mark: i'm mark halperin. john: and i'm john heilemann. and "with all due respect" to donald trump, maybe having a bit of a honeymoon, but not everyone wants to shake your hand. ♪ mark: there has been a magnitude 6.9 earthquake off the coast of fukushima, japan, causing us in on the warning. we will monitor that throughout the shorw and report any update. there continues to be a lot of interest in conflicts of interest when it comes to donald trump's sprawling business empire. so far he has done next to nothing to assuage this concern,

and in some respects is only exacerbated it. democrats are howling over a newspaper report that says he received a congratulatory phone call from the argentina president, to ask for help with a salt construction project that will bear his brand. the spokesman denied ever happened, but said that he might use his new power to boost the family's bottom line. last week, he met with three indian commercial partners who are building a luxury office building south of mumbai, and seem eager to capitalize on their newly valuable connection. reported agton post" hundred foreign diplomats attended a sales pitch in washington, and some of them .onsidered spending big league an analysis of his business dealings found at least 111 trump related companies have done or are doing business in 18

countries across south america, asia, and the middle east. none of what he has done to this point appears to be illegal, but it certainly raises suspicions that he could if you wanted to profit financially. if only someone had told the president-elect that he might want to be more careful about the appearance of conflict of interest. wereviously, my assets significantly smaller than some other presidents or president-elects, but we made a decision to liquidate assets questions about how it what influence policy. when i met with the president-elect, i suggested to him that having a strong white house counsel that could provide clear guideposts and ands would benefit him

benefit his team, because it would eliminate a lot of ambiguity. mark: given his history, he is unlikely to be a scrupulous as obama. i question is, whether do you think the tipping point -- my question is, what do you think the tipping point is for him to start taking these concerns and criticisms seriously? mark: this is also unnecessary. it is not the right way to start. it will take a lot for him to change his ways. i think he wants to get rich off being president, and will do everything he can as long as a lawyer tells them it's ok. the three possible to pinpoint tipping points -- one would be if he's indicted. another would be if a member of his family said it is hurting the brand. but i think the most likely way is he hires a white house counsel, who tells him this stuf f is going to be a distraction, and we have to put a stop to it.

we have to reorganize the company to make it as blind and as cut off from government as possible. john: wow. youlieve you just said -- think it is clear he intends to profiteer off the presidency. mark: i don't think it is why he ran, but that -- i think he thinks he can, without being punished. john: with impunity, he thinks he can get away with this? mark: yeah. john: i think that is pretty outrageous, if true. i don't disagree, but all the signs are horrible. if the guy does not want to be and mashed in scandals he must do what seems like the only thing that is proper, which is what the "wall street journal" editorial board said -- liquidate the company, melted down, put it

into a blind trust, keep your kids out of the position of being involved with money and the government. it'sow when monkeys fly -- the only solution. mark: let's live in the world where he won't to do that. what can we expect? john: if he is going to be a profiteering president, openly, thinking he can do it with impunity, he is going to be mired in scandals throughout the entire administration. mark: lyndon johnson and harry reid, two guys who got much wealthier in public office. everybody does this. what's the big deal? john: both of those analogies are variously true. but none of them were multibillionaire occupants of the oval office who then used the presidency in a blatant way to profiteer. mark: i'm worried about this. john: you seem concerned.

transition process went through another weekend. job seekers, including mitt others james mattis, and were greeted at the front door by trump, himself, who also made sure to toss a wave to the shivering, cold press corps. there were a few statements by some of the comers and goers, but the body language alone was riveting, if only lasting for a few seconds. like here. today, back at trump tower, there were cameos from the former texas governor rick perry. the former massachusetts senator scott brown. the current governor of oklahoma. and yet, still no new announcements or appointments since last week. john, what do you think is

holding up the initial release of white smoke from the chimney atop trump tower? john: i'd like to think that what is holding it up is he's doing careful vetting, and everything people are saying suggests that's true. i'm willing to take it at face value, and my view is that there are two big jobs. one is figuring out who the 4000 people are. i still think their way behind. on the front of making major appointments, they are historically speaking not behind, and i am not in any hurry. i'm worried about their appointments that have happened so far. this be that which they are taking on the major jobs does not concern me. mark: if they get romney and mattis, they will have a major a leisure time recruiting. -- the media is complaining about the parade of people. if these meetings were all in secret, the press would have complained -- i couldn't care less.

