers paint a very different picture. we had the lowest jobless claims today in 40 years. w

reagan won the white house 36 years ago. let's take questions. sir? >> good evening, sir. my name is t.j. men, and i'd like to extend you a warm greeting from my hometown in cor thaj, illinois. >> thank you so much sir. >> as i watched election results, i saw volatility and the futures just drop. and then i went to bed thinking that the next day was going to be pretty rough. i woke up, pleasantly surprised that futures were coming back, and we went up. and i'm wondering between now and the inauguration, do you think -- what do you think volatility will do? and i own a stock of free poert mcmoran. that stock has been on the tear. >> sir, you own the best acting stock since the election. that's a copper company and copper is breaking out. i think you raised a good question, which is is volatility here to stay in i think with every important appointment we get or rumor of appointment for treasury secretary, for important positions in the cabinet, we are going to have crazy trading. i say that because right now we've moved so mu

ronald reagan rode an electrical vote landslide to the white house. and republicans swept to control the senate for the first time in a quarter century. >> reagan conveyed a sense of optimism and hope. the secret to his success was that he made people feel good. >> even though reagan had been a fairly successful governor of the largest state in the union, he was still doubted for his odd background for a politician as having been a hollywood actor. and he was very controversial. he took a lot of outrageous positions. >> in this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem. government is the problem. >> for 50 years, americans had been looking to government to solve their problems. when reagan gave his speech, that's marked a 180-degree turnaround in the american political conversation in the trend of american politics. >> can we solve the problems confronting us? well, the answer is an unequivocally emphatic yes. and after all, why shouldn't we believe that? we are americans. god bless you, and thank you. >> we have a report. i'm just

served in three republican white houses including that of ronald reagan. she will report directly to lieutenant general michael administration's approach to fighting terrorism, particularly islamic extremism. today's announcement comes as trump's inner circle continued to debate, often publicly and on twitter, who to choose as secretary of state. former mayor rudy giuliani, or former republican presidential nominee mitt romney. during the campaign, romney lashed out as trump as a phone and a fraud. the american public for suckers. >> reporter: trump adviser kellyanne conway says romney's loyalty is at issue. she said she was receiving a deluge of social media and private communications warning against romney. another adviser, former house speaker newt gingrich, also weighed in. >> i think the vast majority of trump supporters will initially be very unhappy and will be reminded of all the things that romney said over the year. >> reporter: but giuliani has his own problems as questions with his business ventures overseas. others in consideration for the pos

. >> sunday night onto a day, ronald c white talks about the life and career of the 18th u.s. book,ent in his latest american ulysses. >> in his presidency, he convened a meeting of african american leaders and he said, i look forward to the day when you can write on a railroad car, when you can eat in a restaurant alongside every other person regardless of their race. that they must come. it took 90 years for that day. grant was the last american president to hold those kind of views. easterny night at 8:00 on c-span's q and a. >> washington journal continues. host: our first guest is eric swalwell. matter --as a writing member for the committee. he serves as the vice chair. good morning. guest: thanks for having me on. host: what are you expecting among the democratic leadership elections? guest: earn the trust of colleagues. they will lead us into the fight ahead. there is a lot to fight for. progress has been made over the last 10 years for the affordable care act, climate change, standing up for wall street reforms. we are going to have to defend those in shape a vision f

ronald reagan with 54% of white voters. mitt romney got 59% and lost. the difference, the share of white voters that were more of them in ronald reagan's day. the exit polls suggest that only 0% of the electorate is white voters. in it was 72%. donald trump is working with a smaller group. within that noncollege white voters in 2012 they were 36% of the electorate now they are 34% of the electorate these are not if your base is not turning out the premise of the donald trump campaign was not just that he would match writ romney, but grow then. >> one republican senator lindsey graham said his own party is in demographic death spiral. we've seen the share of the white electorate is getting smaller. >> america is changing so is politics. >> yes. we have a projection in the state of mississippi. goes to donald trump. he is the winner in that state. victory and large win for him there. all right, democrats are hoping to take back the senate we'll look more at those key senate races and more states closing hats the top of 8:30. we're back here on cbs news ?

