trump, she did not. but she gave the president- elect a handwritten letter of congratulations to give to mrs. trump. cnn is reporting this morning that melania might not even move to the white house full time. the panel is here. jeff? >> look, there will be many changes in the second trump administration. we'll see how much of a central role she plays. barron trump is in new york at school. she has focused a lot of her time here when he was in high school. we are learning from our colleague at the white house, the trump- biden meeting has ended. this will certainly open up more than an hour, maybe an hour and a half or so. so we'll be scrambling to see what was learned and discussed in that meeting. >> that's the most important meeting of the day. and we will certainly be reporting on what happened there. don't go anywhere. we're going to have coverage continuing of the

meeting as they come out. stay with us. cnn news central starts right now. president- elect donald trump returns to washington and cnn has just confirmed his meeting with president joe biden in the white house has justjust wrapped as of moments ago. biden hosting trump in the white house for talks in the oval office. transition talks, the face to face obviously, a long- held tradition meant to pave the way for a smooth transfer of power, except, of course, four years ago, president trump refused the same courtesy for biden. let's discuss ahead of this morning. >> well, mr. president- elect, and former president -- >> thank you. >> donald, congratulations.

>> thank you. >> looking forward to a smooth transition, making sure you're accommodated. what you need. we'll get a chance to talk about some of that today. welcome. >> thank you very much. and politics is tough and it's in many cases, not a very nice world. it is a nice world today. and i appreciate it very much. a transition that is so smooth. it will be as smooth as it can get and i very much appreciate it. >> you're welcome. >> so that white house meeting is one of several stops for trump today. he huddled with house republicans this morning where he backed speaker mike johnson's bid to retain his leadership position. a secret ballot vote is set for the next hour on that. and just minutes ago, senate republicans elected south dakota's john thune to replace mitch mcconnell as the new senate gop leader, rejecting the preferred pick of trump's maga

allies, senator rick scott. that was also a secret ballot. m.j. lee is live from the white house. this was a moment to witness. trump and biden, side by side in the oval office. >> reporter: it was quite thethe moment. after about two hours of the two leaders sitting in the oval office together behind closed doors, we've just gotten word from a source that the meeting has ended. and actually, i've just also heard that president trump has officially left the white house. so skipping the very big group of press gathered outside of the west wing for maybe a glimpse of the former president if he had chosen to come out. that didn't happen. the former president has left after this very lengthy meeting with president biden. as you showed there, president biden welcoming the former president. his predecessor and now the person that will be

his successor to the white house with the words, welcome back. of course, marking such a stark contrast from the kinds of language that we had heard from the president throughout the course of this campaign, describing his predecessor as a fascist. describing him as a real threat to the country. but now with this meeting sort of septembering a principle that he has said is so important for the country to adhere to, that is peaceful transfer of power. i have been in touch with a number of white house officials and people close to the president here to try to get a sense of how they are sort of processing this moment. and i can tell you, it has been a day where emotions have been running high. a lot of these folks had expected and wanted a different outcome in last week's election. were very disappointed when vice president harris ended up losing to donald trump. and some of the votes i talked to said it will be another crazy, busy day at the white

house and we are just trying to focus on the work and this process that the president himself had said is so important. this peaceful transition from the biden administration now in a couple of weeks to the trump administration. we also know that president biden, of course, had hoped to talk about a range of issues. both domestic and foreign policy- related with the incoming president, including, for example, stressing the need in his view for the u.s. to continue supporting ukraine's war efforts. what is not clear is whether president biden believes that any of those urgings, his pleas will have any kind of an effect on donald trump given that their world views on so many of these issues tend to be so contrasting. so again, this meeting between president trump, president biden, has just ended. marking a really capstone moment for a campaign that has been so tumultuous. and we are seeing such a

full, vivid picture of that transition of power that again, president biden had said was so important, happened peacefully. >> thank you so much for that update. what about the view from trump world? what more are you hearing about his big day back in washington? >> reporter: this really marks the beginning of a peaceful transfer of power. this is a key moment in the transition. one of the things we've been discussing is donald trump naming these various people for cabinet positions. setting up the administration. this really sets up the next presidency. you can see in the way donald trump is handling it, how he wants to set the tone. to be clear, donald trump can very quickly go back on anything he has done. but as we have seen so far, he's really tried to keep the tone about this transfer of power. he showed up. there was press. he did not stop and give remarks. he only spoke briefly at the house conference when he spoke there with mike johnson

