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Transcripts For CNNW CNN Newsroom With Carol Costello 20170119

good morning and thank you very much so much for joining me from wad. beautiful city. i'm carol costello. the president-elect leaves new york on a military jet bound for washington. he's among hundreds of thousands streaming into the capitol for tomorrow's inauguration, some to celebrate, others to protest. minutes from now, sean spicer will deliver his first on camera briefing. we'll bring it to you live. also this hour, another round of hearings, first up former texas governor rick perry, trump's pick to lead the energy department. and then steve mnuchin, the nominee for secretary of treasury. the wall street veteran will be grilled over his personal dealings and the fiscal policies of a trump white house. cnn's sunlen serfaty is on capitol hill, but let's begin with jason carroll outside trump tower in new york. good morning, jason. >> reporter: good morning, carol. the prerkt will be heading your way very soon. he has a packed day ahead of him with three inaugural events starting about 2:45 where he'll attend a wreath laying ceremony at arlington national cemetery. at 4:00, he'll be attending a make america great again concert, expected to make some remarks there. at 7:30 tonight, he'll be attending a candlelight dinner. that's going to be at union station. looking forward, once trump does take office and is sworn in, one of their first orders of duty will be to begin repealing and, as mike pence says, replacing obamacare. >> i think you can expect a president donald trump will hit the ground running. in the first week, putting executive orders into place, repealing some executive orders and continue to work very energetically with the congress to repeal and replace obamacare. >> reporter: we've heard him say repeal and replace many, many times before. we've heard the president-elect say it many times in the past. what's unclear, carol, is specifically what they intend to replace it with. although mike pence says they will be coming up with that plan very soon. looking ahead to the president-elect's inaugural speech, it will touch on a few different themes, first creating jobs, also defeating terrorism and touching on america's shared values. carol? >> all right, jason carroll reporting live from trump tower in new york city, thanks so much. in minutes the hearings continue on capitol hill. more of donald trump's cabinet picks facing a grilling from lawmakers. first up, as i said, energy secretary nominee rick perry. that will happen in about 20 minutes. then trump's treasury pick steve mnuchin is on the hot seat at 10:00 a.m. sunlen serfaty is following this for us from are capitol hill. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. another big day on capitol hill for the incoming trump administration, this after four key confirmation hearings yesterday where we saw trump's pick for health and human services secretary tom price questioned over these allegations of insider trading, his investments and clearly his intentions put on the spot by senator elizabeth warren. >> did you buy the stock and then did you introduce a bill that would be helpful to the companies you just bought stock in? >> the stock was bought by a broker who was making that decisions. i knew nothing about those. >> you couldn't have a diversified portfolio while staying clear of the six companies directly affected by your work on that issue? >> as i said, i didn't have any knowledge of those purchases. >> reporter: in another hearing trump's pick to head the epa scott pruitt was grilled on his views on climate change breaking with future boss donald trump saying he doesn't believe that climate change is a hoax. >> why is the claim mat changing? >> senator, in response to the co2 issue, the epa administrator is constrained by statutes -- >> i'm asking you a personal opinion. >> my personal opinion is immaterial. >> really? >> to the job of -- >> you are going to be the head of the agency to protect the environment and your personal feelings ability whether climate change is caused by human activity and carbon emissions is immaterial? >> senator, i've acknowledged to you that the human activity impacts -- >> impacts. yes. >> reporter: today two more confirmation hearings, rick perry to be energy secretary and steve mnuchin to be treasury secretary. later today we do expect president-elect donald trump to nominate former georgia governor sonny purdue to be his pick for agriculture department. this marks the final pick of the trump cabinet. >> sunlen serfaty live from capitol hill. with me to talk about this, cnn correspondent phil mattingly and former pennsylvania governor rick santorum. director of media and public affairs, frank sesno and cnn political commentator. i'll start with you, rick. are you ready? >> i'm ready. >> so mr. trump's cabinet picks have what used to be debilitating problems. i'll give you a few examples. betsy devos, concern about lack of knowledge. tom price pushed a bill that helped a company he owns stock in. the man up for budget director neglected to pay taxes for a household employee. is this the change america wants? >> we had tim geithner in the same situation -- >> but donald trump says he wants to drain the swamp. >> i know you're going to be surprised at this. very few people are perfect and don't have little things in thash lives -- >> lacking a base of knowledge -- >> betsy devos is not an education expert, but what she is an education reform crusader and has done an amazing job in pushing for the principle thing that donald trump wants to do, which is give young children, particularly poor children the opportunity to get a quality education. no one can question whether betsy devos has had her heart, her soul, and by the way her money to make that happen. i don't see why that is a disqualifier, that she's not an educational professional. >> marie, i'll pose this question to you. governor perry wants to be energy secretary. according to "the new york times" mr. perry thought he was going to be the ambassador for the american oil and gas industry back when he forgot the name of the energy department. this is from the new york times, quote, in the days after mr. perry, the former texas governor discovered he would be no such thing, an ambassador for the oil industry, that, in fact, if confirmed by the senate he would become a steward of a vast national security complex he knew almost nothing about, caring for the most fear some weapons on the planet, the nuclear arsenal. >> i do think it's a concern. it's a concern mainly because what we have heard the trump team say over and over again in the face of having a president-elect who is really an expert about nothing when it comes to government and policy making, they kept saying he's going to surround himself with the best people that have the best knowledge about all of these things that affect the american people. and what we have been learning is that the people that he has picked as his cabinet have nothing of the sort. when you have people that are going to deal with the day-to-day issues that will affect american families, it is a huge concern. rick perry not only does not know what the energy department did, not only did he forget it was one of the departments he wanted to eliminate it, he wanted to eliminate it. >> he does say now that regrets saying that. >> of course. that's an easy thing to say. i'm sure he will say that today. look, a lot of people coming to these jobs with a learning curve. so that is not as much of a concern. but the bigger concern is you have a president-elect with a huge learning curve and then you have all these people who were supposed to be the people that were going to surround the president-elect as policy experts with a huge learning curve as well. >> let me put it to you this way. mr. trump wants change. he wants to bring in people who will shake things up. perhaps some of these people will do exactly that. so what's wrong with that? >> nothing. that's what he ran on. that's what he promised to do. that's what people voted for him to do. if you look at these candidates, there are legitimate questions about their personal backgrounds, their financial backgrounds, whether they paid taxes, whether they fired a domestic worker or not. there are legitimate questions about their level of expertise. what they are projecting through the hearings as well is they really do have a different approach to things, and we shouldn't lose sight of the effect of that. they want to turn the responsibility of this wonderful city back to the states. they bloo evidence the states should be driving policy more. they believe less in top-down regulation. they believe more in highlighting if they fall in line with donald trump, more about jobs and individual responsibility. so that's a very big part of where they're coming from. we've had plenty of people who have been brought into these jobs with great expertise who failed and others who have been clueless who have succeeded and failed, too. it's a mix. i think that's what we're seeing now. >> i know you have new reporting on steve mnuchin, the guy up for treasury secretary. there are concerns about him, too. >> a lot of concerns. when you talk to republicans, there's no question they've had wounded nominees going forward. because of the dynamics on play an capitol hill, because democrats don't have enough on their own to block anybody, all these nominees are expected to make their way through. >> so you think at least six nominees will be confirmed by inauguration day? >> that's another interesting behind the scenes directive. steve mnuchin is the individual they've been most concerned about. for a couple of reasons. first off, his background, kind of a long convoluted story, but a bank her purchased in the midst of the financial crisis which had one of the worst mortgage portfolios in the business, a terrible moment pour the country, terrible moment in the housing market. that bank was forced to foreclose without some of the promised modifications they say they would make on a number of different individuals. a lot of those individuals have come up, talked about how they were abused about this process, made a lot of allegations about how the bank operated. democrats have seized on that and see they have a winning argument here. they brought some of those individuals up to capitol hill yesterday. the bigger issue with steve mnuchin is nobody is really sure he's ready for what's about to happen today. he's a very mild-mannered individual. the one-on-one meetings, i've been told he's had with senators, have not been positive. flip that on his head. rex tillerson has had meetings that were sensational. democrats have said that as well. if any one nominee is going to be sunk, it could be steve mnuchin if he doesn't handle himself well today. that's not coming from democrats. that's coming from republicans and individuals inside the transition. but to your point, behind the scenes, what's going on right now, there's negotiations, republicans want to get as many cabinet officials through on the first day of president trump's administration. 2009 president obama had seven nominations through. this is important you want them to start moving the administration for frd. here is the state of play right now. democrats, because they're uncomfortable with a lot of nominees and because they don't have power to stop them, their only leverage is to try to draw out the process. as it currently stands, negotiations going behind the scenes, three are expected to move non-continue versely, mime pompeo at cia, john kelly at homeland security, james mattis at defense. what republicans want is more, and what they say they deserve because of 2009 is more. what democrats want, in order to let that actually happen, they want more documentation from some of the remaining controversial nominees. they want more hearing time for some of the remaining controversial nominees. there are other non-controversial nominees that could move on friday, but democrats want something in return. frankly they don't have any other leverage at this point, carol. >> besides the political play, because that's what this is, rick, what's wrong with wanting more documentation? if there are all these problems with these nominees, what's wrong with that? isn't that for the good of the american people? >> i think they should release the documentation. there's clearly some evidence that has not been made public that needs to be made public. their financial disclosure forms, that has to be done. republicans have no beef in some of the things the democrats are talking about. they may not get six, they may not get seven. they may only get three or four. i think we do need to move this process forward. unlike maybe previous administrations coming anywhere they were prepared, they thought they were going to win, they had everything -- that's really not been as much the case here, and i think they're waiting for a lot of these secretaries to get in so they can start filling in the rest of the cabinet. before that wasn't the case. we are actually slowing down the transition by not putting some of these people, con i remember iffing these folks at the top of the departments. >> we have to leave this conversation here. i want you to stick around because we have a whole lot more to talk about. stay with us. also coming up right now we have new news on the national security front. u.s. bombers strike isis training camps in libya is what is likely to be the last military action of president obama's final hours in office. cnn's barbara starr is working her sources this morning at the pentagon. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, carol. these are the types of military operations, very short notice, that could come to donald trump's desk in the oval office right away as soon as he takes office. president obama authorizing this series of air strikes overnight in libya killing it is now estimated perhaps over 80 isis fighters in training camps about 45 miles south of the city of sirte. sirte on the libyan coastline had been the isis stronghold. it had been bombed by the u.s. over the months. they believe many fighters, several dozen had fled south. now the u.s. taking action, sending b2 bombers, heavy bombers from the united states to strike those targets overnight. this is really one of the last indications of the obama military policy. relying on aircraft drones and in some cases special forces on the ground to go after terrorists and especially isis targets. again, it's the type of thing that is going to come to donald trump's desk because there is an unfinished list. topping that unfinished list of course is trying to find the isis leader, al baghdadi, the u.s. has gn tracking him. u.s. special operations have had as we have reported a number of tips about his locations over the last several weeks. we don't know if they'll get him in the final hours of the obama administration. if they do not, they will keep looking for him, and that is going to be one very big decision coming to president trump. carol? >> all right, barbara starr reporting live from the pentagon. many thanks. an estimated 200,000 women are expected to take part in the women's march in washington on saturday. women across the country, actually women around the world, holding marches in their states and countries, said to be the largest in history. in my op ed i explore the state of sisterhood. be sure to check it out. cnn.com/opinion. also still to come in the "newsroom," we are on top of a busy morning in washington. the incoming white house press secretary delivering his first briefing in just moments, and trump's energy secretary pick in the hot seat. we're on top of all of it for you. you. we'll be back. birds eye voila so veggie good this is my retirement. retiring retired tires. and i never get tired of it. are you entirely prepared to retire? plan your never tiring retiring retired tires retirement with e*trade. i'm in vests and as a vested investor in vests i invest with e*trade, where investors can investigate and invest in vests... or not in vests. sign up at etrade.com and get up to six hundred dollars. we are moments away from the opening bell, and one day until donald trump takes office. how is the market reacting to that? let's head to new york and christine romans. good morning. >> reporter: hi, carol, i'm right here next to you. >> you're in d.c.? you made it. >> reporter: i did. everything happening behind me. these hearings will direct the direction of -- direct the direction of what we hear from steve mnuchin, the treasury nominee. i have a quiz for you because it is inauguration week. a little presidential quiz. how does the stock market rally under donald trump compare with other election day to inauguration to stock market inauguration rallies. he has more than 6.5% gain in stocks since donald trump was elected. you can see where he fits in, john kennedy 8.8% or herbert hoover at 10%. colvin coolidge had the biggest bump post election. donald trump -- this trump rally has been impressive, better than recent presidents. that's where it stands in terms of history. there you go. there's your cocktail party trivia for tonight, carol. let me show you what global markets are doing as we wait for the stock market to open. dow futures are down a little bit. i feel as though there's a little bit of a ceiling on the trump rally as we wait to see who gets in his cabinet, how they do today, particularly the treasury nominee. quite frankly, when policies begin. london down, paris down, tokyo closed up a little bit and oil is up about 1%. carol, back to you. >> i was looking at your bump numbers and i was wondering, doesn't that really show that a pump means absolutely nothing? >> reporter: well, what happens from here is what's important. now it's the show me the money phase. we've had the rally. show us the policies. >> christine romans thanks so much. >> reporter: he's from iowa, be nice to herbert hoover. >> i'm sorry. i didn't mean to be cruel. christine romans, thanks so much. any minute we'll get the first briefing from sean spicer, the man donald trump has tapped to be his white house press secretary. these are live pictures from the trump transition headquarters where spicer will speak to reporters. today's event comes after spicer announced monday's briefing will be held in the white house after all. team trump floated the idea of moving the press out of the west wing where they have been stationed since 1970 to accommodate, quote, massive demand. where me to talk about that and more phil mattingly, frank sesno, malia cardona. why is sean spicer holding the press conference today? >> this is the process, this is transition into reality which is tomorrow. what's the most interesting thing, come to the white house for a year in a prior organization, in understanding and talking to the obama guys leaving right now, you need to get your head around the rhythms of things, the most basic protocols, how briefings work, how getting to marine one takes off, when the absolute happen, all that type of stuff. i think this is the final move to transition your way adequately into the white house. i think this is sean's role. from here on out, sean spicer will be the public face of the administration, wherever he decides to hold his brief innings. every day he gets to do this is an opportunity to settle into that role. it's a different thing holding a briefing call, which the transition team has been doing on a daily basis since they won the election, and those have been helpful, than it is standing in front of reporters with live cameras answering questions that could come from absolutely anywhere about absolutely anything. that's what you're seeing today. you're seeing that all over from the trump team, the transition team, trying to finalize what becomes very real tomorrow. >> let's talk about this massive demand which means president-elect trump will invite other entities into the briefing, especially when he holds his own briefing. who do you suppose he means by inviting other entities in? >> anybody that wants to come. he means bloggers, talk show hosts, he means people from breitbart news. there will be an entirely different dynamic in that press room. i was fascinated, having covered presidents myself, at the news conference that he held with 250 reporters in the room when there was applause when he walked in. there was an audience for that. >> that is strange. >> it's important that the white house press corps who cover the president remain in that building. that's is something that drives the dynamic, drives accountability. >> let me ask you this, and i'll get to you two in a moment -- >> you have to wait your turn. >> been at this a long time. >> so if you invite talk show hosts into the briefings, doesn't that elevate them to the same level as independent journalists? >> it could be confusing. one of the things confusing about media when you put commentators next to reporters. are reporters reporting the facts or are they commentators. >> putting bill o'reilly and wolf blitzer on the same plane. >> i want to see that conversation. >> i do, too. bill press has a very strong opinion and has a white house press pass. this is sausage making. you know, phil, right, it is not always polite or calm or anything like that. the white house is first and foremost a political brawl, and the reporters who are there are political brawlers themselves. when the public looks at that they say oh, my god, that's noisy and ugly, yum. it is how it happens. it will be up to sean spicer to determine how to navigate that. i hope they don't move the whole thing out of the white house. that's more than about real estate. it really is. >> the other thing, the president chooses which reporters ask him questions. if everyone is invited and donald trump has partisan entities also participating in these briefings, who might he call on? >> well, i think that's going to be the big question. because what we've seen so far is that