Little extra. I will turn it back to kevin. [laughter] kevin there is a couple things to mention before leaving. You all received an email from us that will have a survey. That very, very seriously here at the National Journal and take our members very seriously, and would love to know what you thought. Are decks that some of our centers prepared. Some of you have them. Pick one up on the way out, we are hoping to be helpful there. We look forward to serving you in the next 100 days. [applause] [indiscernible conversation] well have more analysis of the Election Results today from the Heritage Foundation with a panel of conservatives who both supported and opposed the Trump Campaign live at noon eastern time. Later, journalist, pollsters and pundits on the Election Results and the Media Coverage of the president ial campaign. Live at 6 45 p. M. Eastern time ere on cspan. White House Press Secretary josh ernest spoke with reporters. This is about an hour. The president was monitoring returns. I dont have a lot of details to share from there. Obviously he relied on staff to help coordinate the calls he placed to secretary clintnd and president eye elect trump erect spivel. He stayed up late. He wasnt able to reach president elect trump until after he had delivered his remarks last night. So it was rather late. But obviously we had to work through staff in order to make that happen. You said that schedule is not changing. How is he going to explain to allies what happened . The president on all his foreign trips said hes confident Hillary Clinton is going to win. None of which transpired was going to happen. What is his message going to be . It would seem to be redirecting whats going to be a fair well visit. Listen, the president spent a lot of time on his foreign travels offering reassurance to our partners and allies around the world about the state of the political debate in this country and the likely outcome of the election. Now that we have an outcome of the election, i think the president will continue to offer reassurance to our closest allies and partners about the steadfast commitment of the United States to the kinds of alliances and partnerships that advance our interests and keep our country safe. Many of our strongest alliances are alliance that is have been fortified by democratic and republican president s. President obama obviously invested a lot of his own time and attention to prioritizing investments in many of those alliances particularly in the asia pacific and president elect trump will chart a Foreign Policy path that he believes is in americas best interests. He will do so after getting the benefit of briefings from president obama and from the National Security experts in the Obama Administration that have been implementing that policy and implementing that strategy. Ut i think the reassurance that president obama can offer to a lot of our allies is that traditionally and for generations in some cases our allyances have transcended individual plt president s and parties. But ultimately its going to be up to the president elect to decide. The president s rhetoric during the campaign. So youre saying that his comments about donald trump being unfit to be president of the United States shouldnt have the nuclear code, genuine National Security threat to the United States if he was elected. Youre basically saying the president still agrees with all of that but the voters have spoken so the sun came up and everybody shufede move on . Well, look, i think what the president said in the rose garden is that our democracy demands the success of our democracy demands that the president put aside his own personal political views and his own preferences as he transitions out of office. The president doesnt choose his successer. The American People do. Theyve spoken. A lot of people took what he said very seriously and therefore voted for Hillary Clinton based on some of the things that he has said. And theyre nervous rgs anxious. So what does he say to that . He says to them that the institutions of our democracy have been in place for 240 years. And our democracy has been buffeted by great challenge. Some of which originated inside the United States, some of those challenges originated overseas. But by relying on our institutions and democratic traditions, demonstrating a faithful commitment to the will of the American People, our democracy hasnt just survived, its thrived. And the president places great faith in the American People and in our longstanding democratic traditions and institutions. He places great faith in the people who make up those institutions, whether thats the United States military, our men and women in law enforcement, the millions of american patriots that are Civil Servants that serve in our federal government. He also places great confidence in those americans who dont work in government but are committed to moving this country forward. And that was the reference that he made in the rose garden to teachers that are responsible for educating the next generation of meshes. They dont get glor americans. They dont get glory or big paychecks but they are critical to the success of our country and our countrys future strength. The same would apply to nurses all across the country. They dont get the glory but they are doing the quiet work of striving to perfect our union. In tomorrows meeting do you meelnia is coming to meet with mrs. Trump . I dont know. Well try to pin that dayu down today. Trump if the president s puts aside the Harsh Criticism that he leveled against trump during the campaign and welcomes him tomorrow, doesnt it put the meeting under an air of insincerity, bearing in mind what was said about him, what carol mentioned, the unfit and unqualified to be president and commander in chief . No. To be blunt. The president is quite sincere about fulfilling the basic responsibility that he has to the American People and our democracy to ensure a smooth transition to the next presidency. At the same time, mark, the president has no desire or inclination to paper over the deep differences that the two of them have. The president acknowledged them in his remarks in the rose garden. Nd his expectation is that the president elect trump is going to make the decisions that are consistent with his own policy views. When he becomes president of the United States. And theres a strong