what we have seen so far in the last 48 hours since election night, i think donald trump given the chance to speak in the oval office and perhaps he will, will also want to once again send a more unifying message and set a more unifying tone. >> i suspect both of these men, the president of the united states and the president-elect of the united states, have been thinking long and hard about what they are going to say to those cameras in the oval office of the white house. i suspect we will hear that. i'm hearing sirens behind me here. i'm just across the street from the white house myself so i suspect that motorcade is getting closer and closer. we hear the sirens coming in right now. it's 11:00 a.m. here on the east coast of the united states. i'm wolf blitzer. we are reporting history unfolding here in the nation's capital. we once again want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. momentarily, the president-elect donald trump will be arriving here at the white house to go into the oval office and meet for the first time as

president-elect with the president of the united states, barack obama. they will meet in the oval office. it might last an hour, could last two hours based on historic precedent. they will have an opportunity to discuss all of the history that is unfolding right now, and the president, president obama, clearly wants to do as much as he can to make this a smooth transition. we know from president obama he was very grateful to president bush eight years ago, when president bush warmly welcomed him into the white house and provided him with a lot of the background he needed during this transition period between now and january 20th, when president-elect trump eventually on january 20th will be sworn in as the 45th president of the united states. dana, once again, it's a little frustrating to the journalists that the white house apparently has not allowed cameras to capture live images of donald

trump arriving at the white house. we will have images, we will have cameras inside the oval office at the end of their meeting when they will both speak out and we will see that. but it's always frustrating to me as a former white house correspondent that sometimes the white house will have their own cameras, their official white house photographer there, but they are not letting even apparently not letting even a small pool of network television cameras and print reporters over to get an eyewitness account to this historic moment. but maybe they will surprise us and allow us to do that. go ahead, dana. i'm anxious to get your thoughts on this historic moment. we are looking at live pictures of the west wing of the white house, the north lawn entrance to the west wing. i don't know if he's going to be driving in there. we haven't really been told. go ahead, dana. >> reporter: first of all, i agree with you. i have been covering politics and i covered the white house, capitol hill for so long, and still even traveling the world with george w. bush, covering many many summits, many majestic

things, one of the images that i just have in my mind and i will for the rest of my life was being able to be on the south lawn, again, i was still in school. i should tell you donald trump has arrived, we are told, has arrived at the white house. the fact we are told and we have to tell you and we haven't been able to show you the image speaks to what wolf was just saying, that apparently we don't have, clearly we don't have the live pictures. what i was saying was that there were live pictures of the historic moment back in 1992 which was the moment i remember when bill clinton, who had just defeated george h.w. bush, arrived on the south lawn of the white house, walked back towards the oval office. people who have seen press conferences and events even yesterday with president obama and vice president joe biden, they walk out to the rose garden. that was the image that you can even google it now, that was

there for history, that the press was able to get. clearly we are not going to see that. if we do, maybe, maybe fingers crossed, we can see it later. but much more importantly, the moment that's going to happen in the oval office. the oval office -- >> i just want to interrupt for a moment. i want to interrupt for a moment. we are now told that donald trump, the president-elect of the united states, has arrived at the white house. he will go into the west wing, the north lawn entrance we see there. didn't come in through the executive drive area between the west wing and the eisenhower executive office building. he did arrive on the south lawn of the white house which is a much more majestic entrance. we didn't see live pictures of that but we are now told that president-elect trump is there. he's inside the white house. he has arrived and presumably the president, president obama, will escort him, invite him into the oval office at which point

they can spend an hour or longer and talk about this process. john king, former white house correspondent, just like me, is here with me. we are across the street from the white house, majestic view we have. john, i'm anxious for your thoughts, because so many people never thought we would see a day that president obama would welcome president-elect trump to the oval office. >> so you can look in the rear view mirror and talk about the animosity between these two men. donald trump was a cheerleader for the birther movement. president obama was harshly critical saying donald trump was unstable, erratic, not prepared to be president. but i think today we should spent most of our time looking in the windshield, not the rear view mirror. on this remarkable moment, having covered the white house, we all have bad days in life. when you cover the white house you walk down that driveway every day and what a gift and honor it is to work in that building. donald trump today i think the awesome responsibility he's about to inherit, if it hasn't sunk in already, it will when you walk into the oval office. the shrine of american democracy. when the president takes him into the rose garden, they walk