he loves to talk about who covers him well, loves to also hit back at who doesn't cover him well. so i think it's going to be very telling at his first press conference who he's going to be calling on. i do think this is one of the key conversations that we need to have. the american people are very concerned about the things trump has said and the things his team has said about the press, right? the press is -- president obama talked about this very clearly yesterday in a not-so-subtle way to make sure as he was leaving that the american people understood and hopefully the trump people understood that having a traditional press is so important for our american democracy. that is a big question for americans right now because they are concerned whether this administration is going to keep people out that perhaps aren't going to cover him, that perhaps don't represent all of the people which right now is a big concern. we saw today, carol -- >> i want to bring rick into the conversation, too. do you really think that will happen? will donald trump totally never ask a "new york times" reporter a question or never ask a cnn reporter a question? >> maybe for a while. >> isn't that bad for democracy. >> i heard president obama say, well, we have to have a press that is open -- >> he wasn't great to the press either. >> they had their problems with the press. he had a press that 90-some-percent of them voted for him. >> we don't know that. >> oh, we do, from surveys in the past. the washington press corps is overwhelmingly in favor of liberal -- >> look at phil's face. >> there were surveys done in presidential elections when they would respond to them -- >> so the president of the united states will only choose reporters who voted republican or for donald trump. >> i'm saying it's easy for president obama and liberals to say we need to welcome the press corps which is generally favorable to them as opposed to trump who has had -- >> isn't there a difference between washington examiner and breitbart or a talk show host? >> there is a difference. they've been conflated. you're seeing a lot more news analysis and commentary on the front page of "the new york times." it's not just the editorial pages that you find an opinion anymore. that's the problem. >> i want to let journalists -- >> a couple of important points. one, the president-elect still calls "the new york times" seemingly on a daily basis. they seem to have good access. what's an important point, we talk about who has access to these briefings. there are conservative pub ligss that sit in all these briefings right now. do they get called on as much as they want? probably not. will that dynamic shift with the new administration? probably. i think this idea that the brady press room, the white house press corps is some exclusionary group that doesn't am lau individuals in to do real reporting and cover the administration is false. i think if the trump administration tries to continue to push that out there, they're not telling the truth about the white house press corps and what it actually represents. now, will they want better access for some of the publications they feel are more supportive of them, other white houses tend to feed reporters they feel most comfortable with. that's not crazy, not against what we've seen. the big issue is don't conflate your negative opinions about the press corpse with what the white house correspondents association, what the white house press corps is. it is a group of reporters across the ideological spectrum who have press passes, cover the white house how they want to cover the white house. that shouldn't change. who you call on is up to you. there's an effective way to cover the white house consistent over the last couple administrationtion. >> sean spicer is coming up any moment. i want to ask you to stay. we got the two-minute warning. i don't know if it means anything. stay with me. we'll be back with much more. i was out here smoking instead of being there for my son's winning shot. that was it for me. that's why i'm quitting with nicorette. only nicorette mini has a patented fast dissolving formula. it starts to relieve sudden cravings fast. every great why needs a great how. on a perfect car, then smash it into a tree. your insurance company raises your rates. maybe you should've done more research on them. for drivers with accident forgiveness, liberty mutual won't raise your rates due to your first accident. and if you do have an accident, our claims centers are available to assist you 24/7. call for a free quote today. liberty stands with you™. liberty mutual insurance. if you have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis isn't it time to let the real you shine through? introducing otezla, apremilast. otezla is not an injection, or a cream. it's a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. some people who took otezla saw 75% clearer skin after 4 months. and otezla's prescribing information has no requirement for routine lab monitoring. don't take otezla if you are allergic to any of its ingredients. otezla may increase the risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts, or if these feelings develop. some people taking otezla reported weight loss. your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. side effects may include diarrhea, nausea, upper respiratory tract infection, and headache. tell your doctor about all the medicines you take, and if you're pregnant or planning to be. ask your dermatologist about otezla today. otezla. show more of you. good morning. i'm carol costello, thank you very much for joining me live from washington, d.c. be ear all ready for the big day on friday. the city looks amazing. welcome back. busy, busy schedule for the trump team as it gears up for inauguration day. any minute now sean spicer, mr. trump's pick for the white house press secretary will hold his first on-camera briefing. these are live pictures out of washington. the flags are ready to go. also happening in the nation's capitol, another waive of hearings as trump tries to get his cabinet into place. first up, rick perry, trump's pick for energy secretary. that hearing expected to get under way any minute. and next hour, steve mnuchin is in the hot seat tapped fortressry secretary. back with me, phil malso /* joining our panel paul glassless. he's editor and chief for the washington monthly. welcome, welcome, welcome. should we start with the newcomer? >> yeah, we should. >> let's talk about mr. trump's speech. he said he sat down and wrote it himself. i know you've participated in many a presidential speech. do you think he did write it all himself? >> impossible to know. presidents don't typically write their own speeches although barack obama wrote quite a few of his. they will download their thoughts to a panel of speech writers and senior staff. they'll then look at draft, edit them very kafrlly. president clinton after multiple drafts would sit there and go line by line and rewrite as he tried it out. even if they don't write it themselves, they make it their own. >> i say that because donald trump is so much better when he speaks off-the-cuff. >> yes. he kind of knows that, too. that's been kind of the secret to his rise. during certain times at the end of the campaign, he was sticking to texts, the texts weren't terribly inspiring, and he didn't speak them with much enjoyment. it will be interesting to see him in this mode of speaking not just with a text, but in the most august and ceremonial and important settings you can imagine. >> rick, mr. trump is going to talk about unity. do you think he'll reach out and recognize some of those people who were adamantly against him? hillary clinton for example or george w. bush. >> mag nam inity is not one of his -- >> that's an important point. >> there's a point when he has to start demonstrating it. clearly the inaugural address is sort of step one, day one to do that. i do expect him to be magnanimous at his inaugural and not boast about how much he won or how big the crowd is. maybe he'll mention the crowd. >> yes, he will. >> what am i saying? of course he'll mention the crowd. >> interesting if there are audible demonstrations in the crowd during his speech. that's not happened in inaugurals i've covered and seen. it could well happen tomorrow. >> i don't know that anybody is going to be close enough to be heard. this could be cordoned off. >> if they know who they are. >> they'll show them on camera at least. >> so he says he's going to talk about unity, maria. the country does need to unify behind the president of the united states whether you like the guy or not. what can he say for you to say, well, maybe? >> i think he needs to talk about how this campaign was divisive, but now is the time to reach out to everybody including frankly the majority of americans who did not vote for him and work together on the issues that we all care about. he should mention the communities of color that feel so fearful and anxious and terrified at this man taking office. this speech i believe is going to be pivotal, especially because he has not been magnanimous since the night of the election. i gave him credit for that night during the election when he won. he was magnanimous. that was the last time though that you could describe him as being that. since then he has been as divisive, as -- hitting back to people that he sees are insulting him as he was during the campaign. so you have hispanics, muslims, african-americans, women, all of the people that have felt insult ld during the 18 months of the campaign thinking this is not a guy who seems to want to represent me. one particular element that's important, too, the cabinet is lacking a hispanic american for the first time since 1988. so i think he needs to acknowledge that kind of divisiveness and be the one to reach out to try to have unity. >> paul, if you were helping mr. trump with his speech and mr. trump wanted to unify, what would you tell him to write? >> speeches aren't about words they're about the substance behind the words. there are things that donald trump ran on that can appeal to people across the aisle. let's just pick infrastructure, building roads and bridges which is one everyone acknowledges both sides care about. you don't want an inauguration speech to be a "state of the union," right? there are ways of talking about the substantive policy of his agenda that, if he carries it forth, this could be a very memorable and important speech. if, however, he is magnanimous and says wonderful things about groups that he's previously insulted and then two days later insults them again, right? if he doesn't carry through with some of the interesting bipartisan policy ideas he's put forth, then it's empty rhetoric. if he does, this this does marking a change, this would be an important speech. >> judging the -- on a scale of one to ten, the importance of this important speech, since it is such a strange time in our history. is this speech more important than others in modern times? >> yes. this is his first speech as president of the united states, not as the outsider looking in. this is a speech, and presidents have done it all the way back where he sets the soaring themes, where this is a kinder, gentler, the better angels of our nature, whatever he chooses to say. there are words to be remembered by. this is the constitution of his administration. we will be coming back to this, journalists, historians, citizens, to see what goals he lays out and how he articulates them. are they jobs for all americans? is this a conversation that engages all americans? is there a hand across the aisle? is this going to be an indication of how he governs, how he speaks, the tone he sets for his administration and this era? we are in an era now. the country enters that era with great anxiety, and this is an opportunity for him to address that anxiety and say i am now everyone's president, and this is my vision. >> i have to leave it there. thanks to all of you so much. so interesting and fascinating. thank you very much. thank you for joining me today. i'm carol costello. our special coverage of all these live events in washington begins after a break. see you. ♪ if you have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis isn't it time to let the real you shine through? introducing otezla, apremilast. otezla is not an injection, or a cream. it's a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. some people who took otezla saw 75% clearer skin after 4 months. and otezla's prescribing information has no requirement for routine lab monitoring. don't take otezla if you are allergic to any of its 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liberty stands with you™. liberty mutual insurance. i'm jake tapper live in washington. >> i'm wolf blitzer. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. today all eyes are on the last two senate confirmation hearings before donald trump becomes the 45th president of the united states. that will happen at noon eastern tomorrow right here in washington. facing the senate as we speak is the energy secretary nominee, former texas governor rick perry. perry now says he regrets recommending back in 2012 that the energy department should be abolished. moments from now one of trump's most controversial nominees faces the senate. former goldman sachs backer steve mnuchin picked to lead the treasury department, faces questions about his record on foreclosures along other issues. at 2:45 p.m. eastern, the president-elect and the vice president-elect mike pence will place a wreath at arlington national cemetery. later a pre inaugural concert at the lincoln memorial at which donald trump is expected to speak. busy day. >> any moment the incoming white house press secretary sean spicer we're told will give a briefing. we'll cover that live as it happens. let's go live now, however, to capitol hill where we will meet cnn senior congressional reporter manu raju. busy, busy day on capitol hill today. >> reporter: another one of those contentious hearings, as we've seen these partisan hearings take shape, whether it's betsy devos for education secretary, tom price for health and human services. that's what's going to happen with steve mnuchin's hearing. watch for democrats to go aggressively after mr. mnuchin's record. republicans to come pretty aggressively to his defense saying he's being attacked. in fact, mr. mnuchin in his opening statement is expected to say something along the lines as my character has been unfairly maligned, and he's had extensive work in the financial sector and is well prepared for this job. one other issue hanging over this, democrats have not been happy with the paperwork he's been submitting back and forth to the committee, leaving out some of his investments in the initial round of questionnaires submitted to the senate finance committee. he has since amended those. democrats are already jumping on that omission. expect that also to be a line of questioning, but no question about it this will be one of the more contentious nominations, democrats hoping they can flip republicans to oppose mr. mnuchin. no sign of that happening just rhett. >> manu raju, thank you so much. steve mnuchin just one of the controversial nominees the democrats are going to attempt to draw some blood from today. we also have, of course, the nominee for secretary of energy, former texas governor rick perry who famously in 2012 listed three agents he wanted to get rid of. one of them, the one he actually forgot during the debate, was the energy department. he is going to say today that he regrets calling for the energy department to be shut down. >> he says that was a mistake. he's changed his views on the department of energy. the whole notion, steve mnuchin is a very rich guy. former goldman sachs banker. he's going to be asked a lot of questions about his own personal investments, especially in the aftermath of the collapse back in 2008-2009. >> there's a bank called the one west bank which he helped take over during the obama years after the crisis began. and there are going to be a lot of questions about how the one west bank handled foreclosures, how they handled various allegations. when nominees, when their names are put forward, they basically go into hibernation, go into hiding and they're focus on their confirmation hearings and preparing. they don't get a real chance to answer he basically confirmed a lot of the charges against him. we'll hear from steve mnuchin about the allegations made against him during the foreclosure crisis. >> we're hearing from ron wyden of oregon, the ranking democrat. obviously the republicans will be sympathetic to steve mnuchin. among the democrats there are some progressives, liberals, who could presumably ask him some policy questions about tax cuts for the rich. donald trump has promised tax cuts. steve mnuchin says he's all for it as well. >> i'm told sean spicer is addressing reporters. let's go live. >> i have the disintegrate honor to introduce the head of the transition team, our next vice president, mike pence. >> thank you. thank you, sean. and good morning. it is a momentous day before a historic day. and i'm pleased to have a chance to report to the american people and to all of you, and the progress that we have made at the president-elect's direction, preparing a team that will be ready to serve the american people and make america great again on day one. i'm grateful to be with all of you today. before i give you a brief summary, let me first express our thoughts and prayers on behalf of the president-elect and myself, for president bush and barbara. they're on the hearts of every american. this morning i understand they had a good night last night. but we encourage every american to remember president bush and his wonderful wife barbara in their prayers. 72 days ago we elected donald trump to be the 45th president of the united states of america. 71 days ago, donald trump set an ambitious schedule prior to this inauguration. and he asked me to chair the transition effort. i was grateful and honored to be given the opportunity to do just that. when we took over, i was impressed, frankly, with the work that governor christie and the transition team had done prior to the election. more than 170 interviews had already been done prior to election day. i'm pleased to report that as of this morning's announcement, for our secretary of agriculture, all 21 cabinet nominees have been named. 27 total individuals have been named that require the consent of the senate. and we have 536 beach head team members that will be reporting for duty at agencies following the inauguration bright and early on monday morning. there are many people, many people to thank in this regard. and i'm really here just to do that. there is a memorandum that will be in your possession by the ownend of this briefing. and i'll be conveying to the president-elect today to give him a full report on the transition efforts and the progress we've made. allow me to give you a couple of top lines. in addition to the hundreds of interviews and meetings that the president-elect has conducted in the course of this transition, i'm pleased to report that the presidential appointments team has conducted more than 170 interviews prior to the election. more than 200 people since the election have sat down with what we call our tiger teams for full vetting and full review. i'm happy to say the american interest in this administration has been overwhelming. over 4,000 candidate referrals. on the eve of the inauguration, our beach head teams are ready to land and go to work in these various agencies of the incoming administration. on legislative affairs, we organize more than 90 volunteers to create and execute a confirmation strategy to support the 27 publicly-announced senate-confirmed nominees and designees. so far, we'll continue to work very closely to support their efforts as they move toward confirmation. there's been work on agency action, as i mentioned. policy implementation has been also very brisk during the course of this transition. specifically we focused at the president-elect's direction on a day one, a day 100, and a day 200 action plan for keeping or word to the american people and putting the president-elect's promises into practice. 14 policy implementation teams attracted over 110 active team participants. additionally, 90 experts have been serving in an advisory capacity as we formulated executive action and legislative policy to pursue the goals of this administration. in addition to that, we've been listening. we established through the course of the transition the office of nationwide engagement, o.n.e. for short. 28 listening sessions conducted, 22 business days, met and heard top policy issues and concerns from more than 1200 organizations, associations, and various interests and entities. there's awful lot of people to thank and there's more details that you'll see in the memorandum that i'll be conveying to the president-elect today. let me begin by expressing my appreciation first and foremost to president barack obama and vice president joe biden. the cooperation that the outgoing administration has extended in this transition effort would make every american proud. and i know the president-elect has expressed his appreciation, not just for the hospitality but for the collaboration of this administration in supporting our transition team's efforts. i would reiterate that today. also very grateful to the gsa administrator, denise turner roth, and her outstanding team here at gsa for the work they've done to support our efforts. also grateful for the vice chairs and the executive committee of the transition effort who have put in very long hours. a number of them are with us today. ben carson is with us. rudy guiliani, jeff sessions, marsha blackburn, tom reed, represent a part of the vice chair team. and we express our appreciation on behalf of the president-elect for the many hours you've put in helping us assemble this day one team. we also express appreciation to the members of our committee who donated hundreds of hours in assisting us in preparing the recommendations to the president-elect over the course of this. lastly, just two more things to mention. number one is just to thank my team. there's an old saying that -- back in indiana, when you see a box turtle on a fence post, one thing you know for sure is they had help getting there. i can tell you that while it's been my privilege to chair this transition effort, the team that we've had around us and the extraordinary seven-day-a-week hours they've put in is to their credit. executive director rick dearborn has done a masterful job, extremely grateful for the energetic leadership of our incoming chief of staff reince priebus, incoming general counsel at the white house, don mcgahn, literally working almost round the clock in supporting the efforts of this transition effort. for our team here, bill haggerty on presidential appointments, ron nichol on agency action, andrew brinberg on policy, jamie burke on personnel, eric euland on legislative affairs, and the balance of a team that would make anyone proud. the progress that we have made in the course of this transition and the extraordinarily brisk pace with which it's been conducted is attributed to the integrity and work ethic of these men and women. i know the president-elect is grateful for their efforts and as chair i am as well. ken hagen is taking over as executive director to wind down the transition. the office of white house personnel will take over the official duties as we continue in the weeks and months ahead to fill out the balance of the administration. but this is the team that got us here to this day at the direction of the president-elect. lastly, i'm especially pleased, i know the president-elect is especially pleased that we're wrapping up this transition on schedule and under budget. we will actually return some 20% of taxpayer funding back to the u.s. treasury. and that is just exactly in keeping with the president-elect's expectations going forward. he is a businessman that knows how to sharpen his pencil. and i'm very pleased to report today that we were able to do that and restore those dollars to the treasury. let me say, i've been very honored to serve as chair of the transition effort. but all that we've accomplished here, credit goes to a great team. our volunteers, literally hundreds and hundreds of volunteers who put in hours and hours to support this effort. our executive committee, our vice chairs, our staff. but really the credit, i can tell you, goes to our president-elect. sometimes people stop me on the street and they say, how you holding up, i can't imagine how busy you are. i tell them, you have to understand the energy and enthusiasm of donald trump is contagious. it's been his energy and his expectation that's driven this transition effort. i'm proud to be at a place where we've named our entire cabinet before we reach that historic day tomorrow. our job was to make sure the president-elect had the opportunity to make decisions, to assemble the people around

