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Barack Obama And Donald Trump Meet For First Time At White House; Thousands Took To The Streets To Protest Trump's Victory; White House Press Briefing. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired November 10, 2016 - 13:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- and President Obama and Hillary Clinton thought that it would be her there today.

Tomorrow is Veterans Day. President Obama leaves Monday for a foreign trip, his last scheduled foreign trip, to Greece, to Germany, to Peru, world leaders, major U.S. supporters.

President Obama's trip was supposed to be a farewell tour and maybe a last bid at TPP. It is now all about trying to answer the rest of the world's questions.

And I suspect, and I hope we'll learn more during the readouts, that some of today's meeting was so that President Obama, in these meetings with Angela Merkel, in these meetings with western and Asian -- Asia- Pacific leaders, is to be able to say, I spent an hour and a half with Donald Trump.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: And we're going to be covering John Earnest, the White House press secretary. He is scheduled to have a briefing momentarily. We're going to have live coverage of that.

Once again, history unfolding behind us right here in the nation's capital.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BLITZER: Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer. It's 1:00 p.m. here in Washington. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us.

A remarkable meeting has just concluded at the White House. The president and the president-elect putting aside their animosity from the campaign to fulfill a time-honored tradition here in the United States, the peaceful transfer of power.

President Obama welcomed president-elect Trump to the White House this morning. They said they had an excellent discussion. The meeting was supposed to last, at least according to Donald Trump, only 10 minutes. But according to the president-elect, it actually lasted almost an hour and a half.

Here is what they said at the end of the meeting.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I just had the opportunity to have an excellent conversation with president-elect Trump. It was wide-ranging. We talked about some of the organizational issues in setting up the White House. We talked about foreign policy. We talked about domestic policy.

And as I said last night, my number one priority in the coming two months is to try to facilitate a transition that ensures our president-elect is successful.

And I have been very encouraged by the, I think, interest in president-elect Trump's wanting to work with my team around many of the issues that this great country faces. And I believe that it is important for all of us, regardless of party and regardless of political preferences, to now come together, work together to deal with the many challenges that we face.

And, in the meantime, Michelle has had a chance to greet the incoming first lady, and we had an excellent conversation with her as well. And we want to make sure that they feel welcome as they prepare to make this transition.

And most of all, I want to emphasize to you, Mr. president-elect, that we now are going to want to do everything we can to help you succeed. Because if you succeed, then the country succeeds.

Please.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, thank you very much, President Obama. This was a meeting that was going to last for maybe 10 or 15 minutes, and we were just going to get to know each other. We had never met each other. I have great respect. The meeting lasted for almost an hour and a half. And it could have -- as far as I'm concerned, it could have gone on for a lot longer.

We really -- we discussed a lot of different situations. Some wonderful and some difficulties. I very much look forward to dealing with the president in the future, including counsel. He's explained some of the difficulties, some of the high-flying assets and some of the -- some of the real great things that have been achieved.

So, Mr. President, it was a great honor being with you and I look forward to being with you many, many more times in the future.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you.

Thank you, everybody. We're not -- we are not going to be taking any questions.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: All right, there you saw it. Historic video from the Oval Office and the White House.

We should be getting some details on this Obama-Trump meeting during the White House briefing. It's expected to begin shortly. The White House press secretary, Josh Earnest, will go to the lectern over there and brief reporters. We'll have live coverage. Presumably, he'll provide more inside information on what actually happened during that 90-minute meeting between Donald Trump and President Obama.

[13:05:08] Donald Trump, the president-elect the United States, and the vice president-elect, Mike Pence, they're also meeting with the House speaker, Paul Ryan. Pence meets, in the next hour, with the vice president of the United States, Joe Biden. They'll be meeting at the White House right behind me.

While Trump supporters certainly celebrate his victory, thousands took to the streets last night to protest. Thousands of Americans. Demonstrations actually took place in at least 25 cities.