over to the white house residence. this is a changing of the guard in the united states. the entire world is watching this. a divided nation is watching this. as president obama struck the perfect tone yesterday, paying respects to george w. bush and i think what we see and what we don't see today is the remarkable moment in american history and however you voted in this election, a celebration of the continuity of power, transfer of power and strength of the republic. >> you and i, we covered that transition back in november, december, 1992 when president george h.w. bush welcomed the president-elect, the arkansas governor bill clinton, to the white house. we remember how smooth that transition went. we remember eight years ago, how smooth the transition from president george w. bush to president obama went. i suspect this transition will be smooth as well. >> this is the beginning of an incredibly important ten-week period of time. yes, president obama still has some business he wants to get done. yes, president obama will

probably have a few private words with donald trump about i know you promised to change everything i have done. maybe you want to keep this or that. mostly, this is about how this works, pledging cooperation, making sure the teams are in sync with each other and it sounds like little stuff, but donald trump is about to start getting the most sensitive intelligence briefings, about to learn a lot about isis, a lot about what's going on in the middle east, a lot about the china relationship, and as he learns that during the transition, he will probably want to reach out and talk to people who are in government at the moment. some of this is the simple stuff if you will, exchange of contacts. some of it is just the preparation of how the president runs his day and donald trump will have his own way of doing it. every president is different. this is the beginning of a process. the end of a process is a fascinating tradition. the president leaving always leaves a note for the president, incoming president, and that note, i remember you mentioned bill clinton. >> usually on january 20th. the last time the president is in the oval office. those notes are very very historic and significant. >> so that's ten weeks from now.

i remember george h.w. bush left a note to bill clinton saying i know you promised in your campaign to focus like a laser on the economy. good luck. god bless. i just want to tell you that every problem in the world will come across your desk. be prepared for the unexpected. then george w. bush came promising a humble administration to focus on [ inaudible ] and 9/11 happened. i'm sure president obama will say for all you planned for this job, it's the unpredictable that will dominate your days. >> let's not forget that transition in 2000 from president clinton to president george w. bush. that was also extremely historic and smooth transition as well. you were there. >> there were some bumps in that transition. there was childish behavior, people saying they took "w"s off the keyboards and the computers. >> that was on president clinton, some of his junior aides. >> not saying it was president clinton. given the personal animosity between president obama and donald trump, you cannot forget that, you cannot wipe that away on this day, but the professionalism of the president and again, i think the example

of george w. bush to president obama is the example he's going to follow as he hands over to donald trump. understanding the moment we're in. there are still many problems in the world. again, the financial markets started to jump around a little bit right after the election. they seem to have settled in right now. how this is handled, these are two men with very different agendas, very different views, with a personal history, but how this is handled president to president-elect will say a lot about the early days of the trump administration and this is the last 70 days of the obama presidency. >> yes. jim acosta, you are at the white house for us. we are now told president-elect trump is in the white house. he has arrived. he is there and he's getting ready, they are getting ready to go into the oval office with the president of the united states and start this meeting. as i was pointing out, it's a little frustrating we didn't have live cameras to record that historic moment, but this white house has been a little bit less open to those tight pools as we called them to allow the news

media to capture the historic moments. i hope it changes. go ahead. >> reporter: yeah. that's true. after when we experienced over the last campaign, it bears reminding that yes, there were some clashes from time to time between the white house under president obama and the white house press corps over access and those sorts of issues. they may pale in comparison in terms of what's to come. but we should point out there's a little bit of news involving the president-elect, donald trump. he did have a call earlier this morning with the prime minister of britain, theresa may. she spoke to donald trump according to this readout from the british government congratulating him on his victory and according to this readout from the british government, donald trump invited the prime minister here to the white house, to washington, as soon as possible. that, too, is a sign of this peaceful transfer of power that the president-elect is on the

phone with foreign leaders reestablishing those ties with important heads of state around the world that yes, when president-elect trump comes into the oval office there will be a continuity in terms of united states foreign policy, in terms of dealing with our closest allies. of course, there are going to be some questions about how donald trump deals with russia and whether or not he sort of reshuffles the deck in terms of dealing with other foreign leaders but that's a very interesting development that we are seeing this morning, on the very same morning he's meeting with the president of the united states. >> very interesting. i'm sure he's going to be taking a lot of phone calls from world leaders. the british prime minister, theresa may calling, having this conversation, i'm sure he's going to be taking phone calls from other prime ministers and presidents, friendly countries, maybe some not so friendly countries as well during these weeks of this transition that is historic as well. doug brinkley, presidential

historian, is joining us right now. doug, it's always fascinating, this is sort of history unfolding on a minute by minute basis. but step back a little bit and give us your perspective on what we are about to see when the president-elect of the united states, donald trump, is seen in the oval office with president obama. >> well, this can't be an easy moment for president obama. he's shattered like a lot of democrats are. he really thought hillary clinton was going to be his successor. the fact that donald trump won is a blow to his legacy, particularly the affordable care act, which donald trump is claiming on day one he's going to try to repeal obama's singularly most important domestic achievement. but historians look at these moments and we focus on them a lot. this really is a big moment we're watching here. the healing factor going on. some transitions are easy, some are tough.