i'll say this. we're waiting for this video they are supposed to put out, talking about policy. i do think you should start having press conferences, start doing interviews. the personnel stuff, i agree -- i am in no rush. if everybody is there by christmas, and the top jobs are a concern but so were all the others. if you pick good people of the top you will have a much easier time recruiting. we've talked to a lot of republicans who said, if someone like mitt romney as secretary of state, we will have a much easier time. john: will we have among these appointments, if we don't have ideological diversity, if we don't have any other diversity qualifiedi'm for people, but there are millions of nonwhite, female americans who are worried about the direction of his ministration,

and as long as every appointment is a hardliner ideologically and an old, white man, those people will get more and more worried. he has plenty of big jaws to fill. it is still early. the right now, you can feel, and talking to african-americans and women looking at the makeup, and some of the people being considered, you can feel their concern. even those who wanted to succeed. mark: i think it is good when you make major announcements, particularly for people who are not well known. they do what passive ministrations have done. have a public announcement make a statement, let them say a few words. that's a tradition that has real meaning. the country deserves to get to know the people who are going to staff this cabinet. i wish they would go back to that tradition. john: someone who was not a well-known figure who will wield vast influence. mark: i still like to hear from

them. john: up next, we will put all these questions to a trump transition advisor. we will be right back with that. ♪

mark: from trump tower, our next guest is a behind-the-scenes figure in the transition deliberations. kellyanne conway, former campaign manager, senior adviser of the transition. maybe she is going to watch it in d.c. she joins us now from trump tower. what is the proper line for donald trump to draw regarding his business interests when he becomes president? >> whatever the legal lines

dictate, of course. he will comply with all of that. he has made clear all along that his adult children will be managing the family business. obviously, these are not entry-level positions. they are already respective executives within the business, in charge of building things, acquiring things. you have seen their handiwork in the old post office building in d.c., a great example of under budget, on time work that these adult children do, and they will do that. he has made that clear. he has a team of advisers and lawyers who make sure he complies with the law. mark: president obama suggested that complying with the law is not a good enough standard. is he just going to comply with the law or will he worry about appearances, if there is an intersection between public action and his business interest? >> that the typical responsible

politician, who is not been a successful businessman a job creator. apart from that, i think he has to comply with the law, and that should be the appearance. in other words, people will know he has a full-time job as president of the united states and commander-in-chief. he says he will not take a salary, i guess he will donated to charity. but there is no reason other than those who think the campaign is in full force to believe the man is lying or won't do it he is supposed to do upon taking office. mark: i want to stay on that. the wall street journal editorial board wrote a strong editorial about this. they are not professional politicians, as you know, and they are firmly to conservatives. the argument that they made in their op-ed was that the political damage the ministration, if he doesn't liquidate his business holdings, could be extensive. he will because delly scrutinized for having motives for any actions he takes of a

wide variety of policies that affect a wide ride of countries and issues. is "the wall street journal," arguing from the perspective of wanting him to succeed, not being critical of him, do you think there is no merit to the argument, that it will be the safest to liquidate assets? >> two things. first, we already know what his policy positions are. he has a 100 day plan. if you are talking about the fact that he wanted to create 25 million jobs over 10 years and unleash coal and shale and other natural energy sources, or have big infrastructure projects that even the democrats are excited about, if you are finding a possible alternative motive, we already know what he stands for. it's not like he's making policy based on businesses he's no longer involved in, or temporarily not involved in. more importantly, as president of the united states, he'll have

no authority whatsoever over what is happening in his business, what the acquisitions are. the most important part i would make about all this, people never look at the other side of the ledger. how many tens of millions of dollars has donald trump and his family lost in sacrifice for him to run for president? he spent a lot of his money, and secondly, deals have been in advance. people haven't been able to , helping to get their father elected, and him being away for his business to do this. it is the money they lost no one wants to talk about, not what they gained based on different positions. mark: he decided to run voluntarily, so those are things he took on himself. the question of policy doesn't go to job creation, it goes to thatrulings they wit make,

