Im michael smerconish, live from philadelphia, the city of brotherly love. We welcome our viewers at home and around the world on this, our first broadcast on the watch of president elect donald j. Trump. After his kinder, gentler victory speech and a long meeting with president obama, trump is assembling his swamp draining team, who is in . Who is out . Sean spicer is here. Chris christie was the first of trumps president ial opponents to jump on board, but is he about to be shunned due to bridgegate or a loyalty issue . And continued protests about the Election Results last night in cities around the nation under the banner not my president , one reason clinton actually won the popular vote but lost the Electoral College, so some are lobbying the electors to switch their vote before december 19. And others want to do away with the system entirely. Can either happen . Plus, youll meet david urban, the man who finally delivered my home state pennsylvania to a gop president ial candidate. And ill be joined by cardcarrying liberal thomas frank to begin the democratic autopsy. Finally, while a lot of pollsters had to eat crow after the election, expert sam wong promised he would eat a bug if trump got more than 240 electoral votes. Hes here. And i hope hes hungry. But first, he didnt get my vote, neither did she, but hes about to be my president and until his official conduct demands otherwise, i intend to afford him the dignity and respect befitting someone who assumes the highest office in the land. Thats what i promised when before the election i said here that regardless of the victor, the outcome would require forbearance. At the time, Hillary Clintons election seemed a certainty that donald trump was victorious doesnt change my premise. Im willing to give the president elect a fresh start in the name of national unity. That doesnt mean that ill soon forget the past but that from this moment forward it will be his actions as president that will determine his reception at least from me. However remote, there is the prospect of him surprising us and governing in a manner different than he campaigned. The donald trump who accepted victory in the wee hour of wednesday morning was not the candidate who stood on stage and belittled little marco or lie n ted. Instead, his acceptance speech was gracious. Hillary has worked very long and very hard over a long period of time and we owe her a major debt of gratitude for her service to our country. I mean that very sincerely. Now its time for america to bind the wounds of division. We have to get together. The next morning secretary clinton wearing nonpartisan purple struck a similar cord. Donald trump is going to be our president. We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead. Our constitutional democracy enshines the peaceful transfer of power, we dont just respect that, we cherish it. Even president obama said that he was heartened by trumps conciliatory words noting were all on the same team. Were all americans first. Trump, clinton, obama, theyre all acting like statesmen and providing leadership that the nation desperately needs. Now their message needs to be followed by other politicians and the public. Partisan competition, thats healthy. Democracy depends upon it, but its time to elevate the debate, to return civility to governance and end partisan gridlock. This is not a time for pay backs. Perhaps its naive to think that trump is capable of any better, given the way he campaigned with such vengeance toward crooked hillary, but looking back on primary season, he gave me cause for hope of how he might lead when he quoted two kor rin thee y yans at liberty university. His walk ard reference to the new testament evidenced a lack of awareness to beliefs to his supporters. I would like to think i heard words from a man who wasnt a purist but a deal maker, a pragmatist who knows how to sell and close a deal. This former democrat who once contributed to the candidate he just defeated never showed an ideological commitment to any extreme before becoming a candidate. And maybe thats what will get it in white house, a compromiser in chief. One can only hope. This mornings New York Times reports that trump himself was shocked that he won. Joining me now a man who was on the inside from day one, rnc chief strategist and communications director, sean spicer. Sean, first, congratulations on an unbelievable victory. Well, good morning and thank you. Be honest, did you think you would get north of 240 electoral votes . We knew there was a path that we had the momentum and you saw the number of people that were coming out and waiting in lines in those rallies the last couple days. When you do this and youre this invested on either side frankly because i know the Clinton Campaign would say the same thing, you have to have that hope and you have to believe that, but i dont think that i hfr r ever thought i would see a number go north of 279 and see states like michigan and some of the counties in wisconsin that went heavily for obama that flipped to trump. So, this victory is one that was, you know, up and down the ticket. The Trump Movement and message really resonated from one coast to another. Lets talk transition. What happened to govern kristy . I dont know. I know that obviously mr. Trump has a ton of faith in governor pence and his connections and stature in washington. He has been a very successful governor and been a very successful member of the house of representatives. Now that were in that phase, he obviously wanted to look at some of the people that would lead that transition more carefully and more thoroughly and he made a decision. Reportedly mr. Trump said that it was because of governor pences contacts and experience in washington that he wanted him to play this lead role for the transition. But if, in fact, hes turning to governor pence because of experience in d. C. And cultivating names like giuliani and gingrich maybe even jamie diamond, it doesnt sound like the