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Obama Tours White House; Watching for Bush Reversals Made by Obama
Aired November 10, 2008 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Coming at you right now: in a White House built by slaves, a historic meeting between old and new. The president-elect and his wife, Michelle, meet the current president and the first lady.
Obama promises to undo what President Bush has done. Exactly which executive order will go first, how many, and just how brazen will this new president be with the man he's consistently disapproved of? Transition of power at the highest level. We will cover it like nowhere else.
But what about the rest of the country? What about the Obama backlash? The signs say some are simply not ready for this, a sea change in America.
Your newscast, from noontime in L.A. to 3:00 in New York, this national conversation on air, on the Internet, begins now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: And hello again, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez here in the world headquarters of CNN.
And, as we get you started, let me kind of set the scene for you. As we speak, there is a historic meeting that is taking place right now, Barack Obama visiting the Oval Office for the first time ever. Of course, he will be working out of the Oval Office in about 10 weeks permanently.
Today, as you can see in this video, he was greeted by the president and the first lady, Barack and Michelle Obama there posing with photographers for pictures. Shortly after that, they went inside, past the corridor from the south portico into the White House itself.
There's another shot where you actually see the two gentlemen conversing as they go through the hallway, making their way back in. It has been incredible to watch. You can only imagine the discussions that have been taking place, some of them somewhat controversial, at least if the expectations are correct and some of the information that we have been receiving on this.
Let's go to Elaine Quijano as we watch these pictures. She's there at the White House as well. She's been monitoring this meeting. What do we know at this point, Elaine?
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, we understand that the meeting has just wrapped up moments ago. We don't have a shot to show you, Rick, but the meeting has been taking place for a little over an hour or so now, as you described the scene, certainly fascinating to watch here at the White House, about an hour or so ago, when the Bushes greeted the Obamas on the South Lawn of the White House.
Again, this is the beginning of a transition that's really steeped not only in tradition, but history. It's the first transition post-9/11, the first African-American president-elect. Now, the two leaders then went with their spouses into the diplomatic reception room, and moments later we saw them emerge and the two leaders walking down the colonnade before sitting down for their talks in the Oval Office, on the agenda, of course, the economy certainly front and center, an immediate focus for both the incoming and outgoing presidents.
At the same time, national security issues and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were likely on the agenda as well. But a big question, Rick, is, what was the dynamic between these two leaders? What would that be like, especially considering some of the rhetoric, the partisan rhetoric, that we heard on the campaign trail?
Well, here is what White House Press Secretary Dana Perino had to say about that earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANA PERINO, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: It's always amazed me how President Bush is able to let heated rhetoric like that just slide off his back and move forward and do what he thinks is right for the country. Obviously, right now, the most important thing we can do is ensure a smooth transition to Barack Obama and his team. And that's what he's committed to doing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: Back now live here at the White House, you are looking at a shot from the North Lawn here at the White House. That is a crowd on Pennsylvania Avenue that has basically been camped out there for the last hour or so, hoping to get a glimpse of any of the action, which is actually taking place on the other side of the building.
You will pardon our long pan here, Rick, but we wanted to show you just what kind of a sense of anticipation there is here at the White House, again, the meeting wrapping up, we are told.
Also today, though, Rick, this was an opportunity for the current and future first ladies to meet, a chance for Michelle Obama to take a closer look at the place that will become home for the Obama family -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: You know, it's interesting. We saw a picture of them coming in. I'm wondering if we're going to be seeing a picture of them coming out as well and whether the two men side by side with the first lady and Michelle Obama may have some words for reporters. What is the expectation?
QUIJANO: You know, we're not expecting anything, Rick. I talked to an Obama aide a short time ago, who said, look, we're just going to let the pictures speak for themselves.
I tried to press, was this something that was requested by the White House or by the president-elect for there not to be on-camera statements? Because you will recall, back in 2000, even after the bitterly contested election of 2000, we did see, in fact, the incoming president at that time, President George W. Bush, sitting down in the Oval Office with President Clinton.
We're not expecting any kind of images like that this time around, Rick.
SANCHEZ: You know what's interesting -- thanks so much, Elaine Quijano. She's going to be part of our crew here as we begin this newscast and take you through this historic meeting.
We are also going to be joined by Tom Foreman from Washington, D.C. as well as Frank Sesno, who is going to be on the phone with us in just a little bit. We have also got some historians, some transition experts who are going to be taking us through this as well.
You know, already, there is some criticism of the way this president-elect is going in, some are saying handing out marching orders, because some inside the Obama camp have given reporters information that there are several Bush executive orders that this president-elect, Barack Obama, will actually reverse immediately, and that some in the White House may be already on notice.
I'm going to take you through those in just a little bit.
