gwen was only 61 years old. that's it for me. thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." "erin burnett outfront" starts right now. "outfront" next, breaking news, the president tells his party the people have spoken, but does he think donald trump is now fit to be president? new details tonight on who trump is eyeing for top cabinet positions as the backlash against steve bannon gets bigger at this hour. plus, donald trump asks for top secret clearances for his kids as they're taking over his business empire. how does that work? let's go "outfront." good evening, i'm erin burnett. "outfront" tonight, the breaking news, a wake-up call. in his first press conference since the election of donald trump, president obama has advice for his successor saying the presidency has, quote, a way of waking you up.

>> campaigning is different from governing. i think he recognizes that. i think he's sincere in wanting to be a successful president, and moving this country forward and i don't think any president ever comes in saying to himself, i want to figure out how to make people angry or alienate half the country. >> president obama also talked about the impression he got of donald trump in that 90 minute first ever meeting between the two men in the white house. >> i don't think he is ideological. i think ultimately, he's pragmatic in that way, and that can serve him well as long as he's got good people around him and he has a clear sense of direction. >> president obama passing on a chance to speak out about controversial trump appointee steve bannon. the former head of breitbart

news, an outlet that pedaled anti-semitic, racist views. now, we're going to have more on that in a moment. i want to begin with athena jones "outfront" at the white house, athena, the president walking a fine line today in the white house briefing room. >> reporter: hi, erin, that's right. it was a very different tone we heard from president obama today in that briefing room than what we've heard from him on the campaign trail these last several weeks and longer, even. and perhaps it's not surprising not to hear him continuing to bash donald trump. he did not continue to question the incoming president's qualifications. at some points in the room, it felt as though he was trying to maybe send a message to the incoming president about how carefully a president should speak. he spoke in calm, measured tones, and was careful not to criticize. it seemed to be potentially a message for donald trump. >> the people have spoken.

donald trump will be the next president, the 45th president of the united states. >> reporter: president obama responding to questions about tuesday's election results for the first time, urged his own party to accept the results and move on in a positive way. >> do you now think that president-elect trump is qualified to be president? >> those who didn't vote for him have to recognize that that's how democracy works. that's how this system operates. when i won, there were a number of people who didn't like me. >> reporter: after months spent campaigning against trump, questioning his fitness for the office and sounding the alarm about the impact of a trump presidency on everything from health care to the environment to foreign affairs, president obama would not say whether he now believes trump is fit to lead, but he cautioned the president-elect on his temperament. >> i think what will happen with

the president-elect, there are going to be certain elements of his temperament that will not serve him well unless he recognizes them and corrects them. >> reporter: and while he declined to criticize mr. trump for tapping former breitbart news head steve bannon whose website has championed white nationalist themes to be his chief strategist and senior adviser, president obama did offer trump some advice telling him to try and reach out to those who didn't support him and who may be fearful of what's to come. >> because of the nature of the campaigns, and the bitterness and ferocity of the campaigns, it's really important to try to send some signals of unity and to reach out to minority groups or women or others that were concerned about the tenor of the

campaign. >> reporter: and president obama ended, he also talked, mentioned, struck a hopeful note, i should say, in talking about how the presidency has a tendency to wake people up and sort of introduce them to reality that might be different from how governing is. it's the same hopeful optimistic note he struck a few minutes ago when he was on a call with democratic supporters telling them, look, you can mope for a little while but you got to then get it together and look ahead to the future. he said i'm still fired up and ready to go. >> all right. thank you. let's go to jim acosta "outfront" from trump toweren to. jim, a big development here. president-elect's children, their role in the trump white house and now security clearances? >> reporter: yeah, erin, this is a different kind of first family moving into the white house come january. i think that is fairly obvious. president obama, his two young children obviously did not need these types of top secret security clearances. keep in mind, donald trump's

