both are calling on people to unite around this pretentious election. we're seeing a very different picture playing out in cities across the country. largely in big cities. clinton turf protests. like what's on your screen right now. this is actually a good example. this is just blocking a highway. we saw worse examples. there were pockets of problems. people chanting, not my president. hopefully temporary blowing off of steam or proof of a larger movement at hand. let's begin our coverage with cnn athena jones live at the white house. athena. >> good morning, chris. these are two men that have said some not so nice things about each other. president obama has spent months saying that he didn't think trump would become president. now, he is set to become president and the focus shifts to this peaceful hand over of power. we know the president has talked abo abo about how much he appreciated the george w. bush's team handed

the transfer. he instructed his team to follow that example. he also talked yesterday in the rose garden about the need for the country to come together. >> now, everybody is sad when their side loses an election. but the day after, we have to remember that we're actually all on one team. this is an intermural scrimmage. we're not democrats first. we're not republicans first. we are americans first. >> americans first. a few echoes from obama's 2004 speech about red states and blue states. we know the white house has said that it's too early to say how trump's election will affect president obama's top policy priorities. and trump ran on a promise to undo much of obama's legacy. repealing and replacing obama care and also reversing some of

the president's executive action on immigration and regulations. he also says that he wants to withdraw from things like the nuclear, the iran nuclear deal, the transpacific partnership trade deal and the paris climate accord. we've also gotten indications from congress already that tpp, that trade deal is dead. a lot that could change under a trump presidency. after trump meads with president obama here today, he and vice president elect pence head over to meet with house speaker paul ryan. chris? >> look, in most ways the campaign is the easy part. you get to say whatever you want. now, you have to do it. athena, thank you very much. donald trump has only two months before he has to fill thousands of jobs and assume the presidency. the inauguration is in 71 days. how will he fill those top cabinet posts? those big names that are being floated. good assignment for cnn sunle. the serfaty.

what do you know? >> it sure is, chris. so many possibilities. and president-elect donald trump has really with his team been hunkered down and huddled up behind closed doors going through all the potential candidates for all the top jobs in a trump administration and many of the names just won't surprise you because many that are being considered are polled from his circle during the campaign and now might fill out his cabinet positions and his new inner circle in the white house. on day two as president-elect, donald trump now looking to turn his promises into policy. beginning with his call for unity. >> now it's time for america to bind the wounds of division. >> reporter: words echoed by president obama and hillary clinton, both pledging a peaceful transition of power. >> we are now all rooting for his success and uniting and leading the country. >> we must accept this result and then look to the future.

donald trump is going to be our president. we owe him an open mind and the chance to lead. >> reporter: trump now in the throws of building his administration. >> we have to get ready to form a government. >> reporter: potentially rewarding some of his top supporters, rnc chairman reince priebus. >> i haven't thought about. i'm chairman of the party and i'm excited about that. >> reporter: chris christie also being eyed for top posts. former new york city mayor rudy giuliani under consideration for attorney general or secretary of homeland security. while newt gingrich is being floated as the perspective secretary of state. other possible cabinet picks, alabama senator jeff sessions for defense secretary, billionaire businessman carl icahn for treasury secretary and retired army general michael

flin f flynn for national security adviser. he will have power to push through his agenda with republican majorities in both houses of congress. >> he heard those voices that were out there that other people weren't hearing and he just earned a mandate. >> and certainly new attention is being looked at. what candidate trump said during the campaign trail about what his first 100 days in office would potentially look like. he made several broad, sweeping proposals. things like cleaning up washington and restoring the rule of law, but, of course, he made very specific promises throughout the campaign, as well. things like repealing obama care and appetra trade deals and the promise of the campaign building that wall along the mexican border. >> sunlen, thank you for that. many people taking to the streets to protest president-elect donald trump.