But here's what I would like to do first as we get ready to go to Tom Foreman.
Tom, I hope you have your ears up on this one, because there's at least one staunch Republican who writes for "The National Review." His name is David Frum. And I'm going to show you now what David Frum had to say.
As a matter of fact, we have got it, where you can see it at home as well. This is David Frum: "He is immediately muscling his way into power and the Bush administration out the door. Not only is he signaling in the advance which Bush actions will be overturned, but he is already signaling Congress how he would like to vote on current measures."
That comes as a criticism.
Go ahead, to you, Tom Foreman.
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Rick, he won. That's what you get to do when you win. You get to say, this is the way I want it. He's the next president. They call them lame ducks for a reason, because President Bush is on his way out. No matter what he wants to do, he is now very quickly becoming history.
And Mr. Obama right now is the future. That's what they get to do. Obviously, if it's not a policy you like, you don't want to see this sort of thing happen. But that's what the winner does. And people can complain all they want.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: But let me bring Frank Sesno into this as well, Tom. And you stay with us, obviously.
Is there an expectation here, because this is such a giant sea change, that he needs to walk a little more gingerly, perhaps, Frank Sesno?
FRANK SESNO, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: I think he has to walk gingerly, but not too gingerly.
You know, what really strikes me in looking at those pictures, when Barack Obama gets out of the car there on the south grounds of the lawn -- of the White House and goes up and shakes the president's hand and there as they're walking past the portico is just how confident and comfortable both of them are.
There is a sense of that what took place on the campaign is campaign rhetoric. It's always overheated. It's amazing how quickly this is set to the side. And, in these transitions, sometimes, it's awkward. Sometimes, it's resentful, as it was, frankly, when Bill Clinton left the White House. And there were some little nasty notes left behind. That's not very good.
But it's also kind of the aberration. This is a remarkable -- I mean, I wonder if they shared the tie memo here.
(LAUGHTER)
SESNO: But I think what you're going to see is a gracious and smooth transition. That's certainly the public's expectation.
SANCHEZ: It's interesting that you would talk about President Bush on this occasion, because it happens to be coming at a time when his disapproval ratings are as low as they have ever been, 76 percent. It's a new high in polling, as a matter of fact. Only Truman and Richard Nixon were in the high 60s. This president is the first to actually be in the 70s and maintain there.
We will talk about that. In fact, here's the numbers, highest disapproval rating, CNN and Gallup polls, George W. Bush 76 percent, Truman 67, Nixon 66, George H.W. Bush 60,.
We're going to talk about that, how that comes into play as well here. And then we're going to be talking to a transition specialist, a historian. He's written 18 books on how this works and how it ought to go this time.
And then, who is the one person criticizing George Bush? We will read it to you. Sarah Palin. Surprise, surprise.
We will be right back.
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SANCHEZ: As we await that historic picture for the president of the United States, the current president, I should say, and the president-elect to be leaving the White House after their first meeting there and the president-elect's first trip to the Oval Office, let me tell you what we're going to be doing to take you through this story.
First of all, we have assembled three average Americans. And we're going to be getting their opinions as well throughout this hour. They are over here to my left, Sam, Lauren, and Brandon. Sam and Lauren, by the way, are married. They're from P.A. They're from Pennsylvania, we're happy to say, and they have been inside the Oval Office. Brandon is a student at Morehouse College.
We thank all of you for being here.
Also, we're going to be joined by Tom Foreman. You heard from him just a little while ago. And Frank Sesno is on the phone and professor Paul Light from New York U, NYU, who is an expert on presidential transitions. That man you're looking at right there has written 18 books on the topic. You think maybe he might be able to help us?
Let's go to our Twitter board, if we can, because already we're getting a lot of reactions there.
This is from Leslie. She's watching. She says: "Look, Rick, the country is a mess. I think it's expected that Obama will make some badly needed changes. And the faster he makes them," it says there, "the better."
Then there's another one I want to get to here. Look at this one: "I think the Bush people complaining now are just sore from the beating their party got, mad that they can't call the shots."
That's interesting, because there's another quote that's coming in that we want to share with you now. I mentioned to you moments ago that the president's popularity or the president's disapprovals are as high as 76 percent, and that's a record.
Sarah Palin seems to be weighing in on this today. Do we have that, Chris? See if we can put that up. This is Sarah Palin responding today in part as to why she didn't do so well with John McCain.
Here it is: "Americans were kind of shaking their heads, like, going, wait a minute, how did we run up a $10 trillion debt in a Republican administration?" And it goes on to then ask: "How have there been blunders with war strategy under a Republican administration? It's amazing that we did as well as we did," referring to the McCain/Palin ticket.
Back over to Tom Foreman, joining us now on this.