Transcripts For FOXNEWSW Americas Newsroom 20170119

white house press secretary will hold his first briefing in 30 minutes and that will be live for you. confirmation hearings start for rick perry out of texas and the treasury secretary nominee steve mnuchin. >> we expect the president-elect to head to the capitol for the final time as a private citizen. he tweeted this just a little while ago saying getting ready to leave for washington, d.c. the journey begins. i will be working and fighting very hard to make it a great journey for the american people. i have no doubt we will together make america great again. the theme of tomorrow's 20-minute long inaugural address is supposed to be he is president for all the people and trying to make one thing clear before he makes that case tomorrow. also on twitter today he said this. it wasn't donald trump that divided this country. this country has been divided by reverend ime. franklin graham. today in addition to making his way on down to washington and making final tweaks to that inaugural address he is also expected to do a wreath laying ceremony and a concert at the mall tonight. >> shannon: another official announcement coming about the agriculture secretary nominee. what do we know? >> we expect that to happen at some point during that first on-camera briefing by sean spicer. it will be the final cabinet secretary announcement on this final day of the transition for the agriculture department secretary. and that is expected to be the former georgia governor sunny purdue. the first cousin of sunny purdue is david perdue. i am confident sunny will work hard that will help farmers, ranchers and rural communities across the country. he doesn't just have experience at the state house but worked with regional state level feed and grain association and a veterinarian. >> shannon: that's an interesting resume. thank you very much. >> bill: we'll have full inauguration coverage live in the fox news channel all morning long as well as tomorrow. most certainly. shannon and i kick things off in "america's newsroom" at 9:00 a.m. eastern time. a lot of moving events during that hour. brett and martha host special coverage at 11:00 a.m. eastern time from the nation's capitol. what do you think of the location? >> shannon: we're right across the street from the white house. this is the entire tour. >> bill: we're the only ones here. where is everybody? behind us you'll see down the line there all the networks will come in and converge tomorrow and thing will get busy here. the shot of the west wing of the white house, the executive office building next to it. behind us immediately, shannon, is the viewing stand where the trump family and the next president will be during the parade yesterday -- >> shannon: tomorrow. >> bill: on friday. >> shannon: it will be beautiful. we'll see the whole thing as it comes by as we provide coverage for folks non-stop tomorrow. >> bill: we watched from that similar stand four years ago. i think the same setup is here as we watched four years ago. pretty much the way things go here. the parade is long. we will pull in people from all over the country, too. it is something else to watch, too. the trump family will be behind us. stay tuned for more on that. the lay of the land. breaking news overnight. the fight against isis. u.s. b2 bombers had strikes in libya outside the city of sirte. i know this is breaking news. what do you want to add on the hits on isis targets from libya, sir? >> i think it is an expression of american military capability that these aircraft can take off from the united states of america and launch a strike and return without having to land anywhere, without having to have anything except perhaps refueling along the way. it is more of a statement than anything else. i'm glad we've done it and i'm sorry that we waited so long. >> bill: i know this is a campaign you picked up and traveled extensively on. let's get back to the legacy of isis and the legacy of the current administration in a moment. in the cabinet picks, will the incoming administration have anyone in place and confirmed by friday afternoon, sir? >> yes. for sure we will have general mattis and i believe general kelly as well. i think there is probably -- could be as many as four. by the way, that's far short of what we did for the obama administration both in 2008 and in that period and it's too bad, because we need to put these people to work. and in the case of department of defense, yes, we'll have general mattis but we have like 100 confirmable positions by the senate armed services committee and the united states senate. >> bill: is that acceptable to you? what would explain to the viewing audience as to why this process has gone slower than in years past? >> well, frankly, the democrats have slowed the process. they did not slow general mattis, but in many of the other nominees they have basically using senate rules and committee rules. they've slowed the process and that's -- it's sort of a -- part of the -- honestly, bill. part of the sour grapes attitude that they've had, the 55 or 60 or however many of them that are boycotting one of the great signals to the world of a peaceful transition of power to these slowing down these nominees, to some pretty ferocious attacks on them. we've previously operated giving the incoming president the benefit of the doubt. we have our responsibility of advice and consent but we're seeing it stretched beyond anything i've ever seen. >> bill: we haven't seen a nominee get rejected since 1989. will rex tillerson be the first or will he get through, sir? >> i think he is very likely to get through. as you know, i have great concerns about russia and not just mr. tillerson, but the president-elect's attitude toward russia. that is still a concern of mine. >> bill: on the julian assange matter i heard you talk about the chelsea manning decision from yesterday. i know what your feelings are on that. does it matter whether assange comes here for extradition or not, senator? >> i think that matters but i think the chelsea manning issue -- and by the way, the pardoning of an unrepentant terrorist who had committed attacks which had taken the lives, mr. rivera, is also incredible. but back to manning. there were some 70,000 different items that were leaked. among them were the names of people who were helping the united states military in afghanistan. and of course the taliban is going to go after those people. it sends a message to the people of afghanistan, watch out if you help the americans because your name may be leaked and your life and that of your family members are in danger. this pardon of the president's to me is unbelievable. >> bill: 25 hours from now you get a new commander-in-chief. closing out an eight-year chapter of the obama administration. how would you characterize the obama legacy as you look at it now, sir? >> a world on fire. a china that is asserting themselves a short time ago as this morning putting pressure on south korea not to put defensive weapons in, to russia asserting itself in the middle east. 400,000 dead and 6 million refugees out of syria, a commitment to adhere to a red line and then backing off of it, a russia which is dismembering ukraine and taking crimea. the european union being put under enormous strain because these millions of refugees and a china that is asserting itself in a way that is bound to sooner or later lead to some confrontation. that's just part of the legacy of the failure of american -- that is what happens when america backs off of its position of world leadership. >> bill: what is your level of optimism for the trump presidency, senator? >> i am very impressed with many of the people that the president has surrounded himself with. i've known many for years, general mattis, general kelly on homeland security, general flynn is a good person. there are a number of people, as far as national security is concerned, that i have a very high regard for. i've worked with them in the past and i look forward to working with them in the future. on a number of issues, i did disagree with the president-elect but he has been elected and elected legitimately despite what some of my democrat friends say in their temper tantrum. >> bill: senator, thank you for your time. interesting characterization at the end. john mccain, republican from arizona from the hill. 10 minutes past the hour in washington >> shannon: another big story we're following this morning. president george h.w. bush and first lady barbara bush both in the hospital. we have updates on their condition. >> bill: also in a moment here the finishing touches on the inauguration, 25 hours from now. what we can expect to hear in the inaugural speech. we'll talk to the man in charge of planning the big day in a moment. >> shannon: two big events at the bottom of the hour. the first on camera briefing for incoming trump spokesman sean spicer and also the confirmation hearing for energy secretary nominee rick perry. we'll bring you those live when they happen. first vice president-elect mike pence. >> i think they'll see in a president donald trump someone who will work every day to make this country great for every american. y282uy ywty @oyu0x?hy@x@8p hashtag stuffy nose. hashtag no sleep. hashtag mouthbreather. just put on a breathe right strip. it instantly opens your nose up to 38% more than cold medicine alone. shut your mouth and say goodnight mouthbreathers. breathe right. >> bill: that right there is kind of a construction even donald trump would be proud of. that's the view area for the future first family where they'll be to watch the parade. just about 27, 28 hours from now. along pennsylvania avenue across from the white house. good morning, everybody. one day away from seeing the next commander-in-chief take office, number 45. crews putting the finishing touches on this amazing american patriotic event. mr. trump working on his speech, we understand. tweeting this, writing my inaugural address at the winter white house three weeks ago. looking forward to friday, #inauguration. chairman of the presidential inaugural committee is my guest across from the white house. nice to see you have. finally here. you've known mr. trump how long? >> 40 years. before you were born. >> bill: not quite, but close. 40 years. has he relayed to you the gravity of the moment? >> absolutely. you know, no matter how glib you can be about all of this as a candidate, as the eve of that partisan passing of power approaches and you think that within a 10-minute period, the primary power of the free world transitions from one great president, president obama, by the hand on a bible, to another prospective great president, president trump, and the world watches after this contested candidacy that now america is going to reunite behind one man. it is humbling. >> bill: that's pretty powerful. at this time tomorrow in this exact hour the future first family will move from st. john's church here in lafayette park to the north lawn and go in and meet president obama and his family. and that is in your mind the moment of the entire day tomorrow. >> it is. i think there are two really impactive moments. when you think of president obama and michelle and the contribution they made to the country and the world. this is their last hosting in their house, turning over to a new regime, a new administration. not just the government, but really the heart and soul of what they've lived for eight years. and the trumps anticipating all of the responsibility that goes with that, and admiration to president obama and michelle. i think it's one of the most intimate moments that arises. >> bill: and i believe as a reporter when you attend these inaugurations there are images that stay with you for a lifetime. one of the many images is when the transfer of power happens on capitol hill when they get on board the helicopter and the outgoing presidency rolls down the national mall and they fly over all the supporters of the next administration and truly a remarkable moment. i understand that mr. trump has been so involved in the details right down to the napkins that will be used this weekend. how much truth is there in that? >> he is worried about running the free world and his transition team and cabinet and focuses on but the man is relentlessly detailed at everything. he shows up -- he showed up to every event. so we really -- we had 19 events in six days. he came last night to support the vice president as a cameo experience. he was the first president to have a dinner in honor of the diplomatic corp here in washington he is amazing. he is ready to get to work. >> bill: how much have you been privy to the message in his inaugural speech tomorrow? >> i haven't been privy to the verbiage of the scripting of the message but the message is really that he understands the constituency that supported him to get here. he is going to do exactly what he said. he is going to reach out to the constituency who didn't support him and say now it's time for me to be one president for one people and we can never be attacked from the outside if we're together on the inside. what he is going to do the prove to america that he can unite those constituency and move us to the next place. >> bill: final question. how much does it bother you or him or both that upwards of 70 democrats said they will not attend? >> you have to ask him that. to me in one sense it doesn't bother me. it's the duty of the american system. you could have men and women who are elected by a system who don't support the system by which they were elected. it is ironic, the beauty of america they can do that and stay in office. god bless them. i think it's poor people playing in the sand box that they should get over it and get together. it's the president of the united states and just get on with it. >> bill: senator mccain called it a temper tantrum. congratulations and good luck tomorrow. thank you for being here. a very busy day here in washington minutes away from sean spicer, the first briefing. the inaugural prep taking place behind us. you'll see spicer before the podium screen left in a matter of moments and we have our eyes on two confirmation hearings that are about to get underway. more from washington it is a stacked and packed day here one day away from the #45th president of the united states. >> shannon: former president george h.w. bush and his wife barbara both hospitalized in houston. his doctors are keeping a close eye on the former first lady suffering from fatigue. casey siegel. what can you tell us? >> doctors say they had to sedate mr. bush to perform a procedure to clear his airway but by evening he was not sedated and in fact they said he was conscious and engaged last night. his office says the 92-year-old will remain in the intensive care unit here at houston methodist hospital and that he is stable. the 41st president of the united states was admitted to the hospital last saturday with early onset pneumonia. >> so it is on its face a serious situation. in the president's case the condition that landed him in the icu we believe has been addressed through this procedure. hopefully he is on an upward trajectory and get out of the icu and get back on the path to discharge. >> staffers say barbara bush, the former first lady, is doing well. her hospitalization we're told was out of an abundance of caution. she woke up yesterday with a persistent cough and was fatigued. decided to come here to the hospital to be safe. they are both resting comfortably right now. shannon. >> shannon: keep us updated. thank you very much. >> bill: from texas back here to washington also new york city we're watching all three events today. it will be a significant day for the trump administration. in a moment the incoming white house press secretary sean spicer will hold his first briefing. you'll see that screen left. screen right we're awaiting the senate confirmation hearing for the former governor of texas rick perry, energy secretary nomination. we'll follow that for you as well as "america's newsroom" is live in our nation's capital watching the history unfold. peaceful transition of power is almost here. the kids to get a repair estimate. i just snapped a photo and got an estimate in 24 hours. my insurance company definitely doesn't have that... you can leave worry behind when liberty stands with you™ liberty mutual insurance nosy neighbor with a glad bag, full of trash. what happens next? 