and then he came here. we heard press shouting questions at him and joe biden. he really deferred to president joe biden. joe biden didn't take questions. donald trump didn't take questions. we obviously know donald trump likes to talk to the press. it was clear again, setting the tone here. and then he did not come out to the stakeout position. he did not speak to the cameras. there was an enormous amount of press. we'll see what he does when he it's goes back on his plane to go back to palm beach. this is really the first time we're seeing donald trump in public since he won the election. he has been meeting with his advisers. he's been planning for the transition. he's been going over various policy decisions and he has been playing golf. as we know. this is the first time we are seeing the president- elect here and it's on this trip to washington. just one thing to point out. donald trump is visiting a washington today that is fundamentally completely different than what we saw in 2020 and 2016. in 2016, he showed up to a washington that he did not understand completely.

they did not understand the government. while he had control, he being republicans, had control over the house and senate, donald trump is walking into a washington this time around in which the republican party is the party of donald trump. so this is a kind of defining homecoming moment for the former president, now president-elect. >> yeah. very well put. kristen holmes, thank you, live from the white house. let's talk more about this now with cnn political analyst mark preston and presidential historian, lindsey, a senior fellow at the center for presidential history. this is such an important moment. but you can't help but note that the last time we saw it was eight years ago. this is as we said, a courtesy that trump did not extend to biden when he won four years ago. what did you think about what you saw in the oval office today? >> i was struck by, of course, the historic nature

of it. this has become a tradition that we expect. while it is not mandated by law or written in the constitution, it is a demonstration of the importance of peaceful transfer of power to our republic and to our democratic institutions. it made me sad that we didn't satisfy it four years ago. it is so essential to the character of our nation and i know that it is really hard sometimes when you or your party lose. so i felt for president biden. and yet i was really glad as an historian that he did extend the invitation. >> mark, it's really a striking moment. not just for the historic precedent and what it means about deferring one's own feelings and one's own self-interests for the institution, but also the interpersonal dynamic about these two men. >> the most shocking thing to me today was when there were questions being shouted to both of them, these are two guys who enjoy taking a couple questions from the media as

they're walking away from the podium. the fact they had that discipline, not to do so, was in fact amazing to me. these are two guys that don't like each other. joe biden thinks that, you know, donald trump, his brand of politics, is gone a poison on america. he's all but said that. as does most of the democratic party. i think what we've seen today was a good step toward civility. again, a lot of predictions that this would not be a civil time. we have civility right now. let's get into the new year and i can guarantee you, that civility will go away. >> when it comes to the utility of this kind of step in a transition process, i noticed that trump spent almost two hours at the white house. what is it that they're actually doing behind closed doors? and if at all, does trump's history as a disruptor of norms influence the way that that meeting and those

conversations go down? >> reporter: well, of course, we aren't privy to the conversations but usually it is an opportunity to talk about the big issues in the president's daily briefing. whether it is foreign policy or domestic threats, an opportunity to provide some guidance or talk through some of the challenges they mate face. for example, dwight eisenhower and john f. kennedy had one of these meetings and eisenhower laid out the stakes of everything happening around the globe. kennedy later wrote how impressed he was at eisenhower's grasp of everything that was happening. because trump is sometimes a disruptor of those norms, i think in this particular instance, he doesn't have a lot of ability to disrupt what president biden is doing because he's still in office. he certainly can encourage his new appointments to work with the people that are currently in power to try and have that smooth transition. his ability to disrupt really came more when he was in

office. when he really either commanded that his subordinates didn't participate or he dissuaded them from doing so. and that did have much more of an obstructionary effect. this time it seems like he's playing nice with the peaceful transition. as they said, this could change in the coming weeks. >> mark, let's talk a little bit about his cabinet as it is taking shape. we got some really interesting news since we spoke yesterday. that is that pete hegseth, yes, a veteran but a fox news host will be picked for defense secretary. he's an interesting choice. he has no government experience. 's lobbied for the exoneration of accused or convicted war criminals. he's spoken out against women in combat. and he's also hocked grenade-shaped soap. >> i' g smoke, it sounds