i remember ronald reagan and jimmy carter had zero chemistry, couldn't stand each other. carter wanted nothing to do really with reagan. he just lost carter in 1980 a landslide election, he knew a lot of his programs would be dismantled. reagan immediately took the solar panels off the white house carter had put on to make a big point there's new management in town. but barack obama is a pro. when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro. this is obama, what he's good at. he's going to try to be a healer for our country and be instructive to donald trump and make sure the institution of the presidency continues unabated with as least amount of drama coming out of today as possible. >> there have been some comparisons made, the transition from jimmy carter in 1980 to ronald reagan in 1980, jimmy carter was the incumbent president, deeply frustrated that he wasn't re-elected.

ronald reagan, two-term governor of california, was elected. movie star, cowboy, if you will, officials in the carter white house were belittling him and you say that transition was tough, the weeks between the election in november and the inauguration on january 20th. was it a tough transition like that, or did they manage for the good of the country to make it as smooth as possible? >> they managed but barely. carter didn't want to even talk to reagan on the time of the inaugural when famously the iran hostages got released. the problem was when they met, jimmy carter had a whole list of all these things that he was going to have to do like micro-lists and reagan kind of half listened and said well, i'm not going to be able to do all that. i'm going to need my sleeping hours. i'm only going to work an eight hour, nine hour day. carter was aghast that reagan in his mind didn't seem to grasp how urgent so many of these thorny problems were.

at the heart of it, though, was 1980 was a revolution. the right came in, the progressive movement of lyndon johnson had gotten shattered and it was a revolutionary moment. we are in another revolutionary moment where barack obama has to worry that not only is donald trump coming in, his arch-enemy, but a lot of what he's accomplished these last eight years might be unraveled in a trump presidency. >> the president-elect of the united states is now here in washington. he's over at the white house right now. he arrived on the south lawn of the white house, we didn't get any pictures, there were no live cameras allowed there. we will see president-elect trump and president obama in the oval office. we are standing by for that. that meeting is an historic meeting. the first lady is also welcoming the incoming first lady of the united states to the white house. that's also an important historic moment. kate anderson brower who wrote an important book on first

ladies, "first woman, the grace and power of america's modern first ladies" is with us here. this is an historic moment. give us a little sense what is likely to happen when the incoming first lady is received by the first lady. >> well, like doug says, the animosity transfers over to the first ladies, too. the bush -- i mean the reagan/carter handover was difficult. they barely spoke to each other in the limo on the way to the swearing-in ceremony on capitol hill. i suspect mrs. obama will take melania to the west sitting hall, have a coffee while the president and president-elect meet in the oval office, and this isn't the formal passover where they do a residence tour, where the interior decorators are with them. they get down to details, even what kind of deodorant the new first family wants to use and what rooms they can change. there are binders of information. the trumps can't come in and change the yellow oval room in the residence or the queen's bedroom or lincoln bedroom, without getting permission from

the curator staff. there are checks and balances. i think the animosity cannot be overstated here. betty ford said when the carters came in, you know whoever is replacing you didn't deserve to be here, because these women traditionally work very hard to get their husbands elected. one term presidents take it very hard and the first ladies do, too. melania was much less present on the campaign trail than we have seen in the past from other first ladies. >> melania trump will get a tour from michelle obama, the first lady. the first lady will take her upstairs to the residence, show her the lincoln bedroom, other historic sites there, not just the east room or the big dining room. they will have an opportunity to see where the family is actually going to live. >> exactly. instead of having an actual letter that presidents leave behind for each other, this is the handover of power between the first ladies, is the tour. on this tour, which i don't think is happening today. that will happen in the future. i think this is more symbolic

today. the first lady stands the incoming first lady at a certain window in the dressing room and says if you look at this spot you will be able to see your husband at work in the oval office. this is what barbara bush did for hillary clinton and what hillary clinton did for laura bush, regardless of political party there's a respect for the position of first lady and a sorority of first ladies but this is more difficult than a lot of past transitions. >> there's a real protocol for what's going to happen today between the incoming and outgoing first ladies? >> absolutely. and there's respect for this position. i think that these are the only women in the world who know what it's like to live in the white house, to have these expectations. first ladies are very controversial usually. they have to pick an apolitical issue that doesn't offend anyone. we saw melania trump talk about cyberbullying and immediately, get pillor aud ied in the press because of what her husband does on twitter. melania has never been married to an elected politician before. i think she will find it especially difficult. >> do they have a conversation that would be normal? i assume it would be normal for