chance that the president is going to that president obama is going to disagree with at least some of those decisions. But the success of our democracy depends on everybody, every single citizen including the president of the United States, setting aside their partisan affiliation, setting aside their political preferences and rooting for the success of the american president as that person seeks to unite the country and move us forward. So im not saying its going to be an easy meeting, but the president is deeply sincere about fulfilling this responsibility and look, i think it was also evident from hearing the president talk about this that president obama entered office at a tumultuous time in our nations history. We were in the depths of the worst economic crisis since the great depression. D his ability to mobilize an Effective Response that has spawned an historicically strong recovery depended on him getting a running start. And that running start was only possible because of the commitment of president bush and his team to this same principle of a smooth and effective transition. So president obama has experienced firsthand how a president benefits from the incumbent president devoting the time and energy thats necessary to help an incoming president get off to a running start. And praunl is genuinely president obama is gin rinly rooting for President Trump to succeed in uniting this country and helping this country make additional progress. Thats a sincerely held view. Despite what you said at the start, might you want to respond or comment on what speaker ryan said that the election was a repudiation of the liberal and progressive policies of this president . I think there will be plenty of time for he to respond to statements like that in the days ahead. But in the spirit of today well set that aside. But we can talk tomorrow. Ive got some stuff. What do you say about how much of the returns the president watched . Was he up all night . Who was he watching with . Was he with family and staff . What can you say about his reaction . During the campaign he said that there was no comparison between these candidates. That there really beant a choice but this was the choice that was made. Surely he must have been stunned at some point. President obama did stay up late. It was not until after mr. Trump president elect trump completed his remarks that president obama was able to reach him on the telephone. So i know it was at least 3 30, 4 00 before president obama was able to turn in. I suspect the same is true of all of you. So hes not looking for any sympathy. But [inaudible] the president was in the residence. I dont know if there was any staff that was with him in person. He obviously was in communication with a number of Staff Members last night. And i dont know whether or not members of his family joined him as he was watching the results. And his reaction to things going the way they did. I think you got a good sense of the president s reaction in the rose garden. Which is the candidate that he was supporting didnt win and thats disappointing to him and to the 52 million other people who voted for secretary clinton. Youre saying that at no point in the night was he surprised or had any other reaction . No. I dont think anybody when i say anybody, i mean everybody got an outcome that we werent expecting. That applies to the president too. Can you describe the reaction along those lines . It wasnt a positive surprise in his mind. He obviously was weighing in, in support of secretary clinton and he felt strongly about this race. He made clear that there was a clear choice. But the president knew going in once people that started casting ballots, his responsibility shifted from advocating for his preferred successer to planning for a smooth transition for with whom ever won the election. So hes mindful from the beginning of his responsibilities to the country and to our democracy. In part because of his own personal experience of benefiting from that that president bush initiated in 2008. At one point he started to think this is really going in the opposite direction . I dont know at which point he reached that conclusion. Dawned on sort of everybody at some point probably relatively late in the evening last night. These comments have been brought up a couple of times now. But for both the president and other members of the administration to say during this campaign that the thing that is donald trump was saying were dangerous, were actually dangerous to National Security. And you said just today that there are real concerns. So what are the top of the president s concerns right now for somebody to transition to someone that he actually called unfit and dangerous for National Security. That is the rhetoric that you heard from the president on the campaign trail. That rhetoric reflects the president s views. It certainly reflects his own experiences having served in this job and it reflects his own unique perspective on who is best qualified to succeed him. But the election is over. The elections been decided and we live in a democracy, and the democracy means the president doesnt choose a successer. The American People do. And they did. And the president s responsibility is to ensure a smooth and effective transition with the president elect. And that is now the president s top priority and thats one that previous president s demonstrated that served our country and our citizens very well, and the president s expectation is that a commitment to those principles and a commitment to an effective transition will serve the country this time, too. You said that the time for argument is over. Well, thats right. This is now real. So if we are to believe, as you said we should, the president s concerns that this was a dangerous situation, surely the president must have some real concerns right now. And can you describe maybe the parameters of this . Listen, i want to be real clear about this. The election is over. There are going to dont to be debates about the future of our country there are going to be tough debates in congress about the future of our country. There are going to be tough debates inside the Republican Party about the future of our country. There are going to be some tough debates inside the Democratic Party about the future of our country. So the election is over. And youve seen secretary clinton and