Meanwhile, back here in Washington, this transition process has begun. Our Senior White House Correspondent Jim Acosta is covering the Trump- Obama meeting for us. And our Senior Political Reporter Manu Raju is covering Trump's meeting and Pence meetings up on Capitol Hill with Paul Ryan, the Speaker of the House; Mitch McConnell, the Majority Leader in the Senate.

Jim, first to you. Contrast the tone. It was pretty dramatic, of today's meeting, with the very harsh attacks that both the president and now the president-elect, they leveled at each other during that lengthy presidential campaign.

JIM ACOSTA, CNNSENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And going back all the way to 2011, Wolf. You heard Donald Trump say, during that meeting, that they had never met before.

But they have been face to face before. Remember back in 2011 at the White House correspondent center, President Obama mocked Donald Trump to his face about his commitment to birtherism and so on. And that was a moment that it's been said motivated Donald Trump to consider running for president. And he didn't do it in 2012 but he certainly did it in 2016 and now he's the president.

To hear those words in the Oval Office that we just heard a few moments ago, Donald Trump referring to President Obama as a very good man. That is a far cry from what we heard during the course of this campaign.

Put the birtherism stuff aside. At one point during this campaign, Donald Trump referred to President Obama as the founder of ISIS. And so, you know, this is a huge leap forward in their relationship. And to hear Donald Trump say that he looks forward to talking with President Obama in the future, including seeking his counsel. That is probably something that just about everybody did not expect.

But, as you -- we've been saying all morning, Wolf, and you said it yourself. These sorts of moments have a way of changing people. The weight of the presidency is something that can change people and perhaps it's changing Trump as well.

But my sense of it is, Wolf, having covered this candidate and now president-elect for the better part of a year, this may just be time- out on these partisan words here in Washington.

Donald Trump is going to be meeting with the House speaker Paul Ryan, the Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell in just the next hour or so. And, you know, they have a very ambitious agenda ahead them.

Donald Trump wants to repeal the president's signature of legislative achievement, the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. I was talking to a senior Democratic aide last night, Wolf, who said, that is actually feasible. That even though the Democrats have 48 senators, they may not need that supermajority in the Senate. They could -- they could, perhaps, tear it apart through budget reconciliation where you just need a simple majority and so on.

So, you know, they're going to be hammering some of this stuff out with House speaker Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell here in short order. We shouldn't expect the whole world to get excited here in the next 24 hours. But they certainly have an ambitious agenda ahead.

But no question about it, when you look at the past and the kinds of words that were exchanged between Donald Trump and President Obama, this is a huge, huge development that we're seeing today. A major call for unity from both the president and the president-elect -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And I assume -- I assume, and I think everyone assumes, that the president had an impact on Donald Trump during that 90-minute meeting in the Oval Office.

All right stand by. Manu, give us a sense of what to expect during Donald Trump meeting which is about to begin with the House speaker, Paul Ryan. Because as a lot of our viewers know, there is no great love lost over this lengthy campaign between these two men.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Yes, that's right. I mean, this relationship, Wolf, is going to be essential for Donald Trump going forward, having a good relationship with the House speaker.

And as we know, during this very acrimonious campaign season, Paul Ryan repeatedly criticizing Donald Trump of things that he said on the campaign trail. And at one point last month said he could no longer defend Donald Trump. He could not campaign with Donald Trump. And that prompted a retort, sharp retort and attacks from Donald Trump, calling Paul Ryan a weak and ineffective leader.

But since then, they have moved past it. At least Paul Ryan certainly has in the last couple of weeks, trying to push the idea of a unified Republican government, campaigning, of sorts, for Donald Trump and appearing on the campaign stage with Mike Pence.

But they have not met face to face yet. Paul Ryan and Donald Trump have not met face to face yet for several months. And actually, they had tried to meet once during the campaign season last week, right before the Election Day. But that didn't pan out because of scheduling conflicts.

[13:10:00] But, nevertheless, the idea here in this meeting is trying to figure out where their agendas align and what issues they can push initially.

Jim mentioned about the idea of repealing Obamacare. That's certainly something that is feasible through the budget process. At least significant chunks of that bill could be repealed. The health care law could be repealed. But that could take several months to do.

