Secretary sean spicer. Incoming White House Press secretary sean spicer, how are you preparing to take on this job . It is an ongoing process, we have been doing it at 10 30 every day, hiding behind a phone when you do it but part of it is getting used to the battle of taking questions, rapidfire, wide range that exists in practice sessions, something my predecessors suggested, sitting down at a podium, lets pretend reporters ask you real questions to understand what is about to come your way on a daily basis but making sure you look at some hot button issues, sit down with key players who will play key roles in the administration and get a better understanding of the issues and getting used to taking the incoming questions the way they do at the podium. Josh ernest, White House Press secretary. Any advice, anything you touring the office in the Briefing Room and the west wing. The communications director, unbelievably generous with their time and counsel. They share with me the challenges they face and the ideas they have and a lot of it is me asking questions about procedurally what they have found works better in terms of timing, preparation, things like that. It has been eight years since i have been in the white house and so it was an opportunity to reacquaint myself with the size and scope of the office, how many people sit in the different areas that deal with the press. That was helpful as far as planning but i would say beyond josh and jen, dana perino, robert gibbs, Marlon Fitzwater going back, everyone who has held this job has reached out and offer their advice or counsel it is a humbling experience when you realize they are in a club of 30. Host the biggest change from eight years ago social media, twitter, instagram, facebook. How does that add to the challenge for you trying to communicate . It is an opportunity, not a challenge. When the Bush Administration left in 2009, there was no press say, no instagram. We going with the government assets that exist, Donald Trumps twitter handle, facebook and instagram, 50 Million People following, 19 million alone on twitter, that is powerful tool, that is why i said it is an opportunity. When you realize it is one thing to tweet the power and movement he represents, a tool no one has had before to reach people in such a unique way. Host you know how close the quarters are. How is that going to affect your interaction with staffers . Here at trump tower it is a closeknit group. We work sidebyside with each other. That atmosphere will continue in the west wing. Host you grew up in rhode island. Do you remember when you first got interested in politics . Yes. My senior year in, phenomenal guy, really inspired not just me but a lot of student who do important things to get involved and understand the awesomeness of politics, the back and forth of ideas, campaigning. I toiled in college putting up signs in my sophomore year, i started taking classes and getting involved on the congressional time, my junior year i volunteered at the state legislature so that kind of four or five years i got into politics, by getting out in the field. Host back to the High School Teacher what was it about him . It is not the material. It is the passion they have for it. The ability to share that and inspire people and motivate you. Different people have different rings, some have a particular language. In this particular case i really enjoyed the way he presented politics, campaigning, back and forth, crafting and drafting and implementing a message was something that appealed to me. That is how you got involved, why Republican Party politics . Guest great question especially in a state like rhode island that is done very well, some great mayors, good governors and success at the federal level. Part of it was my father had a very strong business sentence, talking about regulatory aspects of taxes and how they affect the ability to do business. They instituted the luxury tax, vote building a crucial to rhode island, manufacturing, they passed the luxury tax aimed to raise money and all the Little People sold them, moved votes, lost their jobs and left rhode island and moved and we used to be a destination for both buildings and boat manufacturing and that went away, those buying used boats or moving them in places, watching things like that happen on an economic front and how it affects job creation got the going and obviously from a social perspective i grew up believing in a prolife profamily agenda and the Republican Party, conservative values fit my personality. Brothers . Sisters . Guest one of each, both younger. Host what do they think of what their brother is doing . Guest they are very proud of me and what i have done and where i am going to work. Sometimes they disagree on a particular issue or something i said or something in the republican platform, they are less politically driven but both very proud of the work i have done and where i endeded up. Most dinners an end up with some kind of political discussion or issue discussion. Host let me ask about your experience on capitol hill, you work for the House Budget Committee, how will you apply that to the white house job . Guest i work in the senate and the house, close to 11 members of congress but i think understanding two things, the issues, whether the House Budget Committee or senate works committee, house government reform committee, rank and file, two things are important. What is the issue in front of us, the understanding that i now have because of the opportunities afforded me there but also the