would all have trump appointees, specific hotels and business interests affected by legal rulings. foreign policy with respect to specific countries, like a particular country in south america or asia. all these decisions -- he has not laid out policy in advance. if they have a financial impact on his family company, they will be called into question if he makes decisions that seem to benefit his businesses. >> that sounds like they will be called into question even if he hasn't done that. i know the election results are particularly tough to swallow, especially for those who couldn't see it coming, couldn't conceive of the possibility that the other candidate might win, that you don't understand america. this man understands america, animated america, and will represent all americans. but this whole line of argument is presumptively negative and

accusatory. respect, this due has nothing to do with me or my views. i'm rating from an editorial, a champion of capitalism. you should read the editorial, that's exactly the argument they are making for liquidating its assets. this has nothing to do with the election results and everything to do with standards. >> no, you are presuming -- a lot of this does. some people are still in campaign mode and have political ptsd. you are accusing him of doing things he's not him of you're accusing making policies based on things that aren't -- he's not even talking about. you are presuming he is doing this for the wrong reasons, where most americans have voted for him, 300 some electoral votes, believe he will go there and work for them. -- id the line of argument

find this line of argument presumptively accusatory. mark: we will talk more about this with you, i'm sure, in the coming days. let's switch to a new topic. rudy giuliani reportedly being considered to be director of national intelligence. is that true, and what he be good at that job? >> integrated any number of jobs. -- he'd be great at any number of jobs. that you condition is are qualified and capable to do the job on day one. that certainly applies to mayor giuliani on a number of fronts. i know he was out in bedminster yesterday for a number of hours. he had a great conversation with his friend and ally -- mark: is he being considered for director of national intelligence? >> is being considered for any number of positions. mark: is that one of them? >> could be. for somebody who is an expert in those areas, intelligence gathering, security, he is obviously well respected around

the world. but the fact is, when the president-elect is filling his cabinet, he has to think about how everybody is working together, thinks about who is the best at each of their jobs. i think the diversity of people who have come through the door here at trump tower and out in bedminster this weekend is a remarkable group of men and women from different political and socioeconomic and business and public sector, private sector backgrounds, different races and ethnicities, different religious persuasions. is quite an impressive group of people who in many cases just want to offer advice and counsel and fishing for the country. share their experiences on work they have done on core issues over the years. and for some that would lead, or could lead, to positions in his administration. but for all of them, i assure

you, they are just happy to have time with the president-elect to share their ideas and offer their support. that includes people from the other side of the aisle, like representatives gabbard. it includes revered businessmen. are atudes people who the highest level of government. they just keep coming. they are governors and senators and members of congress, passed and present. captains of industry, job creators, jobseekers. has an incredible collection of men and women, and thank you for covering it. john:captains of industry, job we have not heard from donald trump since election night, relatively long by normal standards. he has not done a press conference or speech -- is there a reason why?

is there a reason why you guys have not done that, and when can we expect to hear from him? >> i think you'll hear from him soon, but is incredibly busy. his schedule every day, it's one after another. he works 18 hours a day and he has this punishing schedule of interviews. when he's not interviewing people in person, he's taking calls from across the nation, the globe. he has been incredibly busy doing all that, then reflecting in discussing the advice he has just received. he will talk to the press in due time, but today we had an amazing meeting, an off the record meeting with top executives and anchors from the three major networks, and a couple cable stations. he very much enjoyed the discussion. i thought it was a fabulous opportunity for them to be with each other. we have the press in the lobby every day. they have access to any number of people coming in and out of trump tower.