It's interesting that we are starting to see some, I suppose, infighting would be the right word within the Republican ranks, correct?
FOREMAN: Yes. And you're going to see some of that. There's going to be a struggle for power, a little bit, because right now John McCain is the titular head of the Republican Party. And he lost in this race.
So, the Republicans are going to scramble around a little bit to figure out which direction they're going, which groups are going to have a lot of punch here. Evangelicals, the very conservative part of the party, it was very powerful for George W. Bush. They didn't come through as strong for John McCain. If they had, he might have won.
So, now other parts of the party are going to look around and say, who has got the most muscle here? Which direction should we go?
SANCHEZ: But that doesn't interfere with the transition. The transition -- and I think you would report to us that most Republicans, whether they be way on the right or in the middle or further on the left, would say this has to be smooth and we have got to look good doing this, right?
FOREMAN: Oh, yes. Well, I think there are many people in Washington, Democratic and Republican, who agree with that one note there. They're saying we have got serious problems right now, things that absolutely have to be attended to in a serious manner that to some degree transcends politics. There's no question about that. But a lot of people here who like to play politics when times are good are really saying now we just can cannot afford to do it, especially when it comes to the economy, Rick.
SANCHEZ: Frank Sesno, let me bring you into this.
It's interesting that these are two divergent opinions that these men bring to this meeting today, perhaps as divergent as we have seen in a long time in this country. Barack Obama has said, on Iraq, on Afghanistan, that he stands against this president. And here they are meeting today. How many of these topics where this president-elect disagrees with George Bush would you think would have come up in this meeting today?
SESNO: It wouldn't be a laundry list. They're not going to do that.
I think what they're going to be doing is talking about the big- picture item where things need to be handed down. Certainly, they have got to talk about economy and things that are happening. The stimulus package is probably the most important single item. It's something the White House is trying to assemble. They're spending the $700,000. Barack Obama is a sitting senator. He said that they wanted to -- he wants to get the stimulus package put together while he's there or it will be the first thing he does when he's president.
So, this is where they actually overlap in creating urgent policy that has to happen right now, whether it's on the home mortgages or beyond. Another thing that I would imagine is almost a guarantee that they're going to talk about is the status of forces agreement and the status of U.S. forces in Iraq.
SANCHEZ: And that's interesting, because there's some news on that front. And I want to talk about that in just a little minute.
Frank, stay with us.
I want to go back to Tom, if we can. Tom, there's news coming out from the president-elect's side as to who they're going to be using, for example, as their secretary of state. There are several names that are being mentioned, John Kerry, interestingly enough, at the top of some lists at this point.
John Kerry, senator from Massachusetts, ran against George Bush. There you see 2004 presidential candidate, Vietnam veteran, helped normalize relations with Vietnam. Also on the list, we have got, well, Bill Richardson, Democrat from New Mexico as well, speaks Spanish, would be a Hispanic in the administration. That would be important.
And then Richard Holbrooke, here's a guy who has got as much experience in this area as just about anybody, former assistant secretary of state, former U.S. ambassador to Germany.
Any surprises here or any front-runners, Tom?
FOREMAN: Oh, I don't know if we have got any real front-runners until he makes an announcement.
I will say this. One of the interesting things that they're going to deal with here is, his vice president, Joe Biden, is widely acknowledged here in Washington to be one of the most experienced people in the entire Congress in terms of understanding foreign policy. So, whomever gets this job knows that they're going to get it with a vice president standing right alongside who maybe knows more than they do.
SANCHEZ: If Biden has his choice, though, wouldn't he lean toward Kerry? Haven't those two been very close over the years?
FOREMAN: Yes, they have been -- for a long time, that sort of thing.
But, you know, the truth is, I guess it depends on which direction you want to go, how much Biden is saying let's bring in the old blood with all the deep experience this way or do we want to take a somewhat more unexpected choice and turn toward somebody who might lead us forward with some kind of vision for the future in a different way? That's really what you have to look at here. And, remember, it's Obama's choice, not Biden's choice.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
FOREMAN: So, we will have to see how much Biden's ties have a say in this.
SANCHEZ: Point well-made. Tom Foreman, thanks for staying with us as long as you could. I know you have got some work to do for "THE SITUATION ROOM." We will be catching up with you.
In the meantime, we're going to joining our professor when we come back, and he's going to be taking us through the nuances of a transition such as this one. And we're also going to be bringing in our panel of average Americans, as we always do, to get their impressions on these two men on this historic day.
Stay with us. We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: All right, we welcome you black -- we welcome you back.
Bloggers are always writing about our show. And Friday was no exception. Remember this, when I had three average Americans on my panel of experts and I asked them to give Obama's first news conference a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down last Friday, like the panel we have today?