melania trump, they have a young son, baron. when michelle obama came to the white house, two young daughters, they had to find a school, had to talk a little bit. we know melania and donald trump want to protect their young son. i assume they will take him out of his school in new york, bring him to washington and find a nice school for him to go to just as the obama girls grew up here over these past eight years, went to school here. >> it's interesting because sasha goes to sidwell friends and the obamas are staying here so she can finish school there. there's a chance barron could go there, too. there could be overlap there. >> where chelsea clinton went, too. >> exactly. that's what hillary clinton did with jackie kennedy, she asked for advice. having a young son, barron is 10 years old, we haven't had a son in the white house since john kennedy, jr. it's been all daughters. so this is historic and important because of that, to have this young son. i think like hillary did with jackie, melania would be wise to

reach back and talk to michelle obama and other first ladies about what it's like raising children. >> stay with us. can you stay with us? john, you will stay with us as well? you have no choice. >> i learned that. >> we have a lot more coming up. we are only moments away. we will see the president of the united states and the president-elect of the united states in the oval office, first time together since donald trump won the presidency. we will take a quick break. our special coverage continues right after this. we asked people to write down

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i won this 55 inch tv for less than $30 on dealdash.com. visit dealdash.com for great deals. and start bidding today! once again, we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. history unfolding here in washington, d.c. you are taking a look at live pictures coming from the white house. the president-elect of the united states, donald trump, is now in the white house. he's being received by the president of the united states, barack obama. they are having a meeting in the oval office. first time they are getting together since president-elect trump was elected president of the united states. the historic moment indeed. at the end of that meeting, camera crews and reporters, photographers, will be allowed into the oval office for what's called a photo opportunity. we will hear statements from the

president and the president-elect. reporters will then try to get a few questions in. we will see if they answer reporters' questions. later the president-elect will head up to capitol hill for a very important meeting with the speaker of the house, paul ryan. sean spicer is joining us right now, the chief spokesman strategist for the republican national committee. he's been very much involved in trying to get donald trump elected president. first of all, i know you worked really hard to get him elected, in your role as the republican national committee strategist. congratulations. what do you anticipate will happen today? >> first, i appreciate it. thank you, wolf. most of the credit goes to my boss, rnc chair reince priebus whose vision and investment over the last four years really helped take the movement and the message that this candidate brought and helped the entire ticket win up and down, put together one of the most amazing ground games and data operations that any party has ever seen. i know we talked to a lot of people over the last few weeks

about how we will translate the movement and the message trump brought on to the ground and how we have been working hand in hand with the campaign to go door to door. i think chairman priebus' vision and message combined with an amazing message and movement that donald trump and the campaign had really showed how impressive it was on tuesday night. as for today, i think, look, i was there on the last day of the bush white house. the president and mrs. bush could not have been more classy and gracious and i think president obama and mrs. obama have noted that and i think they will follow that example that president bush and mrs. bush used to ensure that there's a peaceful transfer of power and that the same accommodations and hospitality that they were shown by the bush team will be shown to the trump team to ensure that our country continues to show how beautifully retransfer power after one election. >> i suspect you're right.

you mentioned reince priebus, chairman of the republican national committee, your boss. lot of speculation that he's become close to donald trump over these past several months. lot of speculation he could emerge as white house chief of staff. i assume you have heard that speculation. two questions. is he going to be chief of staff and what about you? what role do you want in a trump administration? >> all i'm looking forward to is a good seat at the inauguration right now. i'm looking forward to watching donald trump and mike pence get sworn in as the next president and vice president of the united states and i'm honored to have played a small part in that. i know chairman priebus and the rest of the team at the rnc, chris carr, our political director, garrett lancing, who runs the digital, katie walsh, our chief of staff, have all been working tirelessly to help this campaign and i think all of us frankly just spent the last 36 hours excited and happy and we'll see where it goes from there.