they were chanting not my president. deborah feyerick is live outside of trump tower in new york with more. what was the scene there, deb? >> really surprising just how quickly the crowds grew. they start would a couple hundred people and then expanded to thousands. all of them marching in various cities across the country. here in new york city they marched up fifth avenue against traffic, shutting down traffic for quite some time. and you could tell in the crowd a lot of anger and also a lot of fear. people are fearful that advances made over the last couple of years, in fact, will be turned back. and the basic human rights that they value in the crowd are being threatened. in that crowd, along with the fear, there was a deep sense of disbelief. >> not my president! not my president! >> reporter: protests breaking out in at least 25 cities. >> donald trump has got to go! >> reporter: hundreds of demonstrators stopping traffic in los angeles on the busy 101

freeway. [ bleep ]. >> donald trump. >> reporter: while thousands more protested on the streets of l.a. burning trump's head in effigy. police arresting dozens of protesters across the country. in chicago, thousands marching down an eight-lane highway to the site of donald trump's hotel. the disappointment of some voters turning to anger. >> hillary had more votes. here mumen beings voted for hillary. this isn't fair. this country needs you to stand up and walk into the supreme court and say one vote equals one vote. >> reporter: in new york, at least 5,000 people, including pop star lady gaga protesting outside trump tower. >> you saw this incredibly qualified woman to be president being superseded by a man who has no qualifications at all for the office. >> reporter: thousands more targeting trump's newest hotel in washington, d.c. just blocks from the white house.

>> no racist usa. >> reporter: the march turpinin to peaceful protests and vigils. like portland, oregon. and denver, colorado. and along with chants of not my president and dumb trump there was, donald trump has got to go. speaking to those in the crowd, you heard a lot of comments being made. people disagreeing with trump's views on women, on immigrants, on minorities and especially the sort of hateful rhetoric that characterized this whole campaign season. alisyn, chris? >> all right, deb, thank you very much. a lot of people are angry. this is going to take time. no question about it. a great guest for you, no better person to get perspective on what is going on with donald trump than michael cohen. vice president of the trump organization and special counsel to donald trump. maybe a new title soon. we'll discuss that later in the interview because you'll

probably duck it. congratulations to you. >> thank you. >> good tahao have you here. >> you'll remember the first interview i did on cnn with you said to me, when there were 17 individuals on the stage, where do you think donald trump is going to fair out at the end of the day? i said not only is he going to win the primary, you'll remember, i said he will win the election, as well. i just felt that confident at the time that he's the right man for the time. >> something you've been consistent with and also a little bit of an explanation for some of the trouble you get yourself in is your passion about who trump really is. most of the time michael calls me is to correct an assertion that is an unfair knowled. which trump do you get? some suggest it's a jekyll and hyde. will he say i will get business back to work and i'll be there for you. whatever you need, i'll figure out how to get it.

or someone who sees division. when he goes with the president today, how do you think president-elect trump presents himself to president obama? >> like a president should. and i think he's going to demonstrate class. he's going to be incredibly respectful, as i'm sure president obama will be. i actually believe in the future that they will have a better relationship than people believe. >> you have a lot of friends, not all of them are trump supporters. when people say to you -- >> i've lost a lot of friends. >> this is an ugly process. you know that. he comes out as president-elect and he says enough time to heal, bind the wounds. i have to be president for everybody. that's what you want to hear from a president. the trick here is that donald trump is blamed by many for creating those wounds. enhancing that division. so, which is it? what is your answer? >> when you say that he's being blamed for it, i'd throw the blame, truthfully, on the liberal media and i believe that

they've distorted his words from the moment that he came down the escalator all the way up and through the election. i think that there is an inherent bias towards the republican candidate. and i think donald trump was, unfortunately, the recipient of that bias. he is going to, without exaggeration, heal the divide. he wants to heal the divide. his message was never, let's make america great, again, for special interests. let's make america great for republicans. no, it's for all americans because whether you're republican or democrat. i'm a registered democrat. i said that, obviously, on every show. for every american, he wants to make sure they have a job. he wants to put america first. he is going to be the president for every single person regardless of race, religion, creed, color. that's why i even started that national diversity coalition. it was to combat the negative rhetoric that the liberal media

was portraying of mr. trump. because, you're right, i know mr. trump better than the media does. they get a ten-second snapshot of him. i have ten years of shoulder to shoulder with the man. i've seen his compassion. i've seen his heart and i know what, i know what he's thinking. and i know what he wants to do for this country. >> there's no question, in my mind, that the president-elect deserves the opportunity that the election delivered. even hillary clinton said yesterday, he's going to be the president, have an open mind, let's see what he does. >> i also think the relationship between secretary clinton will heal in time and i do think that animus that the media created between the two or they created between each other as basically combatants for a position, i think that will also resolve itself. >> how you fight matters, also. i get the whole theory that trump says what he has to say to get where he wants to get and he takes the game as he finds it.