Well, the Web site 23/6 called it the Sanchez guide to effective polling. They go on to say it makes people stupid. OK.
Then there's the They Say -- it's They Say Anything blog. That's what it's called. They were pretty hard on my question about whether the U.S. needs another New Deal-style WPA.
They write -- quote -- "Because nothing says economic recovery like massive new spending programs." Ouch.
Keep watching. Keep blogging. And now consider this. Why are some Americans so threatened all over the country by an Obama presidency? And they're showing just how threatened they are. The proof, we will show it to you when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: There you have it. It's the shot of the White House where this historic meeting is taking place. This is a building that was built by slaves, and now you have a black man who is about to be the president of the United States meeting there with the current president. How much more historic can you get?
We're joined now by someone who understands this history, someone who certainly understands what happens in this country when two presidents get together to try and go through a transition period. His name is Paul Light. He is a professor at NYU.
I guess what people at home probably would want to know the most, first and foremost, is, what are the things, professor, that they need to do? Are there required tasks that a former president has to give or engage in with a president-elect?
PAUL LIGHT, NEW YORK UNIVERSITY: Well, the former president or the outgoing administration really is obligated to share information with the incoming.
Federal law does require that the outgoing administration provide briefing materials, lists of potential appointees, access to daily briefings, and so forth. And the Bush administration has really done a good job here of extending itself and trying to make itself as accessible as possible.
SANCHEZ: What else could they do? Has there ever been a case where an outgoing president has said to an incoming president, look, you're on your own; I ain't going to help you?
LIGHT: There is sort of a variation of that.
The Bush administration, this outgoing administration, is basically saying, we would love to help you. We're going to give you as much access as possible, but we're not going to tell you exactly what we're going to do over the next six weeks, basically to leave our stamp on this administration.
And what you saw yesterday was the announcements coming out of the Obama transition saying, look, we're going to try to reverse course on many of the executive orders this president has issued, including stem cell research, for example.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: There is another part of this that's interesting as well. And I don't mean to interrupt.
LIGHT: Sure.
SANCHEZ: But I was just thinking as I was looking at those pictures, professor, that you have Michelle Obama coming in with two young daughters. You have Laura Bush, who has two older daughters.
LIGHT: Right.
SANCHEZ: I can't help but imagine that there's some -- this is not just the people's house. This is where this family will live, correct?
LIGHT: Correct.
And it's very cordial. This is part of the demonstration of how we transfer power in the world's greatest democracy. So, you see a lot of this handshaking and generosity. That's all to the good. This is not a tea party, however. Underneath the surface of the transition, the cordiality, is a real political contest. The incoming administration wants to know what's happening. They want to dig deep.
I will tell you what. This is not the first transition where you had this kind of digging, the announcements about things to reverse. The Reagan people were all over the Carter administration like ticks on a dog. And the George W. Bush administration, first thing Bush did when he came into office on Inauguration Day was say, I'm going to freeze everything that Clinton did for 60 days, until we get a look at it.
SANCHEZ: Wow.
LIGHT: So, this is not abnormal. This is to be expected. This is political.
SANCHEZ: I want to talk about that. You mentioned some of these reversals that we have been talking about.
LIGHT: Right.
SANCHEZ: We have been looking at some of these.
There seem to be three major areas that involve these reversals. And we have got some -- we have got some graphics that we have presented for our audience, so they know what we're talking about.
The first one -- let me find my own notes here -- Obama potential reversals of executive orders. Now, keep in mind, and I think most of you at home who are watching us now know that these executive orders by the Bush administration have been highly controversial.
The first one is oil and gas drilling in sensitive areas. Obama would stop land leases to drill, in particular, in Utah. And this is an area that's been controversial, because it's very close to national parks, like Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park.
The other one is reversing course on Bush's limit on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, which is also something that's extremely important to both sides. And the last that's been mentioned is reversing the order to cut off funding to women's groups that support abortions in any way.
And this, as far as I have read, tends to reference more international groups.
I want to bring in Chris Plante. He's the host of "The Chris Plante Show." He's good enough to join us as well.
Chris, as you look at these decisions that it looks like the president-elect may make, and the fact that they're already being talked even before he makes them, and he can't make them until he's actually in office, how does that sit with you, as a conservative Republican? CHRIS PLANTE, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Well, you know, as others have said, this is perfectly natural in the course of a transition. I find it interesting that stem cell research is right at the top of the list, which is already going on and is a two-hour discussion all by itself.
And lifting a ban on using U.S. taxpayer dollars to abort babies in developing countries, I guess that's the path to winning the hearts and minds. You know, his credentials are intact on this issue, but he apparently feels he needs to do more.