way it works. One thing that is important about washington is understanding how an agenda is driven and how it is implemented successfully so knowing the Committee Process of the leadership, rank and file and how they operate helps drive a successful agenda the president elect is moving forward. You went to the Naval War College to study what . Strategic studies . The navys version, each going back and understanding various wars and capabilities there is multiple components to getting a masters degree. Host why did you pursue that . Guest im a naval reservist, strongly encouraged, a great opportunity to learn Naval War College, phenomenal institution, really amazing professors. The material is phenomenal and allowed me to grow intellectually through studying various aspects and the military and strategic thinking. Part of the job of press secretary is the process, comprehend and compartmentalize different issues and figure out how to communicate that to the public. It is the same way i have done it before. I have been doing it for a couple decades and part of this is figuring out how to take a complex issue and synthesize it down to an effective narrative and what are those selling points the drive the issue or policy, whether it is the American People are the vote for in congress. Host you will be White House Communications director. How do you divide the line . Guest if you look at how the white house is set up they did a pretty good model. We will have a similar situation. The Communications Team focuses on the logistics, the planning, where is the message going or the events or the pieces that go into driving a successful narrative and message . The incoming inquiries, regional specialty or National Media and we have a Phenomenal Team of people in the communication side and the press side that will help assure whether it is day today questions or longterm communications planning. Host you talked about this in the university of chicago but where is your head in structuring all this and what if any changes you want to implement . Guest a lot of great individuals are part of the White House Communications team. We talk to people about being part of the department and various agencies and being key leaders, dealing with the press, what i have done is to what the president elect has challenged everybody offering an appointment or a position in the white house or different secretaries which is to go out and see if we can deliver a better product more effectively to the American People but looking at the process of talking to reporters or my predecessors or stakeholders or individuals and asking them what we can do better, how do we effectively communicate a message and bring more people into the process so it is not the Mainstream Media with a lock on it, how do we bring in bloggers and talk radio and people who havent felt as welcome or cant afford to have time in the Briefing Room seven days a week . What we are trying to do is bring more voices, more people into the process. Host you are the father of two. How do your kids feel about their dad . Guest they are excited, not in tune with what is happening but they are excited, they were in new york a couple weeks ago. They see donald trump on the air all the time and call it out. They are a little young to fully comprehend it but they are excited for their dad. My wife is the only reason i can do this job, she has been so supportive. Host what is the biggest challenge . Donald trump is tweeting early in the morning, a plate at night. Keeping up with him is the biggest challenge. Guest he doesnt stop. He is so driven by making this country better and helping unite the country, create jobs, spur Economic Growth and he doesnt stop. He keeps going and the country is going to benefit from his energy, his enthusiasm and ideas. Host how did you meet your wife . Guest she was a member of the media. She used to work at the agency station in washington, we have a mutual friend, we thought we would connect and she was right. We went out to an event outside washington one saturday and hit it off. Host she understands the challenge. Guest she worked in the Bush White House so she understands. Being in television you understand her background moving station to station and the news cycle and the experience at the white house she understands that but more importantly she understands the opportunity for me, so excited and thrilled and every day it is unbelievably supportive. No matter who you talk to. And it is great to have amazing infrastructure to allow me to do this. Host what did you do in the Bush White House . Trade representative, media, public affairs. Host went you first meet brians priebus . Guest a week after he got elected. I was asked by some individuals who were helping him transition to are in c state chairman after his election to the chairmanship and asked if i would sit down with him, if i had an interest. I said i would. We hit it off day one in the interview. You want to talk about somebody else who worked nonstop . Between rights priebus and donald trump they wear you out. Going 100 miles an hour, 23 hours a day. Host how will he structure the white house . How will he control the flow of information . Guest he has been the most effective are in seat chairman i would argue throughout history. He understands, talk about running an organization with thousands of people, making sure they get paid and raise money and everything gets done. Understanding various priorities, balancing the campaigns. This is what he has been doing, setting priorities, getting