you know how i feel about media bias. the president-elect has to own what he said in the past because when people are saying to him, i'm gay, i'm a muslim, i'm an other, as was defined in this election. i think you don't like me. he's going to have to find a way if he wants to unite this country to make people feel that he's not the source of the problem. how does he do that? >> obviously, he will create the solution and he's created the solution even in the trump organization, which is a, obviously, a great indicator on how he's going to be as a president for this country. take, for example, the gay community. you don't thithink -- there is for this community. he employs them as it relates to hispanics and muslims and african-americans. i mean in all fairness and i said this on other shows, he's been called every negative word

in the american dickary and then in other dictionaries, as well. i think he's a sexist, racist. >> but didn't he earn a lot of criticism for what he said. >> i don't believe he earned it. i believe he made statements and now he is a politician and he is, clearly, but he speaks off the cuff and he speaks from his heart and it was never coming or supposed to come out as a animus towards a group when he was talking about we need to stop the syrian refugee influx because we don't know who they are. that's not being an islamphobe. that's -- >> also say he has a problem with islam. i'm all about a clean slate. >> by the way, there is a problem, but it's not islam. what it is, radical islamist terrorists. >> it's anger and disaffection. >> what happens is he's not

scripted, he's not reading off the script. he doesn't have 20 different people figuring out what is the right way to say for the largest group of people. the american people have decided who they want, who they believe, who they trust will be able to take america off the path that we're currently on. >> what does he say to those people? i don't want to overstate their significance. these are big cities and clinton territories and a lot of kids and we don't understand the popules populpo population but what does he say to those groups of others? self-identified others now because this was an election largely decided by white people, specifically white men. >> that's not really true. i saw some numbers yesterday that mr. trump captured over 30% of the hispanic vote. >> yeah. >> even yesterday i spoke with a gentleman who i have had some rough conversations with in the past, who represents a very large group of hispanic coalitions and we made peace yesterday and i actually asked

him if, in fact, i do go to washington, i do want him to be involved and engaged because his representation to the hispanic community. there is no animus towards the hispanic community at all. first of all, when i first spoke to him, he had said there could be animus even by you. i said, how, my grandmother was born in argentina. my grandmother was spanish. so, how? i don't understand. you're imposing upon me -- >> hopefully there is a fresh start. i just heard you say something. >> there will be a fresh start. that is what i would say to the protesters. please, give him a chance. wait to see before you make your decision. the american people have decided, that's our democracy. what are you protesting? it just doesn't make sense. let him be the man that i know he can be and he'll prove himself -- >> he's won that chance. he deserves it. let's see what happens. you just said something. if i go to washington, we're trying to figure out who is going to go. >> i haven't been asked.

>> you haven't been asked? how can -- that can't be true. you would be the first person that he would want by his side. >> i agree with that. but i have not been asked. >> you would be on the political side, not the governmental side, right? >> it would depend on the role that they're asking me to play. it has to be a role that i feel comfortable with. >> is there a chance? >> that he'll ask me to go to washington? >> oh, there's absolutely a chance he'll ask you. >> will i go? 100%. >> who runs? there is a large team that has been with mr. trump for decades. >> are you guys working on how to make people satisfied that there is enough of a -- >> we're going to do it legally. it is going to be placed in a blind trust. the children are really intelligent and really qualified. that's why he really didn't run in 2012. they were younger by four years and they didn't have, i guess,

the experience maturity that he felt he wanted to leave a $10 billion company to. now he does. he's very comfortable with them at the helm and the people that will surround them. so, will we be able to appease everybody? the answer is no. no matter what the man does, he can't appease everybody. but, everything will be done legally. he's not interested in the company any more. he said it yesterday in front of a whole group of people. he's interested in fixing america. he wants to make america great, again. he wants to put americans back to work. he wants to fix the economy. he wants to create jobs. and he wants to ensure national security for everyone. >> michael cohen, i look forward to seeing what your future is. congratulation. >> hopefully it will be in washington. >> well, let me know. >> i sure will. >> let me know first. you can break the story. be well, michael cohen. congratulations, again. coming up in the next hour, a big trump player. former new york city mayor rudy giuliani, again, one of the top

advisor advisors, rumored to be in the cabinet, not just on the political side. what does he have to say about the way forward? coming up. chris, the white working class voters leading donald trump to victory. what motivated them the most? we have the author of "new york times" best seller. he's going to join us, next.