Everything -- look, politics is a tough business. And Barack Obama's transition, I'm sure, would be made very smooth and very easy by the Bushes, who are very gracious people. And, naturally, you're going to get a little bit of back and forth about, we're going to undo this, and we're going to -- and President Bush, we keep talking about his lame duck status, but the reality is, he is still the president of the United States in very complicated times until January 20.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: But you're not -- David Frum -- and I don't know -- our viewers may be just now joining us. Some of them are getting home from work, and they don't know we're following this story, because the Bushes and the Obamas are still in the people's house. They're still in the White House.
As far as we know, they should be coming out any moment now. We understand the meeting has concluded. And, as soon as we do, if there's a picture, we're going to be showing it to you.
If you listen to David Frum, he is almost sounding like this president-elect is just coming in there a little too cocky.
Do you agree or disagree?
PLANTE: Well, you know, I'd say that I probably disagree with David. You know, he is the incoming president of the United States. He's the president-elect. He has a constituency all his own. He needs to start communicating to his constituency and to the country that he is going to be the president of the United States.
Now, I'd have to say in his press conference on Friday, which you just referenced a couple of minutes ago, he came off, in my estimation, as being somewhat wobbly. That wasn't the Barack Obama...
SANCHEZ: That's interesting.
PLANTE: ...that I was accustomed to seeing. He looked tired and beat up. He was not on the game...
SANCHEZ: Maybe he was nervous.
PLANTE: Well, I think...
SANCHEZ: Maybe he was nervous. PLANTE: You know, I mean, I've got to tell you, I think -- he got the intelligence briefing two days earlier. And if you ask me, you know -- Candy Crowley CNN's asked the question whether the intelligence briefing changed his world in any way. And I'm going to tell you, this is not a guy who looked tired during the campaign. And when the campaign is over, two days after the intelligence briefing, he looked like a guy who hadn't slept. And I'll bet that that's on the docket for his discussion with President Bush today.
SANCHEZ: Let me bring in Amy Goodman.
She has a contrary opinion on this.
Amy Goodman, very well read, the host of "Democracy Now!," recently wrote "Standing Up to the Madness."
We know what you're referring to.
When you look at these two men, when you look at a president who has disapproval ratings of 76 percent, you think what, Amy?
AMY GOODMAN, HOST, "DEMOCRACY NOW!": Well, first, I watched the first African-American elected president of the United States, together with his wife, walk into the White House -- a house built by slaves. And the idea that he, with his two little girls -- will raise those little girls with his wife in this house is truly historic and voted by people across the political spectrum. This was truly a global election.
And this is an historic moment. And I'm very glad that you're observing it and showing the images of the new president -- the president-elect walking in.
SANCHEZ: Do you think when these two men talk, when you have a Barack Obama, who has a very global perspective on the world, who has said that he's willing to sit down and talk to his enemies -- and he's sitting, looking at the eyes of a president, who has been the polar opposite of those sentiments, despite what Petraeus said earlier today in Afghanistan.
Do you think he's having a tough time holding himself from saying, what were you thinking, Mr. President, when you said and did those things that have backfired on America in the opinion polls?
GOODMAN: I just think this is an absolutely critical moment where he can't move fast enough. Of course, he has to ultimately wait until January 20th, but not in terms of laying out his plan and choosing the people who will implement it.
Rick, you raised the issue of Afghanistan. In Iraq, he was one of the first to speak out against the war. In Afghanistan, he takes a different view. He, like John McCain, supported a surge. And I think that's a very serious issue that's being questioned by many people in this country and around the world -- why a continuation of war in Afghanistan?
That's a serious question.
SANCHEZ: You know, it's interesting -- I have it here somewhere. I'm going to share it with our viewers when we come back. But essentially, Petraeus talking today about talking to the enemy. I have that. Don't put it up now, guys, in the control room. Let's put it up when we come back.
It's a very important part of this discussion.
Also, two people over here to my left who have actually been in the Oval Office. That's Sam and Lauren. We're going to ask you about that experience and your perfective now, as you watch these two men having these historic meetings, as Amy Goodman referred to them.
We're going to be right back.
It's a good newscast. I'm glad we're bringing it to you. Your reaction, as well, on Twitter, MySpace and Facebook.
Stay with us. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: And we welcome you back.
Johnny B. Good, let's go ahead and get this shot over here. This is the MySpace, right?
No, this is Facebook coming in. This is Sam Flowers. He says, "You know, I think it's quite unrealistic for Americans to expect immediate results and solutions from the impending Obama administration for the economic crisis. It took time for us to get into this and it will take time for us to hopefully climb out of it."
So a lot of you are talking to us on these social networks, as you always do.