like american fire power. how about patriot? ne tar bar? there's more of them. >> i don't think i have to be a presidential historian to say that is probably a firstfirst a sec-gov pick. is he seen as a serious pick? >> certainly in trump world he is. he will carry through the american first foreign policy policy. the question is, can he get through the united states senate? there could be some pushback. we haven't seen an overwhelming support of people coming out and saying that he's a great pick from republican senators. yet we may see that in the coming hours, if not the coming days. they were certainly reserved. people were surprised by this pick. where did this guy come out of other than he has been such a fixture on fox and has been such a cheerleader for the trump agenda? >> there is also an unorthodox move with the

appointment of elon musk and vivek ramaswamy to this department of government efficiency. something trump has likened to the manhattan project. they're seeking to cut something like $2 trillion to the federal budget. what do you make of this move? and specifically who he's picking with the richest man in the world. >> reporter: if we put it there historic examples, people recognized for their business skills or the skills they've developed in their own companies might be useful to the presidency. so dwight eisenhower, theodore roosevelt. these are people who did pull on their business contacts. i think there are two key differences. one, they always put those business officials in positions that were confirmed by the senate. and will two, if there were any concerns about a conflict of interest, those individuals were not confirmed. and in fact, usc's

first secretary of the treasury nominee was rejected because he had too many financial ties to existing industry. and this makes sense. under a system of rule of law, we don't want one individual to be the judge, jury, and executioner on their own business, their own fate, their own fortune. so if elon musk is determining which government contracts survive, may guess is he will choose those that go to him and to his businesses. and i think some americans are likely to be uncomfortable with that. perhaps bias in position of authority. >> a lot of questions about potential conflict of interest. appreciate the conversation. we have more breaking news into cnn. senate republicans have just elected john thune as their new majority leader. we'll take you live to capitol hill to get reaction. plus, bucking tradition. melania trump snubbing the washington white house

invite. conspiracy theorist, new reports on who is planning to make a bid.

cincinnati republicans have just elected john thune as their next leader putting the south dakota leader to become senate majority leader next year. the lawmaker secured the win last hour on the second round of voting. he will be in position to greatly impact what donald trump can accomplish in his second term. let take you live to capitol hill with lauren

fox. obviously, this is a big win for thune. >> reporter: yeah. this is a really huge moment for the senator from south dakota who has spent the last several years being the republican whip. that is the number two job under mitch mcconnell in the united states senate republican conference. it is also a big moment because it shows that there is a streak of independent senators in the republican conference who want to have an elected leader who knows the way that the senate works but also hasn't always had the closest or coziest relationship with donald trump. he's done a lot of work over the last several months to repair that relationship. he went down to mar-a-lago in the spring. he also, according to people close to him, has had several conversations with the president in recent months and weeks as he was campaigning and crisscrossing the country, trying to get the republicans elected to take back control of the senate. but there was a time where he called for donald trump to pull out of the race in 2016 after controversial comments. he also said that trump's

plan after he lost to joe biden to contest the election was going to go down like a shot dog, that led donald trump to try and get citizensty noem into the race try to fight him for the senate spot. she, of course, did not go through with it. these two men have not always been close and that will be a big factor in the months ahead. but thune has been telling his colleagues in recent days that he has committed to moving forward with donald trump's agenda. he was instrumental in passing the 2017 tax bill. they are going to have to do a lot of new work on that legislation. many of those proposals will expire at the end of the year. >> a big development on capitol hill. thank you so much. let's turn now to the house side. a big day for congressional republicans. their leadership vote is set for next hour. speaker mike johnson is widely expected to be chosen to continue in the top job.