senator kaine offer up their gracious concession. And you heard president obama graciously commit to a smooth transition even with a candidate that he did not support. In fact one that he vehemently opposed. But thats what our democracy demands. And that is evidence of the durrability and strength of our democracy and it will serve the incoming president well, it will serve the Incoming Congress well, it will serve our allys fs and partners around the world well. It will serve our economy well. Thats why the president has made this such a priority. Our democracy also demands that at some rare times although not most recently the winner of the popular vote is not always the president. Does that make this more painful for the administration . I look, i cant speak for everybody. But it doesnt to me. Everybody knew the rules when everybody knew what the rules were. And i think the outcome of the popular vote is an indication that secretary clintons Historic Campaign succeeded in mobilizing tens of millions of mericans behind her vision and her candidacy. That is a credit to her. President obama i think deserves a little credit for that, too, given how aggressively he campaigned for her and given the kind of agenda that he also laid out. But, no. Everybody was aware of the fact that the next president is determined based on a count in the electoral college, not a count of the popular vote. During the campaign he said many statements to the effect of this is not who america is. This is not what we stand for. I believe in the judgment and values of the American People that they will choose the candidate i support. And that america is not as divided as people say. Does he still believe those things that he said then . Well, i think what is true is that the president had an opportunity to convey his very wellknown views about the two candidates on the campaign trail many, many times over the ast several weeks. But he knew all along that what he was doing is advocating to the American People trying to convince them to support his preferred candidate. And some 52 million of them did. But not enough to win the electoral vote. And that is our system of democracy. And its not perfect, but its a system that has served us very well. Has this changed the president s view of who we are and what america is . Thats kind of the tone that he was taking. No. I dont want to leave you with that impression. Obviously the president disagrees with the outcome. His preferred candidate didnt win. But, look, what it says about the voters and their motivation and their priorities, again, i think people are going to spend weeks, months, if not years trying to discern what this all means. But at the most basic level what it means is that donald trump is the president elect of the United States and the responsibility of the sitting president is to make sure that president elect trump can hit the ground running when he hits the oval office. He said he would take it as a personal insult if Hillary Clinton was not elected and great numbers didnt turn out. So does he . Listen, the feelings the president was conveying in that speech were authentic and they reflect his views. Ut he the election is over. The time for advocating for a specific candidate has come to an end and the time for planning for a smooth, effective transition for the president elect is now well under way. And thats a process that president obama is deeply committed. Youve emphasized a smooth transition being important and you keep pointing back to the transition that happened between george w. Bush and mr. Balm. But as far as i know, mr. Bush never tried to lobby president obama directly to maintain some of his policies. But youve just told us that the president will have the opportunity to talk to the president elect trump about some of these policies. Are you suggesting that mr. Obama is going to lobby mr. Trump directly to maintain some of these policies that mr. Trump has repeatedly excoriated on the campaign trail . And if thats not going to happen, doesnt that mean that the iran deal, emission limits, immigration, transgender, all those things are sort of gone on january 21 . Theres a lot there. Thats good. Thats ok. These are important questions. I think the first thing is i cant speak to the nature of the conversations between president bush and then president elect obama. I dont know if president bush lobbied president obama on any issues or not. I think what i would say in terms of trying to help you get a sense of the kinds of conversations im trying to describe, i wouldnt use the word lobby. I think what i would do is basically say the intent of president obama and his team is to brief president elect trump and his team. You were there. Well, again, the point that im trying to make is this is that and president obama has acknowledged this. That the view of certain policies once youre inside overnment give you a new appreciation for the benefits of those policies. Am i suggesting that President Trump is going to reverse himi himself on a whole range of things . No. Im not trying to make that case. But what president obama is well, what s president obama is committed to is an effective transition that helps bring president elect trump and his team up to speed on the current status of u. S. Policy, including Foreign Policy. And there is a long tradition of president s even president s in different parties seeking to preserve some measure of continuity, particularly where those interests align. I wouldnt predict at this point how all that shakes out. The one thing that i would point out is that there are the n situations where downside of unilaterally withdrawing from some of these International Agreements is significant. So the consequences, for example, with the iran deal of the g out, you do risk iranians trying to break out. At the same time, theres also a u. N. Security Council Resolution that applies to this agreement. That means this agreement is something that is supported by llies but alleges by also by russia. I think that could be a good indication of how united the International Community is behind this agreement. And president elect trump will have to decide what impact in sort of a unilateral withdrawal would have with countries around the world. But again, the American People have trusted him with the presidency. He will determine the course and will have to evaluate