I love this Twitter and MySpace and Facebook responses. It seems like an immediate reaction from real people at the time. Speaking of real people, three of them assembled here for us today. They are Sam, Lauren and Brandon.
Let me start with Sam and Lauren. You guys are from Pennsylvania. You've been to the Oval Office. I , as you always do. As you watch these two men in this historic meeting, you're thinking to yourself, Sam, what it was like for you there. And what you think may have happened in those quarters.
SAM MCCOLLUM, SALESMAN FROM WAYNESBURG, PENNSYLVANIA: You know, just as a regular citizen going into the Oval Office, it's totally overwhelming. So I can't imagine President-Elect Barack Obama, how he felt when he first walked in with the current president of the United States. It's got to be totally overwhelming.
SANCHEZ: Do you expect, Lauren, that the Bushes will be anything but kind, genteel and generous in this situation, despite the fact that, you know, there's probably some sadness for them, too, right?
LAUREN MCCOLLUM, ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT FROM WAYNESBURG, PENNSYLVANIA: Oh, right. You know, this has been their home for eight years. A lot of memories were made there. And -- but I was really pleased to see that they have opened the doors and, with open arms, brought them in right away.
SANCHEZ: Yes. It seems like it's being done the right way.
And, you know, if nothing else, it sends a signal to the rest of the world that, say what you will about us being a very imperfect nation, when it comes to this type of thing, we are a true democracy.
And to you, Brandon, young man, you're at college at Morehouse -- you're in college at Morehouse, right?
BRANDON LAWRENCE, MOREHOUSE COLLEGE: Yes.
SANCHEZ: You're a student there. As a young African-American, to see someone with your skin pigment walking into the Oval Office for the very first time and in some weeks he's going to be occupying it, you -- what's going on in your thought process?
LAWRENCE: Nothing but happiness and, just honestly, a call to action. And honestly, when I say that, it is to be someone the same pigment as President-Elect Obama, looking at his hard work in an election that, when I, for the first time, was able to vote for the election and for someone like Barack Obama to be in this position and walking through these -- the house that slaves who look like me have built, it's something that is very, very encouraging.
SANCHEZ: But let me ask you a question, because this conversation has been coming up a lot. And maybe I'll leave you this or maybe you can give me a quick answer, because we're down to about 20. You hear some people say he's going to be a president for black America, like there's some resentment there.
When you hear that or read that, what do you say? What do you think?
LAWRENCE: Honestly, I tend to shrug it off because I believe that though it's black -- black America is America. It's American history and it's all tied into one.
SANCHEZ: That's interesting that you would say that, because it does happen.
And as we go to break, I want to tell you that when we come back, I'm going to be telling you about not just the feel of that resentment, but that it is actually taking place. We'll show you proof. In certain pockets of this country, people are angry about this election. We'll have that for you, as well.
Dan, put the picture back up of the White House, if we can. We'll go out with this, because we're expecting that if the meeting has concluded, we may be getting a shot from some signal of the two men leaving the White House -- or, I should say, of Barack Obama and Michelle Obama leaving the White House, led, perhaps, by George Bush, as well as Laura Bush. We'll be on it for you.
We'll be right back. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: And we welcome you back. I'm Rick Sanchez here in the World Headquarters of CNN.
There's something else to take note of today -- a sign of the times, you might say. I went for a jog yesterday through rural Georgia, when I came upon a couple of things that reminded me that this Obama election win is not something that everybody cottons to.
This sign was put up about a mile from my house. Read it -- it's outside a church. It was put there after election night. It reads, "When the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn. Proverbs 29, Verse 2."
The word wicked stayed with me as I jogged, so I took a picture of the sign and looked up the words. Synonyms for wicked -- evil, bad, wrong, depraved. That's pretty strong stuff.
Later, ironically enough, I drove my kids to a Civil War reenactment battle. These things are great. It's in deep rural Georgia, to a time when this country really was split down the middle. Along the way, I noticed several flags at half staff -- half staff -- another obvious reference made by dissatisfied voters.
And I guess you give them the benefit of the doubt, right?
But then there's this -- the "Statesville Record" from Statesville, North Carolina. And the headline is -- look at this -- "Should Shiites Be Frightened?"
The lead article of the newspaper then goes on to say, "What's more scary, a bleak economy or a black president?"
That's in a newspaper in America. That's the reality. But so is this. The paper got so much flak for writing this, that the very the next day they had to issue an apology to all their readers and the people in the community. So it becomes a conversation -- yes, ugly sometimes in this country. Ugly. Uh-huh. But still, far better than the alternative, which this country has had to experience before, as my kids would you tell you. They saw it yesterday.
