Congratulations. I am honored to be here for the swearingin of our new secretary of defense, mark t. Esper. I especially wanted think Justice Samuel alito. Highly respected and a great man thejoining us to administer oath of office. Thank you very much. Thank you. Welcomelso delighted to several of secretary espers family members and friends to the white house, including his mother. He proud of him . You Better Believe it. And his three children luke, john and capturing. Thank you and congratulations. Catherine thank you and congratulations. There is no one more qualified to lead the department of defense than mark esper. A west point graduate. Great student. Secretary esper served our 27 years, including in the gulf war. He advanced u. S. National security and government and private sector during. Most recently in the army were he played in equipping our armed forces. Thats where i got to know him. There was nobody that did a better job than mark. There is nobody that loves this more than mark. Thank you. He is a recipient of the bronze infantry badge. He holds a doctorate in Public Policy from George Washington master of, and a Public Administration degree from the john f. Kennedy school of government at harvard university. I am confident that he will be an outstanding secretary of defense. Doubt aboututely no it. He is outstanding in every way. We are honored to have you aboard. Justice to please administer the oath of office. Mr. Esper i, mark esper do solemnly swear that i will support and defend the constitution of the United States. Against all enemies foreign and domestic. Faith. Will bear true that i take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion. And that i will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office from which i am about to enter. So help me god. Justice alito congratulations. [applause] mr. Esper thank you, mr. President for your kind words, confidence in me and this incredible opportunity. Fork you Justice Alito administering the oath of office. I want to think the Senate Armed Services committee for its quick action on my nomination and a strong bipartisan support i received today from the entire United States senate. It is in honor of a lifetime to be appointed secretary of defense and to lead the greatest military in history. Do so with that same energy and commitment to duty, i had forcountry that nearly four decades since my early days at west point. A privileget, it is for me and for my family to be here today. Thank you for your leadership and commitment to a strong to ourl defense, and service members. Our military has made tremendous gains thanks to your leadership, and we stand ready today to take on any challenge. Airmen,r soldiers, sailors and marines stand guard, we will ensure their families are taking care of. I will it to think my wife who has been i would like to think my wife who has been by my side for years. My children, luke, john and kate. My mother, my inlaws and my sisters who have joined me today. And everyone else who has been a steadfast supporter over the years. Thank you for allowing me to serve our great country as secretary of defense. [applause] President Trump come on over. Ere you are going to be a great one, thank you very much. Cspan3 president ial leadership surveys taken between 2000 and 2017, Grover Cleveland dropped from 17 to 20 third place. The most grant makes rheumatic rise of all the president s, going from the 33rd to the 22nd spot. Where does your favorite president rank . Learned that and more about the lies and leadership skills of 34 chief executives in cspans the president s. Its great vacation reading. Available wherever books are sold, or at cspan. Org the president s. Airstrip in the remote jungles of gayana having just concluded a congressional delegation with then congressman neal ryan and we were ambushed on the airstrip. And shot. Congressman ryan was shot 45 times and died on that airstrip. There were members of the press that died. One defector of the peoples temple who died. And i was shot five times on the right side of my body. On q a,y night California Democratic congresswoman jacky spear talks about her memoir undaunted surviving jonestown, summoning courage and fighting back. When people say it was a mass suicide, it was not a mass suicide. They were forced to drink this toxic brew by jones. He had many of his guards surrounding the pavilion, im sure to make sure people did as they were told. Sunday night at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on cspans q a. Robert mueller testifies to congress on wednesday about possible obstruction of justice and abuse of power by President Trump and russian interference in the 2016 president ial election. Live coverage starting at 8 30 a. M. Eastern on cspan. Download the free cspan radio app to listen live wherever you are. If you missed our live coverage, watch ondemand at cspan. Org. Now a roundtable discussion on the Robert Mueller hearing that will be taking center stage on capitol hill tomorrow. Joining us for this discussion this morning is morgan chalfant, National Security reporter for the hill. Andrew desiderio congressional reporter for a p olitico. Explain what the Judiciary Committee is going to be covering and why. It will focus on volume two that focuses on the idea that the president was seeking to obstruct the Robert Mueller investigation. Have of democrats so far said essentially that the evidence is clear that the president at least sought to of shut the i