♪ when you think of saving money, what comes to mind? your next getaway? connecting with family and friends? a big night out? or maybe your everyday shopping. whatever it is, aarp member advantages can help save you time and money along the way. so when you get there, you can enjoy it all the more. for less. surround yourself with savings at aarpadvantages.com

>> the politicians have proven, folks, have proven they do nothing. for years they watched on the sidelines as our jobs vanished and our communities were plunged into unemployment. many of these areas have still never recovered and never will unless i become president. donald trump made that pitch to working class voters, that was in june at a plant in pennsylvania. on tuesday, white working class voters in that state and throughout the rust belt helped propel him to victory. let's talk more about donald trump's america with j.d. vance

the author of "new york times" best seller "hillbilly elgy, a memoir of a family and culture in crisis." thank you for being here. >> thank you for having me. >> i'm enjoying your book, as are millions of people, because you know more than anybody that rust belt working class voter you grew up among them and, yet, even you were surprised on tuesday night by donald trump's victory. how do you explain what happened? >> i explain what happened in a couple different ways. one, how durable trump's support. he had the solid base of support and if you catch it at the right moment when hillary is low enough, donald trump could win and did. >> i want to talk about the rust belt voters that helped propel him. you know, if you live on the coast or if you live in the cities, you don't quite have your finger on the pulse of them the way you do. you write in your book, they are divorcing more, narrating less,

experiencing less happiness because their economic opportunities have declined. if they only had better access to jobs, other parts of their lives would improve, as well. that's something that you hear them saying. >> sure. >> but what do you think of that premise? >> well, i think it's partially true. i think we have to recognize that these regional economies have been hit especially hard and this is a social crisis. this is a crisis of family and a crisis of turning to drugs instead of turning to other outlets to vet some of your frustrations. that's really what's going on. it's not just that the economy is on the down swing, that there are cultural issues that exist, too. >> how do you explain those cultural issues? how did they start? what is at the root of those? >> i believe there is a certain amount of despair at the root of them. if you look at my grandparents who moved from eastern kentucky to southern ohio they thought everything would go pretty well and by the time my generation came around, it was pretty hard to believe that.

pretty hard to believe that the next generation would do better. >> why? because things had fallen apart for them in terms of work? >> things had fallen apart for them in terms of work. shops closed down. isn't as much vitality in the community and breathes a certain sense of hopelessness. >> people say, why did they like donald trump when there was his rhetoric? >> sure. >> you know, when there was all the denigration of muslims and immigrants and the sexually predatory language that he used against women and some democrats chalk it up to racism. >> sure. >> is that how you see the rust belt voters am. >> that's not how i see it at all. i definitely think that there is an element of racial society to trump's support, but a real mistake to chalk it all up to that or even most of it up to that. the people who are voting for trump oftentimes don't like the rhetoric he is using. we don't like his rhetoric, but the only guy that has come along

in a long while that has talked to some of the issues like we saw in the clip earlier. >> what do they believe he is going to do for them? >> it's interesting. a lot of folks are pessimistic about whether trump can solve all of their problems. there is this recognition that there isn't necessarily a political solution to a lot of the issues, but he recognizes them, and he sees them and shows compassion towards some of their problems and i think people have a really low bar that they hhe clear. trump just had to see them. >> isn't that empowering? that is fascinating because regardless of whether or not he solved the problems the fact that they had a voice in this election and that he heard them and saw them is empowering and healing. >> yeah, that's definitely right. and it's vundicaindicating in t moment, right? so many people said he was out and had a chance and a lot of these folks stuck by their man and refused to listen to the main stream media and look what happened. >> one thing i heard republicans say a lot in the last eight