earlier, they welcomed donald trump back to washington during the closed- door meeting. my next guest was there in the room. he is a member of the house freedom caucus. can you tell us a little about what the president- elect said this morning? >> i think it was very straightforward in regard to, here's what we accomplished. i thought it was mainly a thank you. a thank you to our leadership, a thank you to our conference for the work they did in helping him get elected. and he pointed out a few of the key people in his administration including susie wiles. i think it was primarily just a thank you and let's get together and get some work done for the american people. >> so congressman chip roy, your colleague, had said there would likely be a challenge to the leadership, of course, with republicans officially retaining the house, which they seem very possibly likely going to do here. yet no challenger has emerged over the course of this meeting

today. did trump set that down when he told your conference that he's with johnson all the way? >> i think it was primarily driven by mike johnson bringing back the majority. this is how it works in politics. you attain the majority or you bring back the majority. it's pretty hard to kick out the leader. i've seen it both at the state level and now here in washington, d.c. >> i do want to turn now to a different election. the senate race in your state. you have the republican who has not conceded to senator tammy baldwin. he's claiming irregularities which election officials vehemently reject and the trump campaign does not allege. should he concede? >> reporter: i think it is a 27,000 vote difference. that's tough to make up. i don't know all the facts behind what they are seeing there. i would reserve comment. and i haven't talked to

him about it but i reserve comment to what they are seeing that may be challengeable. it is a big margin to make up. >> so you are on house judiciary on, the house judiciary economy. your chairman has asked special council jack smith, who has been, of course, prosecuting trump in two federal cases to preserve all of his records related to those cases. do you expect that your committee will be calling jack smith to testify? >> i don't know. i would have to consult with chairman jordan about that to see if he does have it in the plans. if it's appropriate, we should. one of the best things that has happened since trump came on the season in 2016, getting transparency for the american people. this should be part of it. let's find out what has happened behind the scenes. now all of a sudden, jack smith has folded up his tent. if you had a good case six months ago, why don't you have a good case now? let's see what is

behind what jack smith was attempting to do? >> you can't prosecute a sitting president. i think that's what it comes down to, right? >> why would he go after the leading presidential candidate then? i think he had a dubious case -- >> it was a tight race. >> it was politically driven and now he's gone. let's have full transparency. regardless of who it is, brian na. >> what would you ask him? >> what would i ask jack? the first thing you do is what chairman jordan is doing. let's see the full information that is out there. turn over your emails, preserve your records. let us review them. and then we will develop the questions from there. and brianna, if he has nothing to hide, if he has

nothing to hide, he should just produce all of it. >> he's certainly been told to do that by your chairman. we'll be awaiting to see what does happen. the government is set to shut down december 20th again. it does seem like this happens quite a bit, sir. should speaker johnson try to fund the government through september of next year or get the whole of 2025 taken care of, which of course, would require working with democrats in this congress. >> it is a process that has not been working very well. it is omnibus bills and continuing resolutions. i'm not a big fan of continuing resolutions but i think you push it off into the new year. i don't know if you go as far as september but you push it off into the new year. the people spoke on november 5th. >> so if not until september, until when, do you think? >> i don't know what the magic date is. maybe march or april or something like that. let us produce a budget early

in 2025 and put that in place. >> congressman tom tiffany, thank you for taking the time for us. we do appreciate it. >> thank you. and coming up, it's a move that stunned washington. we're going to talk about how president- elect trump's choice for secretary of defense could shake up the military if confirmed. and the serious concerns about what trump's pick has said in the past.

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cnn is getting new reaction from former and senior military commanders after president- elect trump made his pick. >> an army veteran has railed against what he describes as, quote, woke, critical race theory, dei things, gender stuff in the u.s. military. here is hegseth on a podcast just last week. >> i'm straight up saying we should not have women in combat roles. it hasn't made us more effective. it hasn't made us more lethal. it has made fighting more complicated. we've all served with women and they're great. our institutions don't have to incentivize that in places where traditionally, not traditionally, over human history, men in those positions are more capable. >> cnn national analyst, you mention that had your phone was ringing.