adult children, his son-in-law, jared kushner, are among his top advisers. we saw this during the course of the campaign. you recall just last week when president obama was meeting with donald trump in the oval office, jared kushner was taking a stroll with the current chief of staff on the south lawn of the white house. i'm told by a transition source that president-elect trump, yes, has asked for top secret security clearances for his adult children and for his son-in-law, jared kushner. now, keep in mind, there are other things moving along inside the trump transition. although we are hearing that, and we reported this last week, erin, that there have been some tensions inside the transition team. obviously, there are factions jockeying for different positions, but as one of my colleagues, jim sciutto described it, there's a bit of a knife fight, as he put it, going on inside that transition. however, we should point out this team is starting to make some progress toward making some pretty important decisions. i've been told by a transition

source that both the former new york mayor rudy giuliani and former u.n. ambassador, john bo bolton under george w. bush, they're the two top con tetende for secretary of state. hearing about tensions going on inside the transition, potentially some in-fighting, they are getting closer to very, very significant decisions. erin? >> all right, jim sciutto, thank you very much. i'm sorry, jim acosta. jim sciutto is reporting on the knife fight which i'm going to get to in a moment. with me now, jeffrey lord who supported donald trump, and former clinton white house aide, keith boykin who supported hillary clinton. former presidential adviser david gergen also joins me. jeffrey lord, let me start with what you heard jim acosta talks about, jim sciutto's reporting. okay. knife fights. describing it as a knife fight, in fact saying the confusion, lack of clarity over who's in charge between reince priebus, steve bannon and trump's

son-in-law, jared kushner is buffoonery. >> as somebody who worked in the reagan administration, what ronald reagan did was appoint baker as chief of staff, i.e., reince priebus figure, who was very controversial in the day as counselor to the president. he was very conservative, very bannon like in that sense. viewed by the reagans as many people said, as a son. in other words, he had that personal relationship and was sort of in charge among others things with translating ronald and nancy reagan to the rest of the white house staff. >> you managed to make the reagan argument here, jeffrey lord, you always find a way. >> jared kushner would be michael beaver. >> i -- historian always, reagan administration, look, this is dichbt. what have we said over and over about this campaign? it's unprecedented. it's different. and i think this transition is very different and i'm hearing

that not only within the group are there knife fightss going o, but there's tremendous pressure coming from outside. you have the senate who has to confirm some people weighing in and lobbying. you have that, our term, kushner, the gop establishment. not in a badprofessionals who he been around a long time. a word i wouldn't say after election day, they want to see donald trump pivot from candidate trump -- >> really. >> -- to president-elect trump finally. putting this cabinet together is very important to a lot of people. >> on this issue, jeff, of security clearances because this is significant and related, right, you hear about whether it's a knife fight or not, jared kushner being so involved, security clearances for trump's adult children. have we seen anything like this, jamie was saying you have to go back to the kennedys to see a family like this.

>> of course not, they didn't have security clearances. the only person who will get a security clearance is if they have a job specific that they would absolutely need that. so we have to, i think, hold on just a second, see what jobs they actually get, but adult child is not going to simply have a security clearance unless they have a job that requires it here. and if they're still running the business, that's a whole other argument. >> which we are going to have because that's a really serious conversation. david gergen, you know, when president obama spoke today, i think you could be forgiven for being completely shocked. i mean, it was not even a week ago he called donald trump unfit and woefully unprepared for the office of president. and today, i mean, this is almost a ringing endorsement. here's what he said. >> he is coming to this office with fewer set hard and fast policy prescriptions than a lot of other presidents might be

arriving with. i don't think he is ideological. i think ultimately he's pragmatic in that way and that can serve him well as long as he's got good people around him and he has a clear sense of direction. >> this is the argument that trump supporters were making for over a year, david gergen, now coming from the president of the united states. he is pragmatic and not ideological. >> well, i think the president is trying very hard to be hopeful. to be respectful. to follow hillary clinton's advice which was after all, keep an open mind and wish him the best as he gets started. at the same time as you would well recognize, he occasionally needled him a little bit. you know, he needled him on the question of his temperament and needled him about the importance of speaking out and sending signals of unity and needled him, too, about the issue of