. >> sunday night on "q & a", ronald c. white talks about the life and career of the 18th u.s. president in his book, the life of ulysses grant. >> he said to them, i look forward to the day when you can ride on a railroad car, when you can eat in a restaurant, when you can do so along with every other person regardless of their race. that day must come. it took 90 years for that day to come. grant was the last american president to hold those kind of views. >> sunday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span's "q & a." > coming up at 6:30 eastern, former homeland security second, chertoff chertoff -- michael chertoff will host a domestic security the house and senate are returning this week from their thanksgiving recess. the house returns tomorrow. now it is time for the annual con congressional christmas tree to arrive in the capital. this is an 80 foot spruce from the national forest in idaho. it arrived on the lawn this afternoon, with the tree lighting set to take place next tuesday at 5:00 p.m. eastern. >> hey there. >> thank you. announcer: this is the west front of the capital,

conway, you'll get a shadow of what ronald reagan did. a lot of input so he could retreat to the oval office and think. everything that ron said, and obviously hoe knows his father better than anyone in washington, d.c., is absolutely true. >> from the outside, i knew that about your father, president reagan. we have to do this another night. he had tremendous understanding of the constitution, he understood the role of the other people. and he put it all together. that was his salute to the constitution, recognizing how it all work eed together. one of the most consistent themes of donald trump's campaign a call to repeal and replace obamacare. >> my poll numbers are going through the roof. you know why. i believe a big part is obamacare because we're going to repeal it and replace it. >> obamacare has to be replaced. and we will do it and we will d it very, very quickly. it is a catastrophe. if we don't repeal and replace obamacare, we will destroy american health care forever. >> but now, president-elect trump seems to be softening tha

ronald reagan in 1984. he's facing more resistance among college whites than any republican nominee in the history of polling. he is potentially facing a record gap among hispanics, and of course all republicans usually have big gaps among african-americans. so, any change in the composition of the electorate has a huge impact on the result. if you're talking about north carolina or florida it really is the same equation to a large extent which is the democrats are counting on improvements relevant to 12 among college whites, and latinos to offset some signs that african-americans may not be turning out at the same rate in both states. that's going to be the equation that decides how north carolina and florida come down at the end of the day. >> let's look at something notable happening in both florida and north carolina and that is the increase, significant, in the independent early voting. let me pull this up for you. early voting in florida, 2016 versus 2008, republicans are basically steady -- hold on,

just blocks from the white house other the weekend at the ronald reagan building. this is their leader. >> america was, until this past generation, a white country, designed for ourselves and our posteri posterity. it is our creation. it is our inheritance. it belongs to us. >> donald trump's transition team released a statement saying he has always denounced any form of racism but really said nothing specifically about meeting or the slog ans or the statements made over this weekend. joining us now is the senior editor of the intelligence project and hate watch at the southern poverty law center. tha thanks for being with us. this group calls itself alt right. how do you know what that means? what's the distinction between alt right and what we saw there which was neo-nazi white supremist stuff, coupleled with what they said in other instances over the weekend, than jews are not people? >> well, there's absolutely no distinction to be honest. alt right is simply white supremacy rebranded for the digital age. it's the new term for an idea called everything from whi

and has worked in the administrations richard nixon, gerald ford and ronald reagan. and trump campaign attorney donald mcgahn is set to serve as white house counsel and neither post requires confirmation by the senate. >> appears to be a split in the transition people who is department. the leading xaents for secretary of state are said to be former republican presidential nom ine mitt romney and former new york mayor rudy giuliani. other possible nominees are former cia director david petraeus and republican senator bob corker and marine corps general john kelly. >> for more on the trump transition, we are joined by mark alexander, dean of the of the senior leadership for the obama/biden transition effort. good morning. thanks for joining us. >> thanks. >> reporter: let's first talk about secretary of state. you have rudy giuliana, former mayor of new york openly lobbying for himself to be the secretary of state nominee and public back and forth between the members of the transition team. how unusual is that back and forth? >> highly unusual. there is always a behin

house advisor to president ronald reagan, ed rollins. robert, begin with you, let's be very clear, hillary has commanding lead. she is above 270 electoral votes. donald trump needs to ramp it up if he is able to overcome her, but this can't be comforting news to hillary clinton. >> let's also be very realistic, if donald trump won all toss upstates in your map he would still not reach 270 electoral votes in order to win presidency. obviously this is close election. liz as you know i was saying months ago this would be a close election. but what is significant to watch, whether it es the "cbs/new york times poll" has a slight lead of two or new "abc news/washington post" tracking poll that shows hillary clinton up by three and regained enthusiasm that she lost from last week, or for that matter shows her up by 6%, bottom line these polls are really not relevant to the analysis. you have to look at states electoral vote. donald trump has not only win every tossup state to be competitive he has to flip a couple of democratic states. i think