swamp is getting drained, if youre relying on the same old faces. Well, i dont think those are all the same old faces. Mayor giuliani never held a senior post in washington, d. C. Jamie diamond hasnt. Not that i know anything about those names. I think more importantly about the names is the vision. Leadership starts a the top. Everybody who comes into a Trump Administration will understand whats expected of them to change how this government operates and is more responsive to the American People and tries to lift people up and in bureaucracy and get things like veterans care to those who need it most. Your boss, Reince Priebus under consideration and steve bannon as chief of staff. Would you worry about the message sent if its bannon. If he is the chief of staff, what message does that send . Again, were basically not even 100 hours out from one of the most historic elections in modern history. I think there will be plenty of time for mr. Trump to make staff decisions and people for him to articulate why he has chosen different people to carry out various roles and implement his vision. So, i dont want to get the cart before the horse. Well let mr. Trump make those decisions as to who he will ask to serve in his administration at an appropriate time. Sean, at the outset of the program i said hes my president. You know, i am of the opinion and i would have said the same thing if it were Hillary Clinton today that he is deserving of a fresh start. Let me ask you this question, do you think that he has an obligation to be conciliatory . I ask that question because the likes of pat buchanan and Rush Limbaugh say, hey, we won. We have both houses and lets go full on now with our agenda. Theres no need to be looking left ward as we advance. What do you say . Well, i think tone matters and i think mr. Trump struck that tone early wednesday morning when he talked about what he wanted to do and how he wanted to do it and how he wanted to bring people together. He struck a similar tone during his meetings at capitol hill and meeting in the oval office with president obama. Theres a big difference, though. He when it comes to setting his agenda and understanding frankly the mandate that the American People gave him from around the country, they want him to do what he said he was going to do. They want him to bring the change. They want him to enact policies that are going to look after the american worker, the american family, business owners. I think mr. Trump wants everybody who understands that the American People spoke very loudly and very clearly on tuesday, that they are ready for change, that they want an end to the status quo, that theyre tired of the excusings and they want to see things getting done. If you want to be part of that, then youre welcome to join and we welcome you to that movement. I dont know which President Trump were going to get. I look at the past 48 hours with regard to these protesters and you know he sent out successive tweets, the first that was critical of the media and referred to the protesters as being unfair and then he followed it up friday morning and friday morning he was saying, you know, democracy is a wonderful thing and i want to embrace everybody and he was much more conciliatory. Explain that dichotomy to me and tell me which of those two is about to become the president. Everyone has a transition period from being a candidate to going into the governing phase f you will. He is in that phase now. Okay the campaign is over. I am now about to assume the presidency of the United States. And so there is a sort of transition into that phase, if you will. But hes clearly struck the right tone in the second tweet where he talks about the beauty of our country and our First Amendment rights and the ability to go out there and express ourselves. And yet we want them to everybody who may not have voted for him to understand that we welcome them to be part of this. We want their support. We hope that they will give mr. Trump and governor pence an opportunity to lead this country and be part of the process and have their voice heard. Youve run communications for the rnc. Your the chief strategist for the rnc. I have a serious question, do you believe that he sent both of those tweets himself . I assume so, yeah. You assume youre not sure. Did you ask him . Well, i wasnt with him, so i dont know. But mr. Trump is not a guy who hes very clear about he speaks for himself. So i dont think that Somebody Just randomly did that. That wouldnt be in keeping with how he operates. I know, but theres no consistency there. They truly dont seem to be coming from the same person, which is why i ask. Again, were making a lot to do about nothing. He understands the role that hes playing now. I think the tone that he struck in his meetings in capitol hill and with the president , the comments that he made early wednesday morning are what youre going to continue to see, someone who really, truly cares about this nation, who wants to do better, who wants to enact policies that will help every segment of this country who wants to be inclusive. So i think youll see more and more of that now that the Campaign Phase is slowly fading away. All right. Final question, you clearly have the credentials to be the White House Press secretary. Do you think you have the temperament . I ask that because i dont think i would. I dont think i would be able to stand at that podium and maintain i would be doing a slow burn. I dont think that i could maintain my cool while listening to some of that back and forth with the press core. Do you have the temperament . Ill tell mr. Trump youre not interested. But look, i enjoy my job now. Im honored that ive been able to be part of this movement, this campaign. Frankly this party. Its been an honor to have this position and i thank Reince Priebus for giving me this opportunity. Thats an answer that a press secretary would give. Thats a good answer. Thats good. Youre qualified. Youre in. Sean, thank