all those things. Point is based on the existence of that u. N. Security Council Resolution, on the consequences of withdrawing from that agreement, its much more complicated than saying youre just going to tear the agreement up. It doesnt mean he wont do it. It just means that when briefed on all these consequences he will have to take a close look at what policy he chooses to pursue. But that assumes an optimism that your briefing can actually change his mind. And this is a man, mr. Trump, who the president has described for months as someone who is deliberately ignorant about much of what goes on in the federal government and doesnt seem interested actually in losing this ignorance about many of these issues. So youre suggesting a process here of the president ed kating the president elect in a way that will get him to change his mind. But that defies the description that the president himself has given of mr. Trump as someone who is willing to take counsel and changed his mind. The president acknowledged in the rose garden that the tone that president elect trump displayed last night at a moment when the world was watching was markedly different than the tone that he typically adopted on the campaign trail. Thats one small example. Does that apply to his policy positions . Who knows. But in the context of ensuring an effective transition, this administration is going to convey as much information as possible about u. S. Policy and the benefits of that policy and the consequences the positive and anything toif for our pursuit of that policy. And ultimately it will be up to president elect trump to weigh all that information. Presumably he will rely on the advise of experts and maybe some who havent been to ultimately make some of these decisions. But the example of the iran deal is a good one because there are significant and deranging consequences that make it clear that its not just as simple as some of the Campaign Rhetoric might make it seem. Does that change his decision . I have no idea. I guess s ill ill be reading about it in the newspaper. So then earlier when you said to chris this is not going to be easy, you werent just talking about dismantling the aca. You were talking about the obama legacy. I think when i said at one point i said it wont be easy. I think i was referring to the meeting itself. You were talking about trying to repeal obamacare is not as easy as decried. Thats a different example. Obviously theres a role for congress to weigh in, in all of this. Theres still a republican majority in both the house and the senate which presumably would make that a little easier but there are filibuster rules in the senate that i know leader mcconnell has previously expressed significant passion for protecting. Well see if he retains that passion moving forward. But that certainly would require some bipartisan cooperation. The same is true well, theres a different situation in the house which is that you all have well chronicled the deep divisions within the Republican Party in the house that make for a rather unruly majority. And it means that speaker ryan i think in some cases is going to have to look for some democratic cooperation at least on the when youre campaign trail you say this is widely opposed and im going to tear it up. But then you get it in office and you realize you need congress cooperation and you have to work in bipartisan fashion to get anything done in the senate to try to organize the republican conference of the house of representatives is kind of a mess. All of a sudden it gets a lot harder. Does that mean does that change the outcome . I dont know. Well have to see. My point is, is that these are the kinds of difficult questions that president elect trump will inherit. Particularly when you consider the consequences, which include stripping health care from 20 or 22 americans, significantly increasing the deficit, significantly increasing Health Care Costs including for small businesses. So there are real world consequences to deal with that often in the context of Campaign Rhetoric arent accounted for. The people are tempted now to say the obama legacy is toast. You would contend with that. Based on your analysis of the obama care repeal and what you just said about the iran deal. Again, i think it is far too early to tell exactly what kind of decisions president elect trump will make and what impact they will have on the priorities that president obama has so proudly achieved. Its it certainly is not as positive a picture if secretary clinton had emerged victorious. I would be a lot more confident. Mr. Trump ran on a different platform and what President Trump chooses to do as he makes is ns is something to something that you cant fully analyze in the abtract. Well have to as his presidency moves forward, you all will have an opportunity to evaluate what impact his decisions have had on the accomplishments that president obama and his team are quite proud of. So not as positive if Hillary Clinton, but not as bleak as the president portrayed it. The president stands by the rhetoric he used on the campaign trail but the president is himself in describing his own campaigning have noted that theres a significant difference between the two things. It doesnt mean that you fall on your principles. It doesnt mean that youre necessarily overpromising. It just means that they are two different things. And its why there are all these open questions that only president elect trump can answer. And i dont know how many of them he will try to answer on the first day, but you will just have to let me know. You also said to margaret that when the president is overseas he will be trying to reassure allies and partners of the steadfast commitment. Thats in question now. Right . How can he do that exactly . Well, he can do that based on the longstanding tradition in our democracy of democratic and republican president s reinforcing our relationships around the world that advance our national interests. Theres a democratic and republican tradition to strengthning our alliance with south korea, for example. And what we have found is that our alliance with south korea superseeds any individual presidency, it superseeds any individual party because weve seen president s in both parties seek to strengthen that alliance. So that would be if youre looking for a reason to be hopeful about the future of