people are meeting with the president-elect, people who represent him like me. we feel like we are very accessible to the press, and we feel like this is a very transparent process, where you can literally see the people coming in and out as they meet with the president-elect. mark: has a single thing gone wrong so far? >> not really, no. i can tell you it is high-energy. a great deal of excitement, but it is now being funneled into the serious business of helping him make decisions on his and senior staff. i was down in washington last night and visited our transition officers there. that is where most of the transition team is, steps away from the white house. they're -- it's remarkable to see people standing shoulder to shoulder, millennials born after ronald reagan left office, men and women who served on reagan's

transition team and in his administration. people are really excited that they got a conservative thereent to govern, and is this buzz of activity and focus, those people who nobody is paying attention to what they are doing, they are making sure that everything is a as it shoud b. they are making sure with president obama -- these very important decisions and activities. it's very exciting to all of us involved in it, and i will tell you it is going incredibly smoothly. it's like scheduling the interviews version of rallies for president-elect trump -- john: they are telling me you have to go but i have to ask you one thing. during the meeting with the network anchors and executives, donald trump exploded at them in anger. is that true? >> no, that is not true at all. i set right to his left. he did not explode in anger.

whoever said that mischaracterized it. no, he did not explode. he is the president-elect. winning solves a lot of problem. i'm really happy that he reached out to them after a very long and bruising, hard-fought, not always fairly covert campaign. hhe will be dealing with the media. john: thank you so much. we will be right back. ♪ seeing is believing, and that's why

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there were other conversations with major media types, including network executives and anchors, including lester holt and george rose stephanopoulos. "the new york post" reported that the meeting did not go well. donald trump lash out at some participants. kellyanne conway just denied that. donald trump's had no press conferences since being elected. he has not done any thank you tour, no veterans day event or even indoor photo ops. so far, every person he has hired for his white house team or cabinet has been announced by a written statement. you heard kellyanne conway say that his "punishing schedule" was too packed.

do you buy the notion he is too busy doing other things or is there some of the reason he is off-camera? john: i do not buy the notion that he is too busy to do things on camera, just because all president-elects are busy. anne abouted kelly this, i wasn't arguing for press conferences, but he is an done any speeches or anything. -- it wouldments benefit him to contextualize them. michael flynn is a controversial guy, jeff sessions is a controversial guy. to make the argument, at least in a brief way to set up the discussion. timenk he is also finding to tweet about "hamilton," so it's not like he doesn't have time to explain what is going on. the theory is, he is

enjoying doing what he wants to do. he is enjoying the meetings and having all of this power and the media speculation. i think when you run for president, particularly someone who is never done this before, a lot of his day was filled with, you have to get on the plane at this time, you have to fly here. i think he is enjoying the fact that he does not have to perform in public and is taking a break. john: also, he is home. think it is disastrous that he is not done more, but it is odd, given how volatile he is --n peered part of this volatile he has been. part of his success has been this. i think he likes to -- mark: i think he likes to dole out portions of trump on his own timetable. he is having an extreme number of meetings.

he could fit in a public appearance but he is choosing not to. john: i am not asking you to call kellyanne conway a liar, given that "new york post" story, and given the multiple sources confirming the contentiousness of the meeting, there is aeads -- lot of consistency in the accounts. the: and less the -- unless people were trump officials, shame on them, but there is disparity in the accounts. i would not want to shame them too much. mark: i can tell you this, he is mad at cnn. john: i think he is mad at a lot of people. mark: i think he is mad particularly at cnn. john: president obama might not be saying site in error --

sayonara to politics just yet. he may occasionally go after donald trump head-on if he feels his legacy is being unraveled by the next president. what do you think. what do you think the likelihood he might be a active president in his post-presidency? mark: i will believe it when i see it. i see two reasons he won't do this. one, he will go on to other things. regardless of how donald trump conducts himself in office, i think his instinct will be more like president bush and president clinton and that presidents should not be critics in chief of their successors. john: i also think that

president obama is highly rational, and the extent to which you could do anything to unravel his legacy, it is limited. i think you will focus on writing his book, in which he will make the case for his legacy on the page, and i think he probably will think that is more powerful than anything he can do in the short term. mark: iso think he will be convinced that he needs to make way for other democrats who are future leaders who need to be in the front lines of going up against donald trump and not trying to do it as an ex-president. like i said, i will believe it when i see it. john: i will say this, to make the counterpoint to our instincts. at the end of this election season, i felt he said he would campaign a lot but that he wouldn't. he ended up doing more. he may get drawn back in. mark: that is a full apparatus

for presidency, when something concrete was on the line. john: i agree. but there is something about donald trump that has brought out a side of barack obama that is not a side we've come to know over the course of reporting on him. i want to leave open the small possibility that he might find it irresistible to dive back in. mark: i have three words for you. dnc, cher, biden. afterl have a roundtable these words from our sponsors. ♪