remembering being respectful of norms. i think the sending out the signal of unity is most important right now in the domestic context. i was also taken, erin, by the fact that the president is going to europe and he's going to be reassuring our allies there, our friends there, that donald trump is still committed to nato, committed to the trans-atlantic partnership. that's important. there's a lot of unrest as you know in europe and european capitals over that very question. i thought that was helpful. >> yes. >> i want to say one last thing about jared kushner, if he takes a full-time job in the white house, security clearance, no brainer, of course he can get a security clearance. if he's on the outside, i'm not aware of any precedent for a member of the family to have security clearance on the outside. one would have to check that. i think it's much more unlikely for the three children. the president could potentially appoint one of them to, say, something like the defense advisory board. that doesn't seem like a good fit for jared kushner, but if

you're a member of that board, as a private citizen, you can get security clearance. >> right. that was, if i recall, an issue for hillary clinton donor at one point. keith boykin, let me -- >> yes, exactly. >> when you hear the president come out and say he's coming with fewer hard and set policy, he's pragmatic and not ideological, is the president saying give him a second chance on whatever he said about immigrants, whatever he said about muslims, whatever he said about nato? by the way, the president said donald trump supports nato, speaking for donald trump. >> yeah. i don't think that the president was complimenting him when he said that he was not ideological. i felt he was stating sort of a fact about where we are. i mean, we've elected this man president of the united states who we don't really know what his views are, don't know what his beliefs are, don't know what policy actions he would take. i think the president was trying to act with class and dignity today. i felt he wanted to set an example for donald trump who on the other hand has been tweeting the last week complaining about the "the new york times"

complaining about protesters, calling them unfair. he's setting a standard and example for the type of behavior a president should exhibit. >> all right. all staying with me. next, outrage growing over steve bannon, the former chief of breitbart news. he's accused of being sexist, racist and anti-sim memitianti- plus, mr. trump asking his children get the top security clearances but here's the thing, imagine this, they get the clearances and they get to run the trump organization worldwide. pretty amazing, wobuldn't it be? is that a conflict of interest? the internet finding a way to laugh over the results of what was a bitter election. when you're close to the people you love, does psoriasis ever get in the way of a touching moment? if you have moderate to severe psoriasis, you can embrace the chance of completely clear skin with taltz. taltz is proven to give you a chance at completely clear skin.

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breaking news, the backlash growing over one of president-elect donald trump's first major appointments. house dms at this hour circulating a letter telling trump to rescind his appointment of steve bannon as the white house chief strategist and senior counselor after civil rights groups and even some republicans have slammed bannon, former head of the controversial breitbart news. sara murray is "outfront." >> reporter: donald trump is already sparking outrage as he builds a white house team with an alt-right edge. >> our work on this movement is

now really just beginning. >> reporter: the president-elect naming steve bannon, campaign ceo and executive chairman of breitbart news as his chief strategist and senior counselor. and tapping republican national committee chairman reince priebus as his chief of staff. as priebus argues, trump wants to be president for all. >> it's really important that all americans understand that he is a president for everyone. he wants to make everyone proud. whether it be race, ethnic background, gender, anything. >> reporter: the bannon hire instantly drew criticism from hate watch groups who noted bannon's em brabrace of the alt-white movement.conservative spremtives and anti-semites. the anti-defamation league voicing its opposition to bannon because he and his alt right are

hostile. nancy pelosi saying there must be no sugar coating the reality that a white nationalist has been named chief strategist for the trump administration. in a move that could further fuel concern, alex jones, operator of the infowars website, says trump called to offer his gratitude. >> said, listen, alex, i just talked to the kings and queens of the world, world leaders, you name it, said, it doesn't matter, i wanted to talk to you to thank your audience and i'll be on next few weeks to thank them. >> reporter: the site is known for pushing many conspiracy theories including the notion that sandy hook, the shooting that left 20 children dead, was a hoax and that the 9/11 was an inside job. actions of bigotry that the president-elect condemns in an interview with "60 minutes." >> i am so saddened to hear that, and i say stop it. if it helps, i will say this, and i'll say it right to the

