s great. Should we accept it . Yes. Mrs. Obama i think were good. These are our replacement kids. [laughter] this is what happens when you get teenagers. One is asleep these two are up. [laughter] its what we got now. Good job, guys. Christmas begins. The holidays start. Were ready our last one. Were excited about it. Congratulations to our Award Winners here. Thank you, guys. All right, our work here is done. That was easy. Mrs. Obama its easy. The easiest part of the Holiday Season. All right, you guys. Happy holidays. Happy thanksgiving. Well see you around. [applause] mrs. Obama hi, everybody. Look how good you guys look. Are you ready for some action . Are you sure . I dont know. You sound like you dont want cookies or anything like that. You think you want some cookies . You think so . We will get to it, but first, i want to thank everyone to the white house. I want to start by thanking hazel for that wonderful introduction and for all of her service and hard work in helping to make this home so beautiful. I want to give a huge thank you to all the volunteers, as hazel mentioned, who travel here from 33 states, d. C. , and puerto rico, to come here and put up these beautiful decorations and transform this white house into this holiday wonderland. I am so grateful to you all. And as we celebrate my familys last Holiday Season in the white house, im thinking back to when we first came here to washington. We promised to open up this house to as many people from as many backgrounds as possible. And we truly wanted to make the white house the peoples house. Particularly during the Holiday Season. Over the past eight years, through the seasons, we worked hard to achieve that goal by welcoming almost a half million guests to this house during the season. And thanks to our amazing volunteers, we are adorned the white house with about half million ornaments for our guests to enjoy. And way brought smiles to the faces of all those who enjoyed the 200,000 holiday cookies prepared by our outstanding pastry chefs. You all will get to have some are those today. That will make 200,020 or so. Looking back, im proud to say we did our very best during the holidays to make americans of all backgrounds and walks of life feel comfortable and welcomed here in our nations house. And we do all of this with the help of our extraordinary staff. Yes, we have wonderful volunteers. Though we have folks who, each year, take a very limited budget and very little resources and they make miracles happen in this house. So for our final holiday preview, i want to take a moment to highlight just a few of the amazing folks who worked tirelessly behind the scenes. I dont know they know if they are if they know i am calling them out. Felicia dyer, the office our social secretary. There you are. [applause] thank you. And you are going to see chris, referred and susie morrison, our executive chef and our executive pastry chef. I want to thank them both, as well as the chef and the staff in the kitchen who worked so hard to do Everything Possible to make these holidays terrific. I want to thank all of our ushers, who never get credit. I know they are around here working away, but they are the people who greet you and make sure that things are moving like they should in this house. Our florists, who are tremendous. And i rarely get to thank our electricians, and our carpenters, because they make sure the chandeliers are moved and structures are built so that we can put things on them. And they do this in a matter of days. They turn this house upside down. And to our calligraphers. You will see all of their handiwork throughout the ornaments. And i always want to thank our incredible marine band, who you hear from throughout the season. I has beens free rate musical favorite musical grew is my husbands favorite musical crew is our own marine band. On behalf of the entire obama family, me, barack, malia, sasha, grandma, sunny, bo. We are grateful for everything you have done for us over the years. So lets give them a round of applause. [applause] so before i get choked up, let me officially kick off our final white House Holiday season. And as always, today, we are celebrating with our extraordinary military community, and our military families. We have our service members. We have veterans here. We have wounded warriors. We have our Military Spouses. [applause] you go, spouses. And of course, we have our outstanding, handsome, beautiful, smart, talented, engaging military kids. Are there any here . [laughter] oh, here they are. Lets give them a round of applause. [applause] for the past eight years, celebrating the holidays and having you all be the first that see the decorations, this has been one of our favorite white house traditions. It reminds us that, between all the shopping lists and the travel plans and all those big meals, that we cannot forget what the holidays are really about annual help us. Our military families, like all of you remind us what matters. You serve this country in uniform or you hold everything together here at home as a Military Spouse or you prepare to attend another new school as a military kid. And theres that one back there talking about i dont know what. [laughter] but there is a little one back there who has a lot to say. But you all find time to contribute to your communities into this country. You do it all. You volunteer at local food banks. You coach sports teams on weekends. Many of you have even cut your thanksgiving holiday short to come here and decorate the white house. Just another example. We have hazel up here. But one of our volunteers, jaclyn james from redlands, california is jaclyn here so we can really embarrass her . She is probably still working. We will do a reception for our volunteers