years and before was the concept of personal responsibility. you know, for people certainly in the inner cities and people on welfare, what about their personal responsibility? why don't they work harder to take care of their children. but, now, with this swath of unemployed or angry rust belt former coal miners say or that group of white workers. you don't hear republicans saying that as much. like, you don't hear themselves pull themselves up by their boot straps they have an actual beef. they're angry, we need to pay attention to them. what do you think the shift is? >> i think the shift is a mistake. i'm a conservative guy and life can be unfair to a certain group of people and say we have some role of personal agency in solving our life's problems. it is difficult to strike that balance to realize that the regional economy can be hit hard and you have some role in improving your circumstances. i think the republican party

will get back to that rhetoric of personal responsibility because it affects the culture and how people in iraq with their lives in the neighborhoods and so forth. >> what do you think the answer is for the people who you know so well in the mountains of kentucky and else where? you know, since there is so much rampant drug abuse and families falling apart, what is the solution? >> well, there isn't an easy solution. i don't think there is a simple government program that is going to make everything go away. i definitely think we should focus on building better pipelines to the middle class and better education policies and so forth. we would definitely help if we brought some good jobs back to these areas or create new jobs and new sectors because a lot more promise in that. but i don't think this problem is going to go away. in 20 years, i think progress is the things have gotten slowly better, not that things have completely turned around. >> the book, again, "hillbilly elegy" and good to get a sense of what is going on in large swaths of the country that did turn out for donald trump.

great to meet you, j.d. >> thanks for having me. getting intelligence level briefings and after trump's intense criticism of the military, including calling the battle for moez sul a disaster, will he have to win over that community? a live report, next. road. healthy, free, the world before me, the long brown path before me leading wherever i choose. the east and the west are mine. the north and the south are mine. all seems beautiful to me. ...one of many pieces in my i havlife.hma... so when my asthma symptoms kept coming back on my long-term control medicine. i talked to my doctor and found a missing piece in my asthma treatment with breo. once-daily breo prevents asthma symptoms. breo is for adults

with asthma not well controlled on a long-term asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. breo won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. breo opens up airways to help improve breathing for a full 24 hours. breo contains a type of medicine that increases the risk of death from asthma problems and may increase the risk of hospitalization in children and adolescents. breo is not for people whose asthma is well controlled on a long-term asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. once your asthma is well controlled, your doctor will decide if you can stop breo and prescribe a different asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. do not take breo more than prescribed. see your doctor if your asthma does not improve or gets worse. ask your doctor if 24-hour breo could be a missing piece for you. see if you're eligible for 12 months free at mybreo.com.

donald trump is president-elect and that means that he has to be informed about the country's most sensitive secrets. over the next few days, he will receive upgraded national security briefings from u.s. intel and military leaders. there's also going to be some tension that is going to meet trump. why? well, because he's been hard on that community and called the ongoing battle for mosul a disaster. how will he repair? cnn pentagon correspondent darb rustarr joins us now with a look at this problem facing our next president. good morning. >> good morning, chris. donald trump and mike pence are about to learn what the generals and intelligence community already know, the world is a very tough place. now, as president-elect, he will begin getting those upgraded

intelligence briefings and some call them the crowned jewels. these are daily briefings, the same that president obama and vice president biden get. the most secret, the most classified intelligence. overnight threats, covert operations, all of it. they will now have access to all of it. i talked to people who have been involved in some of these briefings and they say a new president-elect after they get these types of briefings usually very sobering and they learn what they are facing. what is donald trump facing? he comes to office as the fight for mosul, the fight to get isis out of raqua in syria and will president obama put more troops into that fight before trump takes office? but one of the big threats coming, perhaps, north korea. the cia very concerned that there could be a provocation from north korea to test a new american leader. chris? >> all right, thank you very much, barbara. appreciate it. so, president-elect trump heading to washington today. the big meeting with president

obama, the word awkward pops into everybody's mind. let's discuss with cnn political commentator and host of cnn's "smerconish" michael smerconish. this is the man that tried to prove that president obama was an other. not born here, not legitimate and part of the ugliness towards our first african-american president and now president himself. what do you make of it? >> i would love to be a fly on the wall for each of their spaces before they get together, but when they're together, i think it's going to be just fine. i think i have to get used to saying this. i think president-elect trump struck exactly the right chord in his acceptance speech in the wee hours of wednesday morning. by the way, i thought that secretary clinton handled herself admirably yesterday. our leaders are saying and doing all the right things. it's time to put this result behind us and oversee a smooth

transition of power. i have great faith in president obama and donald trump in being able to pull that off today. >> so, michael, how do you reconcile what you heard in that gracious speech of donald trump's on tuesday night versus what you've heard for the past 18 months? how do you ask voters, particularly who supported hillary clinton, to unhear everything they heard from donald trump for 18 months? >> if my glass is half full, if i'm being optimistic it comes down to two corinthians. what i mean by that is that i reflect on the donald trump that we've seen during the course of this campaign and i wonder, is that the real dpi? is that really how he's going to govern or was he playing to particularly o lly audiences ale way or is he, in fact, this is my hope, fingers crosses, that he is a prag mupist and rise to the occasion.