♪ john: we are joined by a cadre of reporters. katie is here in new york city. s ownve bloomberg' reporter, and ashley parker. soon to be with "the washington post," congratulations. i will start with you, actually. -- ashley. thehing donald trump in transition, what you make of the way in which he is conducting himself? ashley: what is startling to me

himselfhe is conducting exactly as he did his candidacy. he is tweeting a ton about things he does not like. in trump tower. that is his most favorite and comfortable space. he is in his office where he has that same open-door policy with aides and children. for people who thought he was going to win the white house and he would be different, that has not happened. trumpkate, is donald conducting the transition the way you expected, or is this new or out of character? kate: i think you know what my answer is, and my answer is this is the same donald trump we saw on the campaign trail.

somebody who does not abide by the traditional trappings of politics. he is not announcing people in a lavish press conference, he is not doing things the traditional way. he is parading folks in and out of trump tower and his golf course. he is enjoying the suspense, he is enjoying people talk all day on television about who might enjoyinge roles and how people react. i would bet he is taking into account the reactions of the media and his supporters and followers on twitter about various positions he is trying to fill and who might fill those positions. donaldes not seem like a -- different donald trump to me. he still seems to have quite a thin skin. i don't think we should expect a new and improved, or just a different donald trump going forward. mark: forget for the moment

about potential appointments. know, ones we currently people have been named, are any of them in any genuine political jeopardy as we turn toward this becoming an actual administration? >> it doesn't appear there will be votes on the democratic side will hold things up very much. as much as we are going to hear a lot of debate about controversial statements made made by some of these nominees, this is a republican administration turning to a republican congress with their appointments and i think they will find a lot of support. one thing that is striking is the message he set early on with these appointments. everyone was waiting for and all nch,ranch or -- olive bra and he has sent a message that

he is going to have a very hard line, and that is what he said he would do. jeff sessions is one of the big four cabinet appointments. i know you are writing about this. tell me where you are with where the sessions nomination is headed. >> i think in addition to what out, it seems like donald trump will govern much like he campaigned. i think that is true on a personality and policy level. it speaks very clearly. sessions has been a strong anti-immigration figure in the senate and is against trade deals. you have someone like mike pompeo, who has spoken favorably about waterboarding and says it is not torture. likeave michael flynn, who trump has said negative things about muslims.

i think he is going to try and carry out the promises he made, attorneysessions as general would have significant authority to create a climate around the issue of immigration. not only illegal immigration, but legal immigration, going after companies who try to hire foreign workers, businesses who try to lure in employees with the promise of a green card. this was a centerpiece of his platform. ashley, you covered the trump campaign and be romney campaign. is mixed reporting, it'd this could be windowdressing or mitt romney might be the front runner. what do you know? actually: from trumps people we have heard the mixed -- ashley: from trumps people we have heard a mixed message.

i talked to one senior advisor who said, look, mitt romney coming to kiss the ring and pay his respects, and trump enjoying the show of potential groveling, but i can tell you on the romney side, everyone believes this is very real. i think it is something he is considering how he would respond if you were offered this job. one thing you have to understand about mitt romney, gets everyone has laid the clips of him going after trump in a way you don't expect from him, is that he tols a deep and acute call the book service, and i think if he was offered and he said yes, that would be the motivating factor. john: we are going to take a quick break and we'll come back with all of you. hang out, we will be back after this. ♪