later. But let me tell you about jaclyn. During her husbands 22 years in the military, her family spent the holidays in five different states and even on a base overseas. During that time, they managed to raise seven kids. Two weeks ago, they celebrated the birth of their 15th grandchild. But their Family Service to this country did not end when jaclyns husband retired. They watched two of their sons do tours in both iraq and afghanistan. And even though jaclyn does not consider herself the most artistic decorator, she volunteered at the white house this year because and this is what she said she said, if patriotism is an art, she said then i am a master. [laughter] its that kind of commitment to serving others. That is what the holidays are truly about. And that is what we honor with our holiday decorations every year at the white house. And this years holiday theme is the gift of the holidays. And as usual, we will be celebrating our countrys greatest gifts with special decorations celebrating our military families. Down in the booksellers, when you walk in, the visitors that come will see a tree and a flag display composed of pictures of military families who my husband and i have met on bases and in communities around the world over the course of our time here. The tree is hung with a Gold Ornaments honoring americas greatest heroes. The men and women who have given their lives for our country. And right next to those displays is an ipad station that allows guests to send holiday wishes to our service members. And we are hoping that each of the 68,000 guests that are going to visit during the Holiday Season will take a moment to pause and send a message to express their gratitude. After that, they will move on to see a number of other decorations that celebrate the gifts we share as a nation. For example, in the library, we are honoring the gift of a great education, which is important, right . School, college, all of that. And we have trees in the library made out of crayons and pencils. You have to check that out if you have not already. And raise awareness about the millions of young girls who are not able to attend school. Weve got two trees that are decorated with special ornaments, each of which has the word girl in one of a dozen different languages. So when guests head upstairs to this floor, they will see that, in the green room, it is filled with decorations representing the gifts provided by our white house kitchen garden, with trees hung with ornaments in the shape of bees and fruits. We have air 19 foot tall christmas tree. Its really big. They have to take out the chandeliers and rearrange everything just to get the tree in the house. That is in the blue room. In the state dining room, you will spot the official white house gingerbread house. So when you see it, everything on it is something you can eat. And our pastry chefs have worked very hard to make this house possible. It is beautiful. It has a replica of the new white house garden and bo and sonny and lots of cool stuff. The trees in that room, there are 56 lego gingerbread houses, representing every single state and territory in america. And somewhere in the house we have supersized replicas of bo and sonny guarding their presents because we dont let them have their presents. [laughter] im just kidding. They get to have them. People who come through these halls over the next few weeks will see about how many ornaments do you think are in this house . Six . [laughter] 10 . [laughter] 100 . Getting closer. 9000 . Let me tell you. It is 70,000 ornaments. I was pretty shocked at that. So we cant wait. Thats a lot of ornaments. But we cant wait to start welcoming people into their white house this Holiday Season. And to everyone who created these stunning displays, all our volunteers, all the folks who helped make this happen, i want to i want to once again say thank you. You did a phenomenal job once again in turning this house into a magical place. Those of you who are here today and those around the world, i want to once again honor you for your service and your sacrifice and your love of this nation. It is a love that my family and i share along with you. It has been such a complete pleasure to support you in this time. So i want to wish everyone a happy, healthy Holiday Season. All right . And with that, we get to have some fun, ok . Are you guys ready . Im just talking to the kids here. [laughter] you guys dont get to have fun, but heres what you get. We will take your children from you for a moment. [laughter] [applause] dont applaud too loudly. They are still here. They can hear you. [laughter] and you can enjoy some cider and some cookies. And you guys want to come with me. When get some surprises in the back. And your parents will be here. We will try to bring them back in one piece. I cannot guarantee that they will be neat. There is dye and food color. Sorry. [laughter] all of it is washable. Are you ready to come and join me . Thank you all so much. Come to the white house. Its really cool. Take care. [applause] [indiscernible conversation] [indiscernible conversation] hows it going . Did you get everything . [indiscernible conversation] see later. See you later. [applause] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2016] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] hello, good evening. You guys staying warm . All right. Welcome to the president s park here in washington, for the 94th annual National ChristmasTree Lighting. What an amazing night we have here across for the most heinous famous house in america. Family ande about tradition, and tonight, as we get ready to light this magnificent tree and listen to great music, we are not only mindful of our own families, but also, the families of the men and