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>> we expect in the introduction supporters to say he was one of the most successful governors in american history leading texas through economic prosperity and he recruited a lot of businesses to texas, a skilled negotiator and someone who created jobs and prosperity. on the job of energy secretary perry is expected to say i'm committed to keeping american's safe. nuclear security is the largest portion in the department of energy's budget and continue to protect and modernize the stockpile. steven mnuchin. he will push for a pro-growth tax plan, a modern regulatory framework and america first trade policy. expect democrats to portray him as a foreclosure machine during the housing crisis. he will say i was committed to loan modifications intended to stop foreclosures. i ran a loan modification machine. independent government reviews showed we had the most effective loan modification process of any bank, supporters call him a world-class financier. >> bill: we heard from senator mccain and he believes general mattis will be confirmed tomorrow after the swearing in and possibly a few others. what are you hearing about the trump team members and the cabinet members being in place tomorrow afternoon, mike? >> sounds like at least three will be confirmed tomorrow afternoon. james mattis, secretary of defense, john kelly to lead homeland security and mike pompeo to lead the c.i.a. democrats are trying to flex some muscle. >> if senate republicans aren't willing to give the american people to examine and consider these nominees in full and fair hearings, then they should be prepared for that debate on the floor. extensive debate on the floor. senate democrats won't be dill tory for its own sake. >> seven members obama's team were confirmed on inauguration day and they think it should be the same now. >> shannon: any minute now sean spicer will hold his first on-camera briefing. fox news politics editor, good morning, chris. those of us here in the washington press corps know sean spicer. how does he set the tone? what is the baseline he needs to lay in this very first press briefing? >> there will always be the feeling out period. that period is basically how do we do this business? there is business to be done. every day there are questions that need to be answered. some of them on camera, some off camera, some boring, some exciting. this is a thing that has to be done for the health of the republic because people want to know. the trump administration, the incoming trump administration has taken the hardest line against the press that we've seen but it is also part of a ratcheting effect that we've seen in the obama administration and now reaching a new height in terms of cracking down on the press, limiting access, with the obama administration going so far as criminal investigations. so we want to know, right, how good or how bad is this going to be? how much access are they going to provide and spicer is in an unenviable position of being right between those two oncoming trains. >> shannon: i think he will enjoy it. i think he is the kind of guy that likes the tussling. the first dust off they had was moving the briefing out of the traditional press briefing room, which is part of the white house complex. it is across the street. i had to go there once when we got pushed out because of a bomb threat. people want to be right there, though. people want to be able to walk into the press offices and see the comings and goings and be right there. you know, press corp won that battle. >> it's interesting. part of the change among democrats and president obama and the rest of his party is election of donald trump made them reconsider virtues long forgotten in his closing press conference yesterday, president obama talked about how great it was to have the press in the building and how important the role was and adversarial journalism and i listened and i thought huh, i hadn't heard that from you before, mr. president. now that donald trump is about to be president tomorrow, he is rethinking the role of the press and using a total different set of language and terms. good journalists are skeptical no matter who is in charge. our job if we're doing it right is to hold them to account. transparency doesn't matter. accountability matter. our job is to hold them to account and sean spicer's job is to be the advocate for the positions of the trump administration but also to answer our questions, to find out the truth so that we can tell the truth. >> shannon: you think we'll get substantive issues today? do you think he goes there or more procedural setting up how things will work? do you think he begins to talk about the substance of what administration plans to do? >> part of this is what the questions are. the political press has been unnaturally obsessed with the way that donald trump acts. his demeanor, what he tweeted. he tweeted so much. it was the tweetiest tweet that ever tweeted because it worked in trump's favor. this froth has allowed him to keep putting forward an agenda. maybe we'll start to get to the point where the agenda itself becomes the matter for questioning. we have all the nominees on the hill. rick perry seems to have a very bumpy ride today. and we have the plan out reportedly for $10 trillion in spending cuts over the next decade. there is lots to discuss. >> shannon: well, you and i know and anybody who has watched a briefing know that they're relatively polite. there is a little back and forth but people get into a routine with whoever it is. do you think it will be that way? how do you see this relationship going between spicer and the press? everything as you mentioned has been so different about this, this campaign, the way they interact, the fact the president-elect likes to feel he can go around the entire press corp with the tweets. what kind of relationship do you think spicer will have with the press corp? >> i have dealt with him many levels. a long career in washington he knows how the sausage gets made and knows how to do this. as his personality goes, he likes to fight and engage. he will tell you that you are wrong when he thinks you're wrong. he will push back hard. the give and take is the thing. we have seen very successful press secretaries and unsuccessful press secretaries. when you have an unsuccessful press secretary it's a disaster. the story isn't supposed to be about you, right? when we look at somebody like tony snow who was definitionally good. he was the definition of being a great white house press secretary and he pushed back hard. he was definitely an advocate for george w. bush's positions and took that but he was kind, gracious, respectful and he was indulgent up to a point of sometimes silly, sometimes ridiculous questions that come out. one of the things that hurts america is the fact that these briefings become dramas unto themselves. sean spicer's job is to diffuse some of that drama and not give reporters what they want, which is this fraught moment where people say what happened next. push back when he needs to but not become the story himself. >> bill: we were told we were within the two-minute warning for spicer several minutes ago. we'll see. >> shannon: we'll see what kind of two-minute warning we get. >> bill: i expect him to go after democrats. john mccain was specific in his comments to us this past hour that he thinks they're throwing in his words a temper tantrum over some of the nominations. the other story is in the "new york times" suggesting the transition with the trump folks has not been as how would i characterize it, efficient as some in the past. they're suggesting they prepared thousands of pages of documents and that the story read as if they were not sure whether or not the trump team had even read it or looked at it. now, what is the status of that and what are we to believe based on an-out going administration and incoming administration trying to get the personnel to i guess cooperate and perhaps do things the way they've done them here? go. >> if i sent you 500 recipes for chocolate chip cookies and you were gluten free it wouldn't be very useful. part of that story in the "new york times" is an effort by the outgoing administration to make the incoming administrations look back. we've given them all these things and they haven't read them. is that a good or bad thing? casting it as the outgoing administration has as a deficiency in the trump team, we have to take with a grain of salt. we do know this. this is unquestionable. they didn't think they were going to win. they put chris christie, trusted and liked by very few people inside that organization in charge of the presidential transition thinking they wouldn't need to transition to the presidency and then they won. so they had to do a hurry-up on this thing. no question about that. they had to do a double hurry-up and put mike pence in charge of it. we are getting ready to find out what's the net. they had to do this on a double speed all the way. >> bill: the suggestion is that they are behind. but we don't really know yet. people that i've talked to -- until monday, i would suggest. >> people with whom i've spoken who are part of the transition would not dispute the fact that they've had to do some catch-up. part of the labor of this is finding out just how large this apparatus is when you have all these outsiders and people who haven't been in power before, when they are coming in and finding outta, you have more than 4,000 positions that you have to appoint. you have all of these duties and obligations. for example, rick perry finding out about what all the energy department did and how most of the energy department was about protecting our nuclear warheads, protecting our missile material and nuclear program. that was a big deal. >> bill: thank you, chris. stand by. chris is watching all the events. we see rick perry now in his seat as well. thank you, chris. >> you bet. >> bill: so we spicer. >> shannon: we do. the setup there in washington this is going to be the first time he does go head-to-head with the press as he is preparing officially to become the white house press secretary. will they get into substance? we'll take you there live. hello, i'm an idaho potato farmer and i finally found our big idaho potato truck. it's been touring the country telling folks about our heart healthy idaho potatoes, america's favorite potatoes, and donating to local charities along the way. but now it's finally back home where it belongs. aw man. hey, wait up. where you goin'? here we go again. >> bill: just so you know we're watching the podium. sean spicer will be out any moment now. when it gets underway we'll take you there. we expect it and 9:30. you won't miss a thing with him. senate minority leader chuck schumer out of new york slamming the cabinet in waiting. he said the following just yesterday about republicans trying to ram through nominations. here is chuck schumer. >> this is a swamp cabinet full of bankers and billionaires. a swamp cabinet full of bankers and billionaires. many of them have hard right views. some of which directly contradict promises that the president elect campaigned on. >> bill: former political director to george w. bush and what a great way to start, huh, guys? whole new administration. it's a swamp cabinet, matt. is that rhetoric or not? >> well, i just love it. charles schumer saying that the cabinet represents bankers and billionaires and maybe he doesn't think that we look at the little parentheses after his name when it says democrat from new york. he represents wall street and takes more contributions than billionaires and bankers than anyone in the senate. the hypocrisy coming from the senate. if you look at the hearings the way they're treating some of these nominees like betsy devos and try to get us into class warfare in this country. the american people don't care about how much money you have. they care about the fact can you help us with our problems and get this economy moving again? that's why donald trump is president. >> bill: emily, perhaps it's not a swamp cabinet. perhaps they're just successful people who have done a lot with their lives. would you grant them that? >> perhaps, although it does look like they are pretty swampy. it's not just rhetoric and not just categorically speaking. they themselves are pretty swampy. by swampy i mean they are involved in things like pay for play. matt is right in the fact that people don't necessarily care about their own personal wealth but care about what they can do for the american people. a lot of people supported trump because they believed although he didn't have experience himself, he would surround himself with those that did have experience. from everything it looks like that's not the case. they've fallen short on all their disclosures. the republicans in congress scheduled the hearings quickly. even though the disclosures aren't full they are going into the hearing anyway. it's hard to say because they don't have all the information. >> bill: there is a strategy on behalf of every incoming administration. three we believe will be confirmed tomorrow. matt, she made a heavy charge. pay for play? >> i don't see any of that here. i do think that this is part of the democrat's playbook to hobl this administration before it gets started. on the question of paperwork, it is the obama appointed head of the office of government ethics, a hillary clinton contributor, who is hazing and making some of these nominees have to go through extra steps. it is he alone who is deciding who has completed their paperwork and there are plenty of people with very complicated paperwork in the obama administration who got through very quickly. i think this is more politics. it is more of what the american people are tired of. give the trump administration a chance to put their agenda in place. 2/3 of the american people believe this country is on the wrong track. let's start working together to solve our problems. playing politics on these hearings won't help the democrats. >> bill: emily, would you concede that part of the result from november was the american voter saying system has to change, get something done, we want results and not just activity? >> they do. i also think a strong message of the november election was that people want to be heard and they want people representing them that they feel like understand their problems and the challenges their facing. to have an education secretary who donated to causes and actual senators running the hearing, the actual donor that she is before that's what i mean by pay for play. they're actually -- >> bill: that's the pool washington swims in. >> wait a minute. she is a republican who has given money to the republicans. >> bill: i appreciate the debate. here is sean spicer, the incoming press secretary. here we go. [applause] >> thank you, sean, and good morning. it is a momentous day before an historic day and pleased to have a chance to report to the american people and to all of you and the progress that we have made at the president-elect's direction preparing a team that will be ready to serve the american people and make america great again on day one. i'm grateful to be with all of you today. before i give you a brief summary, let me first express our thoughts and prayers on behalf of the president-elect and myself for president bush and barbara. they are on the hearts of every american. this morning we understand they had a good night last night but we encourage every american to remember president bush and his wonderful wife, barbara, in their prayers. 72 days ago we elected donald trump to the 45th president of the united states of america. 71 days ago donald trump set an ambitious schedule. prior to this inauguration and he asked me to chair the transition effort. and i was grateful and honored to be given the opportunity to do just that. when we took over, i was impressed with the work that governor christie and the transition team had done prior to the election, more than 170 interviews had already been done prior to election day. i'm pleased to report that as of this morning's announcement for our secretary of agriculture, all 21 cabinet nominees have been named, 27 total individuals have been named that require the consent of the senate and we have 536 beach head team members that will be reporting for duty at agencies following the inauguration bright and early on monday morning. there are many people -- many people to thank in this regard and i'm really here just to do that. there is a memorandum that will be in your possession by the end of this briefing that i'll be conveying to the president-elect today to give him a full report on the transition efforts and the progress that we've made. allow me to give you a couple of top lines. in addition to the hundreds of interviews and meetings that the president-elect has conducted in the course of this transition, i'm pleased to report that the president all appointments team conducted more than 170 interviews prior to the election. more than 200 people since the election have sat down with the tiger teams for full vetting and full review. i'm happy to say the interests of the american people in this administration has been overwhelming. more than 86,000 resumes have been submitted to the transition and over 4,000 candidate referrals. on the eve of the inauguration our beachhead teams are ready to land and go to work in these various agencies of the incoming administration. on legislative affairs we organized more than 90 volunteers to create and execute a confirmation strategy to support the 27 publicly announced senate confirmed nominees disig niece attended so far more than 370 visits with senators and we'll continue to work very, very closely to support their efforts as they move toward confirmation. there has been work on agency action as i mentioned. policy implementation has always been very brisk in the course of this transition. specifically we focused at the president-elect's direction on a day one, a day 100 and a day 200 action plan for keeping our word to the american people and putting the president-elect's promises into practice. 14 policy implementation teams attracted over 110 active team participants and 90 experts have been serving in an advisory capacity as we formulated executive action and legislative policy to pursue the goals of this administration. in addition to that, we've been listening. we established through the course of the transition the office of nationwide engagement, one for short and they've been busy, 28 listening sessions conducted december 1 through january 13. 22 business days met with and heard top policy issues and concerns from more than 1200 organizations, associations and various interests and entities. an awful lot of people to thank and there is more details that you'll see in the memorandum that i will convey to the president-elect today. let me begin by expressing my appreciation first and foremost to president barack obama and vice president joe biden. the cooperation that the outgoing administration has extended in this transition effort would make every american proud. and i know the president-elect has expressed his appreciation not just for the hospitality but for the collaboration of this administration in supporting our team's transition efforts and i would reiterate that today. also very grateful to the gsa administrator denise roth and her outstanding team at gsa for the work they've done to support our efforts. also grateful for the vice chairs and executive committee of the transition effort who have put in very long hours. a number of them are with us today. ben carson is with us, rudy giuliani, jeff sessions, marsha blackburn. tom reed represent a part of the team and we express our appreciation for the many, many hours you put in assembling this day one team and express appreciation to the members of our executive committee who donated literally hundreds of hours in assisting us in preparing the recommendations to the president-elect over the course of this. lastly, just two more things to mention. number one is just to thank my team. there is an old saying that back in indiana when you see a box turtle on a fence post one thing you know for sure is they had help getting there. and i could tell you that while it's been my privilege to chair this transition effort, the team that we've had around us and the extraordinary seven-day a week hours they've put into this effort is greatly to their credit. i want to specifically thank the executive director rick deer burn who has done a masterful job. grateful for the incoming white house chief of staff reince priebus, don mcgahn working almost around the clock in supporting the efforts of this transition effort. for our team here bill haggerty, ron nichol, jamie burke and elizabeth pinkerton on personnel. eric uland on legislative team. the progress that we have made in the course of this transition and the extraordinarily brisk pace with which it's been conducted is a tribute to the integrity and work ethic of these men and women and i know the president-elect is grateful for their efforts and as chair i am as well. ken hagen is taking over as executive director to wind down. the white house will continue the official duties to fill out the balance of the administration. but this is the team that got us here to this day at the direction of the president-elect. lastly, i'm especially pleased, and i know the president-elect is especially pleased we're wrapping up this transition on schedule and under budget. [applause] we will actually return some 20% of taxpayer funding back to the u.s. treasury and that is just exactly in keeping with the president-elect's expectations going forward. he is a businessman that knows how to sharpen his pencil and i'm pleased to report today we were able to do that and restore those dollars to the treasury. let me say i've been very honored to serve as chair of the transition effort but all that we've accomplished here a credit goes to a great team, our volunteers, literally hundreds and hundreds of volunteers who have put in hours and hours to support this effort. our executive committee, vice chairs, staff, but really the critic tell you goes to our president-elect. sometimes people stop me on the street and say how are you holding up? i can't imagine how busy you are. i tell them you have to understand that the energy and the enthusiasm of donald trump is contagious. and it has been his energy and his expectation that has driven this transition effort. i'm proud to say to be at a place where we've named our entire cabinet before we reach that historic day tomorrow. our job really was to make sure the president-elect had the opportunity to make decisions, to assembly the team around him that will make america great again and i have been a small part of that. our job is to be ready on day one and the american people can be confident we will be. so let me say to all of you we look forward to seeing you tomorrow and it will be a very humbling and moving day for the president-elect, his family and for mine. let me you, we are all ready to go to work. in fact, we can't wait to get to work for the american people to make america great again. thank you very much and we'll provide that information for you at the end of the briefing. thanks. >> can i ask you how many you expect to be confirmed tomorrow? >> thank you, mr. vice president electric. -- president-elect. we are excited for tomorrow. the entire team is looking forward to this now that we're 24 hours out of this. so the president-elect continues to make edits and additions to his inaugural address. it was asked yesterday in the speech. it will be a very personal and sincere statement about his vision for the country. he will discuss what it means to be an american, the challenges that we face, members of the middle class that they face. he will talk about infrastructure, education, manufacturing base. i think it's going to be less of an agenda and more of a philosophical document. a vision of where he sees the country. the proper role of government. the role of citizens. so look forward to that tomorrow. with respect to the action on capitol hill that the vice president-elect was mentioning. the nominees continue to go up and impress the american people with the caliber and quality of people the president has chosen. pruitt was said to be the best choice for the epa. leader mcconnell welcomed ross his experience to turn the country around. john thune said his business no how will make him a great commerce secretary. senator marco rubio said governor nikki haley will stand up for american values at the u.n. doug duesy said dr. tom price is someone who can work toward a patient-centered healthcare. energy secretary nominee rick perry and treasury secretary stephen mnuchin will be on capitol hill testifying today. no one understands the intersection of the american economy and energy industry than former governor rick perry of texas. he is well-known to the senate and the american people. there is a great deal of reform coming to washington and nothing sends the message stronger than nominating a leader like rick perry to take the helm will do. over a 30 year career in finance steven mnuchin is a dedicated team builder and excellent communicator. that will serve well as he works with congress and the administration to hammer out a tax package to help hard working americans and allow businesses to compete on a global basis. i mentioned yesterday but we'll have further staff announcements today both on the commission staff, the special assistant, deputy assistance and assistance to the presidents and release non-commissioned at 4:00 p.m. the president-elect, vice president-elect and families will attend the make america great generally and concert at the lincoln memorial. tomorrow is inauguration day. it will begin with the president-elect, his family, the vice president elect and his family. cabinet december ig niece attending an 8:30 church service at st. john's church right across from the white house. 