cameras, stop it. >> reporter: now, many of donald trump's top aides and his family members have spent much of the day in trump tower going through this transition. we know they have narrowed down folks for other key cabinet slots. we're also expecting governor mike pence to be both here in new york as well as in washington, d.c., later this week. he took the helm of the transition last week but pretty clear that there's a little bit of work to be done to make sure everyone is still on the same page about where this transition is headed going forward. erin? >> sara, thank you very much. "outfront" now, boris epstein. thank you. borris, let me start with you. you heard some of the action from mark's group, democratic leaders, the anti-defamation league, backlash also from cair, the council on american islamic relations. there's real fear out there over bannon. >> thanks for having me, and second of all, steve bannon is somebody who was chosen for this role because of his instrumental

role in the trump campaign. it's shocking this is even a surprise. here's who steve bannon is. he's somebody who has a lifelong success, worked with people of all backgrounds and necessities in business, in politics, in media, instrumental in organizing trips to detroit, to flint, then-candidate donald trump made, as well as the meeting with the president of mexico, as well as the meeting with the president of egypt and the prime minister of israel, benjamin netanyahu. steve bannon has been nothing but amazing to me, supportive, far from what he's been described by the democrats who really crying into their soup right now and all this is sour grapes. we're so excited to form a government, so excited to unit this country and truly make america great again which is not just a slogan but something we're going to be working every day to do. >> you hear boris say this is

sour grapes. what's he so wrong about? >> entirely wrong from beginning to end. the reality is steve bannon has led breitbart news into becoming one of the major racist, anti-immigrant, anti-muslim, gay bashing, websites on the internet. and bannon has very much personally led that. his own ex-wife has described him as an anti-semite. his own former senior editor, ben shapiro, described him as both an anti-semite and racist. other former employees talk about the place being a cesspool of white supremacy. and there is a long history of headlines and claims made on that site under steve bannon that are outrageous. a mere two weeks after dylann roof murdered six people in a church in charleston, this site ran a piece describing the confederate battle flag in which dylann roof had wrapped himself

before the murder as a glorious symbol. bannon, himself, has described a civil war as for the south, the war of independence. >> so, boris -- >> i think the record is pretty clear on what bannon is really about. >> so there's that article, boris, there's also one about bill kristol, the republican spoiler renegade jew, another, birth control makes women unattractive and crazy, which i read, contains a spoof, it has a line of how women should go off birth control because that's the only way to prevent muslims from overrunning the country. >> pick and choose headlines all the you want but if you look at the story and background of steve bannon, who he is, he's somebody who's been extremely inclusive and made our campaign inclusive and people of all backgrounds working on this campaign. again, this was a campaign for everybody, people in michigan, in pennsylvania, people in florida of all backgrounds. that's why we received 29% of the latino group higher than mitt romney. higher percentage of the

african-american vote than mitt romney. that's why we won this election and why we will govern this country and unite this country going forward. this kind of race baiting by the left and the left talking points from harry reid, nancy pelosi, the house democrats, are not helpful. all they're doing is dividing this country which is the opposite of what we're doing. >> boris, let me give you a chance to respond to david dark, former imperial wizard, of course, of the kkk. he talked about steve bannon and specifically his ideology. here he is today. >> you have an individual, mr. b bannon, who's basically creating the ideological aspect, where we're going. >> boris? >> network would play the words of david duke, and this -- our campaign, in this transition, president-elect donald trump disavowed and denounced david duke time and time again and it's awful this network would play those words on here. they have nothing to do with what we as a transition team and

what the administration of mr. trump will do going forward, unite this country, lower the tax rates of this country, make sure this country prospers and is secure. that's what we're focused on. not the fringe lmt elements fro left or the right. >> quick final word, mark. >> well, i mean, the idea that this is a concocted story about bannon is just ridiculous. steve bannon, in fact, ran an article in which he defended the alternative right. a fundamentally racist movement. a white supremacist movement as being led not by racists, but by intellectuals. bannon was referring to people like jared taylor, the editor of "american renaissance" who has described black people in america as psychopathological and black people in general as incapable of sustaining any kind of civilization. it goes on and on and on from there, but let me also add that the idea that donald trump -- >> let me respond.

