Heres lester holt. And theres a live picture of the white house of the capitol, actually, of course. Ands theres the white house. In a short time, president elect trump and president obama will begin their trip to the u. S. Capitol where mr. Trump will be sworn in around noon eastern time. It will be the start of a new era in washington and this country, what many see as a clean break from the last eight years under president obama. I am joined for our coverage by chuck todd, our political director and moderator of meet the press by tom brokaw who has covered the comings and goings of president s since Lyndon Johnson and by nicole wallace, nbc political news analyst. Tom, let me start with you. We have seen in many, many campaigns where, you know, harsh words were said. But to see the relationship that weve seen between president obama and president elect trump in the last several ek well, i think that president obama wanted to go out on a high note. Hes got very good Approval Ratings as he leaves office. I think he has a great, great sense of the dignity of this moment and the importance of it. And the country he also understands needs to be healed and perhaps hes thinking we can begin the process, the two of us, for all the division that went on during the campaign. Now its time to find ways that we can Work Together. Its a xwolic act, but it can be very important, in my judgment. Chuck, theyre sitting down having coffee right now at the white house. President obama calling donald trump at with one point unfit, woefully unprepared. We know donald trump questioned his citizenship. Talk us through this. Look, it is, in some ways, it may be remarkable that they have forged a relationship, but its they have. Its out of necessity with president obamas motivation, one, i think being what m brought up. The other part is the Serious Business of the transition. Part of it is how he was treated by george w. Bush in his transition and he wants to pay that forward. But this relationship, look, donald trump has reciprocated as barack obama has reached out. Donald trump has also reached back out to him. And by the way, joe biden and mike pence have forged an interesting personal relationship. Look, it is helpful to the country to know and i think for anybody thats not excited, but feeling anxious about today, they probably feel better knowing that president obama and president the next President Trump do get along. This as youre looking at, this is the peaceful transfer of power that we have talked about or even some of the low points of the campaign. This is the way it is done in the United States. Nicole, what about the issue of advice . We know theyve had a lot of conversations. I would suspect what is happening right now is more polite in nature, but how much business has gotten done . How much influence do you think b president obama has had on mr. Trump . Well, listen, that first meeting between the two of them just two days after the election was extraordinary and it went long. It went 30 minutes longer than planned. And there donald trump, who created the Birther Movement sat almost knee to knee and was making the arguments for his lack of fitness for the presidency. But they both stand to gain something important to each of them. Donald trump is not a particularly ideallogical man. And while hes made some idea lod idealogical appointments, theres an opportunity for president obama to shape some of the issues he cares about the most. I know theyve had conversations about the future of obamacare, how President Trump will tweak it, rebrand it in some ways and keep some of the things most important to president obama. And on Donald Trumps part, he is going to have a moment in his presidency where hes going to country that didnt vote for him. You know, it bothers him that he didnt win the popular vote. And we know that because he talks about it incessantly. It bothers him that hes being sworn in with some of the Approval Ratings and we know that because he talks about it all the time. And it bothers him when hes criticized on television and we know that, too, because he talks about it all the time. So when he wants to lay a bipartisan feel on something, he has an open line of communication with president obama and i can see him asking something of the former president. President s dont turn down other president s. Thats just dont. That club is small and it will be interesting. Look, i think that as president elect, he has not used that convening power that he already has to create moments. As president , i think, you know, will he use that . Again, that sort of convening power that you have to get when its necessary. I think president obama will be answering that call when asked. When asked, yes. None of the former presidor s him. I dont know that thats happened before. Well, let me bring in michael benchloss, president ial historian. Michael, on that point and this point of it being a very small club, how much do they ultimately rely on each other, historically . Oftentimes, they do a lot. John kennedy 1961 encountered the huge failure of the bay of pigs, the failure of the cia backed Freedom Fighters to take the island away from castro. He was very embarrassed. The first thing dewas call it dwight eisenhower, the still immensely popular hero of dday who had just retired from the presidency. They were photographed together at camp david. That helped kennedy politically and publicly. Eisenhower said, mr. President , forgive me if im being blunt, but if you ever do this again, make sure we dont fail. And theres a view of the capital right now, people gathering around the west front where the swearing in will take place a little over two hours from now. Thats a choir. Many of those will be taking place, the other end of pennsylvania avenue were keeping a close i eye. That conversation and informal greeting and form yal, if you would, between the current president and first lady and the future president and first lady. You see some of those blank spots in the capitol mall being filled in. Some of that is the vip