And the -- and the idea of replacing Obamacare cannot be done through the budget process. He'll have to get 60 votes in the United States Senate to get something enacted. And that will require bipartisan support.

So, there are a lot of things that both the speaker and the White House will have to coordinate over, trying to figure out their strategy and their tactics because they don't want to be misfiring. And that's one reason why, too, that Donald Trump afterwards has a meeting with Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, afterwards to discuss their plans and the Senate playing a critical role in deciding which cabinet secretaries they can confirm and which ones will be rejected.

And which Supreme Court nominee can be confirmed and rejected in this Senate. Something that also would need bipartisan support, presumably. So, a lot of issues to go through. This is the beginning of several discussions.

But, clearly, they want to have -- get off on the right foot after both McConnell and Ryan -- clearly, they're just not sure what to expect from this new president -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Manu, very quickly, do we know if there are going to be joint statements to reporters in front of the cameras between the president-elect and the speaker?

RAJU: We're not getting any sense that that's going to happen, at this point. We expect to get readouts from aides from the room. But I'm sure a lot of the details, we'll have to figure out on our own. They're trying to present the best face forward that this is going to be a unified party and they're going to be on the same page. So, I expect to hear a lot of kumbaya coming out of this meeting today -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, we'll presumably get some still photos, at least that. Manu, stand by. We're going to get back to you.

I want to bring in our panel, David Catanese, Senior Politics Writer for "U.S. News and World Report." Our Chief National Correspondent, the "INSIDE POLITICS" Anchor, John King is with us. CNN Politics Reporter Sara Murray, our CNN Politics Executive Editor Mark Preston is here as well.

John, we're moments away from the start of the Josh Earnest briefing at the White House in the White House briefing room. He's going to be providing details. We're going to take cover -- live coverage of that. He's going to be walking into the briefing room. And we'll hear, presumably, some more specific details what was discussed between the president and the president-elect. JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It'll be interesting to

see. I suspect not but it'll be interesting to see if Josh Earnest shares when the president said they talked domestic and foreign policy, how specific? Did they have a conversation about if you decide you want to repeal Obamacare, I would urge you, sir, to not do this or to do it this way.

What did they talk about ISIS during the campaign? You know, Donald Trump said we will bomb the, I'll let you fill in the word, out of them or we'll -- we should have seized the oil fields in Iraq. Was there any specific advice? I doubt we'll get much specifics.

What we're having today though is kumbaya, cooperation, conciliation day in Washington after the most divisive and disruptive campaign certainly in our lifetimes. The Republican nominee was not only at odds with this Democratic president that we see him sitting with, he was at odds with his own leadership throughout this campaign.

He doesn't fit the ideological box of the Republican Party. We're not exactly sure how this is going to go forward. It is a very safe bet that it will not stay this happy. It will not stay this conciliatory. There are bumps in the road for every new president. There are bumps in the road for every transition of power.

But this is a very important signal to the United States and to the world that, after this campaign when people were questioning, would this work? What is going to happen? You know, the White House is still the White House. The Capitol is still the Capitol. There's still traffic in Washington. Some people are honking their horns and some people are smiling.

We don't know what comes next but the early signals of cooperation, especially that picture in the bottom left of your screen there. The Democratic president sitting next to the Republican president-elect. Two men with a deep history of personal animosity between each other, saying it's time to close that chapter. It's time now for me to help you, sir, prepare to live in this House and to have this awesome job in 10 weeks.

BLITZER: It is pretty enormous and pretty significant right now what is going on. And we're all so fortunate to have this seat watching it unfold.

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: You know, it's amazing. As I was walking in here today, I ran into a homeless gentleman on the street. And he came up to me and said, why are people so glum right now? He goes, why are they gritting their teeth? Why don't they give Donald Trump a chance? And I thought it was a really interesting thing to say. Because if we do walk in the streets of Washington right now, there is this still disbelief of what has happened. The enormity of what has happened.