>> -- has renounced these people is false. that is the weakest disavow i've ever seen. >> he did disavow multiple times including in an interview to me at one point. >> and in "60 minutes," and on "60 minutes" last night. >> yes, he also pretended that he didn't know who david duke was. >> very clear denounced, renounced these people and the left should stop crying and you should be doing is figuring out why you cannot reach those working class people in michigan and pennsylvania, why the left is completely now lost any touch with american people. we are excited to work with everyone on all parts of the political spectrum to make this country stronger for the future. >> thank you, both, very much. "outfront" next president-elect putting his businesses in the hands of his children. it's legal, but is it the right thing to do especially as he asks for them to get top secret security clearances tonight? and one issue mr. trump will not seek to overturn in the supreme court. >> it's law. it was settled in the supreme court. i mean, it's done. [burke] hot dog. seen it. covered it.

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breaking news, sources are telling us that trump has requested top security -- top secret security clearance for his adult children and his son-in-law, jared kushner. he's pushed to give them access

to america's most classified information, comes as trump says he's transferring his business to don jr., ivanka and eric trump. jim grass is "outfront." >> i have ivanka and eric and don sitting there, run the company, kids, have a good time. >> reporter: donald trump's self-proclaimed multibillion dollar empire and who will control it now under the microscope and what trump will do with that empire is unclear. >> i have made billions of dollars in business making deals. >> reporter: his business dealings reaching far past the borders of the united states. trump organization has holdings in at least 22 countries that we know of including panama, india, turkey and dubai. by law, a president is not required to step down as ceo of a business. so when it comes to what to do with the trump organization, the president-elect's options are limited says attorney kenneth gross who advised past presidents. >> because of the breadth of his

holdings and the nature of his holdings, they're not easily sold. it's not like owning a thousand shares of ibm and you can sell them and rid yourself of a conflict that could arise. >> reporter: the one option trump says he'll adopt is setting up a blind trust. a blind trust involves having an independent trustee manage the company's assets without direct involvement from the ceo. but in trump's case, a blind trust is complicated. >> he would have to not know what he's putting into the trust and if you own mar-a-lago or own the trump tower and put it into a blind trust, you don't get amnesia and forget that you've owned this property. >> reporter: another shade of gray. >> ivanka, don and eric run it, is that a blind trust? i don't know. >> reporter: trump says when he takes office he'll hand over the management of his empire exclusively to his children instead of an independent trustee. children who arguably have the same business interests as their father. >> we'll be in new york and take

care of the business. >> reporter: rudy giuliani a top adviser to trump who will likely serve in the administration told cnn there will be a clear separation between the trump organization and the trump presidency. >> there will have to be a wall between them with regard to government matters. >> reporter: but that wall already blurred as trump's oldest children along with ivanka's husband, jared kushner, currently have roles on the president-elect's transition team. and ivanka told "60 minutes" while she won't serve in a formal administrative capacity, she will be involved with her father's presidency. >> i've said throughout the campaign that i am very passionate about certain issues and that i want to fight for them. >> reporter: about those businesses, donald trump said in the "60 minutes" interview that they mean peanuts to him compared to the huge responsibility he's about to take on as president. erin? >> all right, thank you very much. my panel is back with me. jeff, let me just see if i understand this. his children could get top secret security clearance, that's what he's asking for then they would get to run a global

trump-branded business without there being a conflict? >> let me pick up on something our friend david gergen pointed out, that individual who serve on presidential intelligence advisory boards, et cetera, are usually private sector people. so presumably, they have the same conflict. i mean, they have business "a," "b" or "c "in their private life but have a security clearance. >> that's like saying other people are doing bad things so it's okay. >> no new yoo, i'm sure there a rules about this. i'm assuming mayor giuliani is right. i don't know what they are. if this is done for other people in the government which might well be the case, why would they be, you know, not treated in the same fashion? >> keith? >> you know, it makes it hard to buy this argument that trump is going to drain the swamp when he's using this whole idea of intermingling his family members and friends in the government. >> is it nepotism? >> of course, it's nepotism. the idea that people who are