i know that everyone wants to make sure we help donald trump and his team be successful and -- but it's too early for any of those questions to be asked right now. >> i suspect that's a very diplomatic answer. maybe state department, maybe a role as the state department, some senior position there. we have john king with us, he has a lot of experience covering the white house over these years. he's got a question for you. >> let me echo the congratulations from wolf. i hope there's a well-deserved beach in your future before that great seat at the inauguration. you are a very smart person when it comes to messaging and strategy. i'm wondering if donald trump, the tone donald trump sets early on, you remember the early days of the obama administration. i'm not trying to assign blame to which side but the republicans said he came out with this democratic partisan agenda and immediately you had the divide between the two. if donald trump asks you during the campaign i said i would appoint a special prosecutor, during the campaign my crowds chanted repeatedly lock her up, lock her up, should di do that r turn the page and say it's time

to let hillary clinton go into retirement peacefully? if he asked you that question, how would you answer? >> i would say the tone and sentiment he expressed -- well, actually, on wednesday morning when he took the stage officially, is the tone that i think we should carry through, which is he talked about a lot of policies, helping people from around this country understand how policies can help them enact policies and solutions that will lift up all americans. i think that would be where the focus should be. i think when you think of the multiple ambitious pieces of his agenda to help america, i think that's where we start and again, i think that's where you will see him go. he understands that so many people from around this country are hurting and that they really, really believe in the message and the movement that he and governor pence have taken from one corner of this country to the next, to the inner cities, to the rural parts of this country, north, south, east and west. there are so many people that have looked to donald trump and mike pence to bring that change

to washington that i think that's where we are going to probably spend -- he will spend the most amount of his time. >> you are showing your skills here, avoiding the very specific part of the question. on the question of special -- you know what's happening in the country. donald trump won fair and square. donald trump will be the president-elect. but we live in a divided america. a lot of people are anxious about this. on that specific question, if he said should i name a special prosecutor as i said in the campaign, would you say go ahead? you promised that? or sir, maybe you should leave that in the campaign and have a different tone as president? >> i tell you, i think he laid out a lot of things, solutions and policies and priorities. the counsel i would give him is to focus on a lot of those things that are going to unite us, mike the country better, lift people out of poverty, create jobs, reform health care. he has a lot of things on that agenda. beyond that, i would keep my advice to him very private. >> do you think he's going to, on day one, january 20th, 2017, only a few weeks from now, sean, that he's going to start on day

one and issue a series of executive orders eliminating a lot of the decisions, executive actions that president obama took, whether on immigration, climate change, sensitive issues like that? >> i think he's got about two and a half months until that difficult in january where he raises his hand and puts his other on the bible and gets sworn in as president to lay out that agenda and figure out what exactly needs to come first, second or third. but i'm going to tell you now that there's no question that starting day one, he is going to make it very clear that this is going to be an administration that is not going to stand for the status quo and is going to change the way that this government operates to make people's lives better. you are going to notice it on day one. i don't want to lay out and i'm not going to prejudge how he wants to do it or exactly the way in which he wants to do it but i know this. on day one, you are going to feel a positive impact for this country because mike pence and donald trump have become the president and vice president of this country. >> i know you had a very very

busy role in the campaign and you were up in new york over at trump tower trying to help get him elected. do you have a specific role, i know you work at the rnc, during this transition that you are going to be working on, helping chris christie, the governor of new jersey, who is in charge of the transition, do you have a specific role right now, sean? >> no, i don't. i will do what i'm asked. look, i'm honored -- i'm honored to have been part of it, but there's a lot of great people in trump tower that have really worked hard and across the country, frankly, putting up signs and advising and creating policy. so i think all of them want to be part of this historic opportunity and wherever he or his team asks, i know people want to help. >> one final question before i let you go. were you stunned that he won? >> i was a bit shocked by the depth and breadth of it. when you saw some of the counties come in that obama had

won 52-47, 51-48, some wisconsin counties, the michigan counties, places where we knew we would do well, we had seen the surge, but sort of in a couple of the areas frankly you watched these counties flip and it really spoke to the depth and breadth of the change and movement he was spearheading. >> sean spicer, chief strategist, spokesman for the republican national committee, thanks very much for joining us. >> thank you, wolf. thank you, john. >> we are going to take another quick break. remember, we are waiting to go into the oval office at the white house right behind where we are right now. the president and president-elect, they are meeting right now, toward the end of their meeting they will invite camera crews, reporters in. they will make statements, the president and the president-elect. we will get live coverage of that and share it with you, of course. much more special coverage on this historic day in washington after this.