women serving in uniform all around the world. Your service and sacrifice remains an inspiration to all americans. Millions of americans will be celebrating the season with their own holiday traditions, but tonight, were glad you enjoyed all of us here for a terrific night of music and so much more. Speaking of music, lets hear it for the United States air force airman of note. [applause] now, it is my great honor to welcome the first family of the United States. Please welcome, president obama, mrs. Obama, and saw show. Sasha. [applause] obama hello, everybody. Happy holidays. To all of you. Eva longoria, thank you for the wonderful hosting. Kelly clarkson, we love everybody who is here tonight and everybody watching at home. It is now officially the time to light this tree. [applause] president obama are you ready to count down . We start from five, are you ready . Yes. President obama are you sure . 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. [applause] president obama merry christmas, everybody. [applause] im pleased to be joined by the National Director of the National Park service, jonathan jarvis. Director jarvis, happy holidays. Director jarvis happy holidays. This year, the National Parks department turned 100. We have lost initiative called find your park, designed to help americans find their nearest National Park, one of 413 parks across the country, including big end and what alumina mountains National Parks in your home state of texas. That is so great. I also understand that a lot of people dont know where the new parks are. How do they find out about that . Parksor jarvis our new tell a much more complete story about americas diversity, including new National Monuments in honor of the illusion of civil lights civil rights, the lgbtq movement, and womens rights. Thats awesome. Big round of applause for director jarvis. Ntsmore information, visit. Org. Gov. Collects now by this now by this, faith, hope, and love, and the greatest of these is love. Heavenly father, we thank you for the faith, hope, and love it brings to the country and the world. We thank you for the great gift of this timehonored tradition, the National ChristmasTree Lighting ceremony, and pray that every light is a reminder of that precious light you delivered more than 2000 years ago, in a manger, in bethlehem. Thank you for that precious light that guides and protects ,ur military men and women whether by land, by sea, were in the air. Thank you for the precious light that leaves and guides president obama, the first family, and all government officials. Hope thatte a blessed keeps inspiring us to give love that moves mountains, that knows no boundaries, and calls us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Tonight, we celebrate a nation, the blessings of hope, a precious hope that has the audacity to show up and bring joy to the world. An abiding hope that has the beautiful audacity to bring good tidings of great joy. A wonderful hope that has the audacity to beckon the faithful to come joyfully and triumphantly. Tonight, we pray for peace on earth and goodwill toward all mankind. In this spirit, for unto us a child is born. Unto us, a son is given. And his name shall be called counselor, the mighty god, the everlasting father, and the prince of peace. Light, andssings of life, and love for you this season and beyond. Amen. Hallelujah, hallelujah onight when christ was born night divine when christ was born night god bless you. [applause] than we taken to the romeo and juliet wrongful death mock trial where Supreme Court associate Justice Samuel alito serves as presiding judge. At six quart p. M. , a look at the career of Vice PresidentMichael Lentz mike pence. Whats on cspan and cspan. Org and listen on the free cspan radio app. Next week, washington journal will devote the entire program each day to the key issues raising the new Trump Administration and congress. At national a look security and defense issues, including challenges facing president elect trump Security Team in the year ahead, and a closer look at the secretary defense nominee. On tuesday, december 27, it is trade and the job issues. Could change trade laws in an effort to save or create jobs. On the 20th, our issue is environmental policy. We will discuss how energy and Climate Policies might be impacted by congress and the new and ministration. On thursday, we will talk about how trump and the new Congress Might change immigration policy. Ride a, december 30, we will discuss the future of the Affordable Care act, and how to and the Republican Congress will repeal the aca and the key players to watch in the months ahead. Tonight on cspan, former House Speaker john boehner talks about his career and what to expect on the incoming Trump Administration eared that is followed by a capitol hill tribute to Outgoing Senate and already leader harry reid. Later, the Reagan Residential Library syllabus the 35th anniversary of the appointment of Justice Sandra day oconnor to the u. S. Supreme court. Now, former House Speaker john boehner with insights about congress and working with president obama, and he gives some predictions about the chump administration. From the city club of cleveland, this is one hour. Ladies and gentlemen, i would like to look at new to where today we have the great honor of having this Speaker John Boehner here to address you. [applause] my name is fred nance. Im the Global Partner of u. S. Finance llp. Im going to share with you that of course i have prepared extensive biographical administration which the speaker obviously more than warrants. Im going to give you the much abridged version. There is bio information in the pamphlets on everybodys table. Let me simply jump forward and say that when john boehner became th