>> let's be clear. none of this is clear about pete hegseth. many i've spoken with had perfectly fine relationships with him. it goes to experience, lack of experience in their view, but also his positions on key issues. one retired four- star general said there's no serious experience in the business of running the pentagon. the common denominator is clearly loyalty. while some loyalty is essential, e e ish fealty is dangerous. others we've seen in the national security sphere so far as we've heard from the president. some of the reactions were more colorful. i heard ridiculous from one serving high- ranking officer. an f- ing nightmare from another who served. it speaks to experience but also, world view. their concern is that hegseth is, and he's been quite a

proponent of america first. the american first agenda, trump. he will push the president or be part of the president's effort to, for instance, end aid to ukraine, not defend taiwan potentially from a chinese invasion. they see him carrying out this agenda going forward. >> there is also a culture war involving the military and pete hegseth has been quite a mouthpiece when it comes to that. the idea the military is woke. >> you heard the comment about women who served in combat. i've seen them serve in combat. they do very well. by the way, there are female military veterans in the senate who will be asked to confirm his nomination. i imagine they have strong opinions about it. there is among you, some on the right, that there is awoke problem in the military and this is leading to a recruiting shortfall. the fact is, when i speak to commanders in the pentagon, they

will cite that as a factor. the appeal of military service today declining. health issues in terms of finding enough people who meet the fitness requirements. and just people making different choices. the idea that you'll solve that problem by ending woke is just not one that is supported by the evidence. when i speak to commanders involved in that very effort. >> thank you for reporting. obviously, a confirmation process to watchful we're also watching capitol hill closely. we're anticipating newly elected senator leader john thune will be speaking to reporters. this come after a presngn which he was elected by republican senators. we'll keep a close eye on that podium. >> there have been many times where john thoonl has stood right there in the ohio clock corridor on the senate side of the capitol behind mitch mcconnell. it will be a different scene as he ascends to that role.

and it will be something to see exactly how this is going to signify maybe a different kind of relations between the senate and president- elect trump. we'll see in a moment when he speaks. we'll bring that to you. let's listen to senator john thune. >> thank you all for being here. it's a new day in the united states senate and a new day in america. the american people have loudly rejected the failed policies of the biden-harris- schumer agenda. this republican team is united. we are on one team. we are excited to reclaim the majority and to get to work

with our colleagues in the house to enact president trump's agenda. we have a mandate from the american people. not only to clean up the mess left by the biden-harris- schumer agenda but also to deliver on president trump's priorities. we will make sure that the president and his team have the tools and support that they need to enforce border security laws and to remove the violent criminals who are wreaking havoc in every one of our states. we will work to make america prosperous again by streamlining the bureaucratic machine and overturning costly biden- harris regulations. and we will work to restore american energy dominance. not just our energy security but energy dominance. which will lower costs and bolster our national security. i'm excited to get to work with this team right away. and i want to thank my colleagues who place their faith in me to serve as

leader and to those who are supporting another candidate. i promise to be a leader who serves the entire republican conference. we'll have an ambitious agenda and will take each and every republican working together to be successful. i want to turn things over to senator john barrasso, the newly elected republican whip. >> on election night, america saw the re- making of the republican party for the better. this election was about answering the question of, are you better off now than you were four years ago? the american people said no. only one in four americans thought that the country was heading in the right direction. and you've seen the republican party grow in terms of hard-working middle class families, in terms of minorities, in terms of young people, in terms of families struggling to get by. the last three weeks before the

election, i was all over the country with president trump, j.d. vance, as well as a number of our senate candidates. one of the stories that stuck with me was a woman in michigan who talked about the fact that he was. she was embarrassed to let her husband know that she had to go to the local food bank in order to get by. republicans listened to those stories. democrats were focused on president trump. republicans were focused on the needs of the american people. people who wanted to get prices down. wanted to secure the border. wanted us to unleash american energy. people wanted to make america look and be strong once again around the world. that's what the republicans listened to. that's what we responded to. and we are now working together to make sure we can put america back on track. >> the newly elected republican conference chair is the

senator from arkansas, senator tom cotton. >> thank you, senator thune. i'm looking forward to working with senator thune. i'm very grateful for the confidence my peers placed in me. we all remember what it was like when president trump was in office and we had republicans in charming of the senate. we had low prices. we had high wages. we had a secure border, a strong military, we had a peaceful stable world. starting on january 3rd , that's what we'll all be working to go build again with president trump, with mike johnson and the rest of the house republicans on behalf of the american people. thank you all. >> the newly elected elected policy chair, the senator from west virginia. >> thank you. and congratulations to our new leader, john thune. he will be a strong voice as he has been in the past as the whip and i look forward to serving with him and with all of our leadership team. i want to thank the others that ran. we had a really strong,