area. And beyond that, people are filling in up and down the mall to witness this historic event. I was outside just a few minutes ago. It is kind of a damp cold out there. It is a drizzling marchers. As a kid who was in the marching band and played an instrument, the fact that it is not freezing today, the fact that they get instruments. It is a great opportunity. People talk about the devisive, and the tough election. I want to remind folks today, take a step back and witness the spectacle of american democracy. It doesnt matter how tough it gets, how noisy it gets, how loud it gets that were able to do this, a transfer of power. It sounds corny, but im with you. Absolutely. The election nights are special to me. This is almost the way you feel on the fourth of july. Theres an extra bounce in your step about how you feel about Inauguration Day because it is the ultimate celebration of the this countrys democracy. We want to go right mow to Peter Alexander who is outside st. Johns church. Lester, good day to you. Briefly with mike pence about the sermon, which he called very moving and about this day that he said was very humbling. Donald trump didnt say quite as much, but he certainly was all thumbs up, point to go me repeatedly as he said he felt good about this day. I exchanged a couple of Text Messages with his son, eric trump, a short time ago who said that his father is going to do very well and make this country very proud. The family is feeling particularly good, as you can imagine, on this day. And what was notable as they arrived here was just how big that circle is that sort of grew into this office with them. We saw steve bannon, Reince Priebus. In terms of whats happening inside that white house this morm morning, at about roughly 9 30, 8 30, i should say, excuse me, in the morning the president was in the state dining room with his family. It was their opportunity or the last time to say goodbye to their staff. As is tradn, presented with a gift. We have learned exactly what that gift was. It was a Hand Carved Wooden box with the flag that flew above the white house on his first Inauguration Day, as well as the flag that flew above the white house on his final day in office. That is a tradition that dates back decades here as well as they meet right now during that tea, that coffee taking place. As soon as they depart, president obama and Michelle Obama leaving for the last time. Thats when the chaos of the day begins. Its at that moment that the transition of property, as it were, you know, the peaceful transition of power. This is the peaceful transition of property. That begins in earnest. They have roughly five hours in total to swap out all of the property within the residence that belonged to the obamas and replace it with stuff that the trumps prefer. That includes redecorating in the west wing, specifically the oval office today, as well. Lester, back to you. And peter, weve heard a lot about that quick transition, but what about the business of offices in the white house . Do people go right to work . Thats a good question. In fact, at 12 01 today, we are told some of those key individuals, those closest advisers who are already appointees, who are also in these roles will go directly into their office, into their offices. What was notable this morning is that overnight, in fact, we saw some pictures from inside the west wing that was basically barren. Its something that ive never seen before. Having worked in the white house as a reporter, of course, over the course of the last four years, the walls are usually filled with a gallery of photos of the obama a as are there. When President Trump arrives a short time this afternoon, the photos will be replace dollars outside his office by tradition with some photos from the inaugural ceremony today and by the time he arrives, many of his staffers will be in place to assume their responsibilities. A pair of former speakers there walking their way out on to the platform at the capital. Lets go to Hallie Jackson to set the scene. Hey there, lester. The vip platform behind me on the west front is filling up here. Youre watching former speakers newt gingrich, john boehner washingt walking out and taking their positions. A lot of folks are snapping pictures on the phone of everything unfolding. Sheldon adelson is here, as well, a republican donor. He has an aisle seat not too far back from the podium where the president elect, soon so be President Donald Trump will be delivering his inaugural address. I had a brief text conversation with one member of congress and asking how theyre feeling about today. The response was one word, wet. The rain has stopped here at the capitol, although there were some folks out wiping down the seats to make sure everything is comfortable for the people as they get ready for the program to begin not too long from now. Weve talked a little bit about Donald Trumps activities this morning publicly. Privately, we know he started his day where he sometimes does and that is on twitter, sending out a message to his millions of followers saying the movement begins today. We are going to get to work, essentially. And a little bit about this twitter situation. He will take over later today. The official potus account. All the tweets from the last eight years from president obama under that potus account roll over to a new handle and that is po po pot potus44 where those tweets will be archived for the record. Donald trump said he will use both his personal account and the official white house account as well. We expect the inaugural address to be roughly 20 minutes. Thats about how long president obamas prior addresses have been, as well. So thats typically sort of within the time frame we would think as we watch more people walking into the capitol here. We know several governors have arrived, too. Governor Chris Christie, one of the first former rivals to come out and endorse donald trump in the campaign. There was a lot of expectations over the summer that perhaps christie would land a coveted spot in the cabinet