selecting the united states attorneys, the s.e.c. chairmen or chairperson, the person who are going to be selecting the leaders of government, will also be then running donald trump's businesses. as if they had no say in the people who will be regulating them. that's an unheard of, unprecedented conflict of interest. >> so we're already through the looking glass here, right? and i say two words, tax returns. >> oh. >> we haven't seen them. we're never going to see them. they weren't disclosed. so i think we're working with a whole different set of rules and traditions here with donald trump. i want to say, also, that, and i'm not saying this is right or wrong, but this is how donald trump has conducted his business for a long time. it's how he conducted his campaign. these are the people he trusts. >> right. >> and putting everything else aside, these are people he wants to be able to talk to. and so i think that's what's behind this. >> is this what he's basically saying, anyway, whatever their role is in the business, he's

going to be talking to them. he wants them to have top security clearances. he's not going to suddenly say -- maybe this is just him being ultimately honest. >> perhaps. but i think that's the difference of top security clearances. there are all different levels of this. i think if they have -- if jared, for example, has a real job in the west wing of the administration, whose job requires that, then he will get one. i would be stunned that the white house counsel, whoever that may be, is going to allow others who are here in new york running the business to have security clearances. i just don't think he wants to invite that kind of scrutiny. we'll see, but i think that we have to be a little bit patient here as this works itself out. >> can that happen, david gergen? if his son-in-law, let's just say, does have a role like this, clearly, he's very, very crucial to donald trump. he's married to ivanka trump who's going to be running the business, also, of course, a confidant to her father in her own right. this seems too tangled for there ever to be a clear, ethical line, a barrier.

>> it seems to me that there's no question that donald trump can draw his children into his inner circles and help him with thinking through the problems or he could appoint them to positions within the government. after all, jack kennedy famously appointed his brother, bobby, as attorney general. so i think the precedents are very clear. what's more troubling, more objectionable, is the whole idea that these children would also continue to run this massive company while they're involved in the white house activities or decision making at the white house. >> yes, those who things -- >> we just went through a campaign which the clintons were, you know, hugely and aggressively attacked by the trump folks for having what they call pay to play with the clinton foundation. you know, her being secretary of state, having this foundation. those problems are going to be peanuts compared to the issues that are going to arise if the trump children are running this company. i would think that what they'd look at is the bloomberg

example, michael bloomberg as mayor of new york. >> yep. >> his company was run by people not in the bloomberg family. he put the -- remember -- please? >> right. that's not happening here, and my understanding, i'm not an expert on this, is following robert f. kennedy -- >> the rules change. >> the rules change. and you're not supposed to -- nepotism rules have family members in here. but there's one other thing to remember, and that is i went back and looked, hillary clinton who was two for one when she was first lady, she never had this kind of security clearance. >> interesting. >> i reach out to the bushes, their children didn't have -- i mean -- >> the anti-nepotism law, it clearly prohibits son-in-laws like jared kushner from being appointed to any position of government. >> not on the white house staff. >> seems to be very clear in my reading of the law it would not allow someone like that to be appointed. go back and read it yourself. >> a lot more discussion to be

done about this as we try to figure out -- >> the white house counsel job is going to be challenging. >> all right. and thanks to all. next, the supreme court, one seat empty, three sitting justices over 75 years o s old. what could a trump. appointed court look like? our special report. and remembering an icon in the news business. >> i'm gwen ifill of the "newshour" and "washington week" on pbs.

breaking news tonight. new details about how a trump presidency could shape the supreme court. the president-elect already expected to fill one seat in his first few days in office, but with three supreme court justices over the age of 75, trump could fill multiple seats over the course of his presidency. pamela brown is "outfront." >> reporter: tonight, donald trump giving his first glimpse as president-elect into what he wants in next supreme court justice. >> i'm pro-life. the judges will be pro-life. >> reporter: trump signaling in an interview with "60 minutes" he may want his next nominee to overturn roe v. wade. which affirmed the right to abortion nationwide. >> if it ever were overturned, it would go back to the states.

