CSPAN - First Lady Visits Children's National Hospital Aired: 2025-12-21 Duration: 16:52 === Cox's Public Service Support (03:21) === [00:00:01] C-SBAN, Democracy Unfiltered. [00:00:04] We're funded by these television companies and more, including Cox. [00:00:09] When connection is needed most, Cox is there to help. [00:00:13] Bringing affordable internet to families in need, new tech to boys and girls clubs, and support to veterans. [00:00:20] Whenever and wherever it matters most, we'll be there. [00:00:24] Cox supports C-SBAN as a public service, along with these other television providers, giving you a front-row seat to democracy. [00:00:36] And now, First Lady Melania Trump reads the book, How Does Santa Go Down the Chimney by Mac Barnett while visiting patients at the Children's National Hospital here in Washington? [00:01:08] Good morning. [00:01:09] My name is Kellen McLean, and 10 years ago, I was a patient at Children's National Hospital, where I met our special guest at the Bunny Mellon Healing Garden Grand Opening. [00:01:21] Today, I'm a student at the Virginia Military Institute, fulfilling a dream I had since the beginning of my treatment at Children's National. [00:01:29] I am incredibly grateful for the treatment I received at Children's National and happy to introduce our special guest, the First Lady of the United States, Mrs. Trump, and her special escorts, Faith Henkel, and Riley Whitney. [00:02:27] So thank you so much, Kaylin, for a beautiful introduction, and thank you, Fate and Riley. [00:02:34] You all look beautiful. [00:02:35] Thank you for having me here. [00:02:37] Hello, Santa and Mrs. Claus. [00:02:44] So today I will read the book, How Does Santa Go Down the Shimney. [00:02:54] How does Santa do it? [00:02:57] How does it work? [00:02:59] Does he cinch up his belt or shrink himself down to the size of a mouse? === Santa's Challenges (04:47) === [00:03:10] Or stretch out like Taffy and step in one leg at a time. [00:03:18] Maybe Santa can turn into fire, but probably not. [00:03:24] Does he go head first or feet first or neither? [00:03:32] Does Santa ever get stuck partway down and need one of the reindeer to give him a kick? [00:03:43] Does his soot get sooty? [00:03:47] Because shimini have soot. [00:03:52] And then does Santa do laundry before he goes to the next house? [00:04:01] And if you don't have a shimini, what happens then? [00:04:08] Maybe Santa knows about the key under the flower pot, even thought nobody's ever, ever supposed to mention the key under the flower pot. [00:04:21] So how would he find out about that? [00:04:27] Does he flatten himself and slide under your door? [00:04:33] Or does he slip through the pipes and come out of your faucet? [00:04:41] Or if you have got a mail slot, I bet Santa folds up like a letter and has a reindeer pop him through. [00:04:51] And I bet the stamp on Santa is one of those Santa stamps too. [00:04:58] Dogs must like Santa very much or else they bark. [00:05:04] He probably carries treats in his pocket and knows just where every dog likes to be scratched. [00:05:13] He tells them they are good and whispers them names, which he knows without even looking at their colours. [00:05:23] I bet he lets them give him kisses right on his beard if they are kind of dogs that like to lick. [00:05:34] Can Santa see in the dark? [00:05:36] Does he wear night vision goggles that make everything green? [00:05:43] I bet he'd like that because Santa likes green. [00:05:48] Or hit vision goggles because he might like red better. [00:05:55] Should we leave out carrots, not cookies, on Christmas Eve since they are good for his eyesight? [00:06:06] No. [00:06:07] The twinkling lights on the tree will make enough light for Santa to see, tiptoeing past chairs without bumping his knee, to leave a present or two or three and get a kiss from the dog if it's a dog that leaks. [00:06:27] And take a cookie or two or three and then leave. [00:06:34] Santa goes up the shimeni the same way he comes down and I have no idea how Santa does that. [00:06:44] But I'm so glad he can. [00:06:49] Thank you. [00:06:54] I'm sure Santa will visit all of you this Christmas and bring you a lot of toys. [00:07:01] So I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. [00:07:07] I wish you a lot of strength and love. [00:07:10] My husband, President, is sending love and best wishes as well. [00:07:16] Thank you for having me here. [00:07:18] Thank you. [00:07:24] Thank you to the First Lady of the United States. [00:07:27] Mrs. Trump, thank you so much. [00:07:29] We are so honored to continue with this long-standing tradition at Children's National, and we're so honored to have you here today. [00:07:38] Thank you for spending time with us today and sharing joy and cheer. === America's Book CLUB (09:12) === [00:07:42] And we are so appreciative of your partnership and your commitment to children's health and hope. [00:07:49] So, on behalf of Children's National and everyone here today, we wish you happy holidays. [00:07:55] Thank you. [00:08:17] Why are you talking about this? [00:08:21] Watch it. [00:14:01] America's Book CLUB, C-SPAN's bold original Series. [00:14:06] Today, with our guest Pulitzer Prize winner and former U.S. poet laureate, Rita Dove, who has authored several collections of poetry. [00:14:14] Don't think you can forget her. [00:14:17] Don't even try. [00:14:19] She's not going to budge. [00:14:22] No choice but to grant her space, crown her with sky, for she is one of the many, and she is each of us. [00:14:34] She joins our host, renowned author and civic leader David Rubinstein. [00:14:38] Did your teachers say, well, look, poetry is not a big career future. [00:14:42] You should write prose. [00:14:43] Did they people tell you that or not? [00:14:45] You say, I didn't even know that it was something that you could do and live with your life. [00:14:51] I thought that, and I was writing poetry from the age of 10, I guess, but it was always a secret thing. [00:14:58] It was a thing that I wrote and thought, okay, this is my secret. [00:15:02] It was my thing that I enjoyed. [00:15:04] I didn't realize that a little black girl could become a poet. [00:15:11] Watch America's Book Club with Rita Dove today at 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. Eastern and Pacific, only on C-SPAN. [00:15:26] Tonight. [00:15:27] On C-SPAN's QA, in his book, Taking Religion Seriously, political scientist Charles Murray discusses his decades-long evolution from happy agnostic to Christian. [00:15:38] He also talks about the foundations of human morality, the Big Bang, and the authorship of the Gospels. [00:15:45] Some of us have access to spiritual acquisition of knowledge that others of us do not. [00:15:53] In the case of spirituality, I don't have an ordinary level of spiritual perceptiveness. [00:15:59] If you put it in IQ terms, I have a spirituality score of about 70, which is way low. [00:16:07] Charles Murray, with his book, Taking Religion Seriously, tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern on C-SPAN's Q ⁇ A. You can listen to Q&A and all of our podcasts on our free C-SPAN Now app. [00:16:25] Democracy. [00:16:26] It isn't just an idea. [00:16:28] It's a process. [00:16:29] A process shaped by leaders elected to the highest offices and entrusted to a select few with guarding its basic principles. [00:16:37] It's where debates unfold, decisions are made, and the nation's course is charted. [00:16:42] Democracy in real time. [00:16:45] This is your government at work. [00:16:47] This is C-SPAN, giving you your democracy unfiltered.