9:30 the president-elect and his family, the vice president-elect and his family will attend a white house tea on the south port company of the white house. 10:30 they'll travel to the capitol for the swearing in. at 11:00 the president-elect, trump family, vice president-elect and his family will attend the swearing in on the west lawn of the u.s. capitol. at 1:00 p.m. the president-elect, vice president-elect, first lady and second lady will attend an inaugural committee luncheon at the capitol. at 2:30 they'll attend the military review located at the u.s. capitol on the east front and 3:00 they'll attend the inaugural parade in stands just outside of the white house. at 7:00 p.m. president trump, vice president pence, first and second lady will attend the liberty and freedom ball at the washington convention center off mount vern orn avenue. following that they'll attend the military ball at the national military museum. saturday at 10 a.m. the president, vice president and families will attend the national prayer service at the washington national cathedral. over the weekend the incoming staff will be located here at the ptt to help support the transition. on the eve of the inauguration, one point that's important we have over 536 beachhead team members, the individuals that are being placed into agencies and departments throughout the government. they have been identified to support those things. this is an unprecedented number of individuals that will be ready on day one as far back as we can see. i think that is important as well as the individuals i met early to insure continuity of government and we're ready on day one to get things happening. we intend to have the first briefing at the white house on monday in the james brady briefing room. time will be announced. as a logistical note i would just say that during this weekend we intend to -- we've worked with white house correspondents's association to make sure a pool camera is here. should there be a need for briefing this would be the location where it would take place in order to facilitate much easier logistics of getting in and out. i know some of you are interested in getting your passes. we're working with the current white house. they've been very helpful. make sure you email our team and we'll help facilitate reporters who don't have hard passes to get in and out of the white house complex throughout the weekend and on monday. obviously the greater lee way we have in terms of timing is appreciated. with respect to the cabinet before i turn it over. i think that there is no question we've noted before the high quality and caliber of the individuals that the president-elect has selected to lead his government. i think even senate leadership on the democratic side admitted so much. they talked about going after just a few of them. and i think what's a shame right now is to see some of those individuals who we would call consensus candidates. people who they didn't find a problem with. people like secretary elaine choi, ben carson. nikki haley not be part of senator schumer's list. they were considered consensus candidates prior to a few weeks ago. i think that it really speaks volumes that the democratic leadership is not working with us to ensure a continuity of government. this was not the precedent that was set by senate republicans when they worked with the obama administration in 2008 to insure that president obama despite political differences got the cabinet of his choosing because they were qualified individuals. i expect the same standard for our individuals. senator schumer should do the same and recognize this is more about continuity of government and ensuring the qualified individuals get voted on to lead the country forward. glad to take some of your questions. john roberts. >> you promised yesterday you would be able to shed light on the first orders that the incoming president will sign. friday maybe give us some idea what's coming up on monday. >> i have to continue to update you on that. the president-elect is continuing to get briefed on some of the orders he wants to do and the sequence of it. think we've talked about that for a few months now. obamacare, the fight against isis. he talked about immigration, key issues that have been important to him throughout the campaign that will continue to be important to them in this administration. he is committed to day one, two, three an agenda of change. you'll see that in the days and weeks to come. he is trying to ensure a proper sequencing. staff is meeting with him. i think you'll see activity on both tomorrow, over the weekend, and then monday, tuesday, wednesday. so it will be a robust not just day one but i think first week, first month and probably first term. >> do you know how many of the orders are processed? >> i don't want to go there yet. i think the president-elect is still working through which ones he wants to deal with tomorrow versus monday or tuesday. we'll try to get a read-out of those going forward. it is a work in progress. there is a lot to be done. >> i would like to know if we are going to the white house press corp will still work at the west wing. >> as you can tell by today, there is a tremendous interest frankly an unprecedented interest in covering this president. the demand and enthusiasm to understand the agenda he has and what he will be doing is frankly unprecedented. we have tried to be accommodating and looked at additional room space. we'll host the first meeting in the james brady briefing room. it will be a little cramped, i imagine. but that's where we'll hold at least the first briefings for now. >> can you confirm the president-elect has plans to go to the c.i.a. in the near future and for lack of a better term to make nice after everything that has happened? >> i would say there is no -- i'm sorry? so cecilia asked whether he had plans to go to the c.i.a. i'm sure at some point shortly he will visit not just the c.i.a. but a lot of the departments. i mentioned during the briefing the president continues to be humbled by the people who serve this nation and the work that they do so many times without the proper recognition for the sacrifices they make in terms of time. so many of them could be making more in the private sector but continue to serve this government and i this i the enthusiasm to serve in government and be part of this administration has gotten greater by the day. there are so many people that have submitted a resume or said i want to go back into public service or join the military because they've been inspired by the president-elect's message and so i think not just the c.i.a. but several departments he is going the visit and make sure he tells them how much he appreciates their service to our country, their commitment to acting an agenda of change and recognize how much they really do for this country. it is not just going to be the c.i.a. but you'll see a lot of activity throughout not just the first week, the first month and the first year of making that a priority to thank so many of the people who serve our government and again not just federal servants but so many people who volunteer their time in various ways to serve this nation both paid and unpaid. >> does he feel there needs to be some fence mending with the intelligence community? >> i think he has very clear the statement he put out the friday he got the briefing he respects the work and diligence of the intelligence community. the men and women who so often serve in the intelligence community without recognition because of the nature of the work they do is something that he has a true understanding of the sacrifice they make. and so he has been very, very clear that while he may have differences sometimes with the leadership of the intelligence community, that the work of the individuals, the men and women who tirelessly support the analysis and readings of the intelligence community is something that he will continue to show his support for and his thanks. >> your list of cabinet picks is the first since 1988 that doesn't include any -- [inaudible] what do you say to people concerned about that and what do you say more broadly about the criticism that this undercuts president-elect trump's argument that he is here to serve all americans. >> i think when you look at the totality of his administration. the people he has talked to and met with and people he is appointing, you see a president committed to uniting this country bringing the best and brightest together. look at the cabinet. elaine choi, dr. ben carson. governor nikki haley, the first indian american. the number one thing american's should focus on is he hiring people committed to enacting real change and respecting taxpayers, bringing about an agenda to create jobs and lift up wages? i think what you're seeing and going to continue to see not just through the cabinet but through the entire thing is a diversity in gender and thinking and a diversity of ideology. it is not just about skin color or ethnic heritage. you look at the totality of this cabinet, indian american, african-american, asian american. it is about a lot of things and i think you could start to pick out one group and say where does the percentage of that. if you look at the totality of the meeting he is meeting it and bringing in for senior staff positions, cabinet and sub cabinet. we'll have 5,000 positions. i think you can pick out one subset but if you look at the totality of the diversity he is bringing in this i would say it's probably something to hold up second to none. >> given that those comments about latinos and immigration, such a hot button topic during the campaign. why not make that a priority? >> it is a priority. but i think that it's a very narrow way to look at it and say if you don't appoint people to this particular position that's a problem. i just mentioned the level of diversity throughout not just a cabinet but his staff and the other appointments he is going to make. i guarantee you as we continue to announce it, that problem will be something that people look at and respect the level of diversity throughout his entire administration. yes, sir. >> italy -- [inaudible] >> that's up to them to decide. i won't get ahead of what the italian government wants. >> how many nominees do you expect to have confirmed in the next few days and what conversations are you having to senator schumer and mcconnell to get it moving? >> senator mcconnell has been working tirelessly to get the situation going. there is really no excuse for the delay tactics. frankly the partisanship that is being exhibited by the democrats. there is a time and place for it. i get it. if you hold them to the standard they were held in 2008 you recognize the fact they're continuing to employ delay tactic which isn't good for the government. i saw a poll over 50% of the american people believe the national economic and security teams should be confirmed immediately. the idea that they're delaying that further calls into question their desire to have a government of continuity and sends not just a signal to the folks in the united states but around the world that we're not -- that they're questioning the ability of continuity of government. we've taken the proper steps critical positions were filled. we have a plan to ensure that in every department there is a key individual ready to go. so -- i think it's disappointing that they have chosen to do this. again i noted this before. if you look at the questions that are being asked in these confirmation hearings, it is not about substance. it is not about policy. it is not about the issues in front of that department. it is about partisan attacks and ethical questions. that's not -- these people have had their paperwork in. their quality and caliber and integrity is unquestionable. to see some these attacks and it's a problem. there are so many issues facing this country we need to get moving on and the idea that democrats would use the stall tactics is not in the country's best interests. >> do you think anybody will be confirmed on monday? >> i hope so. senator mcconnell has been working tirelessly to get as many nominees confirmed as possible so that we're ready to go. as soon as senator schumer and other democrats are willing to work with him. but again, you look at the comments they made. they came out with a hit list. there are individuals secretary choi, dr. ben carson, governor nikki haley that weren't on the political hit list. every one of them is unbelievably qualified to lead this country in their respective department, the idea that they're expanding this list and slowing down the continuity of government is unacceptable. they owe an explanation on those three individuals at the very least. why are they not moving on choi, carson and hailey? the other ones there is no question their qualifications and they should move all of them. those individuals weren't on the political hit list. why are they holding up those three individuals in particular? >> global trade specifically as you're aware the chinese president lauded free trade this week and what is your message to beijing about the role that america will play in global trade and secondly, are you willing to work with beijing in places where you have commonalities? >> i think the president's message on trade has been fairly clear. he is going to fight for american workers and american manufacturing. that's going to be the number one thing that guides him going forward. and so he has talked about bilateral deals. he will make sure that every deal he cuts, just like he did in business, puts american workers and american manufacturing, american services, american first. and so whether it's china or any other country, that's will be the priority. with respect to china alone it's a huge marketplace for american workers and small businesses. you look at the commitment that alibaba made the other day increasing access to small businesses. it is important that individuals who might have a craft or a product that they have -- they are working at home at or maybe a small business have the opportunity to access those marketplaces that at one point might be too far for them to reach but through technology that we have available to us now. so he will continue to fight whether it's the chinese market or other places around the globe for market access. but again, the guiding principle will always be the american worker, the american manufacturing. >> whdhtv boston. getting back to your idea the president wants to work with and for people who weren't with him in the election. how long will he continue trying when the other side is boycotting the inaugural and in your own words not helping with the nominations until he says i'll work with the people who got me there? >> i don't think that's going to happen. he has a commitment of uniting this country. bringing people together. republicans, democrats, people for him and against him agnostic during the campaign. he has continued to meet with people with ideas how to move the country forward and how to create jobs and reinvigorate the manufacturing base. if people have a good idea he is not concerned with what they've said or done in the past if their commitment is about the future. >> he has already brought into the fold? >> meeting with a tech industry he sat down with 25 tech titans. i think you look at some of the individuals he met. i don't think some of the individuals, i won't get into some of the past statements they've made. if you start googling you'll find folks that may have been focused on him or another candidate. again i think it's shown through his actions in terms of who he has appointed and met with. this is moving the country forward. he wants to get america back on track and he is really not concerned with the past. major garrett. >> can you reconcile the vice president-elect's statement you're ready on day one with your comments that continuity of government issue. you can't have it both ways. >> sure you can, absolutely. i think there is a difference. as i've noted we've appointed over 50 people in critical positions to maintain their office until we can find a successor for this administration. we've looked through the entire government and found areas where there is a critical need to maintain someone. in an area where a department, the secretary won't be available there is a continuity in place. >> place holder people until your secretaries are confirmed and they can't carry out -- >> there is a difference between enacting an agenda to make sure if there is an issue of concern. continuity of government if there is attack or weather incident that occurs where each of our departments have to be called into action to support the american people. we're ready to go. make no mistake we're ready to go on day one. there is a big difference being ready to go and enacting some things. there are limitations to what some of the individuals can do in terms of enacting the agenda but being ready to go and respond to an incident we're ready to go at 12:01 tomorrow. right now our focus was on continuity of government on a case-by-case bases we'll work with is the individuals and departments. >> on trade, is the president-elect going to wait until his cabinet is all in place before beginning negotiations with mexico and canada on nafta or is the if they're not in ace will the president go and contact those country's president and get talks directly. >> i won't get ahead of him but part of what he announced in the executive order list around the thanksgiving time included the actions on both tpp and nafta done by executive order. i think you'll see those happen very shortly. when and where is going -- in terms of where the cabinet piece falls in. some has to do with senate democrats. i don't think he will wait. he has made it clear some of those things are huge priorities for him. >> i just wonder you said yesterday there will be a couple of visits next week. we're being told the top of the list is trade. >> i was talking about agencies and departments. >> there are no foreign leaders expected next week? >> nothing is expected next week in terms of foreign leader visits. we'll have an update on that at some point. >> you talked about some of the agencies and the contingency plan. can you address the national security council in the white house? only a couple of people have been appointed so far. will there be more appointments before tomorrow or the weekend or what are you doing to make sure? >> we have a great group of folks in constant contact with the national security council and homeland security council. you have general flynn, mcfarland on the national security front. there are several individuals within both the homeland security council and national security council being held over in critical positions and working with it. there are a lot of individuals who are detailed and are going to be staying on board. the contact and level of support back and forth in the national security council alone has been tremendous. we've had reams of briefings and people that have come over and met with the incoming national security council. that's one area where frankly they have been very, very aggressive and robust with meeting with their counterparts and ensuring the team is ready to go day one. >> ethics experts and former white house lawyers have expressed deep concern over donald trump's plan to separate himself from his business. the og director says handing over control to his sons is not enough. given that he hasn't released his taxes, given that 74% of americans want him to release his taxes, will he at least give a list of who he is in debt to and if not, why not? >> i think that question has been asked and answered 100 times. katie, no, i heard the question. i think the president-elect has made it very clear he has no conflicts by law. he has gone above and beyond in terms of making sure that he separates himself from his business. hands it over to his kids. and then put in place a very, very rigorous plan to ensure that no conflicts of interest occur. he has gone above and beyond what has ever required of him. he has no conflicts by law. what he has done is extraordinary to ensure his focus is entirely on helping this country move forward. francesca. thank you. >> could you give us a little more color and information on how -- will spend his first weekend at the white house and what he plans to do during his first week and clarify the departmental meetings coming up like the c.i.a. will also be taking place next week? >> as i mentioned i won't get into the schedule at this point in terms of what he is doing. i read out the schedule so far as to what he is doing. he will -- there will be time carved out for executive order signings as he chooses. there is a lot of work that will occur over the weekend in terms of meeting with staff, getting prepared and as we get closer to monday we'll have an update on the schedule in terms of where he might be going or other signings that will be conducting. >> i was wondering there is a lot of rumors going around about the -- can you verify whether or not he will issue an immigration order monday or sometime next week? i know you promised that he would give us more details. i know you've already gone over the ones with the logistics and government operations but there is a lot of concern about what he will come up with in terms of immigration. >> look, a, as i said earlier we'll have an update on the schedule. he is still working with the team to decide how he wants to sequence these things. refer you back to the video again. he laid out clearly what his top priorities will be. no surprise to anyboyd that immigration, job creation, tax reform are at the top of the list. it is a question of sequencing. he is committed to getting those things done and we're working on the timing. >> in terms of [inaudible] of the campaign against isil, the ongoing strikes and units on the ground. will they continue. will the president change that strategy >> with isis he wants a plan from the joint chiefs very quickly to combat isis. how we look at the whole government approach to that. he is continuing to meet with his national security team about what's in place. i don't know what decisions he will make tomorrow. we'll announce that. what we've ensured for the time being we have a team in place that will continue to advise him and make sure the country remains safe and priorities are carried out. >> last week trump's lawyers talked about separating from his business interests both last night and today he -- [inaudible] how do you square these two things? >> that he is going to his own hotel? i think that's pretty smart. the idea he is going to his own hotel shouldn't be a shocker. it is a beautiful place. proud of and symbolic of the kind of government he will run, on time, under budget -- ahead of time and under budget. same kind of theme the vice president-elect expressed earlier. 