healthy discussion. and we've all come out united and friends. and one of the people that was in our discussion is one of the people that is going to, although he didn't say anything, his presence was very much felt. that is the vice president elect j.d. vance. i think that not only was he a voting member of our conference but also in there with us every step of the way to make sure that the direction that we're going to go as a united conference and with me leading the policy issues, and all of us working together, that we'll have a united voice. and i'll say one thing about the election. i've said this on all my local stations. what i think the biggest issue was, national security and others, the american family, the mom, the dad, whoever it is, going to the grocery store. we do it all the time every week. and we could see, all of us could see the escalating

costs of something so very basic to us. just the cost of food and hearing from the vice president in her campaign, the economy is doing great. don't worry. so we hear those voices. we hear them loud and clear. those are the voices we'll respond to along with president trump through the next several years. >> the newly elected senate republican conference vice chair, the senator from oklahoma. >> congratulations to john thune. we're looking forward to his great leadership there. republicans were asked a very simple thing. can you get us back on track? over 70% of the country right now believes the country is on the wrong track. our task is very, very simple. to defend our values, to be able to strengthen us as a nation and to bring prosperity to people who are really struggling right now. that's a primary issue for us. and all of those are things we'll get on to immediately.

the american people have spoken and said we do not like the direction that the country is going. so let's get us book a better direction. this leadership team, president trump, j.d. vance, we're headed in a direction to be able to get the country back on the track that she is looking for. >> and the newly elected chairman of the senate nationalnational senatorial committee chair is the senator from south carolina, and he is already planning on expanding our majority in 2026. so senator tim scott. >> without question, president trump set out to make sure that americans felt like this country and the american dream was alive and well and there for them. from the border to fixing the economy, to solving the issue of crime and restoring confidence on the global stage, president trump has been very clear on his agenda. our goal with our leadership john thune is to make sure

that we achieve those objectives. my passion is making sure that we defend our current seats and expand the map and expand our majority so that president trump does not have two years with a republican majority in the senate. he has four years in control of making sure that america's agenda comes home to each and every household. >> do you have any concerns about president trump's cabinet picks so far and what advice would you give him when it comes to choosing nominees who will pass confirmation? >> well, as you know, the senate has an advise and consent role in the constitution. we'll do everything we can to process them quickly. get them installed so they can have their agenda. [ inaudible question ]

>> what we're going to do is make sure that we are processing his nominees in a way that gets them into those positions so they can implement his agenda. how that happens remains to be seen. we want to make sure our committees have confirmation hearings like they typically do. that these nominees reported off the floor. i said this and i mean it, we expect a level of cooperation from the democrats to work with us to get these folks install. and obviously, we'll look at, explore all options to make sure that they get moved quickly. yes. >> how do you intend to balance maintaining the independence of the senate with passing the president-elect's agenda? >> the senate, as you know, is a, by the founder's design, a place where the minority has a voice in our process. and we will do the job that the

founders intended us to do in the united states senate and the american people intend us to do. and right now after this mandate election coming out of the american people to work with this president on an agenda that unwinds a lot of the damage of the biden-harris- schumer agenda and puts in place new policy that's will move our country forward in a different direction. >> we've been listening to the new leadership team for the republican majority, the 119th congress there. we just heard the newly elected senate majority leader john thune, the senator from south dakota, talking about a new day in america saying the republican team is united. we are one team. he repeated his aspiration to pursue president trump's agenda saying we will deliver on donald trump's priorities. this comes as there was some resistance to thune as leader and even a potential rival in

john cornyn as leader of maga allies including elon musk and others who came out in supportsupport rick scott in his quest that ultimately failed to become senate majority leader. really, a fascinating set of questions there regarding cabinet picks. his response was, there was a lot to read into. >> there was. he was asked if he had any concerns about cabinet picks. i suppose it's not surprising that he didn't go off on a litany of complaints. there are republicans who may have some concerns. he said they have an advise and consent rule but he quickly made it clear that they'll do everything they can to process them quickly. so maybe consent more than advise. let's bring in manu raju. he was there at this press conference. he said that they expected cooperation from democrats. they don't actually need it by the numbers.