>> some women won't be able to get an abortion. >> no, it will go back to the states. it will perhaps have to go to another state. >> reporter: when it comes to another controversial supreme court decision, giving same-sex couples across country the right to marry, trump says the case is closed. >> it's law. it was settled in the supreme court. i mean, it's done. >> trump is right that it's unlikely for same-sex marriage to ever return before the court again. it is settled law, but states continue to pass restrictions on abortion and those cases always wind up before the supreme court so an abortion issue is very relevant to what a supreme court justice does. >> reporter: cnn has learned there is a short list of potential high court nominees circulating among republicans. pulled from the 21 names trump released during his campaign including conservative judge, william pryor of alabama who once said roe v. wade was the,

quote, worst abomination in the history of constitutional law. >> if donald trump gets one, two, three, four appointments to supreme court, this could be a very seriously conservative supreme court across the board for a generation or longer. >> reporter: three of the current supreme court justices are in their late 70s and early 80s including liberal steven breyer and ruth bader ginsburg. "saturday night live" poked fun at the notion ginsburg will fight to stay on the high court as long as trump is president. >> everyone expected you to retire soon, you're 83. >> you're damn right i was going to retire. clinton was going to win. i was going straight to the dominican republic. even though last time i was there, they thought i was a zika mosquito. not now. now i got to stay alive and healthy, dammit, give me my thing. excuse me, got to take my vitamin. >> yeah. >> and justice ginsburg who was

notoriously openly critical of trump during the campaign treaded carefully during a public appearance today saying trump's election will mean a vacancy will be filled on the court after republicans blocked the nomination hearings for merrick garland for several months, it's unclear, erin, when trump will aim to fulfill the vacancy. he's indicated it's a priority. back to you. >> manu is on capitol hill "outfront." you've been talking to the conserve difs in the house, one of them told you trump is not a conservative. >> reporter: yeah, that's right. that's raul labrador, one of the top conservatives in the house. a member of that house freedom caucus. i caught up with him earlier today. he did not mean that as a criticism, saying that trump is not a conservative, he just meant it as a fact that donald trump did not run as a conservative republican. here's a little bit more of what he had to say. >> he never said he was a conservative. he said that he was making this about the people of the united states. about working with the american people. i mean, we had conservative

candidates in the race who didn't win. so i think we're going to be able to work very well with him. >> reporter: if he pursues just amending obamacare, how would you respond? >> i'm not going to agree with that, but i think we will work with the president and i think that's the whole point of this. >> reporter: so then that issue of obamacare, so significant, erin, because as we know, donald trump's signaling that he's willing to keep some aspects of obamacare in law, but if he does not go full force and try to pull out the law, root and branch, he's going to have a fight on his hand among conservatives who want to start from scratch. that can go for any issue for donald trump if he decides to moderate in any way, he could face a battle within his own party. a real sign of the challenges ahead for donald trump if he tries to push forward his agenda, erin. >> all right, manu, thank you. next, poking fun at what joe biden is really thinking about donald trump's victory. plus, we pay tribute to gwen ifill, a pioneer in her world.

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breaking news tonight, the legendary pbs newscaster gwen ifill has died. she was 61 years old. a veteran, an admired journalist. she'd been battling cancer while covering this year's historic presidential election. she was at work just a few weeks ago. ifill was a pioneer for women in journalism and for african-americans. richard roth has more on the legacy she leaves behind. >> i'm gwen ifill of the "newshour" and "washington week" on pbs. >> reporter: gwen ifill broke racial and gender barriers for journalists across the country and her well-respected journalism made her a familiar face on tv. ifill was half of the first all-female anchor team of a fight nightly program, the pbs "news hour" with judy woodruff where she was also managing editor. the president reflected on a journalist he called a friend.