More on this amid this historic White House meeting when we come back. We'll take you back to the White House and Amy Goodman, as well as Chris Plante and our professor.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: And we welcome you back. I'm Rick Sanchez. I was just, you know, reading something that reminded me of the story I had yesterday when I was traveling through Georgia. And this comes from somebody who's probably from Georgia. Bigpeachpundit writes to us on Twitter, Johnny B. Good: "My grandmother first said that she was afraid Obama would only do for the blacks." And that's in closed quotations. "In the end, she voted for him. Life-long GOP." That's interesting.
We're joined now by Eamon Javers. He's from Politico. He joins us to talk about some of the topics that we've been picking up on here.
We're also going to be joined by Chris Plante. You heard from him just a little while ago with "The Chris Plante Show" and the good smile.
Amy Goodman is the host of "Democracy Now!" and very, very well read.
And, also, professor Paul Light from NYU, an expert on transitions.
SANCHEZ: Mr. Javers from Politico, let me ask you about these -- these executive orders.
EAMON JAVERS, CORRESPONDENT, POLITICO.COM: Yes.
SANCHEZ: First of all, the executive orders, in and of themselves, a lot of Americans don't understand them.
LIGHT: Right.
SANCHEZ: Because they really are the true exception to when the president can do something without conferring, the way most of us would think in a democracy you would need to, right?
JAVERS: Yes, absolutely. I mean, there are a lot of issues inside just the federal bureaucracy itself where the president can simply issue an order and have the bureaucrats take care of it and he doesn't need Congress to sign onto it. So all the stuff that we all remember about how a bill becomes a law on Capitol Hill doesn't necessarily apply, for example, to the federal ban on funding for stem cell research. That's something that Barack Obama, if he wanted to, could undo very early in his first day.
I was talking to the Obama camp this morning about all this. And they said that, you know, they're going to be very deliberate and they're going to check with all the interest groups, members on the Hill and whatnot. But at the end of the day, they do have the power to simply sign a piece of paper and undo a lot of the Bush administration executive orders.
SANCHEZ: How -- I think I saw a number earlier today. You tell me. But when I looked at it, I winced.
JAVERS: Yes.
SANCHEZ: It's a big number of executive orders that this administration has passed in the last seven, eight years, isn't it?
JAVERS: Right. Yes. I mean there can be hundreds of executive orders and on all kind of things. Some of them are very little noticed and some of them are big priority agenda items.
And tactically, administrations always look for a way legally where they can do something in Washington with that executive order and do an end run around Congress whenever they can. That's a huge advantage in the White House.
And, look, there's an old saying in Washington, elections have consequences. And one of the consequences is that if you lose, you don't get your hands on the executive order pen anymore.
SANCHEZ: I want to ask Amy Goodman a question.
Amy, if you could wrap your arms around any executive order that this administration has passed in the last seven years and nilch it immediately, which one would you go for first...
GOODMAN: Well, actually...
SANCHEZ: What area?
GOODMAN: ...I wanted to go to the issue of signing statements. And I wonder if a President Obama is going to be signing well over a thousand signing statements like President Bush did -- more than all presidents in history combined. It meant he would sign the legislation that he usually didn't support -- or if he didn't support it, he would sign a signing statement that would basically say he didn't have to abide by it if he didn't have to.
That's going to be a very interesting question, whether Barack Obama is going to do the same thing.
SANCHEZ: Let me bring in Paul Light with that question.
Is this the kind of thing that presidents have done in the past and do you expect that Barack Obama will follow it, historically speaking?
LIGHT: Well, presidents have been doing signing statements for been doing signing statements for decades. They always do. But this president is quite unusual to the extent that he has used signing statements as a kind of legislative veto or a veto where he says OK, I'm going to follow most of the law, just not the parts I don't like.
It's very unusual. He's issued a number of them. They can be reversed. The executive orders are temporary, to an extent. The president can reverse them, too.
A regulation is a different problem. Once a regulation is issued, it's very difficult to undo -- a very difficult task, indeed.
SANCHEZ: That's interesting. Let's leave it at that. And I'm being told by my producers now that the Obamas have now just left the White House. We expect that we'll probably get some kind of feed in here to CNN and we'll be able to share that picture with you within the next couple of minutes or so.
Again -- and I think Amy nailed this a little while ago when she was explaining to us the historic reference -- the importance of this day, this moment -- a house that you were looking at right there, that was built by slaves. But Barack Obama and Michelle Obama inside today, getting ready to take over in that place 10 weeks from today.
We'll have it for you. When the pictures come in, we'll turn them. We'll be right back. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Americans just like you who are going to be joining us in just a little bit.
Let's go over to Wolf Blitzer and find out what's going to be coming up in "THE SITUATION ROOM" today.
Wolf, what you got?
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks very much, Rick.