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welcome back to our special coverage. take a look at the live picture coming in from the white house right now. inside the white house, inside the oval office, the president-elect of the united states donald trump is being received by the president of the united states, barack obama. their first meeting during this transition process, presumably there will be more down the road leading up to january 20th of next year, only a few weeks from now when donald trump will be inaugurated, sworn in as the 45th president of the united states. our camera crews are getting ready to go into the oval office. reporters will be going in there as well. president obama will make a statement. president-elect donald trump will make a statement. we will see if they answer we will of course have coverage

of all of that. the incoming first lady, melania trump, is also being received right now by michelle obama, the first lady of the united states. presumably we will see both of them at some point as well. in the meantime, as we await the statements from the president and the president-elect, our pentagon correspondent barbara starr is joining us. barbara, yesterday ash carter, the defense secretary, said he wants everyone at the pentagon, military and civilian personnel, to work together with the incoming trump team to make sure there's a smooth transition. what are you hearing? >> reporter: well, wolf, as you would expect, there's a lot of chatter up and down the pentagon hallways. i would say the top curiosity here is who will be the new secretary of defense. a lot of names being thrown around. nobody's hearing anything very definitive yet. one of the big underlying questions so many senior people in the u.s. military have quite remarkably is who is this new commander in chief that they will have.

they have seen donald trump's statements on the campaign trail, talking about waterboarding, talking about bombing with little regard to civilian casualties, talking about taking the oil in iraq. all of these things potentially very serious violations of international law, violations of the geneva convention. quite remarkably, they want to know is that the donald trump that is the new commander in chief or will he rachet back once he takes office. nobody wants to contemplate having to deal with illegal orders from any president of the united states. so that's a big question. but now president-elect trump really beginning to understand what is coming at him because the intelligence community very much preparing to give him a very comprehensive set of briefings not just the daily intelligence briefing about what is going on in the world, but the so-called crown jewels. how does the military, how does the cia, how does the u.s. government spy and collect

information around the world to keep this country safe. that may be a very sobering prospect for any president-elect. wolf? >> let's not forget during the campaign, donald trump said that when it comes to fighting isis, he knows more than the generals do. i assume that did not go over all that well where you are, barbara, at the pentagon. >> reporter: yeah. you know, some people i suspect see it as campaign rhetoric, but deep inside, who are the generals in the u.s. military today? most of these people have served multiple combat tours in iraq, afghanistan, around the world. they have been away from their families for years. they have buried their troops at arlington cemetery. so these people feel these things very heart-felt. they feel that they are giving the president, any president of the united states, their best military advice. it just really has to be said this is a military totally loyal

to any commander in chief, of course there is civilian control of the military in this country but very much the generals will be waiting to see everything they can, learn everything they can, about donald trump. >> barbara at the pentagon, barbara starr reporting. kim dozer is our global affairs analyst. there are hundreds of jobs that will have to be filled by the incoming president when it comes to national security, the national security council, elsewhere at the state department, the pentagon. what are you hearing? because lot of speculation, lot of names out there. >> wolf, i'm hearing that they are scrambling to gather the resumes they need to fill up to thousands of positions that require top secret security clearance. now, initially, about three weeks ago, a month ago, they had a few hundred names for people who would take top posts. posts like secretary of defense. but when they looked at their internal polling and started realizing that they might win,

they started reaching out further and within the hours since donald trump has been named president-elect i'm hearing that even since the publication of a story i wrote about this transition process, they are getting flooded with resumes but from a different group of people than are normally applying for these kind of jobs. a lot of people from the military contractor world, retired military types who have a top secret clearance and have been frustrated by what they perceive as the obama administration's sort of weak or lackluster campaign against islamic militancy and extremism. so you really could have a change from the previous administration or washington as we know it because you might have a surge of people in these jobs who haven't done them before. >> kimberly, stand by. we will get back to you as well. john king is here with me. i want to point out the marine guard standing outside that door

at the west wing of the white house, tell our viewers the history there. >> it's the marine outside the west wing, that means the president is in the west wing. it's one of the ways when you cover the white house you know if the president is on the job. the president works 24/7. i don't mean that disrespectfully. if the marine is there you know the president has come over and is actually in the west wing. the president is in the west wing. this is the back door of the white house, if you will. this is the door, this is the part of the white house americans see every day. if you watch the white house. but the south portico where donald trump came in, that's the entrance to the white house, looking at the mall, at the majestic washington monument and jefferson memorial. if you think of your home, lot of people come in the back door. you park the car in the garage, come up the driveway, go in the back or the side. that's the back door of the white house. but it's the working side of the white house, if you will. that's where the west wing is. you walk in that wing there, the reception desk and take a few steps, and you are in the president's office. you are where the chief of staff is. that's what donald trump's learning today. what is business going to be like. he has an office in the trump tower. his staff is around him. well, he's about to be leader of the free world and that will be his office. then as we talked earlier,