>> i always appreciated gwen's reporting even wednesday i was at the receiving end of an interview. >> reporter: dear sweet gwen is gone, tweeted the "face the nation host" john dickerson. very sad to learn we lost gwen ifill. our hearts are broken. ifill moderated a democratic candidates' debate in february and moderated two vice presidential debates first in 2004, cheney versus edwards. >> the first to vice president cheney. >> reporter: then four years later. >> welcome to the first and only debate. >> seriously it's the hardest thing i've ever done. >> reporter: at first she said she was nervous then realized she was the one asking all the questions. >> the best part both times is when queen latifah played me on "saturday night live." >> good evening, i'm gwen ifill.

>> reporter: ifill had been battling endometrial cancer. being a pioneer for women and african-americans in journalism was difficult. during her college internship at the "boston herald" in the '70s ifill told the "washington post" they didn't know what a college-educated black woman was and didn't know how to treat me. ifill's career spanned the "washington post," "the new york times" and nbc news. she became moderator of pbs' "washington week in review" in 1999, the first african-american woman to host a political talk show. >> good evening. >> reporter: she took leaves of absence this year, returning at one point for another interview with the president. gwen ifill spent her last days and hours in a hospice in washington surrounded by family and friends. she was set to receive the prestigious john chancellor award at columbia university in 48 hours. erin? >> all right. richard roth, thank you very

much. "outfront" next on a much lighter note, what joe biden is really thinking. the waterspout. down came the rain and clogged the gutter system creating a leak in the roof. luckily the spider recently had geico help him with homeowners insurance. water completely destroyed his swedish foam mattress. he got full replacement and now owns the sleep number bed. his sleep number setting is 25. call geico and see how much you could save on homeowners insurance. 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.

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when donald trump takes office, will the ts on the white house keyboard suddenly go missing? he's jeanne moos. >> reporter: it was as if president obama was trying to wrap his lips around the name. >> president-elect trump's, mr.

president-elect. president-elect trump. >> reporter: some on twitter elected to imagine pranks by the mischievous joe biden. night play on t might play on the incoming trump. born a meme of imaginary conversations between joe and president obama. >> i ordered huge replacement doorkn doorknobs. yuge. >> george, we cant. >> president tiny hands. >> reporter: from the size of trump's hands to president obama's birth certificate. >> come on. you got a print a fake birth certificate, put it in an envelope labeled secret and leave it in the oval office desk. >> joe. >> reporter: obama's birthplace gave birth to a lot of jokes. >> i left a kenyan passport to [ bleep ] mess with him and a prayer rug in his room. >> dammit joe. >> trying to be funny at a time when it's really hard to know if it's okay to be funny. >> reporter: josh loves joe biden and authored at least ten of these memes.

then there's the one based on a dirty trick that was actually played if real life when the white house transitioned from bill clinton to george w. bush. an investigation confirmed, missing ws in the white house. >> hillary was saying they took the ws off the keyboards when bush won. i took the ts. they can only time "rump." >> reporter: he got an inquiry from an agent. they wanted to know if you're interested in a book deal. >> i told them i'm interested in anything at this point. >> reporter: if the election's been pushing your buttons, maybe a tweet will provide relief. >> i took a staples red button and wrote "nukes" on it. >> joe. >> tweets to him in russian when pressed. >> reporter: jeanne moos, cnn -- >> that was easy. >> reporter: -- new york. >> all right. thank you so much for joining us. we'll see you again tomorrow night. don't forget, you can watch "outfront" anytime, anywhere on cnn go as always. we'll see you back here same time, same place tomorrow. "a.c. 360" with anderson cooper begins right now.

good evening, thanks for joining us. tonight, breaking news. donald trump is seeking top secret security clearances for the grown children who are advising him as well as his son-in-law, jared kushner. that is what an official in the trump transition effort tells cnn's jim acosta. it means kushner, daughter ivanka and sons donald jr. and eric may be privy to the country's deepest secrets. however, like everything we've seen since election night, it's not business as usual. uproar over trump's choice for top white house job as well as late new reporting on the larger transition which one source describes as a knife fight. that and some words of advice from president obama today. plus, we're following eig i anti-trump protesters taking to the streets again. people protesting in tucson, arizona, as well. we'll bring you late developments there. we begin on the breaking news on the security clearances. joining us new,