I mean, the only thing I can equate it to, you know, in my short, young lifetime, is what happened in 1994 when Republicans came in in a wave and took over the town, right? Now, it's not on the same level but it was the same kind of feeling. And I think it's really important, what we see in those pictures, as John says that, listen, as a nation, we need to come together. You may not agree with Donald Trump on 70 percent of what he says but the fact of the matter is, he is the leader of the free world. And not only is he going to deal with domestic issues but on the foreign policy stage.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: And this is one of the interesting things. When you talk to people who knew Donald Trump, before Donald Trump became a presidential candidate, who worked with him in business, who lobbied for him, and who were supporting him early on. And they were traditional Republicans so they were quietly supporting him early in his presidential bid, they groaned and sometimes made public their discontent with Donald Trump when he said things that they felt were inappropriate about women or about Muslims or about Latinos.

But they really supported him because they felt like he would be a good president. They felt like he was the kind of guy who could negotiate and who could get deals done and who would work across the aisle. And so for those people, they are now saying, just give it a minute. Let's see what he's like and if he is different as a president than as a candidate. Now, that's going to be a very hard pill for a lot of liberals to swallow.

There are a lot of people walking around like zombies in New York and in Washington, D.C., today saying, oh, my God, how did this happen? But, you know, we are still this - still, this peaceful transition of power. The White House is still standing. And there is, you know, some value to the people who are saying let's - let's at least give this a chance and see what it's like with a Donald Trump presidency before we all set our hair on fire.

BLITZER: And certainly, David, the president is saying all the right things, the positive things for the good of the country. We've got to work together. Basically, he doesn't say it, but forget about the past. We've got to look towards the future right now. And Hillary Clinton said exactly that same thing in her very moving remarks yesterday.

DAVID CATANESE, SENIOR POLITICS WRITER, "U.S. NEWS AND WORLD REPORT": You have to credit both of them sort of rising above it all. I can't imagine standing up there being her, what was sitting in her gut while she said that Donald Trump is the president. You have to accept that. But it was - I just thought it was an exemplary performance for her given what she has gone through.

Now, look, this country is so emotional right now. I keep getting texts from friends, oh, the country, how has this happened? Is it going to be OK? Why didn't you tell me it was going to happen? Because, frankly, no one thought it was going to happen. And that's why these pictures, while John and everyone's right, the Kumbaya is not going to last. There's going to be big legislative battles. But these pictures that are so striking to see Donald Trump sitting next to Barack Obama are so important to try to calm the nerves of a nation (INAUDIBLE). MURRAY: And for Barack Obama, you know, his legacy is on the line. I

mean Republicans are going to run this town in January, and so they actually can repeal -

BLITZER: All right, hold on, one second. Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, just started speaking. I want to go and listen to hear what he says.

QUESTION: President Obama's characterization of it that way.

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Well, Josh, I had an opportunity shortly before coming out here to visit briefly with President Obama about the meeting, and there were many details of their discussions that they'll keep between the two of them. A couple of things that I can share with you.

Obviously the president indicated during the pool spray that they had an opportunity to discuss some foreign policy and some domestic issues. Some of those foreign policy issues came up in the context of the president's upcoming trip overseas.

The president described to the president-elect some of the issues that he expects to come up with some of our allies and partners and other world leaders that he'll meet with on the trip, and so there's an opportunity for them to talk about some of those issues in advance to the president's trip and in advance to some of the conversations that he expects to have with world leaders on the trip. There also was an opportunity for the two leaders to talk about staffing and organizing the White House. That's complicated business. And any White House is expected to be structured in a way to deal with multiple challenges or even multiple crisis at the same time. And the president-elect indicated a lot of interest and understanding the strategy of staffing and organizing the White House, and obviously that's something that President Obama has thought about extensively during his eight years in office. And they spent a large portion of the meeting discussing the importance of properly staffing up and organizing a White House operation.

But look, other than that, the -- what the president heard from the president-elect is a clear commitment to the kind of affective, smooth transition that President Obama has been vowing to preside over for the better part of a year. And the president tends to make good on that promise in the 70 days ahead.

QUESTION: Did the president leave the meeting any more reassured that president-elect Trump will not try to dismantle all of the work that you and your colleagues have done over the last eight years? And did he -- did President Obama make any pitch to Trump, for instance, not to get rid of Obama Care or other significant policies?