people remember where the president was yesterday, in the rose garden. the place where the president often uses the bully pulpit. how donald trump handles communicating with the american people and the world is one of the fascinating questions we have after this campaign in which he was so provocative, in which he said those things barbara starr was just talking about that alarmed the pentagon. let's see what a president trump and how he's different from candidate trump. we do know he's a very effective communicator. he likes to use the media and his own statements to communicate. he will do a lot of that in the rose garden, especially on beautiful days like this in the nation's capital. the majesty of the white house is going to be introduced to donald trump today and no matter how successful you are, no matter your track record, when you walk into the oval office, you walk out into the rose garden, you walk over to the residence which will be donald trump's home, it's both a museum, as kate was saying, it's both an office and a museum all at once. it's a majestic place. we worked there together for years. even when you come in in a grumpy mood, when traffic was horrible, your coffee doesn't taste right, you walk into that

building and i'm in the white house. it's just a majestic wonderful amazing place. i think both of these leaders, we will hear from them in a few minutes, i'm sure they are having a substantive conversation about how the job works but also just an historic conversation about this is america. >> in the seven years when i was cnn senior white house correspondent, you are absolutely right. you go through that gate in the north side of the white house, walk down that driveway, you sort of, i did it all the time, pinching myself, here i am a kid from buffalo, new york, you are a kid from boston, and we are covering the white house. i'm sure donald trump as much as he's a billionaire and knows so much about world affairs, he's pinching himself right now that he's sitting in the oval office with the president of the united states. >> you are reminded, this is a very less perspective, we are correspondents, covering the white house. he will be president of the united states. but you come to work many days thinking today's story is going to be social security or the president setting up his budget or this, and you are literally, i remember days walking down the

driveway to do a live shot on some issue and getting a frantic phone call, north korea just launched a missile or some world leader has done this or the financial markets are crashing. the unpredictability of the awesome responsibility donald trump is about to assume, i assume that is the biggest message president obama will convey today because that's the message george h.w. bush gave to bill clinton, that bill clinton gave to george w. bush. democrats or republicans, republicans or democrat, yes, there are partisan differences but you are the keeper of that amazing building and that building represents the job and responsibility you have to the nation and to the world. >> a few days ago, the president was ridiculing donald trump on the campaign trail, saying his aides took away his access to twitter and now he wants to have access to the nuclear codes. we will hear a very different genre from both of these men coming up in a few minutes. >> absolutely. that's important. look, we -- i remember covering the bush to obama transition. the clinton to bush transition was a little more messy, not

between the two leaders but between the staffs. it was very different for george w. bush to come into the white house because he grew up in the white house. he was around the white house for years, eight years of the reagan presidency and four years of the george h.w. bush presidency. that was very different in terms of familiarity with how it works. bill clinton had been a governor, reagan had been a governor. donald trump is the first president in american history who has not served in the military or any government position. that's just a fact. so he has a lot to learn. that's not a criticism. he has a lot to bring. he has an outsider's perspective. he has business experience. he does have a lot to learn about the nuts and bolts of government, the levers of government. i think one of the things he's going to learn quickly is that during the campaign, he would say things and he might dominate the news cycle for 24 hours. a president can move financial markets. a president can change geopolitics around the world with a sentence. that's the first part of learning to be comfortable in the job and how you want to conduct yourself in the job. >> gloria borger is with us. gloria, you have covered a lot of these transitions over the years as well. this is an historic moment.

i'm anxious to get your thoughts because the president of the united states and the president-elect are going to be speaking not only to the american people but to the world in a few minutes. >> yeah. i'm interested in how long their conversation continues, because that will give us an indication of whether they are having a real substantive conversation or whether barack obama is being polite, showing him around the place, letting him in on what his schedule is like every day. donald trump is kind of used to living above the store. he's got his offices in trump tower. so he's used to not having a commute to work. that part of it won't be odd for him because that is the situation the president of the united states is in. i think what will be different for donald trump, and i don't know if he's ever been to the white house before.

maybe you guys know. i'm not quite sure whether he's done the tour on has been invited as a social guest to a state dinner. i really don't know. what struck me in visiting trump the offices of donald trump, is that it's pretty informal. that he is always in his suit and tie. but the offices are kind of, you know, some folk's offices are a mess and it's -- there's not the formality of the white house. i mean, nowhere has the formality of the white house. i think that will strike donald trump. he likes to kind of shout out at his assistants, get me this, get me that. that's not the way it works in the oval office. at lead st we don't think so, s the thing all of us are struck by as we walk into the white house is that sort of way it's kind of hushed and the way -- how formal it is. and the military there that you're seeing there outside.