>> is that satisfying? i'm not disagreeing with your premise. if that's the truth, the truth is that i really don't believe what i said about people like you, perfect people. but i said it because it was helpful tame in the moment, so i don't really mean it. does that make me easier to accept than if he were an authentic bigot, i guess would be the term? >> it doesn't make it all worthwhile. i mean, it doesn't mean, oh, okay, therefore we're all going to be fine. but, hopefully, it's a sign that the future is not to be as divided as devivisive as the campaign was. >> michael, what happened in pennsylvania, right. that is your home state. that's the republicans white whale that they every year they say i think we have a chance, i think we have a chance for only it to be and donald trump did it. >> so, yesterday i spoke and let

me give a shout out to david urban because he's a guy who should be better known than he is. he ran the trump campaign in the commonwealth of pennsylvania and i've known him for many, many years. we used to have our friendship and working relationship with arlen specter in common. and something that i pointed out to him that he didn't disagree with is that on any other election day, the turnout model for secretary clinton would have been enough. the margin that she got out of the city of philadelphia and out of those well discussed philadelphia suburbs should have been sufficient to carry the state. but as the two of you have been discussing all morning long, there was an outperforman ancan the trump base. j.d. vance constituency that no pollster took a correct approximatation of. nobody nailed it. but really a two-point differential across the country and because it was such a close race, that had enormous c

consequences. >> like everything else we've seen in this election, people start saying all the projections were wrong. and we don't care, we didn't do the projections. our job is to test power. you know, to speak truth to power and we don't do the measuring and we don't do math yet alone measurements. one of the new narratives, just like everything else. something is perceived as true and becomes true. let's talk about something that is absolutely tew. you have the next president-elect won the electorate and did not win the popular vote. this disconnect we saw 16 years ago in 2000 that was caught up in what happened in florida. what dayo you make of this feelg every time it comes up. that electoral college, it's got to go. >> i'll have that conversation on the radio, but probably the wrong day to have it.

everyone suits up and looks at and decides whether the electoral college suited their interests and then decided how they feel about the electoral college. probably two years from now is the right time for the debate. i personally question whether we still need the founding fathers of keeping the unwashed masses at arm's length away from the final result. but i know i'll get a distorted picture of that when i open my telephone lines in about an hour or so. >> all right, we look forward to you sharing with us the results of that little focus group you're going to be doing. great to talk to you, michael. >> thank you, you, too. how will the transition of power play out, particularly today? up next we'll ask the man who led the bush/cheney transition team. "is that credit karma again?"

"just wanna see if my score changed..you wanna check yours?" "scores don't change that much. i haven't changed." "oh really?" "it's girls'night. ah huh." "they said business casual." "i love summer weddings!" "oh no." "yeah, maybe it is time. maybe i should check my credit score." "try credit karma. it's free." "oh woah. that's different." "check out credit karma today. credit karma. give yourself some credit."

in just hours, president obama will welcome president president-elect donald trump to the white house. how does the balance of transfer work? clay johnson bush/cheney team when they took office in 2000. is that right, mr. johnson? >> that's correct. >> okay. so, tell me about that. before we get to what will happen today. tell me about that moment and that transfer of power that day was like. >> well, the transition of power began, official transition of power began december 13th, not election day, when the election was decided. so, it was a very usual time.