♪ powerhousewith our of reporters. ashley, matea, sahil and katy. katy, you have never covered a transition before. it is hard to know what is normal and what is not. transitiontrump different to cover than the campaign? : the transition is not that much different. they are still maintaining a relative secrecy around how they do things. they are trying to get a better

relationship or at least a better communication path between reporters and the trump team that i think they were in the primaries or during the campaign. but there does seem to be a level of disorganization to it. they didn't know they had to tell reporters when donald trump was going out to dinner. the denition of a lid seemed to be beyond them. are still questions around how they will govern, as there were during the campaign, and there are questions about donald owsmp's promises and v during the campaign, including what he will do with his business. he said multiple times that he would give his business to the children and that would be the end of it. we found out about two weeks into the transition, he has not given up the business. a number of reports are out that he met with business partners in

india while they were here in the united states, talking with them. and jared kushner sat in with his meeting with the japanese prime minister. we have more that he may have discussed something about his business in argentina when the president of argentina called congratulate him. the president of argentina is pushing back and saying it was just a brief congratulations. there areespect that still unanswered questions and there is very little clarity and very little access to the candidate himself, that is pretty status quo as to what we were saying in the campaign. he is not had a press conference since the middle of the democratic national convention. that was in july. it is been over 100 days. matea, what is your sense of moneyed interests?

tea: one thing they were not prepared for was his pledge to drain the swamp, and then turn to stocks of lobbyists. they claim they have cleaned house, but there are still lobbyists taking part in the transition. he is also considering major donors for cabinet positions, so i think they are still fighting their way and trying to stay true to their pledge. i think he will be a struggle. -- will be a challenge. has said he would basically transfer the management of his business over to his children, but no talk about changing the ownership and it raises a lot of questions about conflicts of interest. mark: i believe kellyanne conway talked about the meeting with "the new york times" tomorrow. do you know anything about that?

ashley: i know a little bit about that. as much as he loves to tweet about the failing "new york ,imes," and be very critical the reason is because he cares. he gets up and he reads "the new york post," and he reads "the new york times," and he is very aware of what the newspaper says of him. as much as he claims to dislike the paper, what they write is very important to him. is he meeting with reporters and editors? i believe the publisher will be there, and i believe he is meeting with reporters and editors and etiquette may be a small, often record session, and then on the record. mark: will there be any yelling?

for all of his public posture and bluster, donald trump is often trying to win over the room he is immediately end. i imagine if he behaves that way tomorrow, there will not be a lot of yelling. mark: we have seen this report that the meeting with network executives and anchors on the tv side is quite contentious. kellyanne conway claimed it was not. do you think it is possible that it was contentious? sahil: absolutely, i would be surprised if it was not. according to the report, a got very intense. like the trump transition team and his eventual administration is trying to set a marker in the ground against the media, they're trying to say they will set the shots -- call the shots. media. gut shot for the

a man who has gone this far, all the way to the white house, by breaking every norm and tradition in the playbook, is not going to feel bound by them when he has all this power. i think that will be a key storyline to watch, trumps relationship with the media. i think it will be about as accommodating as he has been in the last few months, which is not very much. his last press conference was july 27. it is unusual for a president-elect to go this long without a press conference. i think he is suggesting he is going to run things his own way and it remains to be see how well that works for him. mark: congratulations again to ashley. john and i will be right back. ♪

♪ john: what do you think about those reporters? mark: they're fantastic. outhave got to check bloomberg politics.com. coming up on "bloomberg steve barr and darrell west. john: sayonara. ♪

mark: let's begin with a check of first word news. preliminarye with a magnitude of 7.3 has struck off the coast of japan. a tsunami warning for weights up

to 10 feet has been issued. north of tokyo and home to the nuclear power plant that was destroyed by a tsunami following an earthquake in 2011. "bloomberg technology" will have more on this story. president-elect donald trump spent monday holding meetings with potential cabinet members. kellyanne conway was asked with -- about the level of diversity. >> he has met with women and people of color. he is met with them here and in new jersey. we are very heartened and touched by the number of people, including people from across the aisle. people who are traditionally more progressive. the united nations humanitarian chief says the conditions in aleppo have gone from terrible to terrifying and now rarely survivable. he told the un security