things done and despite anyones political background or philosophy, you give credit for the way he ran the office. He founded in huge debt, put a plan together and got the money raised and implemented the best ground game operation any party has ever seen. He is focused, committed and hardworking. Host most people predicted Hillary Clinton was owing to win. Was there a moment for you that you said donald trump is going to beat her . Guest Election Night. Host not before that . Guest after 2012 when we thought we were going to wait and lost, you recoil i dont want to get ahead. You want to keep working. I knew there was a path to win. You saw the rallies and you wanted it so bad but it is like a fear you dont want to expose yourself after you tried and not made it in 2012 but on Election Night you saw the counties turning, had gone for obama one after another, michigan and pennsylvania, virginia, places obama carried 53 , 54 going trump you knew it was real and it would be big. Host what was it like in new york for you . Guest there is no way to describe it except surreal. Host you are standing in a room with the next president and Vice President watching them learn they have become the next president and Vice President with their families in an intimate setting, Campaign Staff were around but very small, core group and watch that moment happened, something few people in history can say they did. Host did you think he was going to win . Guest yes. Absolutely. Donald trump doesnt do things he doesnt think he can be successful in. That is not who he is. He makes a business deal, get on the phone and negotiate something, runs for president of the United States and he does it with 100 focus on when. He does nothing short of that. When he talks about bringing jobs or creating Economic Growth, driving costs down he will make it happen, he gets the job done. Host what kind of president do you think he will be . Guest effective. Look at what he did with carrier, lockheed, boeing, picked up the phone, made sure carrier got a deal struck that would talk about the excessive costs up 35 and the next generation of air force one, working directly with the ceo, got costs done. He picked up the phone, does what it takes to get things done and you saw that with the sprint deal, implementable laid out a philosophy that a lot of job creators are saying i want to grow more jobs, bring those jobs back, manufacture more, inspired a lot of people from around the globe to be part of this american renewal. Host there are a lot of critics, a lot of conventional wisdom. Do you Pay Attention to it . Guest yes. You have to understand what people are thinking. It helps guide you. Sometimes you can tweak a message or action because maybe you havent appreciated what everyone else is hearing. If you shut off the voices to the right, the left, down the middle you cant be as effective. To the president elect, you have seen in various meetings he had with individuals, he met with people adamantly opposed, but he wants the best and brightest people around him, he wantss ideas, opinions to move the country forward. Host Hillary Clinton said she wishes him best and he will be a successful president for as she emphasized allamericans. How does he do that . Guest he can demonstrated it through that, not just his work. On Election Night we talked about wanting to unite the country for those who voted for him and those who didnt. And he continues to show that he will fight for this country, fight for jobs, fight to unite the country and make us proud of his job as president , proud to be americans, not that we arent already but he wantss to inquire, equal to do what they can to make it better. Other people are joining this have unbelievably successful, stepping aside from a successful career or business because they want to be part of this movement and making the country greater. Host have you had a chance to talk to your High School Teacher, your mentor . Guest i have quite often. Host what has he told you . What have you told him . Guest it is important to see what got you where you are. , i think this was really good and offers ideas and suggestions, but more importantly offers prayers and supports. When you are not politics and not working, what you like to do. When is that . I dont when that is. We have two young kids and i like to spend as much time with them and my wife. Most the time its picking up things and cleaning up things but trying to pitch in and support my wife. Time with the kids is the most crucial piece of this. Finally we are coming from trump tower and this backdrop is iconic. What do you think the first 100 days will look like. He is going to hit the ground running. I think the first hundred hours, in terms of the first afternoon, being sworn sworn in at 1201, once he gets back to the white house and settle into the oval office, it will be guns are blazoned right out of the gate. He wants to continue to fulfill that pledge that change is coming on day one. I think you will see a series of actions on day one to show the American People that times have changed, business as usual is over and changes here. For you, excited, excited, nervous a little of both. A little of both, a lot of both. Its humbling and it truly is an honor when you think what an opportunity this is to represent the American People. I grew up in a small state and a small town. The idea that you have a position like this is something i could have never dreamed of. Its an awesome responsibility. It is exciting, but there is a little bit of nervousness