the u. S. South korea alliance, thats what you would draw from is the long history in this country of president s in both parties seeking to enforce that. Is that something president elect trump will do . I dont know. Well all find out. So the president ought to be saying, i hope. Not i assure. The president would say theres a long tradition, there is reason to be optimistic because weve seen president s in both parties pursue a Strong Alliance with south korea. Thats just the first example that popped into my head. Im not singling that out for a particular reason. Are leaders going to say mr. Trump appears to be different than recent president s . They wouldnt be wrong about that. So the president can offer some measure of reassurance but ultimately the American People have chosen to give president elect trump the responsibility for figuring hat out. What do you expect in the Conference Tomorrow . Unclear at this point whether or not president obama will take questions. But well keep you posted. At a minimum you can certainly expect that the president will spend some time taking questions from you over the course of his trip overseas. And maybe tomorrow. Maybe tomorrow. But well try and get you some clarity about that before the end of the day. Would president elect trump take questions . Youll have to check with his team on that. Has the president reached out to any World Leaders . Have any reached out to him since the result has been known . The president said earlier World Leaders are rattled. When i walked out here im not aware of any conversations that president obama had had with foreign leaders at this point. But if there are calls like that that we can read out ill let you know. I cant speak who has reached out to the white house or u. S. Government since last night. I will let those individual governments speak for themselves. As christy alluded to, on the course of president obamas travels next week he will have an opportunity to see the leaders of many of the countries with whom the United States has an important relationship. And well have more details about that trip in the next couple of days. Is e of the countries peru. Want to ask about there was an idea the lame duck period would be stumping for ptt both publicly and with congress. Given the fact that this elect has repudiated the idea of trade with many nations, with Donald Trumps victory, has that changed . Is the president still going to stump for ptt . This was a question you would be asking me regardless of the election because obviously secretary clintons stated opposition to this has been well covered as well. I think what i can say in general well, the first thing i can tell you is that president obama did have an opportunity earlier today to speak to leader mcconnell on the phone. The president is hopeful that he will be able to connect with speaker ryan at some point relatively soon. And well let you know when thats occurred. And i they they did have a conversation about the outcome and president obama did congratulate leader mcconnell on his success in retaining the title of majority leader in the United States senate. And they had an opportunity to discuss some of the priorities for the lame duck session. I dont have a detailed readout to share but president obama does continue to believe that this is the best opportunity that the congress has to take advantage of the benefits of a Transpacific Partnership agreement that cuts taxes 18,000 tax that is other countries impose on american products. We have a strong case to make and were going to encourage Republican Leaders to take it up and pass it because of the enormous benefits that would accrue to american workers, american businesses, and the broader u. S. Economy. Ok . Gregory. Has the president ordered President Trump now receive the same full president daley briefing . I can tell you that the president ial daley briefing and other Daily Briefing and other intelligence materials has been made available to President Trump president elect trump, Vice President elect pence. And a couple designated members of his team. This is a courtesy that president bush extended to president elect obama and Vice President ial elect biden and a couple designated members of their team. This is an important part of ensuring the kind of smooth transition that president obama has prioritized. Its the same briefing that he himself receives . I cant speak to the nature of the information that is presented. So but the idea is here is that the president elect and the Vice President elect and some of their key National Security advisers, just a couple of designated officials, can begin to get access to the kind of material that they will need to make important Foreign Policy decisions once President Trump takes office. Following up about pardons for secretary clinton specifically but also generally, the president was asked about this in august about lastminute pardons and he said that any lastminute pardons would have to go through the attorney, through white house counsel, through regular process and that all pardons would be based on merit nd not political conversation. Does that guidance still stand . And wouldnt that preclude the president from giving a lastminute pardon to secretary clinton . Remember when you asked earlier this summer and thats the answer that president obama gave you in that News Conference still applies. I wouldnt speculate about what that may have on hypothetical pardon requests that he receives. Ill just say that the guidance that president obama shared with you is still operatives. Is the the event still on for tomorrow . Absolutely. The president said he was encouraged by some of the things that he has heard from donald trump in the last 24 hours. Does the president have confidence that donald trump will respect the rule of law . Well, i think at this point what president obama is responding to is the tone that president elect trump displayed at his event last night. And the significance of that is had to make a conscious decision about the tone he was going to use in speaking to not just his orders in the ballroom, but also the millions of americans watching on tv and tens of millions watching around the world. It is a highstakes moment. It is an opportunity for president elect trump to make an impression. At that moment, he chose to that seemse generally familiar to people who ha