or administration. Ultimately, it did not turn out wisconsin governor tom walker has arrived along with john kasich who was one of the leaders of the trump never movements. The marine corps band is playing down below. You probably hear those sounds wafting up tr where we are. More and more people not just 23w4r below the stands, but all the way down. About an hour ago, we saw one of the president elects top aides, steven miller, his policy adviser and speech writing guru stepping to the podium to do some of those lastminute checks making sure the microphone was at the right height, checking the teleprompter. Theyve removed the plastic from the chairs. Everything ready now for the arrival of donald trump. Lets review what has been going on this morning and what is to come. The president elect and his family begin their day leaving blair house to attend a Worship Service at st. Johns church, known as the church of the president. 193 3. From there, mr. Trump and his wife, melania, headed to the white house for morning tea and coffee with the president and first lady before the procession to the capitol. Theyll all be riding together, always interesting to hear about the conversations that take place in that car. The swearing in ceremony starts around 11 30 on the west front of the capitol. Supreme Court Justice john roberts will be administering the oath of office and President Trump at that point will give his inaugural address. Its expected to last about 20 minutes and trumps team says it will be a personal and sincere statement about his vision for the country. And well be turning to our nbc news correspondents throughout our coverage for reporting here in washington and beyond. But right now, were going to take a short break ask be back with more welcome back. A live look at pennsylvania avenue. President obama and first lady Michelle Obama will be taking dick cheney was in a wheelchair on that day of turn over. Its not clear whether there will be any interaction, any chance for an interaction today. This is one of my pal, my partner, mark murray. This will be the first time they are in the same space you dont want to say same indoors since theyre not indoors, same space since the al smith dinner. And there are the cheneys. You were asking. Theres the hat. Ask and you shall receive. Looks great, doesnt he . Looks healthy. Hes doing great. Daughter, liz, a member of congress. Yep. And he looks well. Hes out there fly fishing and holding forth. He lives in jackson hole. Steve scalia and steny hoyer. We listen the in a little bit here. Always fun to eavesdrop. You never know when you get the cool hot mike moment. Well, we are joined here on our panel by hugh hewitt, nbc news and msnbc radio analyst on the salem network. Good to see you. Good to be here, lester. Its fun watching this from this perspective and to see all the old faces. Eight years ago, Vice President cheney was in bad shape and since that time has recovered remarkably well and looks terrific this afternoon, this morning as they gather. And i think chuck said when i was off set, its the fourth of july. It really is the civic pageant. I dont know how anyone can not enjoy it, whatever their policy. And before you break, i wanted to have a conversation about the state of the country with this transition of power versus eight years ago when the country was on the economic brink, the auto indu w will donald trump have more nni honeymoon of some sort, given the fact that the country is not in an emergency state, as it was . He needs to earn this honeymoon. I think he has an opportunity to earn it. But hes im sorry, ive said it before he missed some opportunities these last six to eight weeks to and again, to just erase the asterisk. Whatever you want to say about it and i know some supporters will say, why do us that . But look, when you win an election this way, the split popular vote, you know its a divided company. George w. Bush did a tremendous job to make outreach. Appointing a downtown em to the. That hadnt been done in a while. I think donald trump has gotten a late start here, hewitt. I wonder if hell be thinking about that today. I think the appointments of generals kelly and mattis being nonpartisan are significant. And i think if he contins with the key of we is what i think he should sing in today in this short inaugural address. I think he should be inclusive and not divisive. 1789 is the first inaugural. It took 76 years to get to lincolns second, by most accounts the greatest inaugural speech. 76 years thereafter, it was fdrs third inaugural on the eve of world war i as bombs rained down. And then 76 brings us to this. So its an interesting cycle and in each of those three ones, washington, lincoln and fdrs very inclusive tone. So i hope mr. Trump hits that today. You would not include jfk in 1960 . Rhetorically very high, but not in a moment of crisis in the way 41, lincolns second inaugural its interesting you call ate moment of crisis. You brought up 09 versus today. So in 09, we were in the process of a we were in the brink of an economic disaster, ex at the time, we almost were losing a million jobs. That month that barack obama took the oath of office. Yet this town, this capital, there was a euphoric atmosphere. The economy feels better. The country seems on one hand economically more stable than it was eight years ago, yet theres an uneasiness. But the euphoria. Listen, i spent all last week covering trump. The euphoria is in the places where they got their guy. This town i wouldnt expect to be euphoric. Certain pockets identity will she. But the euphoria was out in america where the experience was like brexit, where this was a celebration and victory against elite against the establishment of both parties. Lets listen in here, Kellyanne Conway greeting people. Oh, i remember that. That is very i do remember that. I didnt see the letter, but i remember that. She is just out of mike range. You mentioned earlier in 1984. The coldest one. I was here for that. Everyone was happy, both republicans and democrats. This looks li