white supremacists endorsed ronald reagan and he was clearly denouncing them from the second of their endorsements. host: remind people how he went about doing that. guest: in his campaign for president, the kkk endorsed him. you can read this and biographies. he has 100% clear that he endorsement, he rejects the sentiments that the express. host: did he do something more than donald trump? guest: i think he was clearer and faster about it. i think the question is less donald trump and more steve bannon. the question is mr. bannon. i think mr. bannon needs to do something as if you were a political candidate and denounce it equally like mr. thompson probably harsher. host: sheila has been waiting, oklahoma, republican. go ahead. caller: thank you. i have a few comments. one was where a preacher can argue to vote, i sat in the church and there are definitely for democrat. they do notican, so order you to vote. you have your free choice. number two, i mean, i was not for trump. i was for ben carson, but trump, the reason he voted was for the job. i was sick of jobs going overseas and i

hubbard is lafayette park across from the white house because this is kind of our capital a protest. this is where we had-- as a people go to yell at our present i mean, i was kidding about lafayette being an only child, but one of the most only at child things he said was, he said i did not hesitate to be disagreeable to preserve my independence. and so i think lafayette park or lafayette square

trump taking more moderate positions as he transitions from the campaign to the white house. new york times said ronald reagan used to say the right approach trust but p verify and that is the right approach for mr. trump except for the trust part. >> and joining us now is kevin mcculla is radio talk show most. and bazil smiekle. and former senior adto then senator clinton. he said that he's not really interested in going after hillary clinton and prosecuting. we remember the lock her up chants that broke out in his rallies and what do you make of that? >> i never believed that he would go through with it. i think it was something to, to it sort of energize the crowds that he was speaking in front of. and he said himself, donald trump said there was a lot of language in the campaign that he didn't necessarily believe but realized the impact on the people in the audience and voters. i didn't think there was anything prosecutable to begin with and i never believe he would follow-through with it. >> he said she suffered greatly and he doesn't care to prolong the sufferring. >> w

liz: that meeting happened at ronald reagan building in washington d.c., richard spencer and white supremacists . there are concerns about connects. also bannon came from breitbart news, he said that economic nationalism he said that to "wall street journal ." my next guest, brenel, president-elect trump denying he did anything to energize alt-right movement, he said that donald trump said i disavow the alt-right group. >> donald trump ran for presidency of the united states, that is interesting thing. i keep telling people, white people, black people, hispanics, arabs, a lot of people voted black nationalists, white nationalists, i am sure racists do vote for donald trump i'm sure nonracist people did vote, that is the problem right now we have to stop talking about everything in terms of race. and let's talk about america. donald trump, is putting people in office, who are interested in making sure that our economy is going to grow, and go forward. so many people were hurt, in this last 8 years, inia you know in our country, when the jobs left. and even before that, so, that is the problem we

covering presidents going back to ronald reagan. he's a fixture at the white house every time guy the white house. i see him looking there. you see him age over the years. he had that remarkable voice. he was a straight arrow. remarkably nice guy. a though back to old-fashioned journalism. sad loss for the news business this week with the death of gwen ifill. moderator fort worth two vice presidential debates. >> she was a super nova in a profession loaded with smart and talented people. >> they have to find a way network with this president for the next two years. >> nbc's gwen ifill on capitol hill. >> welcome to the first and only 2008 vice presidential debate. >> we have a dedicated committed audience who want to kmor. who want us to dig a little deeper on their behalf. >> ifill started out as a reporter, print person for "the washington post". while she's occasionally generated controversy in the past, barack obama was featured in a book she wrote on black politicians before she moderated the debate involving his running mate j

we want to bring in krr editor for the atlantic, and former white house political director under ronald reagan jeffrey lord. great to see you. >> good morning. >> let's talk about all the news that was made from mr. trump's sit-down with "the new york times." let's start jeffrey with this disavowal that he did give against neo-nazis. i'll read what he told "the new york times." mr. trump said i don't want to energize the group. i'm not looking to energize them. i don't want to energize the group. i disavow the group. he went on to say it's not a group i want to energize and if they are energized i want to look into it and find out why. is that far enough, jeffrey? >> yeah, i'll tell you something, "the wall street journal's" jason riley has a great column this morning, and wants to know why during a meeting of 275 extremist nazis, at a meeting in washington, are getting all this attention from the media. and his answer is, that it fits the narrative of the basket of deplorables. but he points out that in places like wisconsin and ohio, counties that voted heavily for president obama tur