and the -- it's not so much the grandeur of the place as it really is the nature of the fact that people are there to protect this person as he goes through his day to day job, and everything he does, everything he does, is important. it's not like he goes downstairs and into one of his restaurants and, you know, has lunch. this is completely different environment. which is why those of us who have worked there and covered the white house like you guys or me who has been a visitor there many times to talk to sources, i'm just always struck by the solemnity of the place and the seriousness of purpose inside the white house. every single day. so i'm very curious about this meeting and how donald trump will be coming out of it. he is who he is.

as he told us on the campaign trail, he's not going to change. the question is how does the white house adapt to donald trump, and, and vice versa. >> good point, dana, gloria, i should say, good point, gloria. stay with us. we have a lot more coming up. we're awaiting the first images of donald trump and president obama. the president-elect of the united states and the president of the united states. they are now in the oval office. you see that marine guard outside the west wing. the president is in the wet wing. whenever you see that marine guard there, you know the president is somewhere in the west wing. we now know he is in the oval office with the president-elect of the united states. they're getting ready to meet with reporters. camera crews will come in. momentarily, we'll get the first statements. the first images from the president-elect and the president. we'll be right back.

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welcome back. a few minutes away from the first images of the president-elect of the united states, donald trump, being sketched in the oval office by the president of it is united states, barack obama. they've been meeting almost an hour since donald trump and his entourage arrived at the white house. melania trump, the incoming first lady, is meeting with michelle obama, the first lady of the united states, at the same time. we were going to be watching all of this very closely. we'll of course have complete coverage of the statements that the president and the president elect will be making shortly. stay with us for that. dana bash is with us. dana, you know, we're going to be studying every little nuance that comes out of this. the body language. the statements. the words, if you will. it's going to be fascinating, not only for those of us who are journalists, but for people out there around the country, indeed, around the world, how are these two men going to get together, and how will they

behave. >> absolutely, you know, not only would you and i want to be a fly on the wall, we almost would want to be inside their brains, what their inside voices are saying to one another. but, you know, you and i were talking about sort of the access issue and the ability for the press there to capture history. it was unfortunate we didn't get that kind of iconic picture of president-elect donald trump coming in to the south lawn like we saw of bill clinton in 1992 and being greeted in the rose garden by the president. but i am reminded by a white house aide that there was no photo op of the president-elect, barack obama, with then president george w. bush in the oval office, which will happen today. they're meeting now. we understand the white house pool has gone at least towards the oval. unclear if they're actually in the oval.

but we will get that picture today. and to your point, that image not only will we be studying it, but i think the fact that they decided to do this in the oval office for people to see the two of them together but to see donald trump actually sitting in the place where he will make some of the most important consequential decisions of his life and, more importantly, the life of, you know, 300-plus million americans over and over again, is quite important to the modern story of a peaceful transition. >> donald trump is going to be the commander in chief. and he will have control over the millions of young men and women potentially active duty reservists who are serving in the united states military. i'm sure the president is underscoring that enormous responsibility -- >> i'm sure. >> during their meeting in the oval office right now.

josh holmes is with us as well, former chief of staff to mitch mcconnell, the senate majority leader. i understand after donald trump leaves the white house, he'll head up to capitol hill. he'll meet with the speak of the house, paul ryan. also meet with mitch mcconnell. relationship hasn't been that great with him either. set the scene for us, josh, how is that meeting going to unfold, because the president-elect, once he's president, he's going to rely on the republican leadership of the house and senate to get the job done, to pass the legislation he promised the american people he would recommend. >> that's absolutely right, these are amongst the most important meetings that he's going to have. and as you said, wolf, everything he talked about in the campaign and the agenda for the first 100 days and beyond is going to be relying on that relationship that he has with both speaker ryan, and majority leader mcconnell. i think this is a good positive first step. obviously some of this is formality in that you've got to go up and meet with folks.

this is a relationship that i think there's a lot of lessons to be learned of the obama administration in 2009. they did not spend a ton of time on capitol hill between the time that he was elected and by the time he was inaugurated in january. and those relationships never were really fully formed. i think the incoming trump administration, both in terms of their appointments to the cabinet, in terms of staff and in terms of the relationship itself between donald trump and those leaders, is incredibly important. >> stand by, josh, jim acosta, our white house correspondent, is there on the west lawn of the white house. you're getting information about what's going on in the west wing of the oval office, what are you learning, jim? >> right, wolf, just part of the color of what we're seeing here it's not just president obama and president-elect trump meeting with each other, it's their key aides. the white house pool put out a note a few moments ago. the reporters who are being allowed to