we had a transition about half the normal length and so the outgoing administration had half the time they normally have to pass the baton to the new administration and we had the time that is normally available to accept the baton and run with it. it was a very unusual time. we began, we made a plan months in advance. we had begun a private sector funded effort november 1st. we were doing a lot of things that we could make up for the unusual situation. just a very odd time. but we, i think, hit the ground running on january 20th in 2001 and caught up very quickly by about march or april with what other administrations had done in terms of putting the teamen the field. >> so, mr. johnson, what do you think is going to happen today? take us behind the scenes in terms of whether there is tension when the outgoing meets the incoming or are they alone

for long periods of time? is there a tour? what happens? >> well, i don't know for sure, but i tell you what i have a good reason to believe. this is going to be a wonderful meeting. this is about america now. and president obama has said that and president trump, president-elect trump is looking forward to that. when george bush replaced governor an richards, she said that she wanted her outgoing transition to be the best ever. and it was very magnanimous. it was very productive. governor bush, governor elect bush was helped tremendously by governor richard's staff. as president obama has talked about the outgoing bush administration was tremendously well treated by the outgoing bush administration. i was involved in that. and it was a wonderful experience. the kind of thing you would hope that would happen in a country

like ours. and it did. and, so, president obama has praised president bush for that assistance because he got into the job and realized how just incredibly important it was to have that kind of council and assistance by the outgoing administration. so now he's going to give back. >> well, about that council, what do they say to each other? is there a moment when they are alone in a room and do they share wisdom as they pass the baton? >> well, the wisdom is passed several different ways. the key is that president obama, i mean, president-elect trump wants to be a very effective president. he has to be a very effective president starting at 12:01 on january 20th. particularly with regards to national security, homeland security, health matters, economic crises and so forth

that might rare their ugly heads. he hasn't had the freedom or liberty of waiting until february or march to become a good commander in chief. between now and january 20th he has to put a team in the white house of orelevarelevant folks advise him and put cabinet and subcabinet in place and put more people in place in the cabinet and subcabinet than ever before. probably 50 or 60 people or so within a week of january 20th because this world we live in is way more dangerous than ever before. the risk of problems to deal with is great. in addition tapo putting the te together, the outgoing administration has to arrange for team members who may not be confirmed yet by the senate yet to be able to sit in the situation room, for instance,

and watch a typical sit room crisis management type of meeting take place with people playing the president and presidential advisors, the military people who are typically there. be in that meeting and for to understand what the air conditioning sounds like, what the situation room is like, the wood paneling and how big is it or how small is it. what kind of conversations takes place. what kind of level of detail is made available to the -- to the participants. so that the first time they're in that sit room, the first time they're part of or observing or when they become president actually leading and participating in a meeting. >> right. >> it's not for real. >> wow. >> and this -- >> that -- >> the outgoing administration -- >> yes. >> is critical to making that happen. i know bush, the bush people made that happen. >> yeah. >> for obama. and i have every confidence that obama is going to make that happen for president-elect trump. >> this is serious stuff and you're right the world moves so quickly now it has to happen.

quickly. thank you very much. great to have you here on "new day." let's get to chris. >> that was interesting. all right, so the election, boy it has given us a lot of lessons. and it's revealed a fundamental truth about an anger, and a divisiveness in this country. donald trump exploited that to his advantage. now, how does he unite the country. a friend, and his biographer joins us live, next. your path to retirement may not always be clear. but at t. rowe price, we can help guide your retirement savings. so wherever your retirement journey takes you, we can help you reach your goals. call us or your advisor t. rowe price. invest with confidence. what makesheart healthysalad the becalifornia walnuts.r?

the best simple veggie dish ever? heart healthy california walnuts. the best simple dinner ever? heart healthy california walnuts. great tasting, heart healthy california walnuts. so simple. get the recipes at walnuts.org.

afoot and light-hearted i take to the open road. healthy, free, the world before me, the long brown path before me leading wherever i choose. the east and the west are mine. the north and the south are mine. all seems beautiful to me. for patients like lynn, advanced genomic testing may lead to other treatment options that can work.

