i can imagine what jennifer palmeri felt. >> they've been civil. and it's not like they've been friendly. this forum always takes place about three weeks after the election, when fumes are still pretty high. but the clinton people thought they were going to win. for them, they've had three weeks and they've not yet come to terms with it. >> and i think that's it. howard, it was too soon for an election which happened too quickly, the results came too quick for everybody. nobody knew what was going to happen. the trump people didn't know. nobody knew this was going to go the way it did. >> part of it is the shock of that defeat, as you say, that the clinton people haven't come to terms with. i've been going to these things since 1984. >> and for their students. >> they're for history as well as the students. they're to lay down the first draft of history from the sources. and i was there when the whole lee atwater controversy, the campaign of '88, that was raw. and yet people -- i moderated that panel. yet the situation was civil. because there was

emotions remain raw, this shouting match between top clnd aide jennifer palmery and trump campaign manager kellyanne conway during a post election forum last night. >> i would rather lose than win the way you guys did. >> no, you wouldn't. >> as for trump's call to the taiwanese official, the white house was not told about that call until after it happened. also late this evening, president george w. bush's press secretary is warning, quote, china will go nuts. lester? >> peter alexander in washington, thank you. >>> more now on that surprise announcement from the president-elect at his rally last night. james mattis is his pick for secretary of defense. and now a battle is brewing over law that bars him from running the pentagon. >> reporter: for president-elect trump, a sneak announcement. >> we are going to appoint "mad dog" mattis as our secretary of defense. >> reporter: 41 years as a marine, retired general james mattis served tours in iraq and afghanistan, earning four stars and a reputation for blunt talk. winding the adoration of his marines with battlefield bravado polite, be pro

it got ugly fast, with hillary clinton's campaigns director of communications jennifer palmeri accusingng a belief of white supremacists. >> the platform that they gave to white supremacists, white nationalists, and i think as his presidency goes forward i'll be glad to have been part of the -- >> you think i ran a campaign where a white supremacist had a platform? >> kellyanne conway insisted that wasn't true. then turned up the heat. >> do you think you could have had a decent message for the white working class voters? you think this woman who has nothing in common with -- how about hillary clinton. she doesn't connect with people. how about they have nothing in common with her. >> listen to mandy grunwald weigh in. >> i don't think you give yourself enough credit for the negative cam rain you ran. >> reporter: she accused trump's aides of turning out fake news stories about clinton. >> there is a world that many people were watching where hillary clinton was dying for months of parkinson's, just got days to live. she's going to jail. she's going to jail any minute now. >> reporter:

this biting exchange between trump campaign manager kellyann conway and jennifer palmeri. >> if providinglatform for white supremacists makes me a brilliant tactician, i'm glad to have lost. give me a minute, david. when i am more proud of hillary clinton's all right speech than any other moment on the campaign. she had the courage to stand up -- i would rather lose than win the way you guys did. >> you didn't look me in the face -- >> you did. >> wait. >> do you think you could have -- >> you guys are -- >> the white working class voters. >> we're going to have our dollop of campaign reflections from joel at that event in cambridge and will be with us in just a moment. not seeming to grasp how their candidate came up short. from what you heard at harvard, a scale from one to godzilla, yeah, there he is, a scale of one to godzilla, how much is the hillary clinton campaign still in denial. >> you would say it would be close to godzilla. but in fact it's a three. they don't want to blame each other publicly. behind the scenes, though, there's a much greater recognition of the things that we

. >> culminating between clinton campaign communications director jennifer palmery and kellyanne conway. >> do you think i ran a campaign where white supremacists had --? slammed by clinton herself as a platform for white nationalists, >> donald trump has built his campaign on prejudice and paranoia. >> i am more proud of hillary clinton's alt-right speech than any other moment on the campaign because she had the courage to stand up. >> reporter: conway accusing the clinton campaign of not having a message. >> do you think you could have a decent message for the working people. >> let's also be honest. don't act as if you have a popular mandate for your message. >> conway shot back. guys, i can tell you're angry, but wow! #he's your president. >> the media were pro-clinton. the clinton team complaining far >> why didn't we look into his bankruptcies? >> in a biting final comment, longtime clinton strategist maddie greenwald sarcastically said the trump team doesn't get nearly high credit for having a gative campaign with fake news with clinton as ill. >> how unusual is it not only for i