EARNEST: Well, listen. I'm not going to get into all of the details of their meeting. I think that President Obama came away from the meeting with renewed confidence in the commitment of the president-elect to engage in an effective, smooth transition. That obviously is what President Obama believes serves the American people the best. We are committed to doing what is required on our part to make sure that that happens.

[13:20:00] And the president was pleased to hear a similar commitment expressed by the president-elect.

QUESTION: Do you know if the president got any reassurances from about whether he plans to pursue what he discussed during the campaign about trying to incarcerate Hillary Clinton?

EARNEST: Well, listen I'll let the, you know, president-elect -- let the president-elect read out his end of the conversation. But as I mentioned yesterday, the president was found reassuring the kind of tone that the president-elect conveyed in his election night remarks.

As I mentioned yesterday, these were remarks that the president- elect delivered, not just to his supporters in the ballroom, but to the citizens of the country that were turned into this historic election but also to people around the world.

And given the intensity of scrutiny of his remarks, it's notable that he chose that kind of tone. I think we saw a similar tone just in the Oval Office 30 minutes ago, where he was indicating his commitment to working closely with the outgoing administration to ensure a smooth, effective transition.

It doesn't mean they agree on all the issues. They obviously have deep disagreements. But what they do agree on is a commitment to a smooth and effective transition, and that's a good thing for the country.

QUESTION: Did president-elect Trump talk about looking forward to receiving President Obama's counsel in the future and needing more times? Did they agree to meet again whether (ph) something put in where they're expected to continue the conversation they had today in an additional format?

EARNEST: I'm not aware of any additional meeting that's been scheduled. But you know, I wouldn't rule out future consultations. Obviously, when President Obama served you know, over the last eight years, President Obama has benefited from the kinds of conversations that he's been able to have with previous presidents.

And I wasn't surprised to hear that you know, president-elect Trump indicated that he feels like he would benefit from those conversations over the course of his presidency, as well.

OK, Roberta?

QUESTION: Was it awkward at all given all the rancor that the two men exchanged with each other on the campaign trail and even before that. So was the meeting awkward at all in terms of getting talked (ph) at?

Was there a moment where they had to sort of (inaudible)?

EARNEST: Well, to be as specific as possible about this, Roberta, there was no staff in the room when President Obama and president- elect Trump sat down in the Oval Office for 90 minutes. So I think it's probably a question you'd have to ask the two of them. I feel confident in telling you that they did not resolve all their differences. I'm also -- I also feel confident in telling you that they didn't try to resolve all their differences.

What they sought to do was to lay the foundation for an effective transition from the Obama presidency to the Trump presidency. And this administration, at the direction of President Obama, has been preparing for this moment and this meeting for the better part of a year.

And this obviously was an important early step having the president sit down with the president-elect to discuss that transition. And you know, based on the kind of agreement that was evident about the priority that they both place on a smooth transition, it sounds like the meeting might've been at least a little less awkward than some might have expected.

QUESTION: And you said that the -- it was just the two of them alone; there was no staff in the room?

EARNEST: That's correct.

QUESTION: For the entire time?

EARNEST: That's correct.

QUESTION: And the pool waiting to go into the Oval -- I've seen some other officials that have done (ph) among them on the (inaudible). I'm just wondering if you could tell us a little bit about what other officials from the White House may have met with him who was in those sort of discussions...

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: ...going on at the same time?

EARNEST: I know that the president-elect's spokeswoman, Ms. Hicks, was here. I had an opportunity to meet with her just -- to meet her, I guess I should say, while the president-elect's was meeting with President Obama.

You noted that she also had longer meetings with some other members of -- some of my colleagues in the communications team. You noted that Mr. Kushner was here and had an opportunity to visit with the chief of staff.

Those are the only two staffers from the president's-elect team that I had an opportunity to meet today. There may have been some others that were with him, but I can't speak to all of the meetings that took place.

I will just clarify that there is a more formal process that we would expect would guide the interactions between the president's team and the president's-elect -- and the president-elect's team for the two month between now and the inauguration.