Barack Obama, as you know, just left the White House after an historic meeting that kicks off his transition to power -- what they talked about and what it means. That's coming up.
And while the president and the president-elect held talks, Michelle Obama got a tour of the private residence from Laura Bush. We're going to take you inside and show you what the new first family has to do to get ready for this huge move into the White House.
And new CNN poll numbers just coming out. President Bush breaks a record -- the worst disapproval rating in history.
All that and a lot more, coming up right here in "THE SITUATION ROOM" -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: Wolf Blitzer in "THE SITUATION ROOM". We look forward to it.
Look at this tweet we got just moments ago. This is from Philwrightwhitehouse -- or Philwhitehouse, pardon me. I misspoke again. "I had friends, saying rest in peace, America after the election. I asked them for a reason. No one could give me one."
You know, this is interesting. Sam and Lauren, you're from Pennsylvania. We heard so much from our analysts about Pennsylvania in the last month and how difficult it would be for them to bring themselves to vote for Barack Obama.
True. Not true? Why? S. MCCOLLUM: I think it's true. It's very difficult. In elections today, fear tactics are a huge part of it. And unfortunately, you've seen some of the articles now after the election. And people would say, you know, if Barack Obama is elected, you know, the world is going to stop, it's coming to an end, whatever. And I think a lot of people believed that. I think...
SANCHEZ: Was it race -- was it race-based?
S. MCCOLLUM: Absolutely. I think so.
If President-Elect Barack Obama were a white man, I think he would have won by an even bigger margin. With his charisma, with his qualifications, I think he was the best candidate. And I think a lot of people, even if they didn't vote for him, are saying that now.
SANCHEZ: Lauren, you agree?
L. MCCOLLUM: Yes, I do.
SANCHEZ: That's interesting.
We're going to be right back with our two panelists, going back to be Chris Plante and Amy Goodman. I got your name right that time, Chris.
I apologize. Be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Happening now, these are the developing story -- the developing news story that we've been telling you about -- the Obamas historically visit the White House. We'll stay with this picture. I know from time to time it's going to jump a little bit. But that's the motorcade going back to the airplane to take Barack and Michelle Obama back to Chicago, we presume.
They were at the -- in Washington, D.C. to visit with the president and the first lady.
Let's go back to Chris Plante. Your thoughts as you watch this historic meeting today?
PLANTE: Well, look, I mean there is this historical dimension to it. And I understand that.
A couple of comments that just went by here about signing statements and about executive orders. You know, I've heard a lot of complaints about these over the last couple years. And I'm looking forward to the 180 degree reversal by liberals as soon as Barack Obama becomes president and starts signing them.
So that's executive authority that is provided in the Constitution of the United States. It's always been there. Thank you very much. They'll get over that on January 20th.
SANCHEZ: Amy Goodman, let me bring you into this.
Do you -- do you differ with that opinion?
GOODMAN: Well, personally...
SANCHEZ: Did this president abuse it or did he just do what other presidents have done?
GOODMAN: I mean, in terms of signing statements, he signed more than every president in the history of America put together. In terms of executive orders, President Obama should sign an executive order that closes Guantanamo immediately. He should sign an executive order that ends torture. It should not be that the United States represents torture...
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Ten seconds to you, please.
PLANTE: And when they're all released from Guantanamo, I hope they move to the Upper West Side of Manhattan. You know, there is a need for Guantanamo Bay. This is not a law enforcement issue. There's a lot to talk about here but...
SANCHEZ: Well, then what do you make...
PLANTE: (INAUDIBLE)...
SANCHEZ: What do you make of Petraeus saying today that we need to reconcile with some of our enemies?
That sounds like something out of a Barack Obama speech.
PLANTE: No, it doesn't, actually. Barack Obama said that he would like to sit down unconditionally with enemies not of Barack Obama, by the way, but of the United States and of Western civilization.
SANCHEZ: Let me...
PLANTE: General Petraeus has not advocated sitting down unconditionally with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad...
SANCHEZ: Well, I'll tell you. He says...
PLANTE: ...or Hezbollah or anybody else.
SANCHEZ: He says we need to isolate the irreconcilables in certain areas...
PLANTE: That's true.
SANCHEZ: ...and reach the reconcilables. The word reconcilable pretty much means to reach out.
But it's a great conversation. We're out of time, though, Chris. Let's go to Stephanie Elam now. She's checking on the market for us.
My thanks to Chris Plante -- great guest, and Amy Goodman.
Stef Elam takes us down as the bell rings...
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Rick.
SANCHEZ: What have we got?
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
SANCHEZ: Wolf Blitzer standing by now with "THE SITUATION ROOM."
Great show. Thanks to all of you who have contributed.
Wolf, over to you.
BLITZER: Thanks very much, Rick.