you. Im out of time but thank you so much. Thanks, michael. Lot of tweets already coming in in particular about my opening commentary. Smerconish not a chance in hell. You dont get to dog whistle cheat to win and then think you get a pass. Youre an ass to suggest it. I might be an ass, hes my president. The guy won fair and square and im just saying im moving forward. Im not forgetting. Im moving forward. Time for another one, well have a lot of tweets during the course of this program. Quickly. He won, michael. He does not need haters to give him a socalled fresh start. He was never stale. Im not a hater. Im a critic. Im a critic of all of them. Next, what does the future hold for Chris Christie . He was the first of trumps onetime gop opponents to get on the trump train, but that was before the bridgegate trial and his criticism of trumps socalled locker room talk when the billy bush video was leaked. Yesterday came word that Vice President elect mike pence would be running the transition. Matt, read the tea leaves, what just happened with christie . The positive way of looking at this if youre in the christie camp, im hearing this from them over the last 24 hours is that this is not a demotion the fact that he went from the head of Transition Team to the vice chair of the Transition Team. It is an indication that another job could be in the offing. They think it is in the offing and potentially that job, the one that i believe christie would want the most is attorney general. Youre going to be attorney general of the United States you cant be in charge of building out a new government. So, in that sense, it would make sense that this is why he is down from that position. They say theres the natural on boarding of the campaign. The Campaign Team is coming on. Pence is involved now. So christie moves away and he has another job coming. Matt christie has two major problems while the nation was focussed on the election, there was a bridgegate trial with two convictions. He was not charged with anything, but what did we learn from the bridgegate trial about govenor christie, if anything . Right. Right this is obviously an issue and something thats playing against him. We learned that there was a pattern of retaliation that was happening in the Christie Administration against way ward politicians. Politics for one reason or another were against christie. There were revenge plots against them that went up to the top of the administration. We were told by both prosecutors and Defense Attorneys that christie was aware of this scheme to close lanes to the George Washington bridge to punish a mayor and cause a traffic jam because that mayor did not endorse christie. He continues to deny this but frankly lied over the last few days in his role of it. He said he fired three of those who have been convicted in this as soon as he found out about it. Its not true. In fact, two of those people resigned with praise from him during the coverup period before it came out in the press. So, you know, hes really like trying to clean up this bridgegate mess, but it has certainly been a mess. Its taken a toll on his reputation in new jersey. He is at 19 Favorability Ratings even most republicans dont believe he didnt know anything about it as he claimed. Certainly in trump tower theres concern that this could dog him, but you know, with the republican senate, i dont see why he couldnt get confirmed for any job that President Trump might want to give him. Im putting up on the screen a photograph that was taken on september 11, 2013. I dont know whether you have a monitor, but you know the photograph to which i refer. According to the evidence in the bridgegate trial, what is taking place in this photograph . While the traffic was happening in ft. Lee, christie went to a 9 11 ceremony on 9 11 at ground zero. Its run by the same agency, the Port Authority that runs the bridge. While he is there, while people are stuck in traffic as he is preparing to go into the solemn ceremony, according to those in the picture, he was told about this traffic jam and they laughed about it. They were told that they were there was some indication and wink and a nod that they were punishing this mayor of this little town of ft. Lee for not endorsing him and they all had a good laugh about it. Christie has denied this as completely bogus. I was about to say, matt katz, thank you again for being here, Chris Christie says thats just not true. He would remember it. Thats not why he is laughing. I appreciate your analysis and will continue to follow your reportage at wnyc. Thank you for that. Thank you, michael. Lots of tweets. Were being overwhelmed. How can you justify proudly announcing that you voted neither for trump or clinton. What kind of example are you setting . Here is the kind of example im setting, i am 54. When i turned 18, i registered to vote in the spring of 1980 and i have never missed an election, not one, not dogcatcher, not president , not ever. So, you can question me on for whom i vote, but ive never missed my opportunity to exercise the franchise. Go talk to the 50 million who didnt get out and cast a ballot, frankly its more than that, its half the country. Still to come as with bush gore in 2000, the candidate who won the popular vote is not our next president so theres petitions to get electors to switch their vote or dump the system all together. Youre about to meet one of the electors. And, neuro scientist polling expert sam wong promised to eat a bug if donald trump won more than 240 electoral votes. So viewers have been sending in helpful recipes. Lets take a look at some. Olive oil and glazed vinegar to mask the taste. Well, he will be here at least to eat some crow. One of many pieces in my life. So when my asthma symptoms kept coming back on my longterm control medicine. I talked to my doctor and found a missing piece in my asthma treatment with breo. Oncedaily breo prevents asthma symptoms. Breo is for adults with asthma not well controlle