20% under budget. 1.2 million returned to the treasury. he is very proud. it is a stunning hotel and i encourage you to go there if you haven't been by. i don't think the idea that president-elect trump is having a reception at the trump hotel should be a shocker to anybody. >> now that the cabinet nominations are filled, what message do you have for senators on capitol hill when it comes to the speed of the confirmations? >> look, i think i've talked about this before but it's important that we get these individuals up in front. there is no one that's questioning their qualifications or their caliber or ability to lead their department. their understanding and grasp of the issues. these are amazing individuals that have a commitment to enacting an agenda of change and so my message is simply let's get it done. this is not time for partisan politics. this is time to get the american -- to ensure the american people have a government in place that can get that done. >> coming from israel, there are plenty of people that the president might move the american embassy from tel aviv to jerusalem. can you confirm if he decided to do it? >> what i can tell you is stay tuned. there will be a further announcement on that. the president has made very clear that israel has not gotten the attention or respect in the last eight years it deserves. he intends to really show his respect for israel, the importance of it in the middle east, and i think he has continued to talk with his team both ambassador david freeman and gerad kushner and rex tillerson how to work with israel. first and foremost how to make sure that we continue to support our ally, israel. that's something that will be the priority of this administration. yes, ma'am. >> you said the president was looking for the best and brightest people for his government. but i wonder can you understand that with 56 million hispanic people in the u.s. it is like offense to say there was nobody bright enough for the -- >> -that's not what i said. you have to look at the totality of diversity in this cabinet. there are so many ways to express it in terms of gender, background, race, ideology. he continues to put together a diverse cabinet. if you look specifically at hispanics, we have 5,000 jobs to fill. there will be a tremendous number of hispanic americans that fill those posts and i just caution people to stay tuned. lots of great things are coming. >> are you guys going to send anybody to syrian talks on monday? >> i'll have an update for you soon. i when try to read that out to the pool. >> the numbers you were talking about earlier. i want to make sure we aren't talking about different things. you talked about 536 on the beachhead. what does that mean in terms of the 4,000 political -- >> thank you for clarifying that. 536 individuals that are on these beachhead teams. temporary employees that serve as assistants to the secretary disig knee's office. those individuals are able to work in the various departments as temporary officials for i think it's up to 120 days. in some cases they stay on. it will be up to the secretary or the administrator of the department or agency to decide whether to maintain them on. maybe they choose to not stay on board but in any case that will be a decision that's made. if they stay, then they are counted as part of the overall thing. that's a mutual decision that the incoming secretary or administrator or director would make in consultation with the individuals whether or not they wanted to stay on board. >> what does it means with the 4,000 number >> those people are temporary. in some cases until the secretary, administrator or director is confirmed, they are unable to make a permanent appointment. we are working, as i mentioned before, very, very aggressively at the undersecretary, assistant secretary, and ambassador levels to have individuals ready to go. now that the cabinet is filled i think you will see a lot more activity at that level. but the president-elect wanted to make sure his entire cabinet was locked and loaded before he started getting to the deputy under and assistant level. now that's complete as of this morning with the appointment of sonny perdue you'll see more activity at the lower level. once those individuals are confirmed they'll make a decision whether or not any of those 536 individuals become part of the overall package going forward. thank you guys, very much. it has been a pleasure. i look forward to seeing you on monday. have a great weekend and tomorrow will be a very special day. thank you. >> bill: a lot of news, a lot of news there, sean spicer and the vice president-elect before him. you see fifth avenue and 56th street in trump tower will the president-elect will make his way to a military plane at laguardia airport and begin the trek to washington, d.c. i'm live here across from the white house. you look at laguardia there. a number of headlines from the briefing. let me tick through by mike pence and sean spicer. the incoming vice president says the budget for the inauguration is on schedule and under budget suggesting 20% of taxpayer dollars will be paid back to the department of treasury in the words of mike pence, he says, mr. trump knows how to sharpen his pencil as a businessman. with sean spicer a number of things he referred to. the attitude is infectious during this historic moment here. he says mr. trump continues to make edits for his speech tomorrow but more an agenda and less philosophical. >> shannon: he said it would be very personal. i think this is a story unlike any other. only donald trump could have had this particular story and he will share the personal side of that and his vision for the country as well as he outlines some broader ideas that he has. >> bill: we'll bring in roy blunt, the republican seeing all things happen on capitol hill. the chairman of the joint congressional committee on inaugural ceremonies. thank you for being with us today. we just heard from sean spicer and mike pence, how do you believe tomorrow will play out based on your position there on the hill? >> well, i'm looking forward to tomorrow. certainly it's the one major event we do every four years and we do it better than anybody else to express what democracy is all about. i think what happens tomorrow in many ways is more important than exactly what is said. what is said -- a lot of what is said is what's not said. every four years since 1789 we've inaugurated a president. as often as not since world war ii not just a new president but a different political party. and that peaceful transition of power really matters. i'm looking forward to what the president-elect will have to say a few minutes after he becomes president. but the people on that platform, people watching all over the world, the moment itself is actually more important than any specific policy that is mentioned, that transition of power matters. we'll see that tomorrow. that's why mrs. clinton and president clinton are there and why president obama and mrs. obama will greet the trumps at the white house early in the morning and then come to the capitol with them. >> bill: i saw your piece on the hill earlier today. you pulled a statement from ronald reagan in 1981. he said the following. in the eyes of many in the world, this every four-year ceremony we accept as normal is nothing less than a miracle. >> reagan says it's common place and a miracle at the same time. we've been doing this for a long time. washington believed, bill, that the inauguration of the second president would be a lot more important than the inauguration of the first president. in a democracy one person would be giving up power and giving it to another person. and then the third president, thomas jefferson, had what at the time was thought to be a dramatically different view of what the government could and should do than president adams had. that may have even been a more important transition. but that pattern set in those three transitions is a pattern that we still see today. whether the middle of the civil war or the middle of world war ii in the united states of america we had the election, the person that prevailed became the next president. >> bill: the hall of politicians tomorrow you welcome an american businessman. how different will that be? >> i think different and different in a good way. i think the synergy that president-elect trump and tomorrow president trump brings to this process is a disruptive thing in a helpful way. if you want to change the way things are being done, having somebody who is not totally entrenched in the way things are being done has got to be a helpful part of getting that change made. i think the fact that he is going to be president makes everybody in our system think differently. it makes the american people look at what they would hope can happen from government differently. and i think first and foremost he has to be much more focused on better jobs and stronger families next year rather than being needlessly focused on things that are going to happen 25 years from now. 25 years from now matters but it will be a better 25 years from now if people have better jobs next year and more opportunities next year and the government is -- understands what the government is supposed to do at all levels, not just in washington, d.c. >> bill: senator, you have a big job tomorrow. best of luck to you, okay? >> looking forward to it. good to be with you. >> bill: thank you for your time, sir. he is a republican from missouri who survived a close election in his home state of missouri comes back to washington to look out on the massive crowd tomorrow before the national mall and make the introductions. >> shannon: a big comeback in his race and now he will be here for a very important day. let's bring in the panel. a fox news contributor. associate editor at real clear politics. one of the discussion we continue to have leading into this presidency is the use of executive action. president obama made it clear he would use his pen and phone. but also means that a lot of his legacy can be undone in the same way. questions today about which executive orders he may take first and there is a broad swath he could go for. >> there are so many that he can do easily that i think he will try to rack up the greatest number. not all of those will be effective. many of them are guidelines and agency directives that were not -- the agencies were not bound to follow. so something like an emissions regulation directive that president obama issued recently would simply be ignored. it doesn't mean that the regulations on emissions would have changed. he can tell us about a lot of them next week that sound really great that mean little. then there are huge ones likeneding the cuba deal and the iran deal. not enforcing the obamacare mandate. those things are hard to do and deporting the -- ending the deferred action on childhood arrivals, if that would be -- he would be deporting those children. a lot of things he promised that are substantive. we'll wait to see if he does those. expect a long list of things that sound really great. some of the regulations that are really meaningful, however, with regards to the environment and energy production have to be passed through the congress and take several weeks to attempt. >> shannon: there is a whole list that religious and social conservatives they expect to get from the president watching live who will soon depart new york and head to d.c. one comes to mind. the department of education guidance document that essentially told schools all over the country you have to agree to the transgender policy as we view it or you risk losing federal funding. are those the kind of things trump will focus on in his early days. >> i do. i think that they will actually be a big deal to the people that care the most about them. so in that regard i think it could help him. but look. it's been probably since 1980 that we've had an incoming administration coming in that is so diametrically opposite of the previous administration. donald trump ran his entire campaign on the promise he would tear up these things and he would do all these executive actions and roll back all of the president obama's executive actions. it is a perfectly legitimate thing for him to be doing. i think one of the things that -- i think president obama very much put all of his eggs in the basket of hillary clinton winning the white house so that she would keep all of these things. a lot of them are constitutionally -- the changes that he made unilaterally to obamacare which i think were probably unconstitutional, you know, all of these things it will be easy for donald trump to roll them back. >> shannon: you mentioned the changes to the aca, affordable care act. there were times it was done via a white house blog post. that isn't going through the administration procedure. that's not in the federal papers. it sounds like it goes beyond the executive orders. the trump transition team putting folks on notice they'll make sharp cuts at justice department, state department, transportation department. the national endowment for the arts going to go away all together. it sounds like just as we heard from sean spicer and the vice president-elect, this is going to be a president who is not afraid to cut where he sees in his opinion cuts need to be made. >> right. he will have a congress ready to work with him and the unified republican government is going to be changing a lot of policies that have been in place under president obama for eight years. as i said, that is going to take work with the co-equal branch through the course of the first few weeks or months. what he can do on the first day, as i said, can be very substantive and can involve big changes but some of them are risky. on the first day would he rip up the iran deal. does he have other nations to follow along? probably not. would he actually on day one say we're no longer enforcing the obamacare mandate? maybe not because that presents a huge problem to the existing exchanges until they find a replacement. there is a lot before him he can do and that's why it will take much of it will take the congress and they're willing to work with him and happen within the first couple of months. as of monday i think you'll hear about a very high number of things. some of which he will get a lot of bang for his buck for but not all of which will make meaningful changes that day. >> shannon: and again we're watching live as he prepares, the president-elect, to depart new york to come here to be sworn in as a 45th president of the united states. charlie, when you look ahead to the way that trump may tackle some of these things and the fact that he will need congressional help on a lot of these things, how critical will the vice president-elect pence be. he knows his way around the hill and has relationships and respect there. how much do you think he will be a conduit and more active role we've seen from some vice presidents in the past? >> in a lot of ways he might be more crucial than joe biden was in the early years of the obama administration because of what you said. donald trump gets along with a lot of these people. he doesn't get a long with a lot of them as well. but he doesn't really know his way around this place and mike pence done and highly respected among republicans. i think he will be vital. she is right about they are going to need congress. one of the things that i think is very appealing about all this it's a unified republican government but it -- there is a lot of division within the republicans and the republicans on the hill are not going to write a blank check to donald trump. so many of them don't trust him. i think that return of the separation of powers and the balance of powers is a very good thing for america and i think that we'll have some very unusual and interesting and productive fights on capitol hill in the coming couple years. >> shannon: that separation of powers is in the federalist papers. >> yes. >> bill: noted. stand by. shannon, i think this is extraordinary what we're watching here. you've got an american businessman who admits his father gave him a loan of a million dollars when he was in his 20s and he went from the outer burroughs in new york and queens and take on gotham and did it well. now he descends from the 57th or 58th floor of a skyscraper in new york city with his name on it and goes by way of secret service across 56th street in mid town manhattan which has since been blocked off by the secret service for two entire avenues to get protection since he won in early november. now he goes to an airport that he has flown in and out of frequently using his own plane, and today that plane sits idle because he will be flown by the u.s. government, the u.s. air force down to our nation's capital. the day before he is sworn in to be the next president of the united states. this is something that he envisioned in his own mind several years ago. launching his campaign 18 months ago. and with the confidence that he has shown in all of his business ventures, he approaches campaign that way and now it is happening. and donald trump comes with his family to washington, d.c. to take the slogan that he made so famous, make america great again and try and enact just that. in this town that sits on $20 trillion of debt and a mountain more of problems and issues and policies and red tape that no other american has been able to break through in recent time. that is the challenge before him. and donald john trump in 25 hours stands on the west face of the u.s. capitol building and raises his right hand and takes that pledge and off we all go into arguably a new country, possibly a new world. >> shannon: it will be interesting to watch. as you said. nobody has had the kind of success it would take to undo some of the biggest problems he will walk into. he is -- listen, infused with confidence and with the bravado that he believes he has what he needs and he has the team he needs to get it done. we'll see. >> bill: also sean spicer making a bit of news. we're ready to go at 12:01 tomorrow. the moment after the swearing in begins in washington they will keep 50 national security advisors on from the obama team. they will be retained and many of those are focused on the fight on isis and to our viewers if you're joining us, there were bombing runs made against isis targets in libya overnight. we'll get more information from jennifer griffin at the pentagon there. the camera is zipping around trying to find the motorcade. also one more thing. sean spicer said there is no excuse for the delay tactics on behalf of democrats. they believe they are slow walking some of these nominees and one of them is now beginning his hearings. steve mnuchin for treasury secretary. he have is making a bit of a statement now and let's take our viewers to capitol hill and see about his opening remarks to members of that committee. >> as we arrive into the stadium packed with 20,000 people i saw the excitement that people had for a trump presidency. on our trip to flint, michigan, i went with the president-elect to visit the water treatment facilities and saw firsthand the crumbling pipes and the devastation caused by that lead-tainted water. we met with water engineers and saw the impact it had on that community and the families that live there. across the country on my travels with the president-elect, we heard the pained and heartbreaking stories of americans who had lost their jobs to workers in foreign countries. we heard the concerns of people and small business burdened by high taxes just trying to make ends meet. in my meetings with you over the last month, you've shared the concerns of your constituents