There will be a formal process for that kind of consultation to ensure a smooth transition; the kinds of conversations today were much more informal in nature.

[13:25:03] QUESTION: And President-elect Trump mentioned that some -- he learned about some high-flying assets and I'm just wondering if you know what he was referring to when he talked about that.

EARNEST: I'm not sure what he was talking about, but you can check with his team on that. OK. Michelle...

QUESTION: So you're saying as far as excellent goes, is talking about a smooth transition and having a good tone? I mean, that's all that excellent means in this?

EARNEST: Well, I think when you consider the profound differences between the two gentlemen, when you consider the fact that they have never met before in person, and when you consider the high priority that the president places on a smooth and effective transition, I think that qualifies as excellent.

QUESTION: I mean, Donald Trump mentioned that this was originally supposed to only last 10 to 15 minutes. Is that true? And why would it go on so much longer than that?

EARNEST: The president had allotted more time on his schedule for that meeting than just 10 to 15 minutes, but they did end up spending about 90 minutes talking about a range of issues including what I described to Josh earlier. I think that would be an indication of a pretty robust, valuable meeting.

QUESTION: So yesterday, you talked about the president still having deep concerns, obviously, and that everything he said on the campaign trail about Donald Trump was true. This meeting, I mean, considering all of that, it was a brief meeting. Did it do anything to assuage any of those deep concerns?

EARNEST: Well listen, the -- as I mentioned yesterday, the president campaigned vigorously across the country, making a forceful case in favor of the candidate that he supported. And he did that right up to the night before Election Day. But on Election Day, the ballots were counted, and the American people decided.

The president was never in a position to choose a successor. The American people chose his successor. The president vowed to work with whomever the American people chose, so no, they did not recreate some sort of presidential debate in the Oval Office today. They were focused on doing the work of the American people, fulfilling their institutional responsibilities, and on President Obama's part, that means laying the groundwork so that the incoming president-elect can hit the ground running. After all, as President Obama said in the Rose Garden yesterday, we're all rooting for his success when it comes to uniting and leading this country.

QUESTION: The president still has those deep concerns, that is what you're saying?

EARNEST: What I'm saying is that the forceful case that the president made on the campaign trail leading up to Election Day reflected his authentic views about the stakes of the election and about the candidate that he went all in to support.

QUESTION: Obviously, there was nothing in this meeting that would change any of that?

EARNEST: Well, I guess what I'm saying is that the meeting was not convened to try to resolve the variety of concerns that President Obama had raised on the campaign trail. The meeting was focused on the transition, and it went well.

QUESTION: Given that some of Trump's advisers have just prior to this meeting talked about looking for all of the ways or wanting a list of all the ways that they could roll President Obama's policies back starting on day one, does the president fully expect that to happen?

EARNEST: Well, listen. I'm not going to prejudge what their transition process is. Obviously, our goal is to make sure that the incoming president elect can hit the ground running and can enjoy success when it comes to uniting and leading the country. That's what the president promised yesterday. Convening a meeting in the Oval Office today is part of making good on that promise. How they choose to use the time and what priorities they choose to set for their earliest days of the Trump presidency is something (inaudible).

QUESTION: What does the president expect to happen now (ph)?

EARNEST: I think the president's expectation is that the incoming president will set his own priorities and pursue them accordingly. And again, our goal is to provide them the kind of advice that would give the president elect and his team the opportunity to succeed in uniting and leading the country. That's what he has indicated that he has made his priority, and we certainly are prepared to do everything we can over the next 71 days to support him in that effort.

QUESTION: Well, does the president now have any reason to believe that Donald Trump is fit to be president of the United States?

EARNEST: Again, I'm not going to -- the two men did not re- litigate their differences in the Oval Office. We talked about them quite a bit in here leading up to the election. We're on to the next phase now. Justin...

QUESTION: You mentioned the formal process, and so I guess I wanted to ask if there are meetings that have either occurred or are being set up with senior staff at the White House that's found (ph) from one presidency, especially national security or economic teams going forward?