it is hard to see on some of these picks, that they're going to get it. >> reporter: yeah, that's right. they could have up to 53 seats in the senate, assuming pennsylvania goes their way. that means on any nomination cabinet pick, any down the line, he could get 50 votes. he could lose up to three. for the most part, we expect that to happen on. some occasions, that will be an issue. the question will be what donald trump actually meant in terms of going forward on recess appointments. that's something that he could do if the senate goes into an extended recess. essentially, bypass the entire process. he does believe it plays an advise and consent role even though he agrees what donald trump said earlier this week. that he wants the next senate majority leader to push ahead and allow him to install those appointments. another thing he said here is that he would support the

legislative filibuster will remain intact. he will be saying this all along but this is why it is significant. in order to avoid that, he needs 60 votes. he needs seven democrats to overcome any filibuster. he tried to do away with the legislative filibuster. mcconnell said no tom. and thune is saying no as well which means democrats will be needed to pass the bulk of the trump agenda. >> we have to step away from capitol hill for a moment. we want to go to a press conference. let's listen. >> the disaster fundamental funding the president requested. finally, the president reiterated what he said to the president-elect the day after the election and to the american people in the rose

garden just last week. we will have an orderly transition and a peaceful transition of power. with that, as you can see, i have the national security adviser with me, jake sullivan, who will preview apec and g-20. the president will be leaving tomorrow, as you all know. the floor is yours. >> thank you. hay, everybody. i'm going to make some brief comments about the president's trip that he leaves on tomorrow. i'll answer a few questions. i know the issue you are most interested in is hearing from her about the meeting. i will not dally too long up here. i think it is important to lay out the president's trip over the next several days. tomorrow he travels to south america. his first stop will be peru for the apex summit. then he'll go on to brazil for the first ever presidential trip to the amazon and then to the g- 20 --

>> so we heard her talking about this, that this was about thethe transition of power. it was not a whole lot was said. a few comments between trump and biden. it was really just about the fact that it was happening. that's why the biden administration did this. >> yeah. few words but obviously, enormous significance. they were both in the room after a fraught campaign and a lot said between the two. we'll keep an eye on the white house press briefing and hear what else may have been said about the meeting, if any further details come out. we'll take a quick break and be right back.

. in just a few hours we maye learn the future of the info wars. it has been liquidated day ordered by the u.s. bankruptciy court to help alex jones pay off the more than $1 billion he owes to the families of the sandy hook shooting victims. >> because jones was found guilty of defamation after he repeatedly called that massacre a hoax. one person said it is in the seven figure bid. others may want to buy it to shutter it, to shut it all down. what are you learning? >> reporter: well, everything is up for sale. everything from the studio, the microphones, the website, even an armored truck and a winnebago could be up for sale in this auction today. it is to help pay off more than

$1 billion that alex jones owes the families of the victims of the sandy hook massacre in 2012. in terms of who is bidding for this, it is all technically secretive because all the bidders were supposed to sign nondisclosure agreements and put down 10% of their initial bid. according to sources i've been talking torsion it is a mix of allies of alex jones who want to keep info wars going as it is and people who might have other ideas what tad with it. one of those has put in a seven- figure bid. you see the picture of roger stone. i don't know if he's the one that put in that seven- figure bid but he is one of the parties that i've been told has expressed bidding. you all see other organizations that would likely not to keep info wars going as it is. the onion, a satirical news site, as well as media matters, the left- leaning mead watch dog group. we are waiting to hear the outcome of this. it could come in the next

few hours or tomorrow. the court appointee does have some discretion as to who will win. alex jones said he will continue broadcasting even if that means a different platform. >> the winnebago up for grabs. thank you. so for the update. still ahead, senate republicans deciding who will lead their party. a decision with major implications for president-elect trump. we just heard from senator john thune.