learn how genomic testing is changing the way we fight cancer at cancercenter.com/genomics so, president-elect donald trump is preparing to meet with president obama at the white house this morning. many are wondering, is he going to maintain his conciliatory tone and message of unity. probably. but the big question becomes where does it go from here? let's discuss. real estate developer and friend of the president-elect, and we have trump biographer michael deantonio author of the truth about trump. gentlemen, thank you for being with us this morning. peter, congratulations to you, as friend of. >> thank you. >> let me ask you a fundamental question that the president-elect is dealing with right now. which is it? is it jekyll and hyde feeling about him? he came out, he was gracious and says it's time to bind the wounds, let's unite. but then, there is this feeling

about him, evidenced somewhat in these protests but not too much should be made about them, that well he's the one who divided. he exploited them. he played that to advantage so how can he heal what he exploited? what do you say to people? >> i think that what you need to remember about him is he does what is necessary for the job. and when you are running a campaign, you are appealing to people to vote for you. when you become president, you are now the president of everybody. and i think that was exactly the tone he set, which was the correct tone. he's very talented, chris, about things like that. he has that way of -- of understanding what is necessary. but, he has other talent which i really, like his children for, that he's a blue collar billionaire. he understands what working people go through. i have a little of that, not as much, but a great practitioner of that was your dad. he was governor of new york. >> he didn't have the billionaire part which is why i

got into this job. >> but he had governor part, which is not bad either. but he understood what it took. what working people are going through. i think that's interesting about -- about president-elect trump and i think that's why he won. >> he certainly tapped into something and people are going to have that after analysis, what does this mean for white america? they were so dominant in this election. you on the personal side, so to understand peter's point we have to understand who trump is. and in your understanding of him as a person, do you believe that intolerance is something that's deep-seated in him, or do you believe that's what deep-seated is the need to win? and that that's how he got there? >> he is extremely pragmatic so he did set about to win. and that is clear, and i don't think -- you know, i wouldn't want to play checkers against donald trump. because every game he enters he knows how to win. so, that was then. he does have the ability to pivot. and he may have been waiting to be elected president before he turned to be presidential.

there's also this whole idea that the office inhabits the man, more than the man inhabiting the office. and i think it's quite awesome to consider what happened to donald trump on tuesday. he suddenly became president-elect. so he can rise to the occasion. he does have a feeling for the average guy and gal, and i think it is incumbent upon him to do the healing. it can't just be telling people this is what we're going to do. i think he has to act, because the fear and anxiety that some people has is real. we don't want a country so divided. >> peter, one more on this. one of the reasons i was happy you accepted the invitation to come to the show. you're a no b.s. guy. you're not going to change your opinion to make somebody happen. but as ethnics it doesn't make you feel any better, you're jewish, italian, you never feel better is if someone said the reason i said italians is criminals, because it helped me get elected here. i don't think you guys are

criminals. it doesn't make me feel any better. so, how do you reconcile that from those who feel they were put in a category of other by trump's campaign, whether they're gay or whatever minority group they're from, that so you're telling me you only stoked intolerance against me because it got you elected but you don't actually feel that way and you think i should be okay with it? >> i think that he didn't do that just to get elected. he understood that there were people out there in the world had forgotten. and they used to be a really important part of our country. i looked at the michigan map, the pennsylvania map, the ohio map, and thee were rock union towns that he carried. because the people and the country forgot them. >> yeah, but you know, that doesn't address the question that you asked. the question you asked is about the people he insulted. the people that he rejected. and the fact that he did that is incontroe vertible. he did it many times.

and it was an appeal to the worst in us. i think now donald has to show that he can appeal to the best of us. and you know -- >> i think it's in him. i really do think it's in him. i hope that he has people that help him to do that. i think that, a lot of his campaign surrogates were just as mean-spirited, and they're going to have to show that they have this other side of them, too. they're complete human beings, so let's pray that that's what comes out. >> he is -- >> the main driving force that he's had, since i've known him, that's a long time, he likes to win. he doesn't like to lose. and, when he becomes president, he will want america to win. and that's all americans. because if america wins, that plays into his being of being a winner. >> you know, the biggest fundamental shift that we're going to see is, when you're on the way in, you can blame everybody. once you're in, you're to blame. from everybody. it will be interesting to see

how president-elect trump does with that one small way even with the media, his relationship's got to change. thank you, you helped us understand him better this morning. appreciate it. there is a lot of news for you this morning. let's get to it. >> now it's time for america to bind the wounds of division and unify our great nation. >> we must accept this result, and then look to the future. >> this needs to be a time of redemption, not a time of recrimination. >> i promise you that i will not let you down. >> we who believe in freedom will not rest. >> we're not democrats first, we're not republicans first, we are americans first. >> this is "new day." with chris cuomo and alisyn camerota. >> welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. this is "new day." and up first,