. >> dickerson: max stier, thank you for that description. >> dickerson: that's it for us nation." i'm john dickerson. >> they may be the greatest american sports team of a generation, so why aren't theyp? he from starsf u.s. women's soccer. ? ? man (sighs): oh, my god. (rhythmic pounding) i can't believe it. (woman sighs) (pounding continues) (man sighs) our wakeup call is not for another two hours. how about we...? yeah, that we should have gone to mount rushmore. (pounding continues) (sighs) do something. (knocking) hey!

. >> dickerson: we're joined now by max stier, an expert in presidential transitions. max, i want to start, give us a sense of the scope of a transition. >> transitions are huge when you think about this. it's the largest, most important takeover of any organization, not just on the planet, but in history. you have a four trillion dollar organization, four million people when you count the military, you have 4,000 political appointees, and i might add, that's a vestige of the spoil system, so talk about drain the swamp, another conversation. it's an 1,100 of those 4,000 have to go through the senate confirmation process. you have to put together a budget. you have to deal with not only all the things that are coming at you, but things you cannot expect, the asteroids that inevitably take place in a world as dangerous as this one. >> dickerson: so that's why both campaigns, although now it only matters that the trump campaign started their transition work a while ago, but if they started months ago, how much of this work can be done ahead of time in >> well, you're exact

host: we are talking with max stier.f you have questions about the transition process, democrats call 202-748-8000. republicans called 202-748-8001. .ndependents, 202-748-8002 lines are open and you can start calling in now. the amountsk about of turnover we saw at the beginning of the transition process, and whether that is normal? the atlantic magazine had this to say about the early days of the trunk transition -- is this normal? guest: there is no normal in transition planning. in bar is low given the fact that no prior president has actually done this the way that it needs to be done today. i should've started with this point, which is transition is not just about taking over a is the organization, but point of maximum vulnerability from our country. it has to be concerned. the pre-election planning that the trump team did was very strong. it creates a new issue. you have to then merger pre-election transition operations with a campaign operation. messyscribed a pretty example of that. we are in the early days of th

host: we are talking with max stier. if you have questions about the process, the phone number for democrats is (202) 748-8000. republicans, (202) 748-8001. .ndependence, (202) 748-8002 you can begin calling it now. i want to talk to you about the beginning of the turnover we have seen at this process and whether that is normal? the atlantic magazine had this to say about the early days of the trump transition -- from the outside it looked like a mess. a new president elect replace the man who had been running his transition efforts, with the soon to be vice president. other departures quickly followed in what was described as a poor job people close to chris christie. is this normal? guest: there is no normal and the bar is pretty low, given the fact that no president has done this the way it needs to be done today. and i should have started with this point. transition is not only about taking over a complex organization but transition is the point of maximum vulnerability for our nation. so the pre-election planning th

then max stier talks about the presidential transfer. -- later aook of look at the relationship of u.snato forces. ♪ host: good morning, it's monday, november 28, 2016. the house and senate return this week to continue their work in the lame-duck session with another government funding eadline looming on december 9. the trump transition process continues with more efforts this week. we'll talk about all that on today's "washington journal." but we begin today with president-elect dromp's promise to drain the swamp in washington. the slogan became a staple of his campaign trail stump speeches. and the pre

then max stier talks about the presidential transition process ahead of inauguration day. after that, a look at the future of u.s. nato relations with secretary general anders fogh rasmussen. we'll take your phone calls, tweetses and facebook comments. washington journal is live every day at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. >> we're asking students to participate in the documentary community by telling us what is the most urgent issue for donald trump and issues that congress mustards in 2017. it's for grade six through 12. students can work alone or in a group of up to three to produce a five-minute documentary on the issues selected. a grand prize will go to the tudent or team with the best overall entry will be $5,000. prizes. in cash for more information about the competition go to our website, studentcam.orling. -- studentcam.org. >> tomorrow michigan is experted to certify the votes showing that donald trump won the state by about 10,000 votes. jill stinal can request a recount there. she has raised $5 million to cover the cost of recount. and filed a recount request in

that government govnm employees are wondering what happens with them.happs wi >> joining us now max stier appr expert in presidentialnt transitions as well as the founding president and ceo ofeoo service. we're so happy you're with ussoy this morning.ou're >> good morning and thank youd o for being herrne. here. a long long night and earlyar morning. >> yes. before we get to what the president-elect needs to do, t what goes on behind the scenes?e what does the american publicnli not see?not see? >> it's a great question.io. everyone focused on the horsen race but the reality thehe presidency is not a trophy it'si an awesome responsibility.it. and what has been happeningpenig already are both teams, botheam trump and clinton teams, weree actively involved in transitiono planning mni together teams to figure outureo what would happen if theirf ther candidate won.ate how would they get 4,000 political appoint tease place, thou find the righte, people, t make sure they're well prepared and thou make sure thet policy promise that is weres w being made on the campaign trait could be turned into

. >> host: presidential transitions with max stier is taking your call. (202)748-8000. independents (202)748-8002. we will start in chattanooga, tennessee. james is a democrat. i go ahead. >> caller: yes, i was wondering if the gentleman, how he learned to be bipartisan if he would be just as willing to work with a clinton administration if the need should arise. >> guest: i love the question. thank you for asking that. i learned through experience and like many people in washington,a i've been in the partisan world and boy do i prefer the nonpartisan staff. what we do at the partnership is president-elect trump is the pilot and our airplane. we'll have to hope he succeeds as our pilot or we shall have a common interest making sure our country succeeds in there for our is as effective as possible. the answer to your question is absolutely i would be happy to help whoever is president elect. we have been helping going back pre-election both sides and even before that we were up one point hoping five different campaign to make sure they would be ready if in fact they got