like farmers who worry about the death tax wiping out the family farms. or workers who are nervous about whether their retirement accounts will be safe from ruin. one of the greatest reasons i was drawn to president-elect trump's campaign it was predicated on a commitment to stimulating prosperity for americans of all backgrounds whether they lived in the inner city of detroit, rural north carolina, the coal country of ohio, or west virginia, or any place in between. i share the president-elect's goal of economically empowering every citizen. we will not rest in our mission until that is a will also make best plays for companies to do business. sensible regulation is a necessity for healthy markets. however, i saw first-hand how regulatory excess can inhibit lending by financial institutions resulting in a lack of access to capital for small businesses and entrepreneurs. alexander hamilton remarked that wealth of a nation may be promoted by, quote, multiplying the objects of enterprise. hamilton new the unique value of entrepreneurial activity to a driving economy. from our nation's earliest days, american business has been the greatest repository of ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit in the world. we need to unleash that power to generate jobs and create abundance for americans of all backgrounds. we will work diligently to limit regulations, lower taxes on hard working americans and small the engine of economic growth firing on all cylinders again. in this age of unprecedented online attacks, we must also be vigilant about cybersecurity. if confirmed as secretary of the treasury, i will use my expertise in technology to protect americans' information at the i.r.s. and keep our financial architecture safe from malicious attacks. i will use the treasury department's office of terrorism and financial intelligence to stop the financing of terrorism. i will partner with other government agencies in our shared goal of allowing our financial markets to operate free from digital and physical threats. if i am confirmed as treasury secretary, i promise i will work hard with this committee, all members of congress, and the administration to put forth policies that will help american families reach and maintain prosperity. we will make america great again. thank you and i look forward to answering your questions. >> thank you, mr. mnuchin. we appreciate your comments. i have some questions we ask the nominees. is there anything you are aware of in your background that might present a conflict of interest and the duties of the office to which you've been nominated? >> i have not. i worked with the ethics office and signed an agreement with them to dispose of all my investments that could create any conflicts. >> do you know of any reason, personal or otherwise, that would presentent you from fully discharging the responsibility of the office to which you expect to be nominated? >> i do not. >> do you agree without reservation to respond to any reasonable summons to appear and testify before any duly constituted committee of the congress if you are confirmed? >> absolutely. i look forward to it. >> finally, do you commit to provide a prompt response in writing to any questions addressed to you by any senator of this committee? >> well, i provided over 5,000 pages to the staff. i think i have the record of that so i commit if there is any additional questions i will respond to them promptly. >> all right. i have to go outside here for a minute so instead of my starting the question period, i'll turn to the ranking member, my partner in this matter, and then i will ask questions when i come back. >> thank you very much. mr. chairman. mr. mnuchin, medicare finance is about taxes and it would be your responsibility, if confirmed, with the attempt to repeal the affordable care act, medicare solvency is threatened. what steps are needed in your view to strengthen this program that every senior in america relies on? >> first of all, senator, thank you very much and i very much appreciated that opportunity for us to meet yesterday and especially the opportunity to talk about tax reform with you, which i think is very important. i completely agree with you that medicare is very important and a very important program and the safety of that is an important issue. and if confirmed, that is something that i look forward to working with your staff on and make sure that we have the appropriate policies. >> now, if you are confirmed, mr. mnuchin, you would be the managing trustee for medicare. wouldn't you like to offer something by way of discussion about what you would be doing if confirmed? this is an important part of the job. >> senator, i acknowledge it's a very important part of the job and there is many parts of this job that i consider myself an expert on and understand and there are certain parts of this job that, if confirmed, i'll work diligently with this committee and others and there is a significant staff. this is a very important issue and as i've said i'm committed to be very responsible in my position there and make sure that i properly provide the support from the treasury department and i would take my responsibility very seriously. >> i will tell you that without any specifics on the matter that is so important you would have direct responsibility over, i find it very troubling that you won't discuss medicare. so let's go to terrorism financ finance. countries finance fighting isis and other terrorist groups, the treasury department plays a key role in fighting this battle. what would be your ideas on additional action to strengthening

Transcripts For MSNBCW MSNBC Live With Stephanie Ruhle 20170119

>> in my entire life, the most selfish greedy person that has affected me personally. >> a former texas governor rick perry gets his hearing amid a new report he didn't know what the job was when he accepted it. the big day. new details on donald trump's inauguration speech as we learn more about his first actions in office. >> both repeal and put into place executive action that will start the process of implementing the agenda that we ran on it. >> but also an end, the final hours of michelle obama on one last walk-throughhe white house as the president gives his final press conference. >> at my core, i think we're going to be okay. >> we begin today on capitol hill as donald trump takes his turn in the hot seat. the confirmation hearing for steve mnuchin. who is this guy? former partner at goldman sachs. before that at 9:30, rick perry starts his hearing for energy secretary. later this afternoon, president-elect trump himself takes part in a preinaugural ceremony laying a wreath at arlington. in a few minutes, we are expecting the first televised conference from sean spicer. there's a lot to go through but you're in luck because we have the best team in the business covering all of the angles and a fantastic panel this morning. i want to start with something i'm dying to cover. steven mnuchin. eamon javers is with me. what do you think is going to happen today? we've never heard from steven mnuchin. >> he's the nominee for treasury secretary and democrats this morning tell me they are going to go right after his experience at big banks in terms of foreclosing on american homeowners. they are going to say he ran a foreclosure machine and say he spent much of his career in the shadows. they don't really know who this guy is, not somebody who has been on the public stage before. they see him as one of the most vulnerable. chairman hatch of the finance committee is going to defend him and say he's eminently qualified for this position. all of this is just politics. there have been some reporting throughout the week that mnuchin was wobbly in hearing prep. they practice for what is going to happen today but i was told by a trump official last night that they feel that he is primed and ready to go for this morning. stephanie? >> there's a lot of criticism around some of donald trump's picks, that they are too rich and there's been pushback saying, don't say that. these people want to pursue the american dream. but we also learned that steven mnuchin had to amend his financial disclosure forms because he seemed to leave out 100 million bucks of real estate. how does that happen and why should the american people feel a-okay? >> there's two ways to look at this issue. the criticism of mnuchin as a big bank guy runs two ways. they foreclosed on people and that's terrible because these people lost their homes but defenders will argue, look, at this moment in history when big banks were failing, mnuchin stepped in with capital to buy these banks and put them on surer footing. of course they had to foreclose on people because of the disasters they made. he should get credit for restructuring these banks, keeping them alive and keeping some of the core business going at a time when not very many people were willing to step up with capital and defend these big banks. there's two arguments here. we'll see which one is more politically palatable. that could be very powerful politically. >> we want to point out, those people who did lose their homes, steven mnuchin and his bank, were adhering to government reactions. joining me is washington bureau chief, april ryan, author of the new book, "at mama's knee" and teresa maria kumar. april, i want to start with you. so many people have been blasting steve mnuchin about these foreclosures. he ran a bank that purchased another one. it was the business he was in and he was adhering to the law. >> he was adhering to the law but you could also do a little bit more of what the law requires and you have to think about this and i'm going to give you a little bit of history. during the clinton years, more minorities were able to purchase homes under the clinton administration through some of their initiatives and tax incentives, what have you. during the bush administration, there were banks that went in on these people who wanted homes and they said we have a group of minorities and they lost their homes with these no-interest loan the fst few years and they ballooned to like 5, 6, $10,000 a month. who could pay for that? so instead of dealing with the issue of we have this big problem and i'm going to stand here and fix the problem as the law says instead of going beyond when there is a national crisis and it was called a crisis. >> but that wasn't what his job was at the time. he wasn't a regulator or a lawmaker and couldn't you say that he understands that business, maybe he's someone who could fix it. >> i think he's the nominee of a president-elect who said i made a lot of money during the housing crisis. but what april is trying to say and truly emphasizing is that these individuals made their money on predatory lending. they doubled down and it wasn't -- it was something that was documented and some people, unfortunately, went to jail and other folks, especially for first-time homeowners and one of the biggest booms right now, it's not the housing market, it's the rental market because people cannot recuperate. >> and they don't even have good credit. >> and they don't have good credit. so when you start talking about this idea of a generational divide, millennials don't feel like they can aspire, they are still living at home. >> right. and rachel, the big thing about it is, people have to remember -- >> i have to go to the next person because you called me rachel and my name is stephanie. all right. moving on, final preparations are under way right now which is a little more than 24 hours to go before donald trump is sworn in as the 45th president of the united states. kristen ke kristen welker has the details. >> reporter: it's a busy day for president-elect donald trump. he officially comes to washington, d.c., today. he's going to participate in a wreath laying ceremony at arlington national cemetery. that's going to get under way at 3:30 and then this evening he'll attend a make america great again welcome concert. so the festivities in full swing here on the eve of the inauguration. he's also hard at work on his speech that he will deliver tomoow, his inaugural address. it will be a short address but it's going to focus on the themes of unity. the fact that he's going to be the president of all americans and, in fact, yesterday he tweeted out a picture of himself working on his inaugural address while at mar-a-lago. of course, president obama will be there along with the first lady as well as president-elect trump's former rival hillary clinton and bill clinton not in attendance close to 60 democratic lawmakers who say they plan to boycott the naukz. president obama not commenting on that. and a meeting with sean spicer is set to get under way in moments from now. stephanie, back to you. >> we'll bring you that press conference live. let's talk about tomorrow and the next couple of days. donald trump has said it is a message of unity. >> the challenge is that after the election they basically use the opportunity for the next 30, 40, 50 days as an opportunity to unify the country and come in and say i am the president for all. unfortunately, what he's done is he has the lowest approval rating for any president-elect coming in and he can be more divisive. >> here's the issue. this president-elect wants to do things in a different way. and people having a real issue with the difference, the thing that's not uniform with the last few presidents, at least of the modern era, he is saying that he's not politically correct. you have people who are watching his words, still watching his words and watching his actions as well as who he is putting around him and who he is not putting around him. people are watching this. so if he wants to unify, it's going to have to be more than words. i would guarantee, in his speech he also needs to have, knowing how he speaks, someone who is looking over. he needs a speechwriter. he's had some land mines when he's made comments and conversations, he's not one to know history. the truth of history, particularly when it comes to minorities. he needs to be someone who can understand that en you give that historic speech, you are now president of all america, all america. black, latino, asian. >> and a lot of folks are really hoping that he will turn down the temperature, not just within the race relations here in the united states but also globally. we have world leaders and the world tuning in saying that now you're assuming the white house, are you going to turn down the temperature so we can all feel safe? >> he might not listen to world leaders but ivanka spoke earlier to abc about her role. take a look. >> what's your reaction when you hear people say she's going to be essentially the real first lady? does it offend you? >> well, i think it's an inappropriate observation. there's one first lady and she'll do remarkable things. >> why do we have this big argument around will ivanka be the first lady? why can't there be a first family involved? wouldn't that reflect more of what modern families look like today? >> he has a first lady. he has a first lady who chooses to stay in new york with her son and that's fine. people are wondering who will be the woman who is in the east wing, who is working on the state dinners, who is talking to the community, who's coming up with some type of initiative. i know mrs. trump said something about bullying but we are used to, as a nation, having the first lady next to the glsh so what's wrong with change? >> i don't think it's change that people are uncomfortable with. it's a sense of nepotism. i want to say it's one of the very first times that you have both a family member and basically have a dotted line to this continued business interests. and that's what the american people are challenged with. all right. we're going to take a break. any minute now, sean spicer will be holding a press conference. we're awaiting confirmation hearings for rick perry and steve mnuchin to begin at the bottom of this hour. i got a chance to speak with three women who all had their homes seized by his companies after the fancial collapse. >> it was the hardest thing that we've ever gone through. to go through a foreclosure is not your american dream. it's your american nightmare. weight because the first ingredient is chicken. 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through foreclosure is not your american dream. it's your american nightmare. >> i think that they were just trying to get my house. >> we qualified. we did everything that they asked for. and more. we should still have our homes today. >> maybe 4 years old and to come after my house now, that's ridiculous. >> there was no cooperation it was a dead end. >> they wanted to kick you out? >> absolutely. >> given what you all have gone through with your homes, you may not be focused on who is going to be nominated as the next treasury secretary but when you looked up and saw the headlines and it was this individual who ran one west and you had this whole experience with, what was your reaction? >> i was shocked. >> when i heard that steve mnuchin was nominated, i was shocked. it's mind boggling how someone like you said made billions off of others misfortunes and you're going to put him in charge for treasury? it just doesn't make sense. >> his spokesman said, "the democrats are playing politics with catchy sound bites that blatantly neglect steven's record. upon inheriting a portfolio, he ran a modification machine that took extraordinary steps to save as many homes as possible." cit group which runs one west now did not return requests for comments. i want to bring in a man who truly understands the industry as well as donald trump's picks. anthony scarimucci, you're fresh off the slopes of switzerland. >> yes. my heart goes out to those people. it's steve mnuchin is a very compassionate person. what's left out of that narrative is he saved a lot of jobs out of one west when he went in there and he did save 100,000 homes. last piece left out of the narrative, because of the way that the regulations are, even if you're trying to save somebody's home, sometimes because the government is set up in a way where the banks have to keep a certain amount of capital, the foreclosure happens anyway. so it was a near perfect storm. you and i both lived the 2008 for example crisis. it was a terrible situation for me at that time. and so my heart goes out to them. what they are missing is the opportunity here to have a financial genius, a policy wonk, someone that is super close of the president of the united states to prosecute an agenda that leads to working class families and middle class families having higher wages. for me, i understand that. i understand why they are upset. >> anthony, he didn't -- >> i want everybody to look at the totality of the situation. >> he didn't get into that trade or that business because he wanted to save people and keep them in their homes. >> you see, i think that's unfair. >> come on now. he wen itnto it becse it was an extraordinary trade. >> you don't know him as well as i know him. >> you're going to tell me he bought indymac for a public service? >> i didn't say he bought it for a public service but i though this man personally. we've been in this campaign and this transition period over the last nine months. he's a very compassionate human being. he looked at the situation and said, okay, this is opportunity. this is what america is about. >> anthony scaramucci, one of the biggest benefitters. >> are you saying it's wrong for ron paulson to analyze the -- >> i'm doing this to help americans. >> john paulson has investors in his pension fund. he was making an analytical bet that yielded the results for pension fund holders. it's very, very unfair. we have to give the narrative in a very balanced point of view. steven is a compassionate person, he's a policy wonk. i got him as a financial genius. the president-elect could have picked anyone to be his treasury secretary and, believe me, tons of people wanted that job. he picked steven because he knows he can prosecute the agenda up on the hill and it will make america great again, it will provide opportunity for the middle-class people and working-class people. so let's just give it real balance. he went into the trade for a business venture and make economic return by taking economic risk. >> there you go. >> he did also save 170,000 homes. >> yes, he did. >> and he saved countless jobs at one west. that bank was -- >> he did. >> if indymac was left on its own, it would have gone nowhere and so many people would have lost their jobs. you're right there. >> let's bring those people and go to the cafe later today and interview some of the people who -- >> i'm not going out to lunch with you. >> let's have lunch with the people whose jobs have been saved and sit down with them and say thank god steve mnuchin came in here. >> let's go beyond that. are these cabinet members, will donald trump work for the american people? i'm watching tom price's hearing yesterday and, i've got to tell you, i'm scratching my head. how does a guy who's sitting in congress up for hss to say, it's a good idea for me to buy a medical device stock. you know what a discretionary account is. you know when it's, i'm going to have anthony scaramucci run my money. that's not what happened here. >> it's a much broader issue in terms of where the rules are and what's going up on the hill. change the rules. if you don't like -- >> why didn't he say that? >> well, because i'm not tom price. i'm not inside his head. i can't explain what he's saying or not saying. i like the guy a great deal. i think his health care program and the reenengineering of health care in the united states that will deliver health care to everyone in the united states, it will make america healthier, is going to come from tom price and his team. listen, these are very tough people up on that hill. this is definitely an interesting town. it's way different from wall street in new york and i'm learning that very quickly. and so there's a little bit of a viciousness that goes on. >> anthony, you're right. i watch these hearings -- >> he's a publish servant. let's give him a chance to change things. >> i wish people weren't given a free pass and other people weren't just targeting the nominees. but tom price had an opportunity to say, this is what the rules are, we should change the rules. he danced around it. chris collins overheard saying, can i tell you all of the people that have been made rich by moving -- >> that's unfair. >> what's unfair? >> it's the most important hour of his life and he's getting bombarded with questions and he's really trying to focus on the policies and the agenda of the new trump administration and what he wants to do. and i think human beings looking at that situation, we can pick little tiny things and get upset with him. i think it's unfair. >> anthony, your word is your bond and policies come second. trust comes first. >> but what is there not to trust about him? he didn't do anything illegal or wrong. he's trying to take ce of his family. he's got a great legislative agenda up on the hill. he's got phenomenal plans for the health care system. let's give credit to president-elect. he's got amazing picks. when you start with mike pence and 14 cabinet members that are going to be joining him shortly. >> speaking of you, my friend. >> well, i didn't mean it that way. i was really more focusing on the cabinet people. >> welcome any time. >> thank you so much. fresh back from davos. any minute now, press secretary sean spicer will hold a briefing on the festivities planned for tomorrow's inauguration. we're awaiting confirmation hearings for rick perry and steven mnuchin at the bottom of the hour. befi was active.gia, i was energetic. then the chronic, widespread pain drained my energy. my doctor said moving more helps ease fibromyalgia pain. he also prescribed lyrica. fibromyalgia is thought to be the result of overactive nerves. lyrica is believed to calm these nerves. for some, lyrica can significantly relieve fibromyalgia pain and improve function, so i feel better. lyrica may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior. or swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, muscle pain with fever, tired feeling, or blurry vision. common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain and swelling of hands, legs and feet. don't drink alcohol while taking lyrica. don't drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. those who have had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. with less pain, i can be more active. ask your doctor about lyrica. with not food, become food? thankfully at panera, 100% of our food is 100% clean. no artificial preservatives, sweeteners, flavors, or colors. panera. food as it should be. welcome back. i'm stephanie ruhle. you're watching msnbc and we're beginning with a very big day on capitol hill, a nation when we are seeing the incoming press secretary is going to be holding his first briefing on the festivities planned for tomorrow's inauguration. but we're also going to be watching those confirmation hearings. rick perry is starting any day now and steven mnuchin will begin at 10:00 a.m. i want to bring in kelly o'donnell first to see what we should expect from rick perry. kelly? >> i think we lost her. anthony, start with you. you can make the case with us. rick perry, why is he the right man for the job? >> he ran one of the most successful states in the union, the fastest job growing over 14 years. that state, as we all know, is one of the big energy pieces, footprint of the united states and i think what he has is a commercial attitude about energy. we will focus on the united states government if we're going to solve our entitlement programs and get that from the energy portion of the natural resources. he understands that. he's an entrepreneurial governor and cabinet secretary and he's got the admiration and respect of all of us, especially the president-elect. >> now, are we overstating or being too dramatic. when rick perry was first nominated and accepted, he didn't actually know what the job entailed and people are aghast. are we taking too much of it in. >> rick perry will be someone who doesn't have nuclear experience in the energy department. it's a misnomer. and what was interesting, that said, it's basically a misnomer because it's controlling our nuclear arsenal and something that richard brought out, which i think is absolutely right, having that kind of experience and understanding how we play in the world that energy secretary was the one that came in and was actually able to negotiate the iran deal. it's not just having a footprint or understanding oil but who is protecting who and understands -- >> he might have been but we have to watch out for this. when you have the secretary of state as well as rick perry who could possibly -- probably be the next energy secretary, there's a concern that globally, this will be about energy diplomacy. this is a big concern right now. we saw something about energy way back in george w. bush years where we're talking about the iraq war. people are very concerned and watchful about how this is going to play out. energy, oil, even our coal. very big globally. china wants our coal. we have to really guard against making this about energy. it's much more than that. >> one of the reasons that rick perry was strong as governor in texas, they are much -- a lot of power comes from the legislator. so he's able to negotiate and bring people together but actually the governor ship in texas is one of the weakest in all 50 states. >> rick perry just arrived. anthony, you're just back from davos where we heard from leaders that had concerns. what's your response to that? >> i brought a food taster. that's my tenth year there. it's a tough place for our agenda. stop insulating yourself and get out into the public, whether it's in the working class in france or -- >> it's about globalization. >> i don't go to davos but -- >> they are talking to each other and get everything wrong because they don't see what is going on. >> i had a conversation last year and it's the idea of mass migration and countries and heads of states all of a sudden going back into the corner. and it's one of the places where you actually have conversations that people interact because they are coming in from the front lines and saying how do we solve these problems. >> sure. >> their concern is that we have a president-elect that's going on twitter storms and all of a sudden upending south asia unnecessarily. >> upending a lot of things. >> this is so much fun. i don't see it like that at all. i think his twitter communication strategy is going to write about how brilliant it was. at the end of the day, he has had to come up over the mainstream media. we kind of disagree. >> we are very much going to disagree. >> disagree respectfully. at the end of the day, he's trying to reach his base as it relates to globalism if we don't fix the problems of the american worker and the american middle class which all of us here that study finance know that the real wages over the last 10 years are down even though we had two good quarter of wages recently. you don't fix the wages for the middle class and lower class in the united states which is the world's gdp. you have a much harder time. >> i've got to take you to the hill for a moment because kelly o'donnell is standing by. rick perry is here. >> we lost her. >> west virginia is prepared to also offer introductory remarks for our nominee. governor perry, i would like to extend a warm welcome to you and to your family, know that i appreciate your desire to serve, your willingness to become our next -- >> kelly, you're standing right outside of rick perry's hearings. what do you expect this morning? >> reporter: well, i'm nearby. stephanie, good morning. this will be a chance for rick perry to have to sort of rewrite some history. there was a time as a presidential candidate where the federal government could close and now he's asking the senate to confirm him to lead that very department. he comes from a history of being texas' longest serving governor and the oil business is prominent. he does have knowledge in that area but there have also been reports that this has included a learning curve during his time in the five or six names to be named a donald trump nominee for this position. there's a vast portfolio at the department of energy, there's a lot of areas where donald trump's pick, rick perry, has to learn more. he's bringing a different kind of experience than the outgoing energy secretary moniz under president obama who has a scientific background. but it's not uncommon for him to be appointed to this role. this is a chance for rick perry, in some ways, to use his retail political skills with these senators to try to convey a sense of ease that he could lead a department like this even though it presents some challenges in terms of his own experience. this is a job that he very much sought, we are told, that certainly what he wants to do related to the jobs and energy sector is one. stephanie? >> thanks, kelly. i know we have to go to break but i get the twitter thing. there's a lot to celebrate about it. it's not about being a liberal or republican. how about common decency? does donald trump just not need to dial it back 10%, i win, you lose, you're a loser, you suck, how does that help anyone? >> i think he's going to get sworn in in a couple of hours here, right up there. and i'll use a quote that he said often. he's going to be extremely presidential president. so let's see what happens. >> we've got to take a break. >> last word. misguided. steve mnuchin's confirmation hearing is being monitored as well at rick perry's. ay with us. asmy family tree,ing i discovered a woman named marianne gaspard... it was her french name. then she came to louisiana as a slave. i became curious where in africa she was from. so i took the ancestry dna test to find out more about my 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you're watching msnbc. i'm stephanie ruhle. at this very moment, we're awaiting sean spicer, the incoming president-elect's new spokesman will be giving his first press conference. rick perry, he's set to start his hearing on the hill in just a few moments to be energy secretary and steven mnuchin has high hopes to be treasury secretary around the country, there are thousands of americans making their way here to washington, d.c., for tomorrow's inauguration, including a group of trump voters from north carolina who want to witness their president sworn in as the 45th president of the united states. nbc's miguel almaguer is on the road with some of those voters. your group is pretty pumped. is that fair to say? >> reporter: oh, yeah, they are excited. we are only about four hours away from d.c. as we get closer, the excitement builds. teresa lewis is heading the party headed to d.c. talk to me about why you're so excited. >> we are so excited because this was a very interesting election and when you look at the electoral map, we're excited to be there andeart of the hiory being made. my son will be joining us in d.c. >> it's a big day for you guys. we talked about the chance that you could have watched this all from home but he decided you wanted to be a part of history? president carter, all of the people that represent our country in congress and just to be in the wonderful historic city of d.c. >> talk to us about who will -- >> my husband jim, we have him in the back. >> john is the driver. >> yes. and my son will meet us with us tonight in d.c. >> there you go. everybody headed to washington, d.c., and as we get closer, the excitement builds. sean spicer will deliver his first press conference. we're also waiting for steven mnuchin to start his hearing at 10:00 a.m. and rick perry sitting down moments from now. we have a lot happening. tomorrow, one day from now, donald j. trump will be inaugurated to be the 45th president of the united states. stay with us. help you take on a, or fill a big order or expand your office and take on whatever comes next. find out how american express cards and services can help prepare you for growth at open.com. in welcome back. i'm stephanie ruhle. we're awaiting big events. sean spicer giving his first press conference and rick perry sitting down for the hearings and steven mnuchin looking to be the next treasury secretary. i want to talk about donald trump tomorrow and his need in the country to unify, to bring people together. it doesn't seem to be happening yet. if he doesn't do it, what's the country going to look like? because today for people across the country, having to explain things to their kids every day, the hate that's rising, what are we going to do? >> a divided united states. that's what we are. we are presently divided united states. come 12:01 tomorrow, we'll have the post obama era. that's the new marker. what does that look like, a divided nation, because the rubber band inclusion for barack obama, historians believe him to be a rights president and some say it's broken. we are a countrying to find our footing as people from all sides of the spectrum from every party are feeling disenfranchised and when their money is funny, they are upset. when it's affecting their pocketbook, they are upset. they are not covered. >> but maybe people didn't feel as included as it seemed. they voted for donald trump. >> and i think this is one of the challenges within the progressive movement, the fact that there are so many defections from the movement that voted twice for president obama and then voted for donald trump. it was the sense that, yes, the narrative that the economy is recuperating, many of those people never got their homes or jobs back. there is this idea that they are feeling left behind and in an increasingly this idea they're feeling behind in an increasingly modernized, glob globalized world. there is a huge opiate epidemic that is disproportionately impacting middle class and working class ro all races. he's talked about it. he's the first candidate to give voice to it. i was in colorado, i was driving through, i stopped in a small town. it was heartbreaking to see every store front completely shuttered. the ones that were open, you could clearly see they had addiction. that was an epidemic happening across the country and he didn't give voice to that. >> then if donald trump put those people back to work and help those communities, then all the issues we're so offended by and he's a bully and his tough-talking ways -- >> this is a challenge -- >> maybe he'll weigh in on it. sean spicer starting his press conference now. >> i brought a special guest with me. it is my distinct honor to introduce the head of the transition team, our next vice president, mike pence. >> thank you. thank you, sean. good morning. it is a momentous day before a historic day. i'm pleased to have a chance to report to the american people and all of you. the progress that we have made at the president-elect's direction, preparing a team that will be ready to serve the american people and make america great again on day one. i'm grateful to be with all of you today. before i give you a brief summary, let me first express our thoughts and prayers on behalf of the president-elect and myself for president bush and barbara, they're on the hearts of every american. this morning we understood they had a good night last night but we encourage every american to remember president bush and his wonderful wife, barbara, in their prayers. 7 2 days ago we elected donald trump to be the president of k america. 71 days ago, he set an ambitious schedule and he asked me to chair the effort. i was grateful and honored to be given the opportunity to do just that. when we took over, i was impressed wit the work that governor christie and the team had done prior. more than 170 interviews had already been done prior to election day. i'm pleased to report that as of this morning's announcement for our secretary of agriculture, all 21 nominees have been name, 27 total individuals have been named that require the con isn't -- consent of the cabinet and we have 36 beach head nominees that will begin following the inauguration bright and early monday morning. there is a memorandum that will be in your possession by the end of this briefing that i'll be conveying to the president-elect today to give him a full report on the transition efforts and the progress that we've made. allow me to give you a couple of top lines. in addition to the hundreds of interviews and meetings that the president-elect has conducted in the course of this transition, e i'm pleased to report there have been 170 be interviews prior to the election, more than 200 people since the election. i've set down with what we call our tiger teams for full vetting and review. more than 86,000 resumés have been submitted to the transition and over 4,000 candidate referrals and on the eve of the inauguration, our beach head teams are ready to land and go to work in these various agencies of the incoming administration. on legislate ive affairs, we organized more than 90 volunteers to create the 27th publicly announced senate confirm nominees, designees attended so far more than 370 visits with senators and will continue to work very, very closely to support their efforts as they move toward confirmation. there's been work on agency action as i mentioned, policy implementation, though, has also been very brisk in the course of this transition. specifically we focused at the president-elect's direction on a day one, a day 100 and a day 200 action plan for keeping our word to the american people and putting the president-elect's promises into practice. 14 policy implementation teams, 90 experts searching in an advisory capacity as we formulated executive action and legislative policy to pursue the goals of this administration. in addition to that, we've been listening. we established through the course of the transition the office of nationwide engagement, o.n.e. for sure, and they've been busy, 21 sessions conducted through january 1 through 13, 22 business days met with and heard top policy issues and concerns from more than 1,200 organizations, associations and various interests and entities. there's an awful lot of people to thank and there's more details you'll see in the memorandum that i'll be conveying to the president-elect today. let me begin by expressing my appreciation first and foremost to president barack obama and vice president joe biden. the cooperation that the outgoing administration has extended in this transition effort would make every american proud, and i know the president-elect has expressed his appreciation, not just for the hospitality but for the collaboration of this administration in supporting our team's transition efforts and i would reiterate that today. also very grateful to the gsa administrator, denise turner-roth and her outstanding team at gsa for the work they've done to support our efforts and grateful for the vice chairs and executive committee of the transition effort who have put in very long hours. a number of them are with us today. ben carson is with us, rudy giuliani, jeff sessions, marcia blackburn, tom reed represent part of the team and we express our appreciation for the president-elect for the many, many hours you put in helping us assemble this day-one tea and we thank the executive committee who donated literally hundreds of hours in assisting us in preparing the recommendations to the president-elect over the course of this. lastly, i have just two more things to mention, number one is just to thank my team. you know, there's an old saying back in indiana, when you see a box turtle on a fence post, one thing you know they had help getting there. while it's been my privilege to chair this transition effort, the team we've had around us and the extraordinary seven-day-a-week hours is greatly to their credit. i want to thank director rick dearborn, who has done a masterful job, extremely thankful for the energetic reince priebus, don mcgann, literally working almost around the clock in supporting the efforts of this transition effort. for our team here, bill haggerty on presidential appointments, ron nichol on agency action, jamie burke and elizabeth pinkerton on personnel, eric uland on legislative affairs and a ball of a team that would make anyone proud. the progress we have made and the extraordinarily brisk pace is a tribute to the integrity and work ethic of these men and women. i know the president-elect is grateful for their efforts and as chair i am as well. ken haguen is taking over as executive director to wind down the position as we continue in the weeks and months ahead to fill out the balance of the administration. but this is the team that got us here to this day at the direction of the president-elect. lastly, i'm especially pleased and i know the president-elect is especially pleased that we're wrapping up this transition on schedule and under budget. we will actually return some 20% of taxpayer funding back to the u.s. treasury and tt is just exactly in keeping with the president-elect's expectations going forward. he is a businessman that knows how to sharpen his pencil and i'm very pleased to report today that we were able to do that and restore those dollars to the treasury. let me say i've been very honored to serve as chair of the transition effort but all that we've accomplished here, credit goes to a great team, our poll tears, literally hundreds and hundreds of volunteers who have put in hours and hours to support this effort. our exit have committee, our vice chairs, our staff, but really the credit i can tell you goes to our president-elect. sometimes people stop me on the street and they say how are you holding up? i can't imagine how busy you are. and i have to tell them the energy and expectation of donald trump is contagious. i'm plowroud to be at a place we we've named our